The United Nations’ special rapporteur on privacy has lambasted a spate of new surveillance laws across Europe and the US, saying that there is “little or no evidence” that mass monitoring of communications works. In a report published this week, Prof. Joseph Cannataci, the first privacy watchdog to take up the post, said he was neither convinced of the effectiveness or the proportionality “of some of the […]
It’s a tall order for a crime fiction author to stand out from the pack. Such is the popularity of the genre, it can be fiercely competitive. The British-Sudanese writer Jamal Mahjoub doesn’t run the risk of imitation, however. Written under the pseudonym Parker Bilal, his detective series is a truly original creation. It follows Makana, a Sudanese private investigator living in exile among the hustle and […]
Saudi women from adventurers to inventors are hoping a unique conference in Riyadh on Saturday will highlight their changing role and inspire younger women to push for new opportunities in the ultra-conservative kingdom. The event comes at a time when reforms are slowly changing women’s lives in one of the world’s most gender-segregated countries – where women live under the supervision of a male guardian and cannot […]
Her name is synonymous with delicate fragrances in luxury packaging; the very scent of aspiration. But Jo Malone spent years wondering if her sense of smell would ever find a new outlet, after selling her eponymous brand and walking away from the business – a decision she now says was “the biggest mistake” of her life. Yet after a lengthy hiatus in which she found her creative […]
This report marks the end of a series of three big trains of thought. The first explained how we’re living through the Mother Of All Financial Bubbles. The next detailed the Great Wealth Transfer that is now underway, siphoning our wealth into the pockets of an elite few. This concluding report predicts how these deleterious and unsustainable trends will inevitably ‘resolve’ (which is a pleasant way of […]
Beyond the Net Journal: Armenia Chapter #3 Episode When Armenia declared independence in 1991, the Internet access finally became available, allowing people to be part of the world again. The creation of an Internet Availability Center in 2012 (funded by Internet Society’s grant) at the Culture House for the Blind in Yerevan, triggered creative ideas among active members of the center. They came to conclusion that an […]
11 March 2017 Kuwait – Kuwait Finance House (KFH) provides exclusive offers on 5 insurance policies for customers in collaboration with KFH-Takaful. The offers encompass 6 customer segments; Awlwiya-Nukhba-Ruwaad-Tamayoz- Sundus and Rubban. This covers the Sanad, Youmnak and Supplementary insurance policies on comprehensive cars insurance, in addition to Sanad for medical insurance and the policy of travel insurance. The discounts reach up to 50% until end of […]
Middle East carriers led the world after posting the biggest growth in passenger demand in January, according to new figures. The region’s airlines reported year-over-year demand growth of 14.4 percent, said the International Air Transport Association (IATA). It added that capacity climbed 11.4 percent and load factor rose against the year-ago period for a third consecutive month, up 2.1 percent to 79.8 percent. Globally, demand (measured in […]
The world is facing its biggest humanitarian crisis since the end of the second world war, with 20m people facing starvation and famine in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria, the UN has warned. UN’s humanitarian chief, Stephen O’Brien, told the Security Council on Friday evening that $4.4bn was needed in the next four months to address the escalating situation. “Without collective and co-ordinated global efforts, people […]
MEPs: Bankers, lawyers and accountants are “enablers” of tax avoidance A WIDE SUPPORT NETWORK of professional organisations “played a crucial role” in the biggest financial tax evasion scandal in world history, according to MEPs interrogating the circumstances and causes behind the Panama Papers tax scandal. Institutions of bankers, lawyers and accountants acted as “enablers and promoters of tax avoidance” allowing corporate and financial interests to slash trillions […]
Hopes for a new way to trade bitcoin were dealt a blow on Friday when US regulators rejected an application that would have let the Winklevoss twins launch an exchange traded fund tracking the digital currency. The Securities and Exchange Commission said it would not allow Bats Global Markets to list shares of the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust based on concerns that “significant markets for bitcoin are unregulated”. […]
Samsung Electronics has completed the acquisition of Harman International Industries in a deal worth $8 billion, the company announced. Harman stockholders will receive $112 per share in cash, and the deal was approved by the US firm’s stockholders and local and foreign regulators, the Korean company said. Harman will be 100 percent owned by Samsung, while Dinesh Paliwal will remain as Harman’s CEO. The company’s workforce, headquarters, […]
