I recently returned from a trip to Japan. I’ve been going there for many years, so I can confirm that traveling in that country — especially for longer periods of time — is infinitely easier than it was just a decade ago. One of the main reasons is Airbnb. Ten years ago, lodging in Japan was limited to overpriced hotels ...

The food that people eat has become a major risk factor for disability and death worldwide. Yet countries and their philanthropic supporters seem not to be paying attention. They’re investing far too little in improving diets and preventing nutrition-related disease. The problem is part of a larger trend in human mortality. Until recently, in many low- and middle-income countries, malaria, ...

A lot of people these days think Facebook Inc. has become an incorrigible, toxic “regime of one-sided, highly profitable surveillance” under the near-absolute control of a “sovereign and singular ruler,” as University of North Carolina information scholar Zeynep Tufekci summed up in Wired a couple of weeks ago. I’m not sure the harshest Facebook critics are right. I agree, though, ...

ABU DHABI / Reuters Abu Dhabi-based developer Aldar Properties plans more acquisitions as it sees opportunities in a slowing property market, its chief executive said on Tuesday. Late last year, Aldar bought an office tower in the emirate for AED658 million ($179 million). “We are seeing ample opportunities of new acquisitions in these market conditions in Abu Dhabi and elsewhere,” ...

DUBAI / WAM Emirates NBD announced that it has launched its own private cloud platform. It is the first bank in the region to implement a private cloud platform that leverages similar technologies to cloud-native companies, marking a major milestone in the Emirates NBD Group’s ongoing AED1 billion IT transformation. Through its new private cloud technology, the bank’s IT platforms ...

DAMMAM / WAM The UAE needs to invest at least $33bn to meet its expected additional 16GW capacity requirement over the medium term, the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp) forecasted in its latest research report, published on Tuesday. The country is pushing strongly to diversify its energy sources in the power mix, and Apicorp estimates that nearly 10GW of capacity ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Monetary deposits at the UAE Central Bank stood at AED55.8 billion in the first quarter of 2018 while withdrawals reached about AED55 billion, according to the figures released by the UAE Central Bank on Tuesday. “Value of deposits in banknotes was AED5,578 million against AED23 million for currency in coins,” the figures indicated. “Monetary deposits were ...

DUBAI / Reuters Dubai-based Noor Bank has started marketing a five-year sukuk worth $500 million with an initial price guidance of around 175 basis points over mid-swaps, a document from one of the banks leading the transaction showed. Noor Bank, rated A-(minus) by Fitch, plans to price the senior unsecured Islamic bonds later on Tuesday. Citi, Deutsche Bank, Dubai Islamic ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Etisalat announced its partnership with Indra to enhance and widen its digital solutions portfolio in multiple sectors, allowing both parties to share best practices and training, industry expertise, explore business opportunities, and strengthen their position in the markets they operate. Indra, offers a comprehensive range of proprietary solutions and specialises in the development of end-to-end technology ...

ABU DHABI / Emirates Business The hospitality market in Abu Dhabi registered a 5% increase in occupancy levels in the first quarter of 2018, according to JLL’s Q1 2018 Real Estate Market Overview Report. According to the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, the number of guests staying at hotels in the emirate earlier this year rose by 15% (compared ...