Airline passengers travelling from eight Middle Eastern nations, including Jordan and Egypt, will be barred from carrying large electronic devices into the main cabin under new regulations from the Trump administration. The rules, which come into effect on Tuesday, also apply to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to a US official. Passengers from the eight countries will have to check laptop computers and other […]
By Julia Fioretti | BRUSSELS BRUSSELS The European Commission wants to scrap restrictions placed on EU airlines leasing planes and crew from U.S. carriers, to resolve a long-standing dispute between the two sides. The leasing of crewed planes from another airline – known as wet-leasing – is a common practice in the industry and the 10-year-old EU-U.S. Open Skies aviation services agreement envisaged a liberal regime for […]
When the European Commission published a “white paper” this month on the future of Europe, something was missing. Two weeks earlier Pierre Moscovici, EU economy commissioner, had told an audience in Athens that the blueprint would include “ambitious ideas” for “deepening of the economic and monetary union” — code for overhauling the system of budget rules and policy co-ordination that underpins the single currency. Instead, amid warnings […]
By Christine Kim and Jane Chung | SEOUL SEOUL South Korea’s trade minister said on Monday Seoul had complained to the World Trade Organization (WTO) about China’s retaliation against South Korean companies over the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defence system in the South. “We have notified the WTO that China may be in violation of some trade agreements,” Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan told parliament in response […]
By Colin Packham and Aaron Bunch | CANBERRA/PERTH CANBERRA/PERTH U.S. officials began taking fingerprints of asylum seekers in an Australian-run camp on the Pacific island of Nauru on Monday, signalling that vetting of applicants for resettlement in what U.S. President Donald Trump called a “dumb deal” has restarted. Australia agreed with former U.S. President Barack Obama late last year for the United States to resettle up to […]
TAIPEI Taiwan’s government, worried about being used as a pawn by China and the United States, said on Monday the self-ruled island must protect its own interests as concerns in Taipei rise ahead of an expected meeting of U.S and Chinese leaders. China has never renounced the use of force to take back what it deems a wayward province and has been pressuring Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, […]
Mansour Bin Jabr’s idea of a hard life may not resonate with everyone. “The cars, the jets, they don’t make me happy. I’m a hippie in a way. I love islands, beaches,” says the 30-year-old chief operating officer of Bin Jabr Group, having just returned from a business trip in the Maldives. “I see myself retired in the Bahamas in a resort I own with my toys. […]
DUBAI // The world desperately needs to adopt a new approach to achieve human happiness, the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai has said. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said the approach must be based on cooperation and searching for ponits of agreement, speaking to mark the creation of what was described as the first World Happiness Council. The announcement came ahead of International Happiness Day, which falls […]
It has been almost five years to the day since Mahmood Hashim Al Kooheji took over as head of Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, restructuring several investment interests and making other changes to whip the fund into shape after years of losses. It followed a term at Gulf Air in which he managed the national carrier’s controversial restructure that saw 15 percent of its staff, around 600 […]
By Michael Nienaber | BADEN-BADEN BADEN-BADEN The failure of the world’s financial leaders to agree on resisting protectionism and support free trade marks a setback in the G20 process and poses a risk for growth of export-driven economies such as host Germany, economists said on Sunday. Acquiescing to an increasingly protectionist United States after a two-day meeting in the German town of Baden-Baden, the finance ministers and […]
MANILA, Philippines – An official of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) shrugged off yesterday the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines’ warning that Department Order No. 174 would lead to massive displacement of workers. But aside from employers’ groups, more labor organizations have questioned DOLE’s new policy on contracting and subcontracting and urged President Duterte to reject it. In a statement, DOLE Undersecretary Bernard Olalia noted […]
By Andrea Shalal | BERLIN BERLIN The German government plans to buy six Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) C-130J military transport planes for around 900 million euros ($966 million) starting in 2019 under a joint operating agreement with France, German government documents show. Germany and France first began working on the deal in October and announced broad outlines of their plans in February at a meeting of the NATO […]
BEIRUT Rebel fighters and their families began leaving their last bastion in the Syrian city of Homs on Saturday, state media and a Reuters witness said, under an evacuation deal with the government that is expected to be the largest of its kind. The first two buses carrying rebels and their families left al-Waer district in the morning, heading for other rebel-held areas in northern Syria. Homs […]
The Quinns also were featured in “Capitol Gains,” the 2015 series produced by The Post and Courier and The Center for Public Integrity. That series explored how South Carolina’s loophole-ridden campaign finance system and ethics laws allow state lawmakers to use campaign war chests like personal ATM machines and profit from government connections. The Post and Courier reported this week that Statehouse probe investigators have obtained a copy […]
The Partnership for Open & Fair Skies, a coalition of top US airlines and unions, has sent an open letter to President Donald Trump, urging action to address alleged trade violations by the UAE and Qatar The letter, which has been published in the New York Times and the New York Post, claims that the emergence of Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways on US routes threaten […]
Beijing, China – 16 March 2017 On the sidelines of King Salman bin Abdulaziz visit to China and during the 2017 ‘Saudi-China Investment Forum’, Huawei Tech. Investment Saudi Arabia and Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu have signed a milestone agreement to establish a training academy and a smart city innovation center in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, accelerating smart city deployment in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. […]
By Jeff Mason and Andreas Rinke | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump reiterated his strong support for NATO on Friday and pressed German Chancellor Angela Merkel to meet NATO’s military spending target, in the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders. The meeting between the leader of Europe’s largest economy and the U.S. president was billed as one that could help determine the future of the transatlantic […]
ABU DHABI // The UAE and Brazil signed three accords during Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed’s state visit to South American country on Thursday. Two agreements – one on air transport service and another on visa wavers for holders of ordinary passports – as well as one on reciprocal visa exemption for holders of diplomatic, special, official and service passports were signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs […]
ROME Italy will host a meeting between European and North African countries next week in a bid to strengthen support for an agreement it struck with Libya to fight people smuggling as migrant arrivals surge. The prime minister of the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, Fayez al-Seraj, will meet with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and interior ministers from eight European countries including Germany and France on Monday. […]
Saudi Arabia’s push to boost political and trade ties with the Maldives faces growing resistance as activists in the archipelago oppose plans for an ambitious development project funded by the kingdom. King Salman bin Abdulaziz, who is on a month-long tour of Asia as Saudi Arabia seeks to deepen alliances with predominantly Muslim states in the region, is due to visit the Indian Ocean nation at the […]
JEDDAH: A new report by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) sets two landmark precedents on the question of Palestine, a Palestinian rights activist told Arab News.The report, entitled “Israeli Practices Toward the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid,” has drawn swift criticism from the UN and Israeli officials.“It’s the first time any UN agency has proven beyond doubt that Israel is […]
With the oil market showing signs of losing faith in a price rebound, Opec is now asking itself: what more can it do? Production cuts agreed late last year between some of the world’s biggest producers inside and outside the cartel, are losing their sway given the near 10 per cent drop in the Brent benchmark over the past week. Brimming global storage tanks and a resurgent […]
Agricultural traders and investors are watching the debut of a new derivative product that will allow them to bet on the benchmark price of Black Sea wheat. Wheat is the largest traded grain on the international markets and Russia became the leading exporter last year. Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine — collectively known as the Black Sea region among grain traders — accounted for just under a third […]
It is fitting that just a few hours until the Fed’s second rate hike in two quarters, and one day after Goldman downgraded global stocks to Neutral for the next 3 months, not to mention with the results of the anticipated Dutch election due shortly, that global stocks as well as S&P futures are higher, while crude oil has finally managed to stage a rebound as the […]
