December 1, 2016 by: Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in Paris François Hollande announced on Thursday night that he would not run for a second term in next year’s French presidential elections. The unprecedented decision was driven by his historically low popularity ratings, which left him little chance of success against centre-right candidate François Fillon and far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen. He would also first have had to […]
By Ingrid Melander | PARIS PARIS French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday he would not seek a second term in office in the presidential election in 2017, an unprecedented move that leaves the way open for other left-wing candidates. It is the first time in decades that an incumbent French president has not sought re-election. Hollande is the most unpopular president on record. “I am aware […]
ANKARA: Israel’s new ambassador to Turkey arrived in the capital Ankara on Thursday, an Israeli embassy official said, to serve as the first official envoy since a six-year spat put diplomatic relations on ice.Eitan Naeh arrived in the morning, the official, who did not wish to be named, told AFP. Naeh is due to present his letter of credence to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the […]
By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen | COPENHAGEN COPENHAGEN Maersk Line, the world’s biggest shipping company, is to buy smaller rival Hamburg Süd, joining a wave of M&A in the industry just over two months after the Danish company revealed plans to bolster its transport operations. The deal, announced by parent A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) on Thursday, is the group’s first full takeover in more than a decade and highlights a […]
ABU DHABI // Ninety-seven children born to Emirati mothers and foreign fathers were granted citizenship under the orders of President Sheikh Khalifa. The General Directorate of Naturalisation in Abu Dhabi presented the naturalised citizens with their documents during a ceremony on Tuesday, reported Wam, UAE’s state agency. Brigadier Saeed Rakan Al Rashidi, Head of Naturalisation Department, who headed the ceremony, said: “This wise and humanitarian decision embodies […]
Submitted by Federico Pieraccini via Strategic-Culture.org, Looking at US history over a fairly long period of time, it is easy to see the destructive path that has accompanied the expansion of the American empire over the last seventy years. While World War II was still raging, US strategists were already planning their next steps in the international arena. The new target was immediately identified in the assault […]
By Paritosh Bansal and Serajul Quadir | DHAKA DHAKA Before Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury orchestrated Bangladesh’s worst militant attack, he sought and won approval for it from Islamic State. A Canadian of Bangladeshi origin, he was told by his contact in the militant group, Abu Terek Mohammad Tajuddin Kausar, to target foreigners, according to a senior police official who has seen communications between the two men. Chowdhury, located […]
By Angus McDowall and Tom Perry | BEIRUT BEIRUT Syrian rebels on Wednesday vowed to fight on in east Aleppo in the face of sudden government advances that have cut the area held by the opposition by a third in recent days and brought insurgents in the city to the brink of a catastrophic defeat. Gains by the Syrian army and its allies since last week have […]
30 November 2016 Dubai: Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the region, was named ‘Banking and Finance Company of the Year’ at the prestigious Arabian Business Achievement Awards held yesterday (Monday, November 28, 2016). The bank was recognised for its pioneering efforts toward the digitisation of banking as well as its resilient performance in the past year. The Arabian Business Achievement Awards are adjudicated by an independent judging […]
Photo Mahmoud Abbas, third from right, the Palestinian Authority president, at a Fatah party conference on Tuesday in Ramallah, West Bank. Credit Presidential Office, via Reuters RAMALLAH, West Bank — Under fire at home and abroad, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority moved on Tuesday to solidify his decade-long hold on power with a party conference that had already been purged of most of his opponents. […]
In this year’s election, the most powerful news source was Facebook. More than 40 percent of US adults—that’s more than watch any single TV channel—get their news from Facebook, according to Pew, and as plenty of journalists have recounted, the platform is flooded with hyperpartisan fake news. Yet Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s leadership refuse to own up to their responsibility for our politics. Zuckerberg argued […]
I’m willing to bet that self-driving cars are not high on president-elect Donald Trump’s list of policy priorities in his first 100 days in office. He’ll likely be so overwhelmed with the immediate demands of his office and squaring his campaign promises with his party’s often-competing agenda that federal regulation of autonomous vehicles will be on the backburner for a while. But with autonomy accelerating […]
