February, 2016

• 21 February

  ‘Provisional agreement’ on terms of Syria truce: Kerry

  Amman / AFP US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that a provisional agreement had been reached with Russia on the terms of a ceasefire in Syria. Kerry told reporters in the Jordanian capital Amman that he had spoken with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov again on Sunday on the terms of a ceasefire agreed by world powers earlier ...

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• 21 February

  Contested waters in NATO’s new Aegean migrant mission

  

  Athens / AFP In its new mission in the Aegean to help Europe tackle its worst migration crisis in 60 years, NATO is wading into one of the world’s most contested seas. The Aegean has claimed the lives of hundreds of migrants in the past year, including scores of children. It has also been a habitual source of tension between ...

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• 21 February

  A pivotal moment in a tangled war

  

  Blaming President Obama for his past mistakes in Syria may be satisfying, and is largely deserved, but it’s not a policy. This is the most complicated battlefield the world has seen in decades, and the next moves by the US and its allies have to be deliberate, and carefully considered. The US should move forward with the cease-fire process begun ...

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• 21 February

  Huge challenges ahead for smartphones market

  Users of smartphones wonder where the technology take them amid markets reaching point of saturation and army of customers looking for cheaper smartphones or reluctant to buy new ones. And with the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) kicking off in Barcelona, the world’s biggest manufacturers are set to feature their latest products that may address tastes of more tech-savvy customers. ...

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• 21 February

  ASEAN’s economic gloom

  

  Regional economic prospects are dimming in Southeast Asia, with unemployment expected to rise and increasing concerns over job security preoccupying many – with Malaysians in particular being the hardest hit – a survey by the Financial Times has found. The survey of jobseekers by the FT Confidential Research found that unemployment was expected to rise in ASEAN after significant job ...

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• 21 February

  Free trade is bipartisan target in 2016 election

  Any doubts that Donald Trump has had a huge (as he might say) influence on the Republican Party were dispelled this month when Senator Rob Portman came out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership. There is no more respected member of what’s called the Republican establishment: The Ohio lawmaker is a confidant of the Bush family, a runner-up vice-presidential pick in 2012 ...

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• 21 February

  ABG net profits up by 4%

  

  Manama / Emirates Business The Bahrain-based leading Islamic banking group, Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C (ABG), announced that its total operating income reached one billion dollars in 2015 for the first time since the start of the Group activities 12 years ago due to continued growth in income-generated business at all the Group units, while the net income for the ...

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• 21 February

  Bank Sohar wins STP recognition from JP Morgan

  

  Muscat / EMIRATES BUSINESS Marking its third award of the year, Bank Sohar was recently recognised as one of the best ‘Straight Through Processing’ (STP) banks in Oman by JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a globally renowned financial firm. Award was handed over to Bank Sohar at its headquarters in MBD by Karim ...

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• 21 February

  Smartphones to replace cards at bank machines

  

  Washington / AP Here’s another use for the smartphone as it invades daily life: in place of your debit card at your bankcash machine. The “cardless” automatic teller machine (ATM) is gaining ground in the US and around the world, with smartphone technology allowing for speedier and more secure transactions. Dozens of US banks are installing new ATMs or updating ...

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• 21 February

  Banks must wake up to smartphone revolution or risk being left late: Expert

  

  Dubai / Emirates Business Banks must wake up to the way technology affects the daily lives of their customers or risk being left behind in the smart phone revolution, a digital banking expert will tell a major assembly of financial service decision-makers in Abu Dhabi. Chris Skinner, Chair and founder of the European networking forum, the Financial Services Club, says ...

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