|By TAP Staff|Meraas Holding said the first phase of its ambitious e $2.7 billion Dubai Parks and Resorts project incorporating the Legoland park would be completed by 2016. In addition to the Legoland park, that initial phase will include a Bollywood-themed park celebrating the Indian film industry and another known as Motiongate Dubai promising to bring Hollywood characters to life. Plans also call for a central retail […]
NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government may shatter a longstanding bar on the state-run pension fund putting money into equities, sending a flood of money — estimated at Rs 6,000 crore per year at least — into the stock markets, potentially making this the biggest source of domestic institutional investment after LIC. Such a move, which comes as attractive returns from the Indian stock markets have drawn […]
Spurred by a rapidly deteriorating economy, the International Monetary Fund has approved a three-year extended credit facility worth $552 million with Yemen, the impoverished Arab nation that has become a breeding ground for the terrorist group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The lifeline will provide some relief for Yemeni authorities who face a myriad of political and security challenges that continue to drag on the economy. […]
By Nivedita Bhattacharjee MUMBAI Wed Sep 3, 2014 11:01am IST Android mascots are lined up in the demonstration area at the Google I/O Developers Conference in the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, May 10, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Beck Diefenbach/Files MUMBAI (Reuters) – Google Inc’s (GOOGL.O) partnership with three Indian phone makers is set to rev up fast-growing demand for lower priced smartphones, and spell more trouble for […]
Secretary-General Hassan Al-Thawadi (3rd L) of Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, the nation’s 2022 World Cup organising committee, speaks during a news conference to announce the start of work on the Al-Khor Stadium in Al-Khor in June. Reuters Investors in Qatar are likely to hold their breath, and cash, this month: Well, at least until FIFA reports on its investigation of the bidding process for […]
By Dividend Yield: A good example how debt destroys the dreams of dividend growth investors is Tesco (OTCPK:TSCDY). The company cut its dividend payments yesterday by 75 percent. The major reasons for the trigger were worsening earnings as well as a high debt burden. Warren Buffett also bought a small stake in Tesco a few years ago and most of us thought it was a safe haven […]
A logo of Emaar is seen near the Dubai Mall Reuters Emaar Properties plans to float at least 15% of its profitable and fast-growing malls business in a September IPO. The chances are high though that Dubai’s flagship developer may sell an even bigger stake. It all depends on getting the right valuation for Emaar Malls Group. After all, Emaar will be cutting its own stake in […]
Oil rig maker Lamprell Plc’s operating profit nearly tripled as it completed four major projects ahead of budget in the first half of the year. The Dubai-based company reported an operating profit of $53.4 million in the six months ended June 30, compared with $19.2 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 25 percent to $632.3 million.-Reuters
A suicide bomber targeting the Iraqi military has killed at least 11 people, including four soldiers, in a town near Baghdad. Iraqi authorities say the bomber detonated explosives in his car at an army checkpoint in Youssifiyah, about 20 kilometers south of the capital. At least 24 people were wounded in the attack. Violence in Iraq has surged this year as the extremist Islamic State group and […]
Thirty-two United Nations peacekeepers have been rescued after heavy fighting in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The U.N. said Saturday that 40 of its soldiers remain under fire near the Syria-Israel border. A gunfight erupted between Philippine peacekeepers and Syrian rebels in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Philippine Defense Chief Voltaire Gazmin said the militants attacked one of the two camps Saturday manned by the peacekeepers. There were no […]
KUWAIT. A recent report issued by KFH Research, a subsidery for KFH Group, sees continued positive outlook for the Kuwaiti construction industry, on the back of strong domestic demand in the Kuwaiti economy and a pick-up in government capital spending. Overview and Outlook “While we remain fundamentally cautious about the country’s medium-term investment outlook, we note that higher growth in bank lending over the last few months […]
LEBANON. Byblos Bank issued today, in cooperation with the American University of Beirut through the Olayan School of Business, the results of the Byblos Bank/AUB Consumer Confidence Index for the first half of 2014. The results show that the Byblos Bank/AUB Consumer Confidence Index improved marginally in January and February, picked up pace in March and April, and regressed in May and June 2014. The Index reached […]
