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Google's self-driving car push spurs hiring spree at automakers

A Google self-driving vehicle is parked at the Computer History Museum after a presentation in Mountain View, California May 13, 2014. Reuters/Stephen Lam/Files FRANKFURT German premium carmakers BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi are snapping up software experts as tech firms such as Google threaten to outflank them in the race to develop a self-driving car. Software expertise has become a new battleground for automakers and tech firms as […]

U.N. Human Rights Chief Calls for Independent Inquiry on Yemen

GENEVA — The United Nations human rights chief called on Monday for an independent inquiry into violations in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition and by the Houthi rebels the coalition is fighting. More than 2,000 civilians have been killed and 4,000 wounded in the Yemen conflict, and the United Nations official, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that the fighting had left 21 […]

Palestinian Youths and Israeli Police Clash at Jerusalem Holy Site

JERUSALEM — Palestinian youths, some of them masked, clashed with Israeli police officers who entered Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque compound early Sunday in what appears to have become an increasingly familiar occurrence on the eve of Jewish holidays. This time, the police said, they had intelligence that youths had holed up in the mosque overnight and were planning confront Israeli security forces in an attempt to prevent […]

German carmakers party under China cloud

FRANKFURT Flush with cash and confidence after years of rising sales, German carmakers are used to reaping industry-leading returns. But with Chinese demand abruptly slowing, the profit engine has begun to sputter, overshadowing the glitz of the Frankfurt auto show which opens on Tuesday. For the home team of BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen, as well as European rivals such as PSA Peugeot Citroen, China’s downturn also threatens […]

Lebanon outlook revised to negative on weakening economic prospects; 'B-/B' ratings affirmed

LEBANON. On Sept. 11, 2015, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services revised its outlook on the Republic of Lebanon to negative from stable. At the same time, we affirmed our ‘B-/B’ long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings. RATIONALE The outlook revision stems from our view that political uncertainty in Lebanon and regional tensions will continue to weigh on economic growth in the mediumterm. In […]

News Analysis: Nuclear Deal Sealed, Obama Must Now Make It Work, and Mend Fences

Middle East News Analysis By PETER BAKER and JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS September 11, 2015 WASHINGTON — Having beaten back a congressional campaign to derail his nuclear agreement with Iran, President Obama now faces a panoply of challenges that may be just as daunting: making the deal actually work while repairing relations with disaffected allies and constraining Tehran’s regional ambitions. He got started Friday even as the House was still voting by announcing […]

Islamic State Ordnance Shows Traces of Chemical Agents, U.S. Says

Middle East By C. J. CHIVERS and ERIC SCHMITT September 11, 2015 The United States has confirmed the presence of traces of sulfur mustard, a chemical warfare agent, on fragments of ordnance recently used by the Islamic State in attacks in Syria and Iraq, according to two American officials familiar with the results of laboratory analysis of the samples. The laboratory tests, which were also performed on scraps of clothing from victims, […]

Scores Killed in Mecca as Crane Crashes Into Grand Mosque

Middle East By BEN HUBBARD September 11, 2015 IZMIR, Turkey — A large construction crane toppled over and crashed into the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca on Friday, killing at least 107 people and raising fears about the safety of the site before the yearly hajj pilgrimage that is expected to bring in millions of visitors to Saudi Arabia this month. Saudi Arabia’s civil defense authority […]

FERG ramps up awareness strategy against cybercrime

The UAE’s Foreign Exchange and Remittance Group (FERG), comprising of businesses engaged in money exchange and remittances in the country, has ramped up its awareness strategy to combat cybercrime.  The strategy focuses on disseminating information to member exchange houses to combat cybercrime activities costing the global economy over $110 billion every year, said a statement. Rajiv Raipancholia, FERG secretary and Orient Exchange’s chief executive officer, said: “Not […]

Apple and Hermès unveil the Apple Watch Hermès collection

INTERNATIONAL.  Apple® and Hermès today introduced Apple Watch® Hermès, a new collection of Apple Watch in stainless steel with finely crafted leather bands in distinctive styles from Hermès, including the Single Tour, Double Tour and Cuff, while respecting the design and functionality of the Apple Watch. The collaboration merges Apple’s unparalleled product innovation with the heritage, iconography and craftsmanship of Hermès, creating a unique expression of Apple […]

Hillary Clinton Backs Iran Nuclear Deal, With Caveats

Video The Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton backed the Iran deal in a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Wednesday. By DAVID E. SANGER and AMY CHOZICK September 9, 2015 WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday embraced the Iran nuclear deal that she paved the way for as secretary of state, but said it would work only “as part of a larger strategy toward Iran” that contained the […]

