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  ALKESH SHARMA / Emirates Business Weakening consumer sentiments and dwindling markets have started taking a toll on various trades in the Middle East region. The mobile phone industry is also experiencing much of the heat, with a recent survey report citing that shipments of phones have declined by over 10 percent during the first quarter of 2016, compared with ...

  RITIKA SHARMA / Emirates Business If you thought that it is just data and money that is at stake during cyber-attacks, think again. In UAE, cyber-crimes expose not only the vulnerability of the company’s security system, but also shake the customers’ confidence and trust. A UAE-centric survey recently reported that companies might lose substantial number of their customers after ...

  RITIKA SHARMA / Emirates Business Going beyond its regular ‘sun-sand-shopping’ image, UAE is making considerable strides towards eco-tourism and making it a vital part of the buoyant UAE hospitability sector along with the financial diversification. According to World Travel and Tourism Council forecasts, the UAE’s tourism sector is expected to experience annual real growth of about 6.5 percent till 2021, ...

  Brussels / AFP Eurozone ministers reached a vital deal with Greece on Wednesday to unlock bailout cash and start tackling the country’s debt mountain as demanded by the IMF, but analysts warned details are sketchy, spelling trouble further down the road. The agreement unlocks €10.3 billion ($12 billion) in bailout cash that Greece urgently needs to repay big loans to ...

  London / AFP Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday said it was cutting at least another 2,200 jobs owing to low oil prices and following its takeover of smaller rival BG Group. “Shell staff have today been informed about the progress being made on integrating BG into the company, and on further measures that are necessary to ensure ...

  Bloomberg Chinese officials plan to ask their American counterparts in annual talks next month about the chance of a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase in June, according to people familiar with the matter. The Chinese delegation will try to deduce whether a June or a July rate rise is more likely, as their nation’s policy makers prepare for the potential ...

  Bloomberg Oil extended its advance to near $50 a barrel as weekly U.S. industry data showed crude stockpiles declined, easing a glut. Futures rose as much as 1.7 percent in New York on Wednesday, marking a third day of gains. U.S. oil inventories, which are near the highest in 80 years, dropped by 5.14 million barrels last week, the ...

  Sharjah / WAM HH Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council, Ruler of Sharjah and President of American University of Sharjah (AUS) received Bill McDermott, Chief Executive Officer of SAP, in his office at AUS on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by Hamid Jafar, member of the AUS Board of Trustees and Chairman of the ...

  DUBAI / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, honoured 50 young Emirati scientists who won the Think Science Competition 2016 at a ceremony held at the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai on Tuesday. Organised by Emirates Youth Foundation, the event was also attended ...

  BAGHDAD / AP Even as Iraq slowly claws back territory from the IS group, faith in the government is crumbling among many, particularly the country’s Shiites, angered by political disarray and the continual pounding of the capital, Baghdad, by militants’ bombings. Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi triumphantly announced the beginning of operations to retake the IS-held city Fallujah, promising over ...