The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.

  BAGHDAD / AP An influential Iraqi Shiite cleric has called on the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Countries to help find a solution to the country’s simmering political crisis “even through holding early elections.” In a handwritten statement issued on Wednesday, cleric Muqtada Al Sadr, ordered Sadrist lawmakers to withdraw from a parliament sit-in that demands the country’s ...

  Sanaa / AP Yemen’s Houthi rebels and their allies have agreed to join delayed peace talks in Kuwait after the United Nations assured them that pro-government forces would abide by a ceasefire. The UN-brokered talks were set to open in Kuwait on Monday but were put off after the Iran-backed insurgents failed to show up over alleged Saudi violations ...

  Juba / AFP Fragile hopes for an end to South Sudan’s civil war are being tested by the rebel leader’s failure to return to the capital to form a unity government. International pressure is growing after Riek Machar, a former rebel leader turned deputy president who was fired, became a rebel leader again and has now fought his way ...

  Jerusalem / AFP When word spread that the Ahava cosmetics firm would move its factory from the occupied West Bank, it set off alarm bells among Israelis for reasons nothing to do with its products. There were suspicions that Ahava, which sells Dead Sea minerals and mud around the world, had made the decision because of mounting pressure to ...

  As President Obama visits Saudi Arabia, here’s a surprising snapshot of what young Arabs think: They’re scared about the IS and terrorism; they yearn for more freedom and gender equality; they fear that the Arab Spring has made life worse; and they’re increasingly sceptical about the role of traditional religious values. If these Arab reactions seem similar to what ...

  The world is holding its breath ahead of epochal event on April 22 at the United Nations in New York, where global leaders are expected to sign the landmark Paris accord adopted at a UN summit in December last year to limit global warming. The day, interestingly, is also World Earth Day. The event will be closely watched by ...

  Mark Whitehouse Being poor in the U.S. can be expensive. Judging from the latest inflation data, it’s becoming more so. Overall, inflation isn’t much of a problem in the U.S. For the past several years, the Federal Reserve has been struggling to get its preferred measure of consumer-price inflation up to its target of 2 percent — and many ...

  Cambodia’s National Assembly has adopted a Law on Trade Unions but labor groups, human rights advocates, and opposition politicians warn that it could be used to stifle the workers’ movement in the country. Despite the delay in its passage caused by protests, the bill was unanimously approved by the members of the ruling party without amendment. The draft law ...

“Let the ship sail and bring the Golden Fleece,” said China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) Chairman Xu Lirong on April 8, after the state-owned shipping giant sealed a deal to purchase the Greek port of Piraeus, southwest of Athens. Beyond the romantic evocations of Greek heroes such as Jason and the Argonauts, this “made in China” golden fleece amounts to ...

  Now that Joshua Wong, former student leader of Scholarism and one of the forces behind the Occupy Central Movement, has started a political party, it may be a good time to look back on what initiated this newest phase of Hong Kong’s politics: the Umbrella Movement. One imagines that Joshua Wong, Chan Ho-Tin of the Hong Kong National Party, ...