The 20th century was a bull market for literacy, freedom, prosperity, health, and technology. As a result of these gains, wealth has increased exponentially, and world poverty is now at all-time lows. Life expectancy continues to improve in most countries, global literacy is near 90%, and there are well over 100 democracies throughout the planet. But, as VisualCapitalist’s Jeff Desjardins notes, not every positive trend can keep […]
By Ernest Scheyder | HOUSTON HOUSTON The biggest names in the oil world come together this week for the largest industry gathering since the end of a two-year price war that pitted Middle East exporters against the firms that drove the shale energy revolution in the United States. When OPEC in November joined with several non-OPEC producers to agree to a historic cut in output, the group […]
There is good news that the sickle cell anemia, which is a slow killer that induces immense pain, is curable with gene therapy. This was disclosed by doctors at the Necker Children’s Hospital in Paris, where a boy afflicted with sickle cell disease attained complete cure after genetic engineering therapy treatment on a trial basis. Globally, 275,000 infants are born carrying sickle cell disease and in the […]
The nonprofit organization promoted Leadership, Service Learning and Global Citizenship through the Annual Youth Conference 05 March 2017 Doha, Qatar – Qatar Assistive Technology Center (Mada) took part in the Annual Youth Conference, Empower 2017, which was held on March 2 – 4. During the event, Mada hosted a workshop that discussed the fundamentals of accessibility and its universal design, which was presented by Ahmed Habib a […]
HP Inc’s new Customer Welcome Centre in London. Image: HP Inc/Jonny Back Photography George Brasher is a 26-year HP veteran who has worked in a variety of roles in the company’s printer and PC divisions over the years and is now HP Inc’s managing director for the UK and Ireland. ZDNet caught up with him at the company’s brand-new million-pound Customer Welcome Centre (CWC) in London, to […]
04 March 2017 Bahrain – Investcorp, a global provider and manager of alternative investment products, today announced the completion of its acquisition and integration of the debt management business of 3i (“3iDM”) from 3i Group plc. The business, now recognized as Investcorp Credit Management (“ICM”), adds $11 billion of assets under management, bringing the total to approximately $21.4 billion. Investcorp Credit Management is a leading global credit […]
Bait Al Kandora, the Dubai-based menswear clothing designer, has announced an agreement with HBS Investment to sell it a 25 percent stake, thus becoming the second largest shareholder. The agreement comes after Bait Al Kandora opened four branches in the city and plans to expand further, a statement said. HBS Investment is supported by Al Shamsi Holdings which was established in 2000, and focuses on fashion retail […]
The calendar may have only just flipped into March, but it has already felt like a long year for dollar bulls. They have been frustrated with the wait for detail from Donald Trump on the proposed tax and fiscal policies that started their run at his election in November. It is a rally that has faded in 2017, with the US currency down 0.25 per cent this […]
Digital and in-app transactions can reach unbanked audiences with convenient, fast and low-overhead services 04 March 2017 Dubai – The Foreign Exchange and Remittance Group (FERG), comprising businesses engaged in the money exchange and remittance industry, believes the rise of fintech in the GCC can help the remittance sector serve wider audiences faster through digital-first channels. The announcement comes as the Fintech industry booms globally and is […]
Dubai Holding, the global investment holding company, has signed an agreement with Dubai Municipality to develop the largest public park in the emirate. Stretching across an area of 1,430,000 sq m in Dubailand, the park will act as a “new destination for residents and tourists and provide a vibrant, natural environment, encouraging individuals to lead a healthy and active lifestyle”, a statement said. It added that when […]
Emerging markets had a third month of strong inflows into their equities and bonds in February, in a further sign of reviving optimism over an asset class that was expected to be caught in the crosshairs of any US move to protectionism. There were cross-border flows to EM assets of more than $17bn in the month, up from just over $14bn in January, data from the Institute […]
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. So what have you heard more often: “Fox & Friends” shilling for President Trump or sophisticated people confiding their real reason for reading The New Yorker is the cartoons? Ah, if only Bob Mankoff had long ago negotiated some piece […]
