Gold edged higher on Friday, recovering from its lowest in more than two weeks as Greece failed to reach an agreement with its international creditors, although gains were capped by expectations of a U.S. interest rate hike. Asian equities fell as Greece failed again to reach an agreement with its creditors and stumbled towards a default, while major currencies like the euro and dollar drifted as the […]
|By TAP Staff| Globalization of Chinese currency RMB is consistently gaining ground. Recent SWIFT data shows that the growth in RMB payments is supported by an increasing number of banks. In May 2015, 1,081 financial institutions used the RMB for payments with China and Hong Kong, representing 35% of all institutions exchanging payments with the latter across all currencies. This is a 22% increase in the number […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The militants of the Islamic State carried out two new offensives in northern Syria on Thursday, entering a provincial capital and detonating large bombs in the border town of Kobani, where intensive airstrikes by a United States-led coalition helped Kurdish forces rout the jihadists last year. In southern Syria, rebel groups began a new campaign to push government forces from the city of Dara’a. […]
UAE. The latest Towers Watson survey on Health Benefits reveals that employers are investing more in the health of their employees as many Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries have implemented new legislation and amendments to laws that deal with mandates for employee healthcare coverage. These changes are already in effect or will come into effect in phases over the next few years and will implicitly impact employers. […]
SHARJAH // Social support officers from the community police department handled 76 cases of family disputes and violence in schools in the first three months of this year. “We have social and psychological support for victims to deal with runaways and fleeing from family cases,” said Lt Colonel Rashid Al Mansori, the department’s director. He added that victims of violent crimes, especially women, children and the elderly, […]
As the civil war in Yemen continues, many families say they are living in constant fear. Parents say that their older children have been wetting their beds at night, and that younger ones are so traumatized that they are sent running for cover by the sound of a door slamming. The fighting between Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed government forces has displaced a million people, destroyed cultural heritage […]
A construction site in Doha.Qatar has planned $200 billion in infrastructure spending. Qatar building boom a challenge for foreign firms DOHA, 10 hours, 44 minutes ago Qatar’s plans to splurge $200 billion on infrastructure as part of its 2030 development plan has lured foreign contractors to what promised to be big profits, but project delays and problems with contracts and bureaucracy have left many in difficulties and […]
By THOMAS ERDBRINK and RICK GLADSTONE June 23, 2015 TEHRAN — Iran’s supreme leader appeared to stiffen his hard line Tuesday on concessions in any nuclear agreement with foreign powers, one week before the deadline for completing an accord. In a speech broadcast live on Iranian state television, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said he would not abide any freeze on Iran’s sensitive nuclear work for long periods, ruled out […]
UAE. While Standard & Poor’s expects somewhat of a correction in the UAE’s residential real estate market after three years of sharp price appreciation–it should be nothing on the order that led to the Dubai crisis in 2009. After reaching a peak in 2014, the property market in the United Arab Emirates is set to soften in 2015 and early 2016. The market is facing a turnaround […]
UAE. The latest Crédit Agricole Private Banking research report, ‘Macro Comment – MENA Update’, noted that the UAE and Saudi Arabia continues to witness growth despite lower oil prices. The UAE even recorded high levels of job creation during this period. “Interestingly in the UAE, once again new orders and new export orders components reflected strong growth, while job creation hit a three-month high. This is reflected […]
DUBAI // Education can arm children to break through the cycle of poverty and war in the developing world, Reem Al Hashemy, Minister of State, said on Monday night. “Children are the most innocent and vulnerable and like in any war zone they are first to suffer,” said Ms Al Hashemy, also chairwoman of Dubai Cares, which on Monday night held a Ramadan talk titled “Empowerment through […]
|By TAP Staff| Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) secured a $1.5 billion term debt syndicated facility from local, regional and international banks. The nine year USD and AED financing was fully underwritten by Emirates NBD, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Dubai Islamic Bank, Mashreqbank, Noor Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and Standard Chartered Bank. In the syndicated market, the deal was well supported and oversubscribed where additional 14 […]
Saudi leaders, whose portraits are displayed at the stock exchange in Riyadh, have not confirmed the leak’s authenticity. By BEN HUBBARD June 20, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — It seems that everyone wants something from Saudi Arabia. Before becoming the president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi wanted visas to take his family on a religious pilgrimage. A Lebanese politician begged for cash to pay his bodyguards. Even the state news agency […]
UAE. On 14 June 2015, the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) published the final version of its first raft of regulations, including the Employment Regulations (the Regulations). In this article, we examine the Regulations and contrast them to the employment provisions in operation in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and the UAE Labour Law (the Labour Law). Background In 2004, the UAE amended its constitution to […]
|By TAP Staff| The shale industry boom, which was instrumental in oil producers like Gulf countries losing control of the market, is facing the risk of being sunk by the weight of debt. That should bring some reassurance to Gulf countries, who are now struggling to cope with the impact of lower oil prices. According to a Bloomberg report, drillers are devoting more revenue than ever to […]
A second cache of 276,394 documents stolen from Sony Pictures Entertainment — possibly by hackers in North Korea — was posted online Thursday by the not-for-profit media organization WikiLeaks. Posted on the third anniversary of WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange’s asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, the latest Sony documents include confidential memos from executives on coming films, notes on IT strategies, financial forecasts and movie marketing […]
UAE. Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been ranked as the 23rd and 33rd most expensive cities to live in (respectively) according to Mercer’s 2015 Cost of Living Survey. The two cities have experienced a significant jump compared to 2014, with Dubai soaring 44 places from last year’s position at 67 and Abu Dhabi going up 35 places 68th in 2014. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are the most […]
Every week, The National looks at the people and politics of the UAE, as the country steps more confidently forward on the world stage. June 11 New Zealand military visit to Ajman Museum A military delegation from New Zealand visited Ajman Museum and was received by Faisal Al Nuaimi, general manager of Ajman Tourism Development Department accompanied by ATDD national heritage adviser Ali Al Matroushi. Mr Al […]
|By TAP Staff| Bahrain’s Chief of Police confirmed that security authorities have seized significant quantities of internationally sourced explosives and bomb-making materials planned for use in terrorist attacks against Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The raid on a house in Dar Kulaib on 6(th) June, in the south west of the island, came as a result of forensic intelligence gathered by Bahrain’s security forces following the seizure in […]
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Thursday called for a radical transformation of politics, economics and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change, as his much-awaited papal encyclical blended a biting critique of consumerism and irresponsible development with a plea for swift and unified global action. The vision that Francis outlined in the 184-page encyclical is sweeping in ambition and scope: He described a relentless […]
Visitors at the exhibit “A Brief History of Humankind” at the Israel Museum. The museum is Israel’s largest cultural institution, presiding over Jerusalem from a hilltop site alongside the Knesset and the Supreme Court. By ISABEL KERSHNER June 17, 2015 JERUSALEM — A softly lit case displays a small, gnarled implement that is said to be the world’s oldest known complete sickle, dating back 9,000 years. On a wall […]
ME firms facing challenges in human capital trends BEIRUT, 1 days ago The readiness to address challenges in learning & development, reinventing human resources (HR), leadership, and culture & engagement is decreasing in Middle East organisations, a report said. This raises the question of whether leaders are doing enough to prepare their organisations to respond to today’s most pressing business and human capital needs, added the Global […]
UAE. Private wealth in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) showed solid growth in 2014 (8.4 percent), according to a new report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Global Wealth 2015: Winning the Growth Game, being released today. In the UAE, the growth of private wealth was driven mainly by equities. After all, between 2013 and 2014, the amount of wealth held in equities rose by 13.8 percent […]
