|By TAP Staff| Investors are expressing growing skepticism that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise rates this year amid fragility in the global economy and earnings, according to the BofA Merrill Lynch Fund Manager Survey for October. Fewer than half (47 percent) of investors believe the Fed will raise rates in 2015, down from 58 percent in September. A net 19 percent of the panel says […]
|By TAP Staff| Dr David Alessi, the Beverley Hills-based plastic surgeon who helped many a celebrity transform their faces and body shapes to keep pace with the latest trend in high fashion, will soon be available in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for the benefit of people in the UAE and the region. The founder and medical director of Alessi Institute located in Beverly Hills is currently here […]
|By TAP Staff| The existing international tax rules need to be modernised to reflect how business is done today, PWC said in a report on the OECD recommendations regarding Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) criteria. The BEPS project is an important step in the need to restore confidence in the international tax system. The OECD has been looking at every aspect of the international rules to see […]
ADEN // Thousands of pupils returned to school in the Yemeni province of Aden on Sunday, following efforts by the UAE to rebuild 154 institutions destroyed or damaged in fighting between Houthi rebels and pro-government forces. The conflict led to the closure of schools in several parts of the country, including the southern province of Aden, which was liberated by loyalist fighters – backed by a Saudi […]
ABU DHABI // Emirati women have expressed their disappointment that only one female candidate was elected to the Federal National Council. Naama Al Sharhan, from Ras Al Khaimah, was the only women out of 78 candidates to succeed by picking up 1,004 votes. Asma Al Ali, 26, from Ajman, said she hoped many more women would make it on to the council. “I was shocked, I expected […]
UAE. In times of economic uncertainty, cold-hearted international investors seek more diversification of their property portfolios; as London provides opportunity for property capital appreciation with prices continuously on the rise in the last five years, reasonable prices and growing yields in Dubai market make an equally attractive income generating opportunity. Mutual InterestFor Middle Eastern investors, London has always been regarded as a strong investment complementary to their […]
Saudi Arabia is expected to cut the prices of crude it sells to Asia in November after the Dubai benchmark weakened last month, in a move that will help the OPEC kingpin retain its market share in the region amid a global oversupply, traders said. Prices, however, are likely to be lowered less than what is indicated by a formula, given the top oil exporter tempered gains […]
ABU DHABI // Hundreds of pedestrians are risking their lives every day as they use a gap in a median fence to illegally cross one of the city’s busiest roads. On a recent afternoon, a group of men dashed across three lanes of traffic to the central reservation on Muroor Road, between Electra and Hamdan streets. As cars zoomed by, the men waited for a break in […]
RAMALLAH, West Bank — In a letter to the Israeli president just three months ago, Naama Henkin said she had contributed money to a fund for orphaned children, and asked him to do more to protect Jewish families like hers who live in West Bank settlements. The president, Reuven Rivlin, read the letter at the funeral for Ms. Henkin and her husband, Eitam, on Friday morning. The […]
MOSCOW — Russia widened its bombings in Syria on Friday, striking Islamic State territory for the first time, but showed no hint of heeding Western demands to avoid attacks on fighters pushing to oust Syria’s weakened, Kremlin-backed president. The Defense Ministry said its warplanes had bombed seven targets in overnight raids including a command post and training camp near Raqqa, the northeast Syrian city that the Islamic […]
ABU DHABI // The artist who designed the intricate flowers and vines that adorn Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque said the project had transformed his life. Before his work on the mosque, Englishman Kevin Dean was an acclaimed creator of botanic designs and illustrations, but had not worked on such a vast scale. After sending in his portfolio, he was appointed by Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed, the former […]
Boxes move on a conveyor belt at a Wal-Mart Stores Inc company distribution center in Bentonville, Arkansas June 6, 2013. Reuters/Rick Wilking/Files ATLANTA Wal-Mart Stores’ expanding network of large distribution centers will allow it to deliver packages throughout the United States in two days, setting it up to compete more efficiently in online holiday sales, a senior executive said on Thursday. Competition with online rivals including Amazon.com, […]
