|TAP Staff| Iran’s oil biggest shipping company has amassed the world’s largest fleet of super tankers and is in talks to sail back into western waters should the Islamic Republic strike a nuclear deal, according to senior officials, the Wall Street Journal reported. The report quotes privatised Iranian shipping company NITC as saying it has 42 very large crude carriers, known as VLCCs, after buying 20 such […]
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, […]
DUBAI // Staff should not be forced into making up “lost hours” because of the reduced working day during Ramadan, recruitment experts and the Ministry of Labour have warned. The ministry has ordered that the working day be cut by two hours during the holy month, for Muslim and non-Muslim staff. Companies that do not comply face punishments including having employees’ visas cancelled, which would be a […]
ABU DHABI // Doctors have warned those observing the Ramadan fast to avoid urinary infections by drinking enough water in the evenings. “There is definitely an increase in the number of urinary tract infections diagnosed in this month,” said Dr Manaf Al Hashimi, consultant urologist at Burjeel Hospital. “The most common cause is ascending infection, in which the bacteria ascends from the genital area. “This is more […]
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. […]
UAE. According to EY’s report ‘How will the GCC close the skills gap?’, employers struggle to retain nationals due to high salary expectations; however, these employers rank young people’s lack of work experience (53%), communications skills (36%), and required skills and qualifications (22%) as further challenges to retention in the private sector. Three quarters of GCC employers feel the education system doesn’t know what skills employers need. […]
|TAP Special|Emirates has released a point-by-point rebuttal of subsidy allegations, asserting that the US legacy carriers got the facts wrong, got the law wrong, and set their sights on an outcome that will be wrong for American consumers, communities and the national economy. This is the airline’s response to allegations of subsidy and unfair competition leveled by the “big three” US legacy carriers – Delta, United and […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
VIENNA — Iran’s top nuclear negotiator was heading back to Tehran on Sunday to consult with his nation’s top leadership, as negotiators remained divided over how to limit and monitor Tehran’s nuclear program and even on how to interpret the preliminary agreement they reached two months ago. With all sides now acknowledging the talks would need to continue beyond what was once considered the absolute deadline for […]
TEHRAN — Persian carpets were rolled out in the Beit-e Rahbar, the downtown Tehran offices of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday, a sign that important guests were on their way. One by one, members of Iran’s establishment, politicians, clerics and commanders filed in, many exchanging the perfunctory greetings of committed rivals. They sat cross-legged and waited anxiously, knowing a crucial week of nuclear negotiations […]
UAE. MENA’s digital market value is expected to reach US$35 billion in 2015, and overall digitization initiatives could add $820 billion to regional GDP, creating 4.4 million jobs by 2020. However, this rapid digitization and the resources of the region make MENA an attractive target for a wide array of cyber-threats, according to a study by Strategy&. The Strategy& study looks into national cyber-security efforts by the […]
ABU DHABI // Parents have expressed their concern at a decision to close school cafeterias during Ramadan. They say that an equal number of children are not fasting because they are not Muslim or are too young. The Abu Dhabi Education Council, which issued the ruling, said it “does not have a particular policy regarding serving food for students during the holy month of Ramadan, however schools […]
In a memo to employees on Thursday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella spelled out his mission for the company: “to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” Microsoft will also aim to “reinvent” productivity and business processes, build an intelligent cloud platform and create a more personal computing experience for its users, he said. Nadella’s vision statement comes just a week after the […]
WASHINGTON — The State Department issued a dismal assessment of Iran’s record on human rights on Thursday, saying that the Iranian authorities had stifled dissent and engaged in “unlawful killings.” The assessment, part of a broad overview of human rights practices around the world, was published one day before Secretary of State John Kerry is to leave for Vienna to try to conclude a nuclear accord with […]
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. […]
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 […]
ABU DHABI // At least nine people were killed on Wednesday when a suicide car-bomber targeted a UAE aid convoy on a busy street in Mogadishu in Somalia. Most of the dead were Somali civilians caught in the blast and others were thought to be soldiers guarding the convoy. No UAE personnel were among the victims. At least six people were injured in the attack. They are […]
SANA, Yemen — For nearly three months, Saudi Arabia, along with its allies, has been bombing Yemen, its southern neighbor, hoping to force the retreat of Shiite rebels who have seized major cities and to return the country’s president from the Saudi guest mansion where he lives to the presidential palace. So far, it has not worked. The rebels, known as the Houthis, have gained ground, more […]
Redmond rolled out Office for Android-powered tablets in January. Now, Microsoft is finally releasing Office apps for the Android phone. That means if you’re using a Samsung, LG, HTC or some other Android smartphone you can tap into the power of Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps on the run. All you have to do is download them from the Google Play store. Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate vice president […]
A construction site in Doha.Qatar has planned $200 billion in infrastructure spending. Qatar building boom a challenge for foreign firms DOHA, 10 hours, 44 minutes ago Qatar’s plans to splurge $200 billion on infrastructure as part of its 2030 development plan has lured foreign contractors to what promised to be big profits, but project delays and problems with contracts and bureaucracy have left many in difficulties and […]