Republican Revolt Stalls House Debate on Iran Nuclear Deal

Middle East By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN September 9, 2015 WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders on Wednesday postponed debate on President Obama’s landmark nuclear accord with Iran amid a revolt by some Republicans who claimed the White House had not disclosed secret side agreements on the deal. The delay of the historic debate because of Republican infighting opened a new twist in the White House’s effort to move forward with the […]

Israel Bans 2 Muslim Groups That Protest at Jerusalem Holy Site

Middle East Palestinian supporters of mourabitat demonstrated last week against Israeli plans to forbid the group to enter the compound in Jerusalem that Muslims call the Noble Sanctuary, or Al Aqsa, and that Jews call the Temple Mount. By DIAA HADID September 9, 2015 RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israel on Monday officially outlawed an organization of Muslim women who chase and shout at Jewish visitors to a contested holy […]

Shortage of 'Middle-Income' housing is a major issue in the MENA region

UAE.  JLL, the world’s leading real estate investment and advisory firm, has today published a special report on the middle-income housing segment in the Middle East and North Africa region. The report highlights the social and economic impact of a marked shortfall in the required supply of middle-income housing, suggesting that significant efforts are needed to address the current imbalance. The report clearly outlines that this shortage […]

UAE comes second in global residential property investment ranking

UAE.  A report published today by international real estate advisor Savills has ranked the United States of America (USA), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Singapore respectively as the top three countries for residential investability on the basis of economic growth and market recovery. The new Savills World Residential Investability Ranking focuses on countries with cities and resort locations that have consistently attracted investor interest over recent […]

Fed, bank stocks and Wall Street bears

|By Matein Khalid| The Federal Reserve could well raise its overnight borrowing rate at the next FOMC monetary policy conclave on September 17. Though contagion from China’s 40% stock market meltdown has triggered bear markets from Hong Kong to Frankfurt and plunged Asian/emerging markets equities into ta ghastly replay of 1998’s epic meltdown (General Suharto’s overthrow, the Russian rouble default, Malaysia’s capital controls, the run on the […]

3 More Senators Back Iran Deal, Giving White House Added Cushion

WASHINGTON — Three Democratic senators announced on Tuesday that they would back President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, bringing to 41 the total number of Senate supporters as critics in Congress prepared to open a historic debate on the accord. With the support of the three senators — Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Gary Peters of Michigan and Ron Wyden of Oregon — the White House gained additional […]

Dick Cheney Denounces Nuclear Deal With Iran as ‘Madness’

WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday rallied Republican opposition to President Obama’s agreement with Iran, denouncing it as a “shameful deal” that would risk a new Holocaust and possibly lead to the first nuclear attack since Nagasaki. In a full-throated speech to supporters at the American Enterprise Institute here, Mr. Cheney argued that Mr. Obama and his team had abandoned their own criteria for […]

A New Wave of Migrants Flees Iraq, Yearning for Europe

BAGHDAD — Having sold his car for $4,600, and then some of his wife’s jewelry, and having loaded his smartphone with photographs of his five children, all that was left for Haider Abdella to do was say goodbye. “From yesterday to today, we are crying,” he said. His mother sat next to him on the couch, sobbing. “He’s never left me before, from when he was a […]

Wall Street Breakfast: World Stocks Surge Ahead

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid praises loyalty and dignity of UAE heroes’ families

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, on Monday praised the loyalty and dignity shown by the families of the 45 Emirati heroes, who were killed in Yemen last Friday. Sheikh Mohammed’s comments came as the body of one of the 45 arrived at Al Bateen Airport in Abu Dhabi after identification in Saudi Arabia. The fallen soldier was given full ceremony and attended […]

World Briefing: Palestinian National Council Meeting Is Postponed Amid Boycotts

JERUSALEM — A conference of the Palestinian National Council that had been scheduled for next week has been indefinitely postponed amid boycotts by some political factions and debate about the agenda and structure of the meeting. The 700-plus-member council, which has not had a regular session since 1996, was slated to convene in the West Bank city of Ramallah next Monday and Tuesday to consider, among other […]

Film Examines Israel’s Political Climate at Time of Yitzhak Rabin’s Assassination

JERUSALEM — In one scene, a group of Jews wrapped in prayer shawls begin reciting a mystical death curse known as the Pulsa Dinura. A man in a suit who has urged them to invoke the angels of destruction promises that their prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, “will be dead within a month.” In another scene, an actor plays an Israeli amateur photographer who captured the assassination of […]

Op-Ed Contributor: Israel in a Post-Deal World

HAIFA, Israel — THE day after six world powers reached a nuclear agreement with Iran in July, the Israeli Knesset’s foreign affairs and defense committee called on Israel’s government to “continue to closely follow the precise and strict implementation” of the agreement “to ensure that Iran is not continuing to fool the international community as it did in the past, while strengthening the historic alliance between the […]