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  Manama / TNS Bahrain is aiming to earn BD1 billion per year from tourism by 2020, it was revealed. The estimated revenue for last year was BD600 million, which means almost doubling the income in the next four years. Economic Development Board (EDB) tourism and leisure investment executive director Jerad Bachar said it would be difficult, but achievable. He was ...

  Riyadh / Reuters Contracting giant Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) has repaid a 1 billion riyal ($266.7 million) Islamic bond that matured in late June, a sign of modestly easing pressure on the embattled firm, banking sources said. The payment came after a delay of several weeks and used money from a 2.5 billion riyal loan the company secured from ...

  Paris / Reuters Iran is assessing whether to apply for associate membership of the ITER multi-national nuclear fusion project, its director said, just a year after Tehran struck a deal with six world powers to curb its own atomic programme. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, which was launched 10 years ago by Europe, United States, China, India, ...

  Riyadh / Reuters A consortium of electricity companies led by Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power has completed refinancing of more than $1.825 billion in debt for its Rabigh 1 power project, ACWA Power said. The consortium, which includes state-run Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), runs the 1240 MW fuel oil-fired plant on the western coast ...

  Riyadh / TNS While total number of retirees from government jobs declined to lowest levels in 2015, early retirement rates among public sector employees increased as compared to 2014. A recent report by General Organization for Retirement revealed a 7.5 increase in early retirement among government sector employees last year. According to report, the percentage of new retirees, as compared ...

  Riyadh / TNS Saudi citizens and residents can now enjoy a white winter in an environment that is safe. This follows the Kingdom’s indoor snow theme park at Al-Othaim Mall Rabwa in Riyadh. Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar inaugurated the Kingdom’s first Snow City. The latest tourist destination is described as a new chapter and a huge leap in ...

In an important decision with immense consequences for data storage services and law enforcement, a federal appeals court has quashed a warrant for e-mails that Microsoft was storing on a server in Ireland. Unless Congress changes the relevant law, this ruling creates the incentive for criminals — or anyone else who wants privacy protection from government surveillance — to make ...

  Leonid Bershidsky A clash between European Union bureaucracy and artificial intelligence is a plot worthy of a cyberpunk thriller. It will take place in real life in 2018, once some European data protection laws, passed earlier this year, go into effect. And, though we might instinctively be tempted to endorse progress over regulation, the EU is on the side ...

  Virginia Postrel At 56, I’m way too old to be playing Pokemon Go. After all, the smartphone game’s phenomenal success is built on millennial nostalgia, and I don’t even have any kids to blame. But what started out as research has turned into a mild addiction. It’s fun to wander the streets finding magic critters and the tools to ...

  Bloomberg UK construction is on course to shrink for a second straight quarter and economists are warning of worse to come after Britain voted to leave the European Union. Building output fell 2.1 percent in May, almost double the decline forecast in a survey of economists, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed this week. There were falls ...