LOS ANGELES Starbucks Corp on Friday said its business has not been hurt by a social media boycott campaign started in response to the chain’s promise to hire 10,000 refugees globally over the next five years. Starbucks made its Jan. 29 refugee hiring announcement on the heels of President Donald Trump’s first executive order that temporarily banned travel from seven mostly Muslim nations. The move angered some […]
Bank shares have been the runaway winners of the post-election U.S. stock market boom as investors wagered that higher interest rates, lighter regulation, lower taxes and faster economic growth would boost profits for lenders. Up 32 percent since the election of Donald Trump, the S&P 500’s bank index .SPXBK has outpaced the wider market’s gain by roughly 3-to-1. Now, however, a changing dynamic in the bond market […]
Dubai, UAE, 9 March 2017: Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the largest Islamic bank in the UAE, has been awarded with “Best Sukuk House” at the EMEA Finance Middle East Banking Awards 2016. The ninth edition of the EMEA Finance Middle East Banking Awards took place at the Conrad Hotel in Dubai recently, and celebrated the regional banking industry’s top achievers. Dubai Islamic Bank is an international leader […]
By Caroline Valetkevitch | NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. stocks rose on Friday after a solid jobs report pointed to strength in the domestic economy and supported expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next week. Indexes ended lower for the week, however, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq breaking a six-week streak of gains. Government data showed 235,000 jobs were added in the public and […]
By Lucia Mutikani | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. employers hired workers at a robust pace in February, beating expectations, and wages grinded higher, which could give the Federal Reserve the green light to raise interest rates next week despite slowing economic growth. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 235,000 jobs last month as the construction sector recorded its largest gain in nearly 10 years due to unseasonably warm weather, the […]
ABU DHABI // The UAE topped the GCC in a Gender Progress Index released by business school Insead this week. The index takes a holistic view towards gender issues and includes education, health, labour, politics, power and society. It considers the relative performance of men versus women with no distinction between the two. The findings were discussed at a seminar marking International Women’s Day at the Insead […]
Risky US corporate bond funds suffered the largest weekly redemptions since the US election in November, as oil prices settled at their lowest level since December and benchmark stock indices slipped from record highs. The high-yield corporate bond asset class, which is comprised of speculative-rated groups judged more likely to default than their investment-grade peers, recorded outflows of roughly $2.8bn in the week to March 8, according […]
Dubai, 10 March 2017 Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI), an agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai, along with Dubai Exports, the export promotion agency of DED, will go on a two-week tour of the US on the 11th of March 2017 as part of strengthening the emirate’s engagement with major economies to reinvigorate global trade flows and foreign investment. The mission, which […]
Authored by former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner viaThe Hill.com, My grandmother used to say, “You can put truth in the river five days after a lie; truth is gone catch up.” Well, here’s the truth: The working men and women of this country are working more jobs and more hours, and they’re still barely hanging on. Beneath those fingertips, they can feel that middle-class dream – […]
A global research team has built five new synthetic yeast chromosomes, meaning that 30 percent of a key organism’s genetic material has now been swapped out for engineered replacements. This is one of several findings of a package of seven papers published March 10 as the cover story for Science. Led by NYU Langone geneticist Jef Boeke, PhD, and a team of more than 200 authors, the […]
© James Ferguson During the four-year battle for Aleppo, the world was flooded with images of the toll it took on the civilians trapped between the Syrian regime and opposition militias. As the siege tightened, the ancient city was dubbed Syria’s Stalingrad, enduring relentless street fighting, indiscriminate barrel bombings and deadly “triple-taps” — that killed civilians, killed those who came to rescue the wounded, and finally destroyed […]
Kuala Lumpur, 10 March 2017 Cagamas Berhad (“Cagamas” or “the Company”), the National Mortgage Corporation of Malaysia, announced its RM2.2 billion equivalent dual currency issuance, comprising a 5-year RM2.0 billion Conventional Medium Term Notes (CMTN) which was issued under Cagamas’ existing RM40 billion Medium Term Notes Programme and a 1-year SGD50 million Sukuk. The issuance was issued through the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Cagamas Global Sukuk Berhad under […]
