DUBAI // Fears over what effect overhead power lines could have on the health of families dominate the concerns of Emiratis in Al Barsha as campaigning for votes in the October 3 election to the Federal National Council gains pace. Residents would like detailed studies on the impact of overhead pylons on nearby homes. “Our whole family stays in villas facing the power lines, we have neighbours […]
|By Matein Khalid| The Federal Reserve could well raise its overnight borrowing rate at the next FOMC monetary policy conclave on September 17. Though contagion from China’s 40% stock market meltdown has triggered bear markets from Hong Kong to Frankfurt and plunged Asian/emerging markets equities into ta ghastly replay of 1998’s epic meltdown (General Suharto’s overthrow, the Russian rouble default, Malaysia’s capital controls, the run on the […]
DETROIT From his laboratory at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University, automated vehicle pioneer Raj Rajkumar says self-driving cars will evolve step-by-step, with humans staying in charge for a long time to come. More than 2,500 miles west in Mountain View, California, Chris Urmson, head of Google Inc’s self-driving car program since 2009, has a different view: A fully automated vehicle that requires no input or intervention from humans is […]
Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff gestures during news conference after an event at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil September 2, 2015. Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino BRASILIA Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff criticized ride-sharing software Uber on Wednesday for increasing unemployment, adding to a chorus of labour concerns about the world’s most valuable venture-backed start-up. Rousseff said local authorities must regulate the service, which has led conventional taxi drivers to stage […]
|By Matein Khalid| Hong Kong now trades at 9.6 times earnings and 0.86 book value. Hang Seng valuations were gutted by the protest movements in Central and the Shanghai financial meltdown. The Hang Seng index is down 25% since late May and now trades at six times forward earnings, its post Lehman, post 2014 bottom. Hong Kong trades at its lowest price/book value since the Asian flu […]
UAE. With a 54% decline in the price of oil prices during the past 12 months the United Arab Emirates (UAE) real estate market is now beginning to feel the effect with property transaction levels falling across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, according to the latest research from international real estate consultancy, Cluttons. Cluttons’ annual 2015 UAE Property Report reveals that the direct correlation between hydrocarbon revenues […]
A Microsoft logo is seen at a pop-up site for the new Windows 10 operating system at Roosevelt Field in Garden City, New York July 29, 2015. Reuters/Shannon Stapleton NEW YORK Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) avoided a potentially costly setback to its mobile phone business on Friday as the U.S. International Trade Commission declined to block the import of its devices in a longstanding patent dispute. The decision […]
|By Matein Khalid| A month ago, I published a column predicting history’s first Made in China global recession. Wall Street finally agreed with me last week after we witnessed the most brutal crash in global equities since October 2008. I have predicated a 20% fall in US equities several times in the last three months and the 1000 point drop in the Dow last week only reinforces […]
INTERNATIONAL. Market price action dictates direction – traditional support levels were broken violently. Yesterday’s market was the most energised sell-off since 2008/2009. – The US dollar lead this crisis and will lead back up when the low is in – We have reached most of Steen Jakobsen’s technical targets and below is his primitive “expected” path from here (2015 low getting established) – We will see recession […]
CAIRO — Saudi Arabia has arrested the accused mastermind of a 1996 bombing that killed 19 American airmen, a Saudi-owned pan-Arab newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed officials. The suspect, Ahmed al-Mughassil, was identified in an American federal indictment as a senior leader of an Iranian-backed Saudi militant group that sought to kill American military personnel in the Persian Gulf. The bombing destroyed an eight-story building in […]
A photo illustration shows the Ashley Madison app displayed on a smartphone in Toronto, August 20, 2015. Reuters/Mark Blinch Infidelity website Ashley Madison and its parent company have been sued in federal court in California by a man who claims that the companies failed to adequately protect clients’ personal and financial information from theft, saying he suffered emotional distress. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in […]
UAE. Business confidence in the Middle East continued to fall in the second quarter of 2015, but not as quickly as it had in the first three months of the year, according to the to the Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) organised by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and IMA (the Institute of Management Accountants). The slight optimism was due to a temporary reprieve in […]