5863 25 by Shannon K. O’Neil November 18, 2016 A police officer from the SWAT team stands guard during an anti-drugs operation in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila in the Philippines, November 12, 2016 (Reuters/Erik De Castro). Philippines’ Duterte Tries to Take Down Critic Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte brooks no dissent. His latest backlash is against one of his most outspoken critics, Senator Leila de Lima. After she opened […]
An employee of a foreign exchange trading company works near monitors showing U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaking on TV news (top) in Tokyo, Japan, November 9, 2016. (Toru Hanai/Reuters). With Donald Trump’s victory, the prospects for digital trade have dimmed. This development owes much to the hostility towards trade that Trump brings to the presidency. But it also involves shifts more fundamental than Trump’s rejection of trade […]
Vocus Communications has said it will be investing more in data analytics and digitising its customer service processes over the next year in order to continue competing in the telecommunications landscape. “This year, we have decided to invest in our data analytics capability, taking advantage of the forced shift from copper to fibre occurring over the next few years in both Australia and New Zealand,” Vocus chair […]
By Joseph Sipalan | KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia’s prime minister has expressed support for strict Islamic laws as he seeks to consolidate support of ethnic Malay Muslims at a party meeting this week, as frustration over graft and the economy cloud prospects for the next election. Prime Minister Najib Razak has battled calls to resign over the last 18 months, as a scandal at his pet […]
CAIRO — An Egyptian soldier crawls across hot sand in his underwear while his comrades stand at attention. Other soldiers say they are subjected to almost constant verbal and physical abuse and ordered to run personal errands for their superiors. Those accusations and images, part of a documentary broadcast this week, would have been provocative enough on their own. But the program was broadcast by Al Jazeera, […]
16.6MW of new solar power generation capacity doubles UAE’s total contribution to Mauritania’s clean energy output Abu Dhabi, UAE, 29 November 2016 Eight new rural solar energy projects have been completed, and are now operational, across the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, in western North Africa, doubling the UAE’s total contribution to the country’s clean energy capacity to 31.6 megawatts (MW). Delivered by Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Future […]
Quote by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA for the UAE Pioneers Awards In (the category of Best Local Initiative to Encourage Reading as part of Corporate Social Responsibility) Quote by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA for the UAE Pioneers Awards In (the category of Best Local Initiative to Encourage Reading as part of Corporate Social Responsibility) […]
By Andrea Hopkins | OTTAWA OTTAWA Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not attend the funeral of Fidel Castro, his office said on Monday, days after Trudeau’s warm comments about the late Cuban leader sparked a backlash. Furore over Trudeau’s expression of sorrow at Castro’s death has erupted in both Canada and the United States. Trudeau acknowledged Sunday that Castro had been a dictator as political opponents […]
By Andrew Callus | PARIS PARIS France’s centre-right rallied behind free market reformist Francois Fillon as its candidate for president on Monday after a snap opinion poll showed him clear favourite to beat far-right leader Marine Le Pen in an election showdown next year. Fillon, a former prime minister who vowed to change France’s “software” with an assault on public sector spending, moved one step closer to […]
Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before. Italian bank stocks are being hit hard this morning, leading declines across European financials ahead of a key referendum on December 4 that could have major consequences for plans to revive Italy’s troubled financial system. UniCredit – Italy’s most systemically important bank – is the biggest loser, falling 4 per cent, while Banco Popolare, Banca Popolare di […]
By Edward Taylor and Jan Schwartz | FRANKFURT/HAMBURG FRANKFURT/HAMBURG Just as Porsche and Audi have fought for supremacy on the race track, the Volkswagen brands are now locked in a cut-throat battle to develop and manufacture the next generation of electric cars at a group embroiled in the “Dieselgate” scandal. Volkswagen Group denies that the kind of internal rivalry that it encouraged at the Le Mans 24 […]
25 November 2016: Gulf International Bank (GIB) last night revealed its new corporate identity coinciding with the bank’s 40th anniversary celebrations. The unveiling of the new identity was shared with officials at a special ceremony in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. The new brand identity reflects the core of the bank’s new strategy and its board’s vision for the bank to be the preferred financial services […]
