By S. Sethuraman The world economy is yet to make a full exit of the 2008 financial crisis and its recessionary aftermath, so that growth prospects for 2014, the sixth year, have had to be revised down, with the disappointing and uneven recovery, mainly among advanced nations. And geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, with limited impact so far, may hold greater risks […]
Slide Show | Preparing for New Risks in Golan Heights The fighting in Syria has prompted residents of the Golan Heights, Israel’s quietest frontier, to reassess the potential danger. By JODI RUDOREN October 4, 2014 EIN ZIVAN, Golan Heights — The updates poured in by two-way radio and cellphone as Tomer Lahav’s pickup sped around this kibbutz near Israel’s cease-fire line with Syria one recent evening. Mortars were falling […]
By ANNE BARNARD October 4, 2014 BEIRUT, Lebanon — Fighting continued Saturday across Syria, with the militant group Islamic State assaulting a Kurdish enclave on the Turkish border, American-led airstrikes hitting Islamic State positions in northeastern Syria and Syrian government airstrikes pounding other insurgents near Damascus, Syria’s capital. Video surfaced of Peter Kassig, an American medical worker held by the Islamic State, in which the militants threatened that he […]
If you need to handle massive amounts of computational data faster than you are now, IBM has rolled out new systems just for you. Big Blue’s Power8 portfolio now offers systems that claim to deal with data at nearly 20 percent better price for performance metrics than comparable Intel Xeon v3 processor-based systems. To be sure, IBM is pushing toward the big data computational brink in response […]
Lamborghini’s Asterion Hybrid Concept car is being unveiled this week at the Paris Motor show. The mid-engine gasoline hybrid sports a 5.2-liter V10 capable of speeds near 200MPH. If it actually reaches production, this will be a nice alternative to the Prius. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the […]
A trading screen on the floor of Dubai Financial Market shows the bid and offer levels for Emaar Malls Group shares. Asa Fitch for The Wall Street Journal Shares of Emaar Malls Group started trading on the Dubai Financial Market on Thursday, marking the first significant new share sale in Dubai since the global financial crisis. Emaar Malls isn’t a big deal globally. But traders here say […]
Gulf banks are feeling the pinch of rapidly shrinking corporate loan margins, with some predicting a bounce in lending rates as soon as the first half of 2015 as the escalating price war bites into profitability. Lenders are being forced to cut rates and loosen lending terms to secure business as local banks, flush with cash as their balance sheets recover from the global financial crisis, seek […]
By S. Sethuraman The Reserve Bank of India’s Fourth Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement on September 30 does not offer any hint of monetary easing in the near future, again citing risks to lowering at present the policy lending repo rate from 8 per cent it has maintained since April, in the current fiscal year. This leaves all other policy rates and reserve ratios unchanged, (reverse […]
Cisco is adding some muscle and money to its Intercloud skeleton, signing over 30 new partners to its worldwide network of interconnected clouds. The new alliances add 250 data centers in 50 countries to Intercloud. Cisco Capital,a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco, has also earmarked $1 billion in financing to the effort, providing the money so Cisco customers and partners can more quickly adopt the Cisco technologies […]
New home? Chelsea could move to Twickenham while Stamford Bridge is redeveloped Photo: PA YES, the sort of widespread disruption that once accompanied football matches is a thing of the past, says Jim White. The very idea of Chelsea fans arriving in Twickenham has apparently put some locals in a state of high anxiety. They are terrified for their hubcaps, petrified about their herbaceous borders, panicked about the […]
By S. Sethuraman Tamil Nadu, noted for stability and good governance through decades, may be in for political uncertainty, without a robust leader at the helm like Ms. Jayalalithaa, the convicted and jailed Chief Minister. But this is dependant on the outcome of the 2016 assembly elections. Meanwhile, her ruling AIADMK will hold the fort firm. The space for political rivalry may open wide especially if […]
By Ashok B Sharma The likely face off between Indian and Chinese troops at the line of actual control (LAC) in Ladakh has been averted. Thanks to efforts of the Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her counterpart Wang Yi at the margins of the UN General Assembly. The Chinese troops have begun withdrawing from Chumar in Ladakh following the flag meeting between two sides. […]