In a widely watched terrorism lawsuit that drew the attention of the Obama administration, a federal judge in Manhattan ruled on Monday that the Palestinian Authority would have to post $10 million and an additional $1 million monthly to appeal a huge damages award for its role in six terrorist attacks in Israel that had killed and injured Americans. The bond amount was much lower than lawyers […]
ABU DHABI // Candidates for the Federal National Council have told of their reasons for stepping forward, as the objection process for the elections began on Monday. Sheikh Musallam Salem bin Ham Al Ameri said the people of his emirate had asked him to nominate himself. “The idea was crossing my mind, but when the people asked me to run I was happy to,” said Sheikh Al […]
|By Matein Khalid| Geopolitics is now another source of risk for the Turkish lira, government debt and Istanbul equities. The Turkish air force is bombing Daish in Syria and the secessionist Kurdish PKK party in northern Iraq. Suicide bombings have killed Turkish citizens in eastern Anatolian cities on the Syrian border. Ankara has given the US a green light to launch military airstrikes from the Incerlik air […]
Customers stand beneath an Apple logo at the Apple store in Grand Central station in New York City, July 21, 2015. Reuters/Mike Segar DETROIT/SAN FRANCISCO Consumer electronics company Apple Inc (AAPL.O) has hired a senior engineer from electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA.O), according to a LinkedIn posting, as part of Apple’s effort to build a team of experts in automated driving. A LinkedIn profile for […]
TORONTO Emails sent by the founder of infidelity website AshleyMadison.com appear to have been exposed in a second, larger release of data stolen from its parent company, cyber security experts confirmed on Thursday. The data dump by hackers who have attacked the site appears to include email messages linked to Noel Biderman, founder and chief executive officer of its Toronto-based parent company Avid Life Media. In a […]
DUBAI // The last day of Federal National Council registration lived up to expectations as 90 candidates rushed to apply before the deadline. “Just as we thought, the last day of registration in Dubai had the biggest turnout,” said Ahmed bin Humaidan, the head of the Dubai Federal National Council Election Committee. In Dubai, 21 candidates registered yesterday, six of whom were women. “We’re very pleased with […]
WASHINGTON — Partisanship has become the pre-eminent scapegoat for American political failure, an all-purpose explanation for Washington’s inability to act. Yet in rare circumstances, it can actually guarantee action. So, notwithstanding an acrimonious debate, polarization makes the United States’ acceptance of the Iran nuclear deal very likely. That is because the mechanism for congressional consideration, agreed on by Republican leaders and the White House, reverses the typical […]
A Brooklyn man accused this year of trying to join the Islamic State pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiring to provide material support to the terrorist organization. Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 25, who appeared in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, will face a maximum possible term of 15 years in prison when he is sentenced. The date for the sentencing has not been set. Mr. Juraboev is the […]
A Middle Eastern bank has reached a settlement with hundreds of American plaintiffs, including victims of terrorist attacks in Israel, who had filed a lawsuit against the bank accusing it of supporting terrorism. A spokesman for the bank, Arab Bank, and a spokeswoman for one of the plaintiffs’ law firms confirmed Friday that an agreement had been reached, but declined to offer additional details, including the amount […]
ABU DHABI // A judge accused of delivering a court verdict based on his personal interests instead of the law has been cleared of misconduct. The complaint arose from a misdemeanour trial more than two years ago at the Sharjah Court of First Instance. A woman, identified as R, accused another woman, D, of breaking into her apartment, insulting her and damaging her property. After hearing the […]
UAE. On 20 July 2015, the UAE announced its adoption of a Federal Law, Law No 2 of 2015 on Preventing Discrimination and Hatred (the “Law”). Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, has announced that the law “guarantees the freedom of individuals from religious intolerance … and underpins the UAE’s policy of inclusiveness.” Although the main aim of the Law appears to be […]
UAE. Media outlets in the UAE and elsewhere have picked up on a variety of recent stories regarding the use of social media in the UAE. These stories include one about an Australian expat being arrested, jailed and deported after posting a picture of a car taking up two disabled parking spots. A similar story from earlier in the summer related to an appellate decision to overturn […]
