DUBAI // What was once a wide, empty terrace at Ranches Primary School has been transformed into a peaceful outdoor garden where children as young as five can meditate and grow fruits and vegetables. Early years pupils visit the Rooftop Mindful Garden at least twice a day to calm their minds and nurture plants as part of a health awareness education programme the school is piloting with […]
The heads of the London Stock Exchange Group and Deutsche Börse went to Brussels at the start of February on the verge of clearing a major obstacle for their historic €29bn merger. Xavier Rolet and Carsten Kengeter thought EU regulators were set to bless the deal they had been working on for more than a year. But midway through the meeting, Mr Kengeter stepped out to take an emergency […]
While equity market euphoria at the prospect of President Donald Trump’s spendthrift, deregulatory agenda remains undimmed, bond investors are sending a very different message. US equity gauges have continued to climb this year, propelled by hopes of deregulation, tax cuts, government spending and more business-friendly policies. This week all four of the biggest stock indices achieved yet another “Grand Slam” of fresh records in the wake of […]
3 March 2017, Dubai Safwa Marine, Abu Dhabi Ship Building’s arm dedicated for yacht sales, service and management, has announced a partnership with Dutch marine communications specialist Radio Holland, on the sidelines of the Dubai International Boat Show. Under the terms of the partnership, the two companies will offer yacht and leisure boat owners in the Middle East a one-stop-shop solution for all their retrofit, overhauling and […]
Souq.com, the Middle East’s largest online retailer, has announced the launch of a book store featuring more than six million books. In a move similar to Kindle books on global e-commerce giant Amazon, Souq.com’s Global Bookstore will make books more accessible to the region and supports the UAE government’s Year of Reading initiative, a statement said. The Global Bookstore features all book classifications including culture, children, family, […]
Wikimedia Commons Amazon chief Jeff Bezos has revealed aspirations to create a stable, frequent delivery service to the moon over four decades since a man last walked on the surface. Bezos, who also owns private aerospace firm Blue Origin and The Washington Post, told the publication in an interview that in order to maintain a stable colony on the moon, a reliable delivery service is of paramount […]
Poynter announced today that longtime national and foreign correspondent Indira Lakshmanan is joining the institute as its Craig Newmark Chair for Journalism Ethics. Lakshmanan, currently The Boston Globe’s Washington columnist, has worked for newspapers, a wire service, digital and print magazines, TV and radio. The new position, which is funded by a $1 million gift from Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, will focus on best practices of verification, […]
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO Institutional investors anxious not to be left out of this year’s marquee initial public offering helped Snap Inc (SNAP.N) pull off the biggest U.S.-listed technology share sale this week since Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba Group Holding Inc (BABA.N) smashed records in 2014. Keen to boost returns and with a dearth of new stocks to buy, the IPO of a buzzy social media group was […]
People can now follow constriction updates at the Expo 2020 Dubai through Google Maps. With construction at Expo 2020 Dubai’s site well under way, Expo 2020 Dubai has said people can see what’s happening at the Expo2020 site through the online mapping system. With new #Google Maps satellite images, you can see what’s happening at the #Expo2020 site. See for yourself at https://t.co/cTVL5P6r9B pic.twitter.com/w2KRWIupD5 — Expo2020Dubai (@expo2020dubai) […]
Beijing is banning Chinese tour groups from visiting South Korea, the latest retaliation against the planned Korean deployment of the US-built Thaad missile shield, according to two people with knowledge of the plans. Wang Ki-young, a director at South Korea’s culture ministry, said on Friday that Chinese authorities had ordered tourism agencies in Beijing to halt tours to South Korea from mid-March. Mr Wang said the move […]
April 3, 2016 Panama Papers leaked; Sharif family under spotlight The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists made nearly 11.5 million secret documents public. The documents contained confidential attorney-client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities, with the source of these leaks being a Panamanian financial law firm, Mossack Fonseca. Eight offshore companies were reported to have links with the family of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his […]
03 March 2017 Kuwait City, Kuwait: Ooredoo, Kuwait’s fastest network, attended a number of important meetings during the company delegation’s visit to the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona earlier this week. The company’s delegation, headed by CEO Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani, included a number of the company’s senior managers and chief officers. During the visit, Ooredoo CEO and delegation visited Huawei’s pavilion, which displayed […]
