News

  Bloomberg New York’s insurance regulator has conditionally approved Aetna Inc.’s $37 billion takeover of Humana Inc., one of the last state sign-offs needed for the deal, people familiar with the matter said. The transaction is still under review by U.S. officials. State insurance regulators have been conducting their own assessments, which are in some cases required before a transaction ...

  Bloomberg NBC expects to sell at least 15 percent more advertising for the Rio Olympics next month than it did during the London games in 2012, benefiting from having more live events in prime time. Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal has deals with more than 100 Olympics advertisers, Seth Winter, executive vice president of sales at NBC Sports, said at a ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business SMEs in the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East can and should do more to utilise digital marketing as an effective tool to promote their business, says Naufel Vilcassim, Professor of Marketing, London Business School. “Traditional marketing used by big firms — newspaper and TV adverts, billboards, sponsorship — is very expensive for the ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Ducab, the UAE-based leading manufacturer of high-quality cables and cabling products, is playing a prominent part in the growth of the UAE as an incubator of innovation and future technology, by supplying the ‘Office of the Future’ with approximately 10km of cables and wires. Owned equally by Investment Corporation Dubai (ICD) and Abu Dhabi’s Senaat, ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Al Hilal Bank concluded its ‘Together for the Month of Giving’ campaign as part of its “Joud bil Khair” (Do Good) program. The bank conducted a number of visits that helped spread joy and happiness and reinforce the values of caring, tolerance and giving within the local community. Under this campaign, a ‘Suhour’ event ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Emirates NBD, one of the leading banking groups in the region, is enabling customers in the UAE to make donations to philanthropic causes through its digital and social platforms. The bank has in place a ‘Donation’ feature on its online and mobile banking platforms and has now created a ‘Like to Donate’ Facebook app that ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Marka PJSC (DFM: MARKA), the first public stock retail operator in the UAE, has announced the opening of Bahrain’s first Reem Al Bawadi Restaurant and Café, representing the latest in a series of expansions for the restaurant across the GCC. The new franchise in Bahrain represents the 11th branch of Reem Al Bawadi throughout the ...

  Agencies Oil prices recovered on Tuesday but stayed near two-month lows as increased US drilling, a strong dollar and hints of higher production by Iran and Libya brought worries about a global glut back into focus. The commodity has retreated since last month, when prices rose above $52 a barrel, as supply disruptions in Nigeria and Canada eased and ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business The banking sector in the Middle East has grown tremendously over the past few years. With a great deal of emphasis laid on technology adoption in the banking sector, the ever-changing banking landscape has seen a consistent growth in demand for innovative technology and services. According to multiple reports, mobile payments and digital banking strategy ...

  Manama / TNS Bahrain is among the most connected nations in the world, ranking among the top three in the GCC and 30 worldwide for its ability to use information and communication technology (ICT) to boost competitiveness. It was placed third among Arab nations and 28th in the world in the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) of the Global Information and ...