A worker works on a Samsung outdoor advertisement installed atop an office building in central Seoul March 23, 2015. Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji/Files SEOUL With four days to go in a landmark proxy battle, a Samsung firm is going all out to coax a legion of undeclared investors into backing an $8 billion merger with a sister company that is key to the future of the country’s biggest family-run […]
M&A values reached during Q2 is belowits median level of the last six years. Mena M&A market hits three-year low in Q2 DUBAI, 12 hours, 18 minutes ago The Mena M&A market markedly regressed during the second quarter (Q2) of 2015, well behind its prolonged three-year revived activity, with the total value reaching only $3 billion, a report said. With the total number of completed deals on […]
Ellen Pao speaks to the media after losing her high profile gender discrimination lawsuit against venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers in San Francisco, California March 27, 2015. Reuters/Beck Diefenbach SAN FRANCISCO Ellen Pao resigned as acting chief executive of Reddit Friday in the latest sign of turmoil at the site, recently roiled by the firing of a popular employee and ongoing tensions over the […]
Pedestrians walk past a logo of Toshiba Corp outside an electronics retailer in Tokyo, Japan, June 25, 2015. Reuters/Yuya Shino/Files TOKYO An independent investigation of Toshiba Corp’s accounting irregularities is looking at the role played by top officials, people familiar with the matter said, a move that could force a management overhaul at the Japanese conglomerate. As the probe has widened from looking into accounting errors at […]
SAN FRANCISCO Microsoft Inc’s (MSFT.O) future in mobile devices likely hinges on the software maker’s ability to convince developers to create apps for the phone version of Windows 10 after its ill-fated Nokia acquisition helped trigger 7,800 layoffs. The job cuts announcement is an acknowledgement that its 2013 $7.2 billion purchase of Nokia was never going to help paltry sales of its Windows Phone, and that it […]
Redmond is cleaning house. Microsoft just announced plans to restructure its phone hardware business to better focus and align resources. Part of that alignment translates to layoffs. Microsoft will cut up to 7,800 positions, primarily in the phone business. The result: an impairment charge of about $7.6 billion related to assets connected to its Nokia Devices and Services business acquisition. That’s on top of a restructuring charge […]
VIENNA — The talks to complete a landmark accord limiting Iran’s nuclear program have been extended for several days after negotiators acknowledged that they would be unable to meet a Tuesday deadline. To give negotiators more time to pursue a final accord, the diplomats agreed to extend through Friday an interim nuclear accord called the Joint Plan of Action. That interim agreement, which had been set to […]
By ANNE BARNARD and MAHER SAMAAN July 3, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — The fiercest fighting in months raged in the divided Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday, as newly reorganized insurgents carried out a new offensive on government-held areas. Two insurgent coalitions — a new one that includes the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, and one formed in May by local factions long active in Aleppo — attacked simultaneously […]
Google’s new image-recognition program misfired badly this week by identifying two black people as gorillas, delivering a mortifying reminder that even the most intelligent machines still have lot to learn about human sensitivity. The blunder surfaced in a smartphone screen shot posted online Sunday by a New York man on his Twitter account, @jackyalcine. The images showed the recently released Google Photos app had sorted a picture […]
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. […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon — A Saudi prince pledged on Wednesday to give away his entire $32 billion fortune to charitable causes in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the world. The prince, Alwaleed bin Talal, said the funds would go to his charity, Alwaleed Philanthropies, for causes like disease eradication, intercultural understanding, women’s empowerment, disaster relief and the electrification of isolated areas. The new pledge by one of the […]
REUTERS – Indian e-retailer Infibeam filed a draft prospectus for an initial public offering (IPO) to raise 4.5 billion rupees ($70.69 million), becoming the first of India’s ecommerce companies to list its shares on the domestic market. Infibeam’s IPO comes at a time of intense competition in India’s e-commerce sector, with high cash burn rates at industry leaders Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon.com’s India unit raising concerns among […]
|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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
|By TAP Staff| The UAE Federal government has lifted the restriction on foreign ownership of Etisalat shares, opening up the largest telecoms operator company to foreign investors for the first time, Etisalat announced. “The federal government decided to lift the restriction of Etisalat stock ownership by local institutions, foreign institutions and expatriate individuals provided that such ownership does not exceed 20 percent,” Etisalat said in a statement […]
Many reporters have developed an ad hoc system of using Google-related tools in their work. Now the tech giant wants to consolidate those tools and make them easier for journalists to use. On Monday, the company announced the launch of a new site called News Lab, which intends to connect journalists with programs, data and other resources — all from Google — to help in their reporting. […]
Windows users, rejoice. Over the weekend, Microsoft announced that its latest operating system, Windows 10, will be free for anyone who wants it. Previously, the company said that it would make the new OS available as a free upgrade, but only to certain users who were currently running Windows 7 or 8. That arrangement would have excluded anyone still running Windows XP, Vista, or even Windows 7 […]
AT&T Chairman and CEO Michael Armstrong (L) shakes hands withComcast Chairman Ralph Roberts (C) and his son, Comcast President Brian Roberts, before a press conference to announce the merger of AT&T Broadband with Comcast, in New York, in this file photo taken December 20,… Reuters/Peter Morgan/Files Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) founder and prominent cable industry executive Ralph Roberts died on Thursday at the age of 95, the company […]
By MICHAEL R. GORDON and ERIC SCHMITT June 19, 2015 WASHINGTON — Iran continued its “terrorist-related” activity last year and also continued to provide broad military support to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, the State Department said Friday in its annual report on terrorism. The State Department’s assessment suggests that neither the election of President Hassan Rouhani nor the prospect of a nuclear accord with the United States and its negotiating partners […]
Mohamed Alsawafiri, the presenter of “The News Program,” playing with a prop on the set last month. By DIAA HADID and MAJD AL WAHEIDI June 19, 2015 GAZA CITY — Men and women stood with suitcases at the port, waiting for a boat. Suspicious, Tarek, a 13-year-old tea seller, wandered over and asked, “Are they really leaving?” He had never seen anyone leave Gaza before, he explained. As it turned out, his […]
UAE. EY’s Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) Fraud Survey, Fraud and corruption – the easy option for growth?, has found that many businesses still do not have the basic building blocks in place for effective compliance. Only 52% of MENA respondents stated they had an anti-bribery or anti-corruption (ABAC) policy and code of conduct in place. The survey, which polled 3,800 employees of large businesses […]
Phoenix Power $146m IPO heavily oversubscribed MUSCAT, 10 hours, 58 minutes ago The flotation of Phoenix Power Co, owner of Oman’s largest power plant, has been heavily oversubscribed, attracting over RO1 billion ($2.6 billion) of bids from investors, the state-run Oman News Agency (ONA) reported on Sunday. The company sought to raise RO56.3 million ($146.3 million) by offering a 35 per cent stake in an offer open […]
