A cushy government job, cheap fuel, a mortgage-free home and a bit of five-star travel and luxury shopping were never too much to expect in the Gulf. Yet what previously was taken for granted in the oil-rich region is being replaced by something more familiar to the western world: spending cuts, taxation, a scarcity of jobs and even strikes. There’s discontentment among young populations rarely seen before […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| As the local economy continues to adjust to softening global conditions, overall residential values and rents in Dubai are set for a further decline throughout 2016, according to leading real estate consultancy Cluttons. Cluttons’ Dubai Spring 2016 Residential Property Market Outlook shows that after falling by an average of 3.1% during 2015, residential values fell by an additional 2.2% during the first quarter of […]
An Apple iphone 6 with Apple Pay is shown in this photo illustration in Encinitas , California June 3, 2015. Reuters/Mike Blake SAN FRANCISCO Apple Inc’s first-ever drop in quarterly iPhone sales has spurred Chief Executive Tim Cook to turn the spotlight on prospects for its services business, but the field is rife with competition and may prove challenging for a brand based on gadgets. Second-quarter earnings […]
A man is seen near cyber code and the U.S. National Security Agency logo in this photo illustration taken in Sarajevo March 11, 2015. Reuters/Dado Ruvic SAN FRANCISCO Internet traffic to Wikipedia pages summarizing knowledge about terror groups and their tools plunged nearly 30 percent after revelations of widespread Web monitoring by the U.S. National Security Agency, suggesting that concerns about government snooping are hurting the ordinary […]
Almost a year after federal concerns about a cable/broadband monopoly derailed a proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable (TWC), officials yesterday gave a conditional thumbs-up to a three-way marriage of TWC, Charter Communications and Bright House Networks. Under the terms hammered out between the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the newly merged company will be prohibited for seven years from […]
By RICK GLADSTONE April 25, 2016 Iran said on Monday that it would seek to sue the United States at the International Court of Justice at The Hague to prevent the distribution of nearly $2 billion in impounded assets from Iran’s central bank to compensate American victims of overseas attacks. Distribution of the impounded assets, which the United States Supreme Court validated in a decision last week, has enraged […]
Saudi Arabia’s plan for the post-hydrocarbon era will have to overcome habits developed over decades of relying on crude sales to fuel economic growth, create job and build infrastructure. Almost eight decades after oil was first found in the country, officials are set to unveil Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s “Vision for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” on Monday, a blueprint seeking to reduce the reliance […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| Road sensors, cameras and traffic light systems face the risk of hacking and the data collected by these devices could be compromised with unforeseen results, endangering the security of both road users as well as city administrations. Leading cyber security company Kaspersky Lab experts have, after extensive field research, proved that the data gathered and processed by these sensors can be dramatically compromised […]
DUBAI // He may be a desert explorer and 11-time world record holder, but there was one thing about Max Calderan that all the pupils at a primary school wanted to know – was he ever bitten by a snake? The answer was yes, but three days later it was the snake that died. The Italian adventurer recently became the first person to cross the 340-kilometres Tropic […]
UAE. The latest Global Economic Conditions Survey from ACCA and IMA, released today, found that more half of firms are either cutting or freezing employment, while only 14% are increasing investment in staff. Responding to the findings, Faye Chua, ACCA head of business focus said: “Take North America out of the equation and the economic picture painted by this survey isn’t a pretty one. Emerging markets are […]
As we commemorate the 47th annual Earth Day, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a message for individuals or businesses thinking about throwing old electronic equipment and gadgets in the trash: Don’t. The agency, along with many other public and private organizations, is encouraging people to find ways to re-use or recycle the electronic machines and devices that seem to be produced by the millions each […]
As we commemorate the 47th annual Earth Day, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a message for individuals or businesses thinking about throwing old electronic equipment and gadgets in the trash: Don’t. The agency, along with many other public and private organizations, is encouraging people to find ways to re-use or recycle the electronic machines and devices that seem to be produced by the millions each […]