In the most arid areas where there is little to no water, there live nematodes of no more than 1 mm which feed on bacteria and help to mineralise soil and produce nutrients. In an orchard of Jaén a new species has appeared with a feature that makes them unique on the Iberian Peninsula: the males lack the copulatory organ. The southern part of the Iberian Peninsula, […]
PARIS/LONDON France’s PSA Group (PEUP.PA) is set to announce a deal to buy Opel from General Motors (GM.N) on Monday after striking an agreement with the U.S. carmaker and winning the blessing of its board for the acquisition. The maker of Peugeot, Citroen and DS cars said on Saturday it would hold an early Monday press conference with GM, at which the transaction is expected to be […]
Jon Corzine, the former New Jersey governor and Goldman Sachs chief who oversaw the collapse of MF Global, is poised to take the stand next week in a potentially explosive trial over the alleged negligence of the company’s auditor, PwC. The world’s second-biggest professional services firm was the auditor of MF Global, the futures brokerage that collapsed in October 2011 after huge bets on the debt of […]
Investors have poured nearly $80bn into US equity funds since November’s election as optimism over the new administration’s pro-growth agenda received a boost after President Donald Trump addressed Congress this week. Funds invested in US stocks counted $6.7bn of additions in the week to March 1, lifting flows since November 8 to $79.4bn, according to data from EPFR. The inflows have partially reversed a near constant exodus […]
By Michael Martina and Philip Wen | BEIJING BEIJING Defying pressure for a strong increase in defence spending, China said on Saturday its military budget this year would grow about 7 percent, its slowest pace since 2010. Last year, with China’s economy slowing, the defence budget recorded its lowest increase in six years, 7.6 percent, the first single-digit rise since 2010, following a nearly unbroken two-decade run […]
KARACHI: The Panama Papers — a huge leak of documents detailing the alleged secret offshore holdings of global elite — were released in April 2016. The leak made headlines all-over the world, but its impact was probably most keenly felt in Iceland. Just two days after the leak appeared, Iceland’s prime minister had to resign from his office over protests by the people. Thousands of people had […]
The biggest issue facing the world of social media influencers is transparency. Should the person with 100,000 followers on Instagram (or 5.4 million followers as the keynote speaker, Joelle Mardinian, can boast) announce that she is being paid to promote a product? The inevitable tangents to the four hours of conversations tried to answer the question: what constitutes an influencer (or a content generator as one panellist […]
Once upon a time, it was seen as a significant concession to put wheelchair-accessible rooms in a hotel room and organise special assistance for getting off a plane. But things are changing – partly because authorities are introducing more disability-friendly regulations, but mainly because tourism operators have twigged that accessible travel is a lucrative market. And that has led to innovations such as these: Accessible skiing in […]
Ismail, a 20-year-old Emirati, has rarely ever stepped into a bank branch. “You won’t believe I haven’t visited my branch for over a year. All my transactions are done online,” he says, as he clicks an app on his phone to make a payment. “I just paid my bill and that’s how it works for me. All the services are at my fingertips and I save immense […]
KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia on Saturday rejected claims it may have violated sanctions imposed by the United Nations on North Korea, after a Reuters report this week said North Korea-linked firms were running an arms network in the country. “Malaysia categorically rejects any such insinuation,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement. The statement said Malaysia has provided required responses to queries raised by the United Nations […]
Three GCC-based retailers have been named in a new list of the world’s top 250, with the UAE’s Emke Group ranked the Middle East’s biggest. Emke, which runs the Lulu chain on hypermarkets and earlier this month announces major expansion plans in Saudi Arabia, posted sales revenue of $6.2 billion. Dubai mall operator Majid Al Futtaim saw revenue of $6 billion while Saudi-based food firm Savola posted […]
The National staff ABU DHABI // About 1,650 people have been given a range of medical assistance in Tanzania as part of the UAE’s Zayed Giving humanitarian drive. Children and elderly people were treated by the UAE’s team of medical volunteers. The initiative was carried out under the supervision of the UAE-Tanzanian voluntary medical team. The Zayed Giving convoys have now completed the first phase of its […]
