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The loss of revenues from oil will trigger a 23% decline in GCC exports from 2014 to 2015

INTERNATIONAL. Greece’s seeming hour-by-hour descent into chaos at the end of the second quarter has fashioned an intensely uncertain framework casting markets at the mercy of headline risk. It is with that ever-changing caveat that Saxo Bank publishes its Q3 Outlook ahead of the Greek referendum on EU membership which, as things stand, will take place July 5. The outlook for Q3, therefore hangs in the balance, […]

ISIS Destroys More Artifacts in Syria and Iraq

By RICK GLADSTONE and MAHER SAMAAN July 3, 2015 Islamic State militants indulged in new public displays of artifact destruction this week, sledgehammering a half-dozen statues said to have been stolen from the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. The militants also broke up a hidden 2,000-year-old lion statue they discovered in a Palmyra museum garden and demolished a 13th-century tomb near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. The destruction, publicized in […]

France rejects asylum request by Wikileaks founder Assange

A supporter of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange holds a placard with his mouth during a gathering outside the Ecuador embassy in London, Britain June 19, 2015. Reuters/Stefan Wermuth PARIS France swiftly rejected on Friday a request for asylum by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The founder of the transparency website had appealed directly to President Francois Hollande, days after Wikileaks published documents showing the United States had spied […]

US short-term real interest rates to remain near zero for foreseeable future, reveals industry poll

UAE. Short-term real interest rates (US) will remain near zero for more than three years, according to the majority of institutional investors, academics and policy makers polled at the AQR Asset Management Institute’s inaugural Perspectives event, at London Business School. At the start, delegates were asked how much longer they expected short-term real interest rates (US) to remain near zero, with 38% answering more than three years. […]

Can Boxes Serve as All-in-One IoT Hubs? Alticast Thinks So

According to a recently published white paper, cable boxes have the potential to become protocol-agnostic Internet-of-Things (IoT) hubs and in the process begin to address the competing protocols and closed systems that continue to hold back the IoT industry. The paper was written by Susan Crouse, director of product management for Alticast, which sells products and software for multi-screen viewing and TV interactivity. In the white paper, […]

Regulatory requirements top challenge for 79% of financial services institutions

UAE. 85 percent of financial institutions from around the world reported that their boards of directors currently devote more time to oversight of risk than they did two years ago, while 79 percent felt that increasing regulatory requirements and expectations were their greatest challenge, according to the ninth edition of Deloitte’s Global risk management survey. In addition, the most common board responsibilities are approving the enterprise-level statement […]

Exclusive – US should spurn Russia rocket engines despite SpaceX failure: McCain

An unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket explodes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida, June 28, 2015. Reuters/Mike Brown WASHINGTON The failure of a SpaceX rocket over Florida on Sunday should not lead U.S. officials back to Russia to look for a rocket engine that can get military equipment into space, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain said on Monday. “This mishap in no way diminishes the […]

Banks hit hard over Greece worries

Shares of the biggest U.S. banks fell, led by a 2.2 percent decline in Citigroup Inc., after talks to provide Greece with additional bailout aid failed and the Greek government imposed capital controls. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Financials Index slid as much as 1.1 percent, the biggest decline in almost seven weeks. JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest U.S. bank by assets, dropped 1.9 percent and […]

Exclusive: Amazon to offer loans to sellers in China, 7 other countries

Two freshly delivered Amazon boxes are seen on a counter in Golden, Colorado August 27, 2014. Reuters/Rick Wilking/Files   CHICAGO Amazon.com Inc will launch its business loan program for small sellers later this year in eight more countries including China, where credit is becoming a key factor in competing for new vendors and grabbing market share. Until now, the e-retailer has offered the service only in the […]

BCG outlines critical actions that E&P companies in the GCC must take to survive

UAE. A new report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm and the world’s leading advisor on business strategy, delves into the challenges faced by Exploration & Production (E&P) companies here in the GCC region. The fact is, these are trying times for E&P companies globally. Following more than a decade of strong financial returns, the industry has experienced several difficult years caused […]

UAE expat woman and child infected with Mers

ABU DHABI // A child aged 11 and a woman have contracted Mers from a relative who had the virus diagnosed last month. The two expatriates, who live in the Eastern Region of Abu Dhabi, were found to have been infected later. The World Health Organisation reported that the woman, 46, was suffering from other disorders. The WHO said they were relatives of one of two patients […]

