A worker adjusts the logo at the stand of Huawei at the CeBIT trade fair in Hanover March 15, 2015. Reuters/Morris Mac Matzen/Files BERLIN China’s Huawei Technologies unveiled a new smartphone on Wednesday, taking aim at the high end of the market, which is dominated by Apple and Samsung Electronics. The Mate S, launched on the sidelines of Europe’s biggest consumer electronics show, IFA, in Berlin, has […]
|By Matein Khalid| Hong Kong now trades at 9.6 times earnings and 0.86 book value. Hang Seng valuations were gutted by the protest movements in Central and the Shanghai financial meltdown. The Hang Seng index is down 25% since late May and now trades at six times forward earnings, its post Lehman, post 2014 bottom. Hong Kong trades at its lowest price/book value since the Asian flu […]
UAE. With a 54% decline in the price of oil prices during the past 12 months the United Arab Emirates (UAE) real estate market is now beginning to feel the effect with property transaction levels falling across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, according to the latest research from international real estate consultancy, Cluttons. Cluttons’ annual 2015 UAE Property Report reveals that the direct correlation between hydrocarbon revenues […]
UAE. Management in the Gulf need to take more risks and develop staff to think creatively, according to a new global innovation survey designed to help companies stop wasting their best ideas and flushing hundreds of billions of dollars down the drain. Announced in Abu Dhabi today by PA Consulting Group, the report highlights an overwhelming view that leadership of organisations in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and […]
ABU DHABI // In three days, the country’s philanthropists have donated Dh40.8 million for the devastated families of Yemen. On Sunday the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) launched its Yemen: We Care, or Relief for Yemen, fund-raising appeal to help millions of Yemenis suffering in the conflict. The campaign is a part of the UAE’s pledge to help nearly 10 million people affected by the crisis in Yemen. […]
Middle East President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, arrives on Tuesday at a session of the Assembly of Experts, the country’s top clerical body in charge of appointing, supervising and even dismissing the supreme leader. By THOMAS ERDBRINK September 1, 2015 TEHRAN — Flexing their muscles, some of the toughest anti-American voices in Iran said on Tuesday that the United States remains their country’s top enemy, guilty of “uncountable” crimes. […]
Middle East Memo From the West Bank In the 10th year of a four-year term in the absence of national elections, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has lost the public’s confidence. A poll published on Tuesday showed trust in him falling to 16 percent from 22 percent in March. By JODI RUDOREN September 1, 2015 RAMALLAH, West Bank — Mahmoud Abbas, the aging Palestinian president, may be paving the way […]
Middle East Video Protesters took over the office of Lebanon’s environment minister in the capital on Tuesday, calling on him to resign for failing to find a solution to the garbage crisis. By ANNE BARNARD September 1, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — Demonstrators from the “You Stink” movement, protesting a garbage pileup and political dysfunction, occupied the offices of Lebanon’s environment minister in downtown Beirut on Tuesday, declaring that they […]
Middle East Patients waited to receive medical-transfer documents in Gaza City in August. By JODI RUDOREN August 31, 2015 GAZA — The medical report details some worrying conditions: chronic dyspnea — a shortage of breath that could be a sign of heart or lung disease — and bronchial asthma. It says the patient, a 28-year-old woman from Gaza City, relies on “continuous medication” and an inhaler. But the woman […]
Middle East By THOMAS ERDBRINK August 31, 2015 TEHRAN — Iranian security forces arrested a prominent reformist politician on Monday, hours after he held a news conference thanking President Hassan Rouhani for a more open political atmosphere, several Iranian news agencies reported. The arrest of the politician, Ali Shakorirad, put a damper on the hopes of Iran’s reformists. Just last week they launched the Islamic Iranian National Union Party, […]
Middle East A Syrian man near the Temple of Baal in Palmyra, Syria, in 2014. By ANNE BARNARD, HWAIDA SAAD and KENNETH ROSEN August 31, 2015 BEIRUT, Lebanon — Conflicting reports emerged Monday about the extent of damage that Islamic State militants in Syria have inflicted on the Temple of Baal, one of the most important structures in the ancient city of Palmyra. In their second attack on the world-renowned ruins in […]
INTERNATIONAL. The first Barclays UK Prosperity Map has revealed that booming house prices and returns in equity markets, in addition to higher wages and employment rates have resulted in every UK region becoming more affluent, and has driven a 41% increase in numbers of millionaires since 2010. Longer-term, growth in millionaires is expected to return to more normal levels, with a 9% increase in the UK expected […]