Cloud-based and digital transformation-related services are making strong contributions to Microsoft’s bottom line, while its PC sales have proven to be a drag and Windows Phone revenues are crashing, the company reported yesterday. Microsoft’s financial results for the third quarter of its 2015-2016 fiscal year showed the company with revenues of $20.5 billion, a six-percent decline over earnings in the same quarter last year. Those figures included […]
|By Matein Khalid| While the S&P500 fell only 1.2% last week, things will get uglier in April and May. Fed chair Yellen is playing with fire in talking down US interest rates and inflation risk. The Volatility Index (VIX), Wall Street’s barometer of greed and fear, does not capture the rising global financial and political risks at only 15. Market breadth, sector divergence, smart money flows, sentiment, leadership, […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| The cut in housing allowances implemented by companies in Abu Dhabi is creating further strain on the higher end of the emirate’s residential market, according to Cluttons Abu Dhabi Spring 2016 Property Market Outlook. This underscores the need to address the capital’s lack of affordable housing options, Cluttons said. Cluttons’ Abu Dhabi Spring 2016 Property Market Outlook report shows that the shrinking pool of […]
|ARABIAN POST SPECIAL| The Ras Al Khaimah Offshore Centre was among the centres, along with London, Miami and Zurich, used by Mossack Fonseca, the little-known but powerful law firm based in Panama, that constitutes the core of the Panama Papers, which has rocked the world by revealing the offshore links some of the planet’s most prominent people used to hide wealth. Mossack Fonseca has branches in London, Beijing, Miami, […]
|By Arabian Post Staff| SAMA’s foreign assets fell by US$9.4 billion in February, which is more than the combined US$1 billion drop in government deposits at SAMA and the US$5.3 billion domestic debt issuance, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said in its latest review. This likely suggests persistent capital outflows for Saudi Arabia, it added February data suggests domestic liquidity continues to tighten as M3 growth dropped to […]
Barclays Plc still has “critical mass” to compete in the Middle East and will aim to help local companies raise capital even as it scales back lending, Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley said. The U.K. lender has more than 200 employees in the United Arab Emirates after job cuts in the country this year and will continue to operate its corporate, investment banking and wealth management businesses […]
Russia’s oil output set a post-Soviet high in March as the success of a proposed crude production freeze between OPEC members and other major producers appeared to be in doubt. Russian production of crude and a light oil called condensate climbed 2.1 percent in March from a year earlier to 10.912 million barrels a day, according to the Energy Ministry’s CDU-TEK unit. That narrowly beat the previous high […]
A globe-trotting American investment banker who’s built a career on deals with Russia and its state-run gas company, Carter Page says his business has suffered directly from the U.S. economic sanctions imposed after Russia’s escalating involvement in the Ukraine. When Donald Trump named him last week as one of his foreign-policy advisers, Page says his e-mail inbox filled up with positive notes from Russian contacts. “So many people who I know and […]
|By Matein Khalid| I was surprised by the dovishness of the Federal Reserve’s FOMC policy statement last week given the white hot US labour market and metrics of wage inflation. Hence the $29 rally in gold, the plunge in the Volatility Index to 15, the fall in the US dollar and the surge in oil/mining shares. The Yellen Fed is still worried about deflation risk in China, Europe […]
|By Alaa Alghamdi| Judicial rulings have shown that the calamitous and tragic events of September 11 were borne out of a relationship between Iran and Hezbollah and al-Qaeda. Will the coming days reveal a similar relationship with Daesh too? Hezbollah is widely known for its support of terrorism, for inciting sectarian strife in the Arab countries, and for the cooperation of its members with drug dealers in Europe, North and South America, Africa, as a means to finance multiple activities, ease the burden on the Iranian treasury offering them substantial financial support, in […]
Even as it pumps near-record quantities of oil, Saudi Arabia is getting ready for a time when the world will no longer need its biggest export. The world’s largest crude exporter is focusing on renewable-energy sources such as solar power in preparation for a post-oil global economy, Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said at a conference in Berlin on Thursday. Still, he doesn’t expect that era to dawn […]
|By Lawrence Williams| The most recent call by Goldman Sachs to once again sell gold short has not, so far been a good move by the investment bank, and it comments in its latest research that it is down 5% on the call – with a stop loss indicated at 7%. But, it also reiterates that it remains confident in its bearish viewpoint and that it still stands […]
