DOHA, Qatar — Persian Gulf monarchies issued a cautious endorsement on Monday of the accord Secretary of State John Kerry negotiated last month to constrain Iran’s nuclear program. “This was the best option among other options,” said Khalid al-Attiyah, the foreign minister of Qatar, who hosted a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council that Mr. Kerry attended. In a news conference with Mr. Kerry, Mr. Attiyah said […]
New York-based watchmaking upstarts Redux & Co. create watches that combine the look of classic pilot instruments with dive watch function. The COURG is a 39mm titanium case automatic powered by a Seiko SII caliber NH-35A movement. Strap options include ballistic nylon or Italian leather. A funded Kickstarter. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on […]
Saudi Arabia’s central bank has tightened restrictions on cash withdrawals from banks using credit cards in an effort to head off any consumer debt problems. Previously, under an informal industry arrangement customers could obtain cash advances equivalent to as much as 50 per cent of their monthly credit card spending limits, paying hefty fees to do so, bankers said. From last Thursday, an official ceiling of 30 […]
Payfort, a leading online payment service provider, has launched its installments service in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The new service that makes it easy for ecommerce merchants to offer pay-via-installment options to customers and gives consumers greater purchasing power. “Many consumers show a preference for purchasing-via-installments, but methods of processing monthly installments in common usage in the region have proved cumbersome for consumers,” […]
The Iranian energy projects market represents a $167 billion opportunity for regional and international companies as the Islamic Republic prepares for the lifting of sanctions, a report said. According to the latest data from Meed Projects, the Mena leading projects tracking service, there are 197 individual energy (oil, gas, petrochemical, industry and utilities) projects either planned or under way in Iran, a number that could well double […]
CAIRO — Secretary of State John Kerry told the Egyptian authorities on Sunday that they would not be able to defeat terrorism at home unless they showed greater respect for human rights. “The success of our fight against terrorism depends on building trust between the authorities and the public,” Mr. Kerry said at a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart. “If that possibility does not exist, […]
Protesters in Baghdad on Friday. High temperatures have made the lack of reliable electricity a bigger political issue than usual. By ANNE BARNARD August 1, 2015 BAGHDAD — In the Iraqi summer, when the temperature rises above 120 degrees Fahrenheit, electricity becomes even more of a political issue than usual. This past week, at the top of Iraqis’ agenda, it has even eclipsed war with the Islamic State. The […]
By ANNE BARNARD and ERIC SCHMITT July 31, 2015 BAGHDAD — A Syrian insurgent group at the heart of the Pentagon’s effort to fight the Islamic State came under intense attack on Friday from a different hard-line Islamist faction, a serious blow to the Obama administration’s plans to create a reliable military force inside Syria. The American-led coalition responded with airstrikes to help the American-aligned unit, known as Division 30, in […]
BAGHDAD — A Syrian insurgent group at the heart of the Pentagon’s effort to marshal local foot soldiers against Islamic State militants came under intense attack on Friday from a different hard-line Islamist faction, the Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. The Nusra Front said in a statement that its aim was to eliminate the American-aligned unit, known as Division 30, before it could gain a deeper foothold in Syria. […]
FRANKFURT/SAN FRANCISCO BMW (BMWG.DE) and Apple (AAPL.O) may rekindle a courtship put on hold after an exploratory visit by executives of the world’s top maker of electronic gadgets to the headquarters of the word’s biggest seller of premium cars. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook went to BMW’s headquarters last year and senior Apple executives toured the carmaker’s Leipzig factory to learn how it manufactures the i3 electric […]
ABU DHABI // Bertrand Piccard, co-founder of the Solar Impulse project and one of the pilots of Solar Impulse 2, the world’s first totally solar-powered aircraft, is looking to his staunchest supporters for funds to continue his journey around the world. Mr Piccard returned to Switzerland looking for €20 million (Dh80m) to repair the damage caused to Solar Impulse 2 as it flew to Hawaii. As the […]
Sophos launches cloud-based secure web gateway DUBAI, 1 days ago Sophos, a leading security solutions provider, has launched the Sophos Cloud Web Gateway, a cloud-based secure web gateway that delivers advanced protection for users, devices and data across multiple operating systems, regardless of their location. The addition of secure web gateway to Sophos Cloud integrates technology from Mojave Networks, which Sophos acquired in October last year, said […]