ABU DHABI // Emiratis have shown their philanthropic spirit by pledging to support a campaign to rebuild Yemen. At the weekend, the Emirates Red Crescent launched its Yemen: We Care – or Relief for Yemen – fund-raising appeal to help millions of Yemenis suffering in the conflict. Fahad bin Sultan, deputy secretary general of the ERC, urged the public to help out as aid was desperately needed. […]
CAIRO — The Egyptian foreign ministry said Sunday that it had summoned the British ambassador to object to his comments on a recent court ruling to jail two journalists, escalating the government’s defense of its crackdown on dissent. The two journalists, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, have attracted special attention because, unlike most journalists in Egypt’s jails, both have had long careers at respected international news organizations. […]
TEHRAN — Iran’s judiciary sentenced two people to 10 years in prison on Sunday for spying for the United States and Israel, but their names were not released, local media reported. It was not clear if the Iranian-American reporter Jason Rezaian, who faces similar charges, was one of them. It is not uncommon in Iran to hand down sentences without revealing names of the convicted, especially in […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanese demonstrators gathered by the thousands on Saturday evening to protest towering garbage piles, corruption and political dysfunction, largely avoiding the clashes with security forces that had marred earlier protests. The crowd in downtown Beirut was the biggest turnout yet, and many people arrived leery of the possibility of violence. Last weekend, security forces used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets as some […]
The logo of car-sharing service app Uber on a smartphone over a reserved lane for taxis in a street is seen in this photo illustration taken in Madrid on December 10, 2014. Reuters/Sergio Perez SAN FRANCISCO Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] has hired two top vehicle security researchers, the company said on Friday, high-profile additions that come as the ride-hailing service ramps up its work on technology for […]
|By Matein Khalid| A month ago, I published a column predicting history’s first Made in China global recession. Wall Street finally agreed with me last week after we witnessed the most brutal crash in global equities since October 2008. I have predicated a 20% fall in US equities several times in the last three months and the 1000 point drop in the Dow last week only reinforces […]
By Kingsely Ohajunwa| Corruption has been a clog in the wheel of progress in Nigeria; there are too many corrupt individuals in Nigeria; the level of corruption in the civil service is gargantuan and mind-blowing; political office holders embezzle funds meant for projects, progammes and welfare of the people; Nigeria has continually been ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world; the level of […]
The Saturday Profile By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK CAIRO — Mohamed Soltan knew he had one thing going for him when the Egyptian police came to his door: He was a United States citizen, raised primarily in Ohio. It did not mean much in the moment. The police had come looking for his father, Salah Soltan, an outspoken member of the Muslim Brotherhood. But when they found only […]
The Health Ministry said Thursday that 15 more people had died after contracting the Middle East respiratory syndrome, known as MERS, in the past seven days amid a surge of cases in the capital, Riyadh. The kingdom registered 47 new cases in the past seven days, all but two in Riyadh. That raises the total number nationwide to 1,165, with 64 receiving treatment and 603 fully recovered. […]
Autodesk Inc (ADSK.O), the maker of computer-aided design (CAD) software, reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue as its licensing revenue declined because of the company’s shift to a cloud-based subscription model. Shares of Autodesk, which also cut its current-year profit forecast for the second time, fell 5.5 percent to $47.24 in after-market trading on Thursday. The company forecast an adjusted profit of 60-72 cents per share for the year […]
Middle East By TIM ARANGO August 27, 2015 BAGHDAD — In a further setback to the faltering American and Iraqi campaign to retake Anbar Province from the Islamic State, two Iraqi generals were killed in a suicide attack by the group Thursday morning outside Ramadi, the provincial capital. Two explosives-rigged American-made Humvees, presumably seized on the battlefield from the Iraqi Army some time in the past year, exploded near […]
Middle East By KIMIKO DE FREYTAS-TAMURA August 27, 2015 LONDON — A 21-year-old hacker from Birmingham, England, who tapped into American military networks and was a central figure in the Islamic State militant group’s online recruitment campaign, has been killed in Syria by an American airstrike, according to three senior American officials. The hacker, Junaid Hussain, was a leading member of the CyberCaliphate, an Islamic State unit that broke into […]
