ABU DHABI / EMIRATES BUSINESS Finance House (FH) announced its Corporate Credit Rating of “BBB-” (Long-Term) and “A3″ (Short-Term). With both Investment Grades recently affirmed by Capital Intelligence (CI), the international credit rating agency, Finance House demonstrates solidly stable outlooks, while maintaining the same Credit Rating for three consecutive years. While affirming the above ratings in a recently released Credit ...
Read More »Gulf stocks trim worst in 7 years after oil rebounds
The DFM General Index increased 4.9 percent to the highest level since Jan. 6, taking its three-day gain to 11 percent. The measure’s 30-day volatility is near the highest in a year following the swings in January. Abu Dhabi’s ADX General Index advanced 3.7 percent. First Gulf Bank PJSC was the biggest contributor to gains with a 12.4 percent jump, ...
Read More »Syria talks gather steam as opposition meet UN envoy
Henry Meyer / Bloomberg The latest bid to end five years of war in Syria gathered some momentum as the main opposition group arrived in Geneva for United Nations-sponsored talks, though it refused to lift a threat to boycott the peace process. The Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee, whose delegation landed in the Swiss city on Saturday, said it will have ...
Read More »Support for Merkel dips to 2002 low
Berlin / AFP Support for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative alliance has slumped to its lowest since July 2002 as opposition over her liberal refugee policy grows, a survey showed on Sunday, while a right-wing populist party polled a record high. According to the poll published by the Bildam Sonntag newspaper, public support for Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and sister ...
Read More »As fuel crisis grips Nepal, solar industry eyes growth
Kathmandu / AFP After enduring endless blackouts in Nepal’s months-long and ongoing national fuel crisis, management consultant Pankaj Shrestha finally splurged on a set of solar panels for his home in Kathmandu. “First there was no cooking gas available, so we bought an electric cooker. But then there was no electricity, so how could we cook anything?” the 52-year-old asked. ...
Read More »UN appeals for $861mn in humanitarian aid for Iraq
Baghdad / AFP The United Nations launched an appeal on Sunday for $861 million in international humanitarian assistance to help millions of people in Iraq who are suffering from war and displacement. Violence including the devastating war with the IS extremists group has displaced 3.3 million Iraqis in the past two years, while some 250,000 Syrians have fled to Iraq ...
Read More »Belgium charges 3 over bid to join Syria extremists
Brussels / AFP Belgium has charged three people with trying to go to Syria and join extremists there, press reports said on Sunday. Police arrested four people on Saturday after raids in Jumet, near the southern city of Charleroi, on suspicion that they planned to go to either war-torn Syria or Libya. The reports said one person had been released ...
Read More »Head of Libya’s unity govt meets army chief
Tripoli / AFP The designated head of Libya’s UN-backed unity government has met the country’s controversial army chief, retired General Khalifa Haftar, as he prepares to submit a new cabinet lineup. Fayez Al Sarraj’s official Facebook page said he met Haftar on Saturday as part of a series of meetings to assess “the opinions, fears and worries of influential sides ...
Read More »Japan doubles number of F-15s on ‘Okinawa’
Tokyo / AFP Japan has doubled the number of F-15 fighter jets deployed on the southern island of Okinawa, near disputed islands in the East China Sea, the defence ministry said Sunday. Japan’s Air Self-Defence Force now has about 40 F-15s on Okinawa’s Naha base, according to the defence ministry. The move comes as Japan and China have routinely clashed ...
Read More »Obama to visit USA mosque for first time in his presidency
Justin Sink / Bloomberg President Barack Obama will visit a US mosque for the first time in his presidency next week, when he travels to Baltimore Feb. 3 to meet with Muslim community leaders. Obama will hold a round-table with community members and “reiterate the importance of staying true to our core values—welcoming our fellow Americans, speaking out against bigotry, ...
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