Total Islamic banking assets in the UAE have increased to about AED520 billion ($141.5 billion), about 7 percent of the global total, it has been revealed. Saif Hadef Al Shamsi, assistant governor for Monetary Policy and Financial Stability at the UAE Central Bank, said that Islamic banking’ assets account for around 20 percent of AED2.6 trillion of the total assets of the state’s banks. He added in […]
SoleNet and Sure Telecom are prohibited from carrying on as a business or providing any telecommunications services for a period of two years, the Australian Federal Court ordered on Friday. In addition, the companies and their director James Harrison have been ordered to pay AU$250,000 in penalties. As of April 1, 2017, Harrison is also disqualified from managing corporations for three years. The Australian Competition and Consumer […]
SYDNEY The dollar clung to broad gains on Friday as the risk of an imminent U.S. interest rate hike slugged sovereign bonds and commodities, even managing to sour Wall Street’s party as the reality of rising borrowing costs began to sink in. Spread betters pointed to opening losses for European stocks and E-mini futures for the S&P 500 were off 0.3 percent. Asian markets were mostly lower, […]
Good news to fossil fuel companies. Bad news to advocates of the environment. The agency tasked to provide regulation and environmental protection on Thursday scrapped the order that requires oil and gas operators to report on their equipment and level of methane emissions. The order, issued in May 2016 by the Environmental Protection Agency, was one of the major actions of the Obama administration to combat climate […]
Dubai Police have launched a new radar to target drivers who avoid long queues by cutting in on other motorists. The General Directorate of Traffic at Dubai Police announced the launch of the new device which will monitor violators who jump in on queues in the emirate. The radar will be located at exits and intersections where drivers attempt to bypass long queues by cutting in closer […]
There was no mistaking the arrival of King Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia and his entourage in Malaysia on Sunday morning. Traffic stood still for 30 minutes as we waited for the 600-strong royal party to make their way from the airport to the centre of Kuala Lumpur — a near-endless stream of limos, lorries, outliers and ambulances, sirens screaming. This is King Salman’s first trip […]
BEIJING, Activity in China’s services sector expanded at the slowest pace in four months in February, with new business still growing at a solid rate but increasing competition making it harder for companies to raise prices, a private survey showed. The findings echoed a similar softening in growth in China’s official services activity survey released on Wednesday, and contrasted with an unexpected pick-up in growth in its […]
China’s 200 richest lawmakers are worth more than $500bn, according to the Hurun Report, which tracks the fortunes of the country’s wealthiest people. The Communist party officially welcomed private-sector business people into its fold in 2002, when the Chinese economy was the world’s sixth-largest. Their wealth has since soared in tandem with the Chinese economy, which is now second only to that of the US. According to […]
In a rash moment of generosity amid the euphoria of victory, he snipped off a negative and gave it to an army spokesman, who promptly handed it to the Israeli Government Press Office. In his 2007 autobiography, “Israel Through My Lens,” written with Ruth Corman, Mr. Rubinger recalled that the press office “in turn made prints and started distributing them to all and sundry for a dollar […]
Saudi Arabia’s main sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) is looking at taking minority stakes in German technology and financial companies, although any deal is unlikely before 2018, the kingdom’s ambassador to Germany said. Such a move would mirror other Gulf state funds from Dubai, Qatar and Kuwait, which have taken minority stakes in German companies including Daimler, Deutsche Bank and Volkswagen, although Ambassador Awwad Al-Awwad […]
Software-defined storage (SDS) startup Hedvig has closed $21.5 million in a Series C round of funding, bringing the total amount raised by the Santa Clara, California-based startup to $52 million. Investors in the round include Singapore-based EDBI and Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s (HPE) VC arm Hewlett Packard Pathfinder, Atlantic Bridge Ventures, Oman Technology Fund, True Ventures, and Vertex Ventures. Launched in 2015, Hedvig provides SDS for enterprises building […]
The law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers scandal has quit New Zealand. The offices of law firm Mossack Fonseca in Panama City (file). Photo: AFP Mossack Fonseca hit the headlines last year when a massive leak revealed its role in helping its clients hide their wealth around the world, including in New Zealand New Zealand became a popular destination for Mossack Fonseca to set […]