OnePlus 2 launched; big features at $329 NEW DELHI, 1 days ago OnePlus, the start-up Chinese smartphone maker, has launched its new flagship device OnePlus 2. The OnePlus 2 will initially go on sale in India, China, the US, Canada, and select EU countries on August 11. Southeast Asia will get the smartphone in Q4 2015. The phone will cost $329 for an unlocked 16-GB version and […]
TEHRAN — For Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post reporter now on trial for espionage in Iran, the incident was extraordinary but still looked like another example of the difficulties in covering the country’s politics. On a spring day in March 2014, his wife and a female photographer were stopped in broad daylight in their car on a busy Tehran highway and taken into a van, where, friends […]
ISTANBUL — As Turkish fighter jets pounded Kurdish militia targets in northern Iraq late Friday, the implications of the attack weighed heavily on Turks and Kurds across the border in Turkey, as they faced the prospect of being drawn back into a bloody civil conflict after years of relative peace. In 2013, Turkey brokered a historic settlement with the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., vowing to […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a striking admission, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria said on Sunday that the country’s army faced a manpower shortage and had ceded some areas to insurgents in order to hold onto other regions deemed more important. Mr. Assad also acknowledged in a speech televised from Damascus, the Syrian capital, that many Syrians could not watch the address because of the lack of electricity […]
SANA, Yemen — A Saudi-led military coalition announced on Saturday that a five-day humanitarian cease-fire would take effect in Yemen starting Sunday evening at the request of Yemen’s exiled president. Coalition forces have been bombing Shiite Houthi rebels and army forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh since March, aiming to push them back from southern and central areas and restore the country’s exiled president, Abdu […]
A wounded soldier received treatment in January 2013, at an Egyptian hospital. The poor condition of medical and other public facilities in the country have been illustrated on Facebook pages. By KAREEM FAHIM and MERNA THOMAS July 24, 2015 CAIRO — When the prime minister of Egypt visited two Cairo hospitals last month, he said he was shocked by the disorder and decay he encountered. No one else was. Egyptian doctors […]
An AT&T Logo is pictured on the side of a building in Pasadena, California, January 26, 2015. Reuters/Mario Anzuoni WASHINGTON The No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier AT&T Inc (T.N) and the biggest satellite-TV provider DirecTV (DTV.O) became the country’s largest pay-TV company on Friday, completing their $48.5 billion merger after receiving final regulatory approval. The newly expanded AT&T leapfrogs the biggest U.S. cable company Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O). […]
ADEN // An Emirati plane landed in Aden at dawn on Friday, bringing humanitarian aid to the southern Yemeni city only hours after its airport came under rocket fire from rebels. In total, four aircraft have arrived at the port city since the symbolic reopening of Aden’s international airport on Wednesday, which followed nearly four months of fierce fighting. The UAE plane delivered medical supplies from the […]
Shepherding livestock in the West Bank village of Susiya. Residents have been displaced three times in the last 30 years and are faced with ejection once again. By DIAA HADID July 23, 2015 SUSIYA, West Bank — Yousef Nawajaa strode between the tents bedecked with Palestinian flags, scattered through parched orchards and rocky hills, shouting delightedly to a man nearby: “Hey, did you hear? John Kerry spoke about Susiya!” […]
MUMBAI With only a tiny share of the world’s fastest-growing major smartphone market, Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is stepping up its push into India, with a first targeted TV advertising campaign, expanded retail network and promotional financing schemes. For years, India has been a low priority for Apple as spending power is weaker than in China, where the company’s iPhones swiftly became must-have devices after their 2007 launch. […]
UAE. Wermuth Asset Management has announced its expectation that, given the availability of solar power at $4 cents/kWh, a price with which crude oil could only compete if offered below $7/barrel, the ‘carbon bubble’ will burst and that it will have profound implications for the Middle East’s oil producing countries, global financial markets and the world economy. If COP21 leaders this year commit to a global 2⁰C […]
INTERNATIONAL. In my “Net Assessment of the World,” I argued that four major segments of the European and Asian landmass were in crisis: Europe, Russia, the Middle East (from the Levant to Iran) and China. Each crisis was different; each was at a different stage of development. Collectively the crises threatened to destabilize the Eurasian landmass, the Eastern Hemisphere, and potentially generate a global crisis. They do […]