“We have to be honest, we weren’t able to finish it the way we wanted,” said Kassem Eid, a Syrian rebel who has joined the opposition in exile. By ANNE BARNARD August 29, 2014 BEIRUT, Lebanon — As he rode onto the base of the Fourth Division, the formidable Syrian Army unit that had been starving and bombarding his town near Damascus for months, Kassem Eid prepared for a […]
A cluster bomb was spotted at the Taftanaz air base in Syria after rebels seized the site last year. By RICK GLADSTONE August 27, 2014 Cluster bombs, outlawed munitions that kill and maim indiscriminately, have caused more casualties in the Syrian civil war than in the 2006 Lebanon conflict, when Israel’s heavy use of the weapons hastened the treaty banning them two years later, a monitoring group said Wednesday. […]
Arabtec Holding Co. (ARTC) declined for the first time in nine days after former chief executive officer Hasan Ismaik turned down an offer from Aabar Investments PJSC to buy part of his stake in the company. Arabtec, the United Arab Emirates’ largest publicly traded builder, lost 1.7 percent to close at 4.71 dirhams, the biggest drop since Aug. 12. It jumped 13 percent in the previous five […]
Blackstone Group is close to its first investment in the Middle East as the private-equity firm nears a deal to acquire a minority stake in Dubai’s GEMS Education, three people with knowledge of the matter said. Blackstone, based in New York, has teamed up with Fajr Capital Ltd. to invest in the world’s biggest privately held schools operator GEMS through its Blackstone Tactical Opportunities unit, the people […]
DP World Jebel Ali, UAE. DP World After posting a decent set of numbers in the first half, a company can be excused if it sounds optimistic about its growth outlook. In DP World’s case – the numbers are more than decent. The Dubai-based ports operator, one of the largest globally, reported a solid 26% jump in six-month earnings as it added new capacity amid a pick […]
West Texas Intermediate traded near the lowest closing price in seven months after speculators cut bullish bets and as supply rises in the U.S., the world’s biggest consumer. Brent was steady in London. Futures were little changed in New York after falling 0.3 percent yesterday. Crude inventories probably shrank by 1.8 million barrels to 360.7 million last week, a Bloomberg survey shows before an Energy Information Administration […]
The Floating Cinema drops anchor on the Grand Union Canal at King’s Cross, London Photo: HYDAR DEWACHI ‘It’s really captured people’s imagination,” enthuse producer Anna Ramsay and curator Laura Harford as they sit on the deck of the Floating Cinema, their 60ft wide-beam canal boat fitted out as a mini-Odeon. “I think it’s because it’s something so unusual, not at all what they expect to see on a […]
A revival of international bond issues from the Gulf is set to draw heavy demand from local and foreign investors, despite the latest geopolitical upheavals in the Middle East and the approach of higher U.S. interest rates. Gulf bond issuance has dried up since early July, because of a traditional summer lull in local investor activity as well as global market instability due to the crisis in […]
The United Nations condemned on Monday “appalling, widespread” crimes by Islamic State forces in Iraq, including mass executions of prisoners that could amount to war crimes. U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay condemned “grave, horrific human rights violations” being committed by Islamic State, a Sunni Muslim group which has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria to the alarm of the Baghdad government and its allies in […]
A man walks on Jumeirah beach as the Burj Al Arab hotel is seen during sunset in Dubai. Reuters Dubai’s hotels experienced a bumper first half even as refurbishment at the emirate’s main airport grounded Emirates Airline jets and limited the number of passengers flying. Hotels in the desert-city, which has become known for its extravagant infrastructure, architecture and opulent places to stay, catered to 5.8 million […]
QATAR. International food prices have been declining in recent months, reflecting record harvests and weak global demand. Declining food prices have in turn contributed to lower inflation in the Eurozone, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US). This trend, coupled with a weak Eurozone recovery and mixed economic data in the US, suggests that the risk of global deflation remains high. As such, we expect […]
INTERNATIONAL. U.S. special operations forces made a failed attempt to rescue journalist James Foley and other Americans held hostage by Islamic extremists in Syria earlier this summer, the White House said in a statement. The secret mission was authorized by President Barack Obama after the administration’s national security team concluded that the hostages “were in danger with each passing day,” said Lisa Monaco, Obama’s assistant for homeland […]
