UK retail sales grew rapidly in October as consumers — yet to experience the impact of the weaker currency — continued to spend and colder weather boosted clothing sales. The seasonally adjusted volume of sales was 1.9 per cent higher in October than in September, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday. Sales were boosted by strong growth in clothing and footwear as the end of […]
The welcome Several door staff are manning the slick hotel entrance as I drive up, and several more smartly dressed staff are stationed in the marble-and-glass lobby, which is dressed in fresh flowers and local artwork. A couple of the staff recognise me from a previous visit. The reception area to the right is also well-manned. I’m offered a cold towel and a tasty mango, mint, lemon […]
Despite an economic slowdown and rising inflation, Bahrain’s property market has witnessed stability across most real estate sectors in the second half, which is expected to continue into 2017, according to international real estate consultancy Cluttons. While the Gulf state’s residential markets have outperformed expectations due to resilient rental budgets, its office and retail markets have largely seen no change in rents in the first nine months […]
In September 1982, I was a wide-eyed, curious, and enthusiastic first-year undergraduate at a British university. I was excited at the prospect of getting involved in student life, and spent the first week joining societies and clubs that appealed to my interests. I joined the Overseas Students Association, the Arab Society, the Soul and Jazz Funk Society and the Indian Society (they make the best food and […]
CAIRO — An Egyptian criminal court sentenced a police officer to life in prison on Wednesday for fatally shooting a man who refused to give him a free cup of tea. It was an unusual move by a court in a country where the police are generally allowed to act with impunity, human rights activists said. The shooting in April, in which the tea vendor was killed […]
Pluto’s iconic icy heart is likely harboring a slushy ocean with layers of frozen nitrogen and water ice, which best explains the features revealed after the New Horizons spacecraft flyby, a new study suggests. What’s more, the dwarf planet may have once been walloped by a large comet that left a “giant scar” on its surface, which has since then been filled with heavy nitrogen ice, scientists […]
Donald Trump has pushed back on claims that infighting is hampering the critical process of putting in place his cabinet and top officials, insisting that his presidential transition is on track despite a series of dismissals and resignations. “It is going so smoothly,” Mr Trump tweeted on Wednesday, saying reports of chaos inside the team now headed by Mike Pence, his vice-president, were “totally wrong”. He also denied the transition […]
For four years, officials said, they had patiently requested that Dharam Pal Singh provide reliable evidence to verify his birth date: school records, military records, baptismal records, medical records, school records of his children. “We have absolutely nothing to prove how old he really is,” Pashkin said. “He could be 80; he could be 100. We don’t know.” Through the years, Singh had not been consistent in […]
DUBAI // Indian expatriates appealed to their government for enough time to get home and deposit the now-defunct 500 and 1,000-rupee notes. Last week the government of prime minister Narendra Modi scrapped high-denomination banknotes in an attempt to tackle corruption and tax evasion, setting a December 30 deadline to exchange old bills. India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, said those unable to deposit banknotes in […]
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Suez Crisis that shocked the western world with its tangles of politics and nationalism, greed and opportunism, imperial manoeuvring and Cold War brinkmanship. Michael Doran, former White House Middle East adviser and a deputy assistant secretary in the department of defence under President George W Bush, in his new book Ike’s Gamble: America’s Rise to Dominance in the Middle […]
And yet it does. Among those bothered is Lod’s mayor, Yair Revivo, who is Jewish and announced last month that the city would broadcast the Shema, a central prayer that begins “Hear O Israel,” to counter the mosques’ call. Continue reading the main story The first of Islam’s five daily prayers begins before dawn, noted Col. Motti Yogev, a member of Parliament who introduced the new ban. […]
Photo Costa Rica players after a goal on Tuesday night. The Americans, tied for last place in their group, will have to wait four months to play again. Credit Moises Castillo/Associated Press SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — The defense was a shambles. The midfield had little presence. The attack, such as it was, just spun and sputtered. How bad was it? It is difficult to know where […]