UAE. Lifting of Iran sanctions in the future will significantly boost its economy and positively affect the neighbouring GCC economies, especially the UAE. According to speakers at a panel discussion organised by ICAEW’s Corporate Finance Faculty in the UAE, this is due to its solid trading infrastructure. ICAEW members and guests gathered at Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai recently to discuss the impact of lifting Iran’s sanctions. […]
Middle East A vehicle at a base controlled by rebel fighters from the Ahrar al-Sham insurgent group that activists said was targeted by Russian airstrikes near Idlib, Syria, on Thursday. By ANNE BARNARD and ANDREW E. KRAMER October 1, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a second day of raids in Syria, Russian warplanes carried out a new round of airstrikes on Thursday that once again — contrary to Moscow’s assertions — appeared […]
The scales do not lie, or so we are told. But in the case of what constitutes being too fat, they just might be telling a few fibs, according to UAE health experts. A new report by the World Health Organisation, says almost half of all women in the UAE are obese, as are one in three men. Insurance provider Zurich International Life, based on a sample […]
The Syrian civil war, now in its fifth year, involves multiple countries with overlapping and at times conflicting agendas. Competing visions of how to manage the conflict, which has led to a major global refugee crisis as well as the rise of the Islamic State, dominated discussions at the United Nations General Assembly this week. But despite days of meetings and diplomatic maneuvering, the crisis has only […]
UNITED NATIONS — Over the last four years, as four million Syrian refugees poured into neighboring countries and slipped inexorably into poverty, António Guterres, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, said he had pleaded in vain with world leaders to take their plight more seriously. But suddenly, at the United Nations General Assembly this week, leaders of the world’s most powerful countries want to meet with […]
|By Matein Khalid| Even as China’s President meets the capo di tutti capi in Seattle, its manufacturing PMI falls to 47, a post Lehman low, with new export orders in a slump. I found it significant that the offshore yuan fell 200 pips to 6.4346 after the PMI. This proves my core argument, outlined a month ago. The Middle Kingdom will respond to its economic decline and […]
Saudi Arabia has withdrawn as much as $70 billion from global asset managers as OPEC’s largest oil producer seeks to plug its budget deficit, according to financial services market intelligence company Insight Discovery. “Fund managers we’ve spoken to estimate SAMA has pulled out between $50 billion to $70 billion from global asset managers over the past six months,” Nigel Sillitoe, chief executive officer of the Dubai-based firm, […]
INTERNATIONAL. What started as a civil war in Syria nearly five years ago has now evolved into an international crisis unmatched by any other since World War II. The global community now has a solemn obligation to end this humanitarian disaster, but it cannot do so unless all the powers affected by the conflict set aside their differences in order to end the suffering of millions of […]
Janet Yellen may have unwittingly helped the Indian dollar-loan market rebound from a three-year low. Less than a week after the Federal Reserve Chair delayed raising U.S. interest rates, billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. hired 16 banks for a $1.5 billion loan and Rural Electrification Corp. also approached lenders. That takes the pipeline of local dollar-denominated loans planned, mandated or in syndication to more than $5 […]
While Dubai continues to pump out sumptuous new apartment blocks, for a rising number of expatriates the city no longer offers the luxury lifestyle that lured many foreigners to the Gulf. A shortage of affordable homes and a reduction in overseas allowances since the financial crisis are pushing foreign staff on middle incomes out to less glamorous areas of the city far from the office, or to […]
Middle East Secretary of State John Kerry, left, with Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, at the United Nations on Saturday. By MICHAEL R. GORDON September 26, 2015 UNITED NATIONS — Secretary of State John Kerry sought on Saturday to draw Iran into the search for a political solution to the Syrian conflict as he began a week of diplomacy over the brutal fighting there. “I view this week as […]
SHARJAH // A lack of jobs is leading some Khor Fakkan residents to call for more Emiratisation, while others are concerned about health insurance and retirement allowances. Many who have graduated from universities cannot find a job and are calling for prospective Federal National Council (FNC) members to intervene. Jamila Rashed, 26, graduated in 2010 and was still looking for employment. “I applied to the public and […]
