Tariq Aziz, left, in 1992 at the United Nations as deputy prime minister of Iraq, talking with Chinmaya Rajaninath Gharekhan, the Indian delegate, at a meeting of the Security Council. By ALISSA J. RUBIN June 5, 2015 Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi foreign minister and deputy prime minister who for decades was the most public face of Saddam Hussein’s government on the world stage, died on Friday in Nasiriya, Iraq, where […]
By ALISSA J. RUBIN June 5, 2015 Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi foreign minister and deputy prime minister who for decades was the most public face of Saddam Hussein’s government on the world stage, died on Friday in Nasiriya, Iraq, where he had been imprisoned. He was 79. Adel Aldikhaly, the deputy governor of Nasiriya, said Mr. Aziz had had a heart attack after “a long-term incurable disease” and was transferred […]
Skype for Web Beta Rolled Out to U.S., U.K. Users As more and more users gravitate toward mobile versions of their favorite software, Skype is joining the crowd by opening up access to its Skype for Web beta to make it easier to connect to the service. Microsoft‘s Skype for Web debuted as a closed beta last fall, but it is now available as an open beta […]
By DIAA HADID June 5, 2015 RAMALLAH, West Bank — France is “firmly opposed” to a boycott of Israel, the French foreign minister said Friday, after the partly state-owned French telecommunications company Orange said it would seek to withdraw its brand from the Israeli market. The company’s decision was seen in Israel as the latest in a rapid succession of blows meant to isolate and punish the country over […]
Customer Hajime Shimada uses his newly purchased Apple Watch in front of Dover Street Market Ginza in Tokyo April 24, 2015. Reuters/Issei Kato NEW YORK When Maximo Cavazzani, creator of the popular mobile game Trivia Crack, learned about Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) plan for a new smart watch, it seemed like a logical step to adapt his game for the new product. But the little watch had some […]
June 4, 2015 Open Source By ROBERT MACKEY While many Israelis were enraged by comments from the chief executive of the French telecommunications company Orange, who told journalists in Egypt that he would like to cut ties to an Israeli cellphone service provider that operates in the occupied West Bank, pro-Palestinian activists working to isolate Israel argued that the statement was insufficient. The Orange chief executive, Stéphane […]
QATAR. Risk, governance, globalization and technology are among the many risks currently facing companies. Internal Audit plays a critical role in addressing these issues while contending with the challenge of complying with the updated Committee of Sponsoring Organizations’ (COSO) Internal Control-Integrated Framework, which is a widely used framework around the world, in which internal control is broadly defined as a process, effected by an entity’s board of […]
UAE. Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity and stakebuilding is gaining momentum in the Middle East as financially strong and profitable insurers seek to deploy surplus capital to broaden their profiles and satisfy shareholders’ expectations. The market is ripe for consolidation as medium-size players seek to maintain their market positions, while many smaller insurers in particular struggle with profitability, owing to their high expense bases. In a new […]
President Obama met with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq in April at the White House. By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS June 4, 2015 WASHINGTON — President Obama will meet on Monday with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq to discuss the military campaign against the Islamic State, White House officials said on Thursday, as the militant group continues to make gains despite an American-led counteroffensive. The two men met at the […]
By ISABEL KERSHNER June 4, 2015 JERUSALEM — A growing global pro-Palestinian movement to boycott Israel instantly created a national furor on Thursday after the top executive of Orange, a leading French telecommunications company, said he would withdraw from the Israeli market if he could. The Facebook page of an Israeli company, Partner Communications, which has a license to use the Orange brand, was filled with customer complaints demanding […]
The UAE has launched a comprehensive review of its environmental achievements in time for today’s World Environment Day. The UAE State of Environment Report 2015 was launched in the country’s pavilion at the Milan Expo yesterday by Dr Rashid bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water. Clean energy – led by Abu Dhabi company Masdar – sustainable transport, green architecture and efficient use of resources are among […]