At the end of last week, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut interest rates. It could yet prove the last central bank to do so in the current cycle. For an inkling of why, look no further than the US government bond market. Treasuries are enduring their worst sell-off since the taper tantrum of 2013, when then Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke first signalled the end […]
Health experts and professionals in the UAE share some of their favourite apps and why they stand out. newslide Dr Rocco Arzoumanian, dentist at Dr Rocco’s Specialized Dental Center in Abu Dhabi, recommends Brush My Teeth, free to download for iOS, from Beansprites: “This is a game that teaches children how to brush their teeth in an informative and fun way. Children move the brush around the characters’ […]
From chanting in Arabic to classes for men, there are more than 100 yoga and natural healing classes packed into this year’s two-day Yoga Fest Middle East. The festival, which begins on Friday at Dubai Internet City Amphitheatre, was launched by Dubai yogi Elaine Kelly in 2010. It has grown from a one-day event attended by about 300 people to a gathering of 4,000 people eager to […]
US President-elect Donald Trump is sending another strong signal that he plans to take a pro-growth and business friendly approach to economic policy, with leading New York investors Steve Mnuchin and Wilbur Ross on his short list for Treasury and Commerce secretary. The pair on Tuesday won the endorsement of billionaire investor and Trump backer Carl Icahn who turned to Twitter after speaking with the incoming Republican […]
Donald Trump’s election victory heralds the beginning of a new era that will be marked by the retreat of globalisation and rising bond yields, according to Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio. Mr Dalio, the founder of the world’s biggest hedge fund group, said in a note on Tuesday that “there is a good chance that we are at one of those major reversals that last a decade”, similar to […]
MARRAKECH// The UAE delegation headed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, attended the opening session of the Conference of Parties 22 on Tuesday. Sheikh Mansour thanked the government and people of Morocco for hosting this important event to tackle climate change and to put in place an effective mechanism for the implementation of last year’s Paris Agreement. The session was […]
That WhatsApp has been working on a new functionality — support for video calling — is no secret. The company has now officially confirmed that the much-awaited feature is finally being pushed out for iOS, Windows and Android. On Monday, Nov. 14, the company confirmed the video calling feature’s arrival for the three ecosystems in a blog post. WhatsApp’s move was motivated by the fact that its […]
Every year, the International Prize For Arabic Fiction invites emerging writers to “nadwa”, a workshop at the Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort, where they can develop their skills with two established authors. This month, Emirati author Lamees Yousef took part. Her novel Rock, Paper, Scissors was published in 2014, and her follow-up, White Clothes in the Cooking Pot, is due out soon. “Nadwa was an astounding experience, […]
Photo A blanket of smog covered Tehran on Monday. Every year, heavy pollution gets trapped by the Alborz Mountains. Credit Atta Kenare/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images TEHRAN — This week, as a yellow blanket of smog settled in for what is typically a winter-long stay, Reza Shajiee, a prominent hipster socialite, posted a picture of himself on Instagram wearing a gas mask under his motorcycle helmet. The […]
ABU DHABI // A new law has replaced TransAD, the Centre for Regulation of Hire Cars, with a new organisation. In legislation issued by President Sheikh Khalifa on Tuesday, TransAD will become the Integrated Transport Centre, an independent authority that reports to the Department of Municipal Affairs and Transportation, reported state news agency Wam. It will regulate public transport, parking management, traffic control centres, weighing stations and […]
DUBAI // The delivery of more than 1,000 books for children in Pakistan has been on hold for almost seven months after the shipment was caught up in red tape. In April the first batch of books in the Kitaabie initiative, which aims to establish libraries every 100km in Pakistan, were due to leave the UAE but they have been held up in the courier’s storage space […]
PARIS U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will have little choice but to adopt a softer line on trade than the one he has flagged during his campaign, although flare-ups with some partners are likely, former WTO chief Pascal Lamy said. With financial markets wondering whether Britain will opt for a hard or soft Brexit, Lamy said that there was a similar scenario for trade under a Trump presidency. […]
