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

  WASHINGTON / AP It’s not just who did it, but why. WikiLeaks’ release of nearly 8,000 documents that purportedly reveal secrets about the CIA’s tools for breaking into targeted computers, cellphones and even smart TVs has given rise to multiple theories about who stole the documents and for what reason. Perhaps it was a US spy or contractor who ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business Maple syrup doesn’t get that rich flavour and colour in an instant. It’s a long process from tree to bottle. But an improved technology could keep maple sugarers from working late into the night boiling sap into syrup. The new machine can remove more water from sap, leaving a higher sugar content in half the ...

  Bloomberg BlackBerry Ltd.’s QNX automotive software, used in more than 60 million cars, was listed as a potential target for the Central Intelligence Agency to hack, according to documents released by WikiLeaks. CIA meeting notes mention QNX as one of several “potential mission areas” for the organization’s Embedded Devices Branch. The same branch also worked with U.K. spy agencies ...

  Dubai / Reuters The United Arab Emirates, one of the Middle East’s largest economies, wants to expand trade ties with faster growing nations in Asia and Africa, a senior official said on Sunday. Gulf Arab states are looking at ways to diversify their economies, including who they trade with, after more than two years of depressed oil prices forced ...

  Encouraging developments are as welcome as they are rare in colleges and universities that cultivate diversity in everything but thought. Fortunately, state legislatures, alumni and philanthropists are planting little academic platoons that will make campuses less intellectually monochrome. One such, just launched, is Arizona State University’s School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership. A primary mission of institutions ...

  Bank stocks often act as proxies for political risk, as well as economic barometers. When a government starts shaking or a recession looms, financial shares may be the first to suffer. If you trust bank analysts, that paradigm is about to change. Financial institutions in countries with high political risk have seen some of the steepest positive earnings revisions ...

  Now that a court has ousted her from office, former South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s troubles are only beginning: She could face indictment on charges of bribery and abuse of power. Koreans, however, need to move beyond this lurid scandal. Months of uncertainty over Park’s fate have paralyzed her nation at a critical moment. Koreans have been riveted by ...

  A week ago, Germany stopped campaign events by Turkish ministers who wanted to address more than 1.4 million voters living in the country. Now, the Netherlands blocked Turkish Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya from attending a political rally. Sayan Kaya had arrived in the Netherlands from Germany but was prevented from entering Turkey’s diplomatic compound ...

  Dubai / WAM His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, has approved a number of initiatives and policies related to societal development, voluntary work and promoting the standard of services provided in the emirate. He gave the approval during Executive Council meeting at Etihad Museum. The ...

  Sharjah / WAM Sharjah Islamic Bank (SIB) plans to issue convertible sukuk equivalent to 10 per cent of the lender’s capital, it said on Sunday. Funds raised through the sale will be used by Islamic endowments selected by the government of Sharjah. The bank also authorised a capital increase to around AED2.66 billion, it said in an emailed press ...