World Briefing By ISABEL KERSHNER June 3, 2015 Palestinian militants launched two rockets from Gaza toward southern Israel late Wednesday, the Israeli military said. The rockets landed in open ground and caused no injuries but were a blow to the informal cease-fire that ended last summer’s 50-day Gaza war. It was the second rocket attack in eight days after a period of relative calm. Although Hamas, the Islamic militant […]
By RICK GLADSTONE June 3, 2015 The adjourned espionage trial of Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post correspondent incarcerated in Tehran since last July, will resume on Monday, Mr. Rezaian’s brother said Wednesday. The brother, Ali Rezaian, confirmed via email a report by the Iranian Students’ News Agency quoting the defense lawyer, Leila Ahsan, as saying that said she had been informed of the date for the next hearing in […]
UAE. According to a new report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the UAE outperforms the GCC and the rest of the world in most dimensions – including income, employment, health, education, infrastructure, income equality, civil society, governance, and environment – when it comes to its current-level Sustainable Economic Development Assessment (SEDA) scores. Across these dimensions, the UAE topped the average scores of both the GCC and […]
UAE. In a report released today by A.T. Kearney the UAE is ranked as the seventh most-attractive country in the Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), marking the eighth year in a row that the country has been globally ranked in the top 10. The UAE’s retail market continues to grow steadily with retail space growing by 7 percent in 2014 to reach 1.6 million square meters and […]
UAE. On managing the work/life complexity Richard Jolly, Adjunct Professor of Organisational Behaviour, London Business School comments: “The demands from work and personal life have never been greater in the GCC. I see two reasons senior managers should take a closer look at the way the complexities of work and personal life are handled in their companies. “It’s what we call the ‘Double Crunch’ a stage where […]
ABU DHABI // The director of A Place Called Home believes his film is an insight into “the full spectrum of expatriate life in the UAE”. The documentary, produced by Abu Dhabi Media, which also publishes this newspaper, is available to watch in full on The National’s website from today. Director John Sammon said the film “shines a light on some of the harsh realities of people’s […]
ABU DHABI // For Farzad Bayat, the cameraman on A Place Called Home, travelling to undeveloped parts of the world has given him a new outlook on life. Mr Bayat, 33, who is originally from Norway, was among the crew who went to India, Bangladesh and the Philippines to meet the families who were the film’s subjects. Mr Bayat, who also helped to edit the film, said: […]
The five expatriates who were the subjects of A Place Called Home talk about their experiences of making the documentary. (via The National)
World Briefing By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK June 2, 2015 LONDON — Two senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mahmoud Ghozlan and Abdul Rahman al-Barr, were arrested this week in a suburb of Cairo after evading the police for nearly two years, security officials said Tuesday. Reports of the arrests came the same day that an Egyptian court postponed a session that was expected to confirm a death sentence against the […]
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR June 2, 2015 WASHINGTON — A senior State Department official held talks last week with the Houthi rebels of Yemen, opening a new round of diplomacy aimed at persuading the warring factions in that country to participate in a peace conference in Geneva, American officials said Tuesday. The meetings came just before the release on Monday of Casey L. Coombs, an American freelance journalist who had […]
By ANNE BARNARD June 2, 2015 ISTANBUL, Turkey — Syrian insurgents rushed reinforcements into combat on Tuesday against rival Islamic State militants who have seized crucial territory near the northern city of Aleppo in recent days, building on the momentum the group has achieved in other battlefield successes in Syria and Iraq. Amid increased fears that Aleppo could be the next big prize to fall to the Islamic State […]
An employee answers phone calls at the switchboard of the Google office in Zurich August 18, 2009. Reuters/Christian Hartmann Google Inc (GOOGL.O) said 21 percent of tech hires last year were women, boosting overall number of women in technical roles by 1 percent, as part of efforts to increase diversity. The company recently began disclosing the makeup of its workforce after admitting that it was “wrong, and […]
