Section: United Arab Emirates
European Nato defence spending slightly higher
Defence spending by European Nato states inched up for the first time in seven years in 2016, the military alliance said yesterday, but still remained below the threshold the new US President Donald Trump said was crucial to achieve.Trump made North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) states in Europe nervous when he criticised the alliance as...
Russia, Ukraine spat over Eurovision entry
MOSCOW: Russia has announced its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev, stirring controversy in Ukraine on Monday as it emerged the singer has performed in Moscow-annexed Crimea. Channel One state television on Sunday evening announced that 27-year-old Yuliya Samoilova will represent the country in May with an upbeat ballad called “Flame...
Muguruza rallies to beat US teen, Pliskova advances
French Open champion Garbine Muguruza survived a fierce challenge from US teenager Kayla Day on Sunday to reach the fourth round of the WTA Indian Wells hard court tournament. The seventh-seeded Spaniard had to dig in to subdue the hard-hitting Californian 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 and set up a meeting with 10th seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. Day, last...
Companies face conflict between ethics and profit in war zones
Paris // Some multinationals working in conflict zones are turning to ethically dubious practices to keep their factories operating, employees working and goods flowing.French-Swiss cement manufacturer LafargeHolcim admitted this month that it resorted to “unacceptable” practices in 2013 and 2014 to keep its Jalabiya plant in Syria...
Pliskova rallies past Puig to avoid upset
Karolina Pliskova roared back from a set down to outlast Olympic gold medallist Monica Puig 1-6 6-4 6-4 as the Czech third seed avoided a major upset at the BNP Paribas Open in California on Friday. Pliskova, after falling behind 3-0 in the third set, fought through a long sixth game to help turn the tide and won six of the last seven games to...
China says industrial policy not aimed at foreign firms
China yesterday tried to downplay concerns it is reducing market access for foreign enterprises, days after a report by an EU group accused Beijing of trying to skew its business playing field towards domestic firms.The paper, released Tuesday by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, slammed the government’s “Made in China 2025”...
Saab targets submarine sales as Russia tensions lift demand
Gripen warplane manufacturer Saab is targeting a quarter of the 40 to 50 submarine sales for which it sees demand from accessible markets in coming years following a foray into naval vessels.“We can perhaps win contracts from three to four countries, or some 12 submarines, over 10 or 15 years,” chief executive officer Hakan Buskhe said in an...
Focus on Qatar-Ukraine ties
HE the Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani has received a letter from Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin focusing on Qatar-Ukraine bilateral relations and ways to enhance them. The letter was handed over to HE the Secretary-General of the Foreign Ministry, Dr Ahmed bin Hassan al-Hammadi, by...
Book review: The Despot’s Accomplice challenges the West’s commitment to democracy
The new millennium has been unkind to democracy, but never has the brand suffered greater damage than it did in 2016. The populist winds that have been roiling the world finally reached the Atlantic, marking Britain and the United States’s retreat into nativism. Through the hallowed means of the ballot, Britain voted itself out of the...
Ukraine urged to reclaim Women’s Day
Around a thousand people marched through Kiev yesterday, International Women’s Day, calling for a return to the original feminist meaning of a holiday now largely associated with flowers and gifts.March 8 was celebrated in the Soviet Union and is still one of the most widely marked holidays in Ukraine, but activists say that the emphasis on...