Dubai construction company Arabtec is close to completing the planning and design stage of its $40 billion deal to build one million homes in Egypt, the company said on Sunday. Arabtec originally announced in March that it had agreed with the Egyptian army to build the homes at 13 locations around the country on land provided free by the armed forces. Construction was to start in the […]
BBK relaunches training plan for Bahraini graduates MANAMA, 6 hours, 22 minutes ago BBK, a leading bank in the Middle East, has announced the relaunch of its management trainee development programme, as part of its ongoing talent development and succession planning strategy. The bank has developed this programme to identify and foster future leaders in the banking Industry, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication. This […]
By DAVID E. SANGER and ANNE BARNARD September 27, 2014 WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said on Saturday that it had conducted its first strikes against Islamic State targets in a besieged Kurdish area of Syria along the Turkish border, destroying two armored vehicles in an area that has been the subject of a weeklong onslaught by the Islamic State. The action around Kobani, where at least 150,000 refugees have crossed into Turkey, appeared to signify the opening of […]
Turkish Kurds watched Kurdish forces battle with Islamic State militants across the border in Syria on Saturday. Turkey fears the fight against the Islamic State may embolden Kurdish separatists. By ANNE BARNARD and MARK LANDLER September 27, 2014 KARACA, Turkey — No American ally is closer to the threat of the Islamic State than Turkey, and no country could play a more important role in a coalition that President Obama is […]
Kurds in Turkey watched Saturday as Kurdish forces fought Islamic State militants just across the border in Syria. Although Turkey has accepted nearly 150,000 refugees, mostly Kurdish, from Kobani, Syria, in the last week, it fears emboldening Kurdish separatists. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. […]
Stephen Fry has boasted of taking drugs in royal palaces and famous hotels Photo: REX FEATURES Someone once called Stephen Fry “a stupid person’s idea of what a clever person is like”. Which is unkind: there’s nothing wicked about being a bit stupid, or admiring celebrities who seem brainy and cuddly, or enjoying a faux-donnish, avuncular figure who admits his problems with depression and makes you feel as […]
|TAP Special| The star-crossed Dubai Pearl project is in trouble again. Work on the project, which has a history of chronic fund shortages, missed deadlines and botched up designs, has been completely stalled and expectations of an early resumption of construction have been belied. In the wake of defaults of various nature, the structure faces the risk of even a second demolition, according to insiders. After the […]
Demand for aircraft leasing is expected to stay steady. Aircraft lessors wary as new rivals crowd into aviation ISTANBUL, 1 days ago By Tim Hepher Aircraft leasing companies voiced confidence in steady jetliner demand, but warned new aviation investors that they may take a painful hit when central banks start unwinding their efforts to stimulate the economy. Deterred by poor returns elsewhere as interest rates remain at […]
Written by journalist and Star Wars fan-boy Chris Taylor, this book tells the complete story of Star Wars for the very first time; both the creative and commercial phenomenon. From its origins in 1973 to the movies, the sequels, the franchise, the near-death of the franchise and its subsequent rebirth. Everything. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re […]
Just when you thought the drama was over. Apple is taking the iCloud hack that revealed naked selfies of celebrities seriously, adding new security tools to keep its cloud safe. But there’s still fallout from the early-September iCloud hack. Indeed, headlines report a new wave of naked photographs of celebrities leaked online. This wave includes movie star Gabrielle Union, pop star Rihanna, Disney Channel star Vanessa Hudgens, […]
The new smartphone being introduced this week by BlackBerry will be cheaper than both the Apple iPhone 6 and the newest Samsung Galaxy edition. But will anyone notice? The BlackBerry Passport will sell for $599 without a wireless carrier contract in the U.S. Compared to various models of the iPhone 6 and Samsung’s Galaxy S4 currently on sale, that’s a price cut of about $50 to $250. […]
Dubai World debt restructuring deal ‘soon’ DUBAI, 1 days ago One of Dubai’s top government officials said on Sunday that he expects state-owned conglomerate Dubai World to reach a deal on renegotiating its debt repayment schedule in the near future. “I can say for sure we will reach it. It is there and you will hear about it soon,” Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum, chairman of Dubai’s […]
