UAE, January 8, 2017 The UAE Government has announced that it has completed the legal system for venture capital funds as one of the first projects approved by the Government Accelerators initiative launched by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai in line with the goals of the UAE National Agenda. The legal system for venture capital […]
Last year was truly unforgettable. It is the year we celebrated Mara’s 20th anniversary and launched three new businesses: an infrastructure investment vehicle for Africa; an online jobs portal, Mara Jobs; and a last-mile delivery business, Mara Xpress. It is also the year we launched the inaugural Ashish J Thakkar Global Entrepreneurship Index 2016 to better understand entrepreneurial environments around the world. But perhaps what will stick […]
NEW YORK China’s Anbang Insurance Group is in talks to invest in a project to redevelop a flagship New York City building owned by Kushner Companies, the family real estate business run by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The talks to revitalize the 41-floor building located at 666 Fifth Avenue, were first reported by the New York […]
Good morning. Here’s our morning roundup of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. Even when it comes to brutality, little is left to the media imagination these days. The latest example of the decline in consensus about the acceptable involves the Facebook video of a mentally disabled Chicago man who was attacked and […]
Bahrain’s government needs to implement an action plan in order to help hotels overcome financial challenges such as low room occupancy rates and increased overhead costs, with four and five-star hotels having reported an average room occupancy rate of 40 percent last year, experts said. The industry took a hit in 2015 due to low oil prices and remained slow throughout 2016, Bahrain Four Star Hotels Committee […]
How’s your weekend going? Redditor, Law School Graduate, and nimble navigator William Craddick (/u/PleadingtheYiff / brand new Twitter handle @williamcraddick) has made quite the name for himself on Reddit’s “The_Donald” forum. In just three short months, Craddick has managed to rack up over 153,000 “post karma” and 48k “comment karma,” which (if you’re not familiar) is impressive. The guy is an incredibly effective dot-connector, perhaps owing it to his legal training – often posting lengthy reads that […]
Uncover some of the cool new features hidden in iOS 10. It’s been nearly 10 years since I camped out in the rain to purchase the original Apple iPhone. We’ve seen the iPhone go from a MP3 player feature phone to a full blown handheld computer that is finding its way throughout the enterprise market. At my engineering consulting firm, we have a BYOD policy with IT […]
Sources within the Office of the Prime Minister speaking to The Malta Independent on Sunday have indicated that the audit commissioned into the financial affairs of Minister Konrad Mizzi will be published next month to coincide with a fact-finding mission to Malta by the European Parliament’s Panama Papers committee. The committee, named the PANA Committee, is due to visit Malta on 20 February. The […]
Britain’s three quoted major supermarkets are expected to report this week that they enjoyed solid Christmas trading, though investor concern about a potential squeeze on consumer spending in 2017 means the focus is on their outlooks. Shares in market leader Tesco (TSCO.L) and Morrisons (MRW.L), the UK’s fourth biggest grocer, soared 38 percent and 55 percent respectively in 2016, reflecting a recovery in trading. That coincided with […]
We are already witnessing the emergence of a digital divide: by 2020, every business will be either a digital predator or digital prey, according to Forrester Research. Digital disruptors are driving change everywhere, including in the Middle East, with people watching entertainment on Netflix, booking rides through Careem, and finding places to stay via Airbnb. However, according to a recent Forbes article, as many as 84 percent […]
By Joe Brock | JOHANNESBURG JOHANNESBURG The chances of South African President Jacob Zuma’s ex-wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, becoming the next leader of the African National Congress were given a boost on Saturday with the endorsement of the ruling party’s women’s division. The ANC will pick a new leader at a conference in December and, given its national dominance since coming to power at the end of apartheid […]
HELSINKI HMD Global, the Finnish company that owns the rights to use Nokia’s brand on mobile phones, announced on Sunday its first smartphone, targeted for Chinese users with a price of 1,699 yuan ($246). The launch marks the first new smartphone carrying the iconic handset name since 2014 when Nokia Oyj (NOKIA.HE) chose to sell its entire handset unit to Microsoft (MSFT.O). The new device, Nokia 6, […]