OneWeb sets record launch plan after $500 million funding

Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises, speaks during the India Economic Summit 2014 at the World Economic Forum in New Delhi November 6, 2014. Reuters/Anindito Mukherjee/Files MUMBAI/CAPE CANAVERAL Privately owned OneWeb announced what it called the world’s largest commercial rocket deal on Thursday after raising $500 million from a group of global investors to support its plans to bring broadband to billions of people via satellite. […]

Women CIOs foresee bigger budget increases than their male counterparts, reveals Gartner survey

UAE. Female CIOs expect to increase their budgets by 2.4 percent in 2015, whereas male CIOs report average increases of just 0.8 percent, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. The worldwide survey included responses from 2,810 CIOs, representing more than $397 billion in CIO IT budgets in 84 countries. Among the respondents to the 2015 Gartner CIO Agenda survey, 13.6 percent were women. “For a second […]

Stress is the main health concern for Middle East employers

UAE. The latest Towers Watson survey on Health Benefits reveals that employers are investing more in the health of their employees as many Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries have implemented new legislation and amendments to laws that deal with mandates for employee healthcare coverage. These changes are already in effect or will come into effect in phases over the next few years and will implicitly impact employers. […]

Former Advisers Caution Obama on Iran Nuclear Talks

Five former members of President Obama’s inner circle of Iran advisers have written an open letter expressing concern that a pending accord to stem Iran’s nuclear program “may fall short of meeting the administration’s own standard of a ‘good’ agreement” and laying out a series of minimum requirements that Iran must agree to in coming days for them to support a final deal. Several of the senior […]

The Many Miseries of Yemeni Families

As the civil war in Yemen continues, many families say they are living in constant fear. Parents say that their older children have been wetting their beds at night, and that younger ones are so traumatized that they are sent running for cover by the sound of a door slamming. The fighting between Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed government forces has displaced a million people, destroyed cultural heritage […]

Why Owning Blackstone Group LP Is A Risky Proposition

Endangered wildlife list swells in 2015

Endangered wildlife list swells in 2015 OSLO, 17 hours, 2 minutes ago The number of animals and plants at risk of extinction rose in 2015 despite government pledges to improve protection, with species under threat ranging from lions in West Africa to orchids in Asia, a study showed on Tuesday. The Red List of Endangered Species, backed by governments, scientists and conservationists, grew to 22,784 species in […]

Op-Ed Contributor: The Iran Deal’s Fatal Flaw

Op-Ed Contributor By ALAN J. KUPERMAN June 23, 2015 PRESIDENT OBAMA’S main pitch for the pending nuclear deal with Iran is that it would extend the “breakout time” necessary for Iran to produce enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon. In a recent interview with NPR, he said that the current breakout time is “about two to three months by our intelligence estimates.” By contrast, he claimed, the pending deal […]

UAE property market is prepared for the correction that's underway, says S&P report

UAE. While Standard & Poor’s expects somewhat of a correction in the UAE’s residential real estate market after three years of sharp price appreciation–it should be nothing on the order that led to the Dubai crisis in 2009. After reaching a peak in 2014, the property market in the United Arab Emirates is set to soften in 2015 and early 2016. The market is facing a turnaround […]

UAE and Saudi Arabia continue to grow despite lower oil prices, finds Credit;©dit Agricole Private Banking report

UAE. The latest Crédit Agricole Private Banking research report, ‘Macro Comment – MENA Update’, noted that the UAE and Saudi Arabia continues to witness growth despite lower oil prices. The UAE even recorded high levels of job creation during this period.  “Interestingly in the UAE, once again new orders and new export orders components reflected strong growth, while job creation hit a three-month high. This is reflected […]

I’m Recommending A Riskier REIT

Non-oil to drive ME economies to 5pc growth

Non-oil to drive ME economies to 5pc growth DUBAI, 3 days ago Middle Eastern economies are anticipated to witness around five per cent growth this year due to the gradual shift in investment to non-oil sectors, a report said. However, implementing pragmatic macroeconomic policies to stabilise global oil prices at $50 to $60 per barrel is likely to remain a key challenge to revenue growth, added the […]

Fitch affirms Kuwait at 'AA'; Outlook stable

KUWAIT.  Fitch Ratings has affirmed Kuwait’s Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at ‘AA’ with a Stable Outlook. The Country Ceiling has been affirmed at ‘AA+’ and the Short-term foreign currency IDR at ‘F1+’. KEY RATING DRIVERS Kuwait’s ratings reflect its exceptionally strong fiscal and external position, balanced against a heavily oil-dependent economy, a degree of geopolitical risk, and weak scores on measures of […]