U.S. Special Operations Forces working with a widening array of partners are slowly tightening their squeeze on IS fighters in eastern Syria — moving toward an eventual assault on the extremists’ self-declared capital of Raqqa. The Pentagon’s top priority in the campaign against the IS remains disrupting external operations against potential targets in the U.S. or elsewhere. Sources say that ...

Europe’s biggest banks will need billions of dollars from September to meet collateral requirements for derivatives and hedge them from potential risk amid signs of global economic slowdown. This new key rule will be approved by the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm. Whether they could afford or not, these regulations will require banks in Europe to hold more cash ...

India is slated to announce a public tender to assist its indigenous defense industry in building the country’s fourth aircraft carrier, with a Russian supercarrier design as the front-runner, RT reports. The news that New Delhi will shortly be announcing a procurement tender for a heavy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, 300 meters long and 70 meters wide and displacing 65,000 tons, ...

With an alleged test of a thermonuclear device, a rocket launch, and a recommissioned plutonium reactor, 2016 is shaping up to be a very busy year for North Korea (DPRK). After years of delay and South Korean (ROK) opposition, the United States finally entered into formal discussions with the ROK government over the prospective deployment of the American-made Terminal High ...

Emirates Business Total tourism revenues in Ajman for 2015 reached AED359million — an increase of 19% from 2014 — according to tourism statistics released on Wednesday by the Ajman Tourism Development Department (ATDD). The report showed that the number of guests in Ajman in 2015 reached 509,658, while those who spent their nights reached 1,392,406. Majority of them booked their ...

ALKESH SHARMA / Emirates Business As IoT (Internet of Things) technology comes of age, UAE enterprises are in an immediate need to have cutting-edge solutions that provide the expanded capabilities to back the smart devices upto optimum levels. There is an apparent room available in the industry to have enhanced networks capable of supporting the pervasive nature of IoT devices, ...

Sunaina Rana / Emirates Business Middle East’s leading oilfield services provider, AlMansoori Specialised Engineering announced over AED18 million upgrade to its Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) services, the company along with its affiliated companies; Reform Energy Services, Air Drilling Associates and Kelda Drilling Controls, worked intensively to introduce the ‘next generation automated MPD Package’, which was demonstrated at a special event ...

DUBAi / Emirates Business The international home furnishing brand, IKEA, has unveiled its new redesigned living room section at its store at Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. The global brand has chosen Abu Dhabi as one of three stores worldwide to pilot this new store solution. The ‘Make Room for Life’ project aims at creating a more realistic and inspiring shopping ...

Sharjah / Emirates Business Gulftainer, the world’s largest privately-owned, independent port operator based in the UAE, recorded a strong performance in 2015 with an overall growth of four percent across its global portfolio. Gulftainer’s operations in the UAE currently include the Khorfakkan Container Terminal (KCT) and the Sharjah Container Terminal (SCT) at Port Khalid and the Sharjah Inland Container Depot ...

Bloomberg While the world focuses on Russia’s oil-freeze talks with OPEC, there are discussions behind closed doors in the Kremlin that will have a much more significant impact on the nation’s energy industry. The petrodollars that underpin Russia’s national budget are evaporating. When crude prices were high, increasing revenue simply meant encouraging companies like Rosneft OJSC and Lukoil PJSC to ...