Jared Kushner, son-in-law and advisor to President-elect Donald Trump, has held talks recently with one of China’s most politically-connected tycoons about a potential real-estate deal, raising fresh questions about conflicts of interest in the New York billionaire’s incoming administration. The 36-year old real estate developer, who is married to Ivanka Trump, met with Wu Xiahoui, chairman of Anbang, a privately owned Chinese conglomerate, as recently as November […]
05 January 2017 UNB CEO, Mr. Mohammad Nasr Abdeen won the prestigious International Socrates Award in the Finance & Banking category from the Europe Business Assembly in the United Kingdom. The International Socrates Award consisting of a trophy, certificate and a medallion, was presented by the Europe Business Assembly at the Awards ceremony, which felicitated the best companies and personalities for their outstanding achievements in international relations, […]
Abu Dhabi Municipality seized a total of 1,233 abandoned vehicles last year, it has said. The civic body launched 6,687 inspection campaigns and issued over 4,929 warnings with regarding to abandoned vehicles in the emirate. The move to remove the abandoned vehicles is aimed to keep the city clean, improve the general outlook and enhance safety and security. The municipality said all notifications affixed on abandoned vehicles […]
BERLIN German luxury-car brand Audi said its deliveries rose to a new record last year despite the diesel emissions scandal, although that would likely not be enough to save it from dropping into third place behind luxury rivals Mercedes-Benz (DAIGn.DE) and BMW (BMWG.DE) in global sales rankings. The key contributor to Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) group profit increased sales of luxury cars and sport-utility vehicles to 1.87 million units […]
KFH Capital Investment Co, a subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House, has announced the acquisition of an office tower in New Jersey, US for $165 million. The building is fully rented by Panasonic Corporation of North America for a period of 15 years and is a significant centre for the company in terms of marketing, sales, services, research and development throughout North America, a statement said. Abdul-Aziz Nasser […]
Russian President Vladimir Putin personally approved cyber attacks aimed at interfering with last year’s presidential election motivated by “a clear preference” for Donald Trump, according to a newly declassified report by the US intelligence community. “Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election,” the report concluded. “Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate […]
Saudi Arabia is a historically entrepreneurial country. Jeddah has been a mercantile centre for centuries. Even Riyadh and the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madinah began as trading stations on the spice and silk trails. What has changed since the rise of the oil industry? Not the entrepreneurial spirit of the country but the institutional environment for entrepreneurship to flourish. As we contemplate the country’s future as […]
By Christine Murray | SAN LUIS POTOSI, Mexico SAN LUIS POTOSI, Mexico Ford Motor Co’s (F.N) abrupt move to scrap a planned $1.6 billion car plant in central Mexico has spooked a network of suppliers who bet on a growing customer base and dramatized the risk that Donald Trump’s agenda poses to the country’s broader economy. Many auto parts makers had started to expand in anticipation of […]
This week’s news that Medium is laying off 50 employees and closing its offices in Washington, D.C. and New York came as a surprise to the stable of news organizations that signed up to use the site as its publisher. The prospects for Medium, which was sold to publishers as a high-end alternative to traditional web advertising, now look less rosy as the company backpedals from what […]
By Jeff Mason | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON First lady Michelle Obama made an impassioned case for embracing diversity and welcoming all religious groups on Friday in a not-so-veiled message to her husband’s successor two weeks ahead of Inauguration Day. In what was billed as her last formal speech before President Barack Obama leaves office, the first lady said at an event honouring high school counsellors that the United […]
Dubai Opera has just celebrated its first 100 days of operation, with more than 60 shows delivered and passing the milestone of 100,000 tickets sold along the way. Whilst these achievements are ones of which everyone who works at Dubai Opera is exceptionally proud, we all recognise that we are really just starting out on the path towards our goal of regularly bringing world-class cultural, artistic and […]
Dubai Social media has become a window to the world and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai has reached a special landmark by attracting 15 million online followers. With accounts across several different platforms, Sheikh Mohammed is now considered one of the top five most influential global political leaders. In 2016 alone, Sheikh Mohammed’s followers on LinkedIn doubled to […]
