India’s foreign investment panel Monday approved a plan for Abu Dhabi-based Etihad to buy a stake in Indian airline Jet, but the pact still faces other hurdles. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Health authorities in the UAE have announced that an 82-year-old man has been diagnosed with the MERS coronavirus infection, the first case to be recorded in the Gulf state.
The Emirati citizen who contracted the SARS-like virus suffers from cancer and is being treated in hospital in the capital, Abu Dhabi health authority said in a statement carried by WAM state news agency late Thursday.
The authority said that this was the first case to be diagnosed in the United Arab Emirates.
In May, France said a 65-year-old man was in hospital after being diagnosed with the coronavirus after a holiday in Dubai. But the UAE health ministry said at the time no cases of the virus had been recorded in the country.
Experts are struggling to understand MERS, or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, which has mostly affected neighbouring Saudi Arabia where 65 cases have been detected, including 38 fatalities.
The World Health Organisation announced last week that it had convened emergency talks on the MERS virus.
Concerns have been expressed about the potential impact of October’s hajj pilgrimage, when millions of Muslims from around the globe head to and from Saudi Arabia.
The WHO has not recommended any MERS-related travel restrictions, but says countries should monitor unusual respiratory infection patterns.
The first recorded MERS death was in June last year in Saudi Arabia.
Like SARS, MERS appears to cause a lung infection, with patients suffering from fever, coughing and breathing difficulties. But it differs in that it also causes rapid kidney failure.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
By Kerry A. Dolan, Forbes Staff
At the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi late last week, the world’s two richest men made a bit of philanthropic history. Carlos Slim announced his foundation will donate $100 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a Bill Gates-backed effort to eliminate polio. It marks what appears to be the largest collaboration among the two men. It’s also the second time this year the two have announced joint philanthropic efforts.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
Ratings agencies Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and investment bank Morgan Stanley have settled two lawsuits dating back to the financial crisis that accused them of hiding risky investments.
The lawsuits from King County in Washington state and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank claimed that the ratings agencies and Morgan Stanley hid the risk of investing in a fund that purchased bonds backed by subprime mortgages.
Judge Shira Scheindlin dismissed the lawsuits on Friday, in federal court in New York, with prejudice, which means they can’t be filed again.
Spokesmen for the McGraw-Hill Cos., which owns S&P, Moody’s Corp. and Morgan Stanley confirmed the settlements but did not disclose terms.
McGraw-Hill spokesman Jason Feuchtwanger said the cases were settled without any admission of liability or wrongdoing.
Ratings agencies came under intense scrutiny following the 2008 financial crisis for giving top-notch ratings to investments backed by subprime mortgages. As defaults and losses mounted in the housing market, especially among subprime loans, the value of bonds backed by the bad debt plummeted.
As the mortgage market collapsed, the ratings agencies sharply lowered their ratings on the investments.
With the value of such investments declining, funds that purchased the bonds filed for bankruptcy. King County and Abu Dhabi sued the ratings agencies and Morgan Stanley claiming the banks misled them about the safety of some investments that were part of a structured investment vehicle.
A structured investment vehicle is a fund that borrows money by issuing short-term securities at a low interest rate and then lends that money by purchasing long-term securities at higher interest. That process can make a profit for its investors from the difference.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
An activist says a court in the United Arab Emirates has sentenced to 10 months the son of one of 94 suspects on trial for alleged anti-state conspiracies because of his Twitter posts from the courtroom.
Monday’s decision could lead to further restrictions on attendance at the mass trial, which started last month. Only hand-picked media has been allowed to attend and others, including rights groups, have been blocked.
Prosecutors claim the defendants are linked to an Islamist group seeking to bring down the ruling system in the UAE. The suspects deny the charges.
Rights activist Ahmed Mansour says Abdullah al-Hadidi, whose father is among the group on trial, was charged with publishing “false details” of the hearings in Abu Dhabi.
Mansour says al-Hadidi plans to appeal.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
One is a former judge. Another is a past president of the lawyers’ association in the United Arab Emirates. Among the more than 90 suspects are also teachers, civil servants, business owners and even a cousin of one of the UAE‘s ruling sheiks.
Prosecutors describe them as members of an Islamist network seeking to topple the leadership in one of the wealthiest and most stable corners of the Middle East.
Their defenders portray the group as victims of an Arab Spring-induced panic among Gulf Arab rulers who perceive threats from many directions, including Egypt‘s ruling Muslim Brotherhood and reformist chatter on social media.
But whatever emerges from the mass trial that began last month in Abu Dhabi also speaks to issues that reach well beyond the allegations and sullied reputations in the UAE‘s tight-knit professional communities. The case — from the arrests to the court sessions to the media controls on coverage — reflects a fundamental retooling of how the Western-allied Gulf states approach the business of using and keeping their power.
Once desperate to keep political crackdowns out of sight, Gulf authorities have increasingly used high-profile tactics to try to keep a lid on calls for reforms. Hardly a day goes by without some backlash in the Gulf Arab states, an arc of ruling families from Kuwait to Oman.
Dozens of online activists and social media contributors have been jailed for posts deemed offensive to rulers. Espionage allegations have been trumpeted, including Saudi Arabia‘s claims last month that officials broke up a suspected Iranian-linked spy ring.
Saudi officials, meanwhile, are considering linking social media accounts to national IDs in a move that critics fear could increase monitoring. The country’s top cleric, Grand Mufti Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheik, denounced Twitter users last month as being part of “a council of clowns.”
“There is a paradox in all this,” said Christopher Davidson, an expert on Gulf affairs at Britain’s Durham University. “There is nothing at the moment to suggest the Gulf regimes are in any immediate danger, but they are definitely acting like they are. This might even have the effect of accelerating dissent.”
Caught in between is Washington.
U.S. interests are deeply intertwined with the Gulf’s Sunni sheiks and kings, who allow American military bases, make major arms purchases and share …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Qatar‘s emir looked over an assembly of Arab leaders Tuesday as both cordial host and impatient taskmaster. His welcoming remarks to kings, sheiks and presidents across the Arab world quickly shifted to Qatar‘s priorities: Rallying greater support for Syrian rebels and helping Palestinians with efforts such as a newly proposed $1 billion fund to protect Jerusalem’s Arab heritage.
No one seemed surprised at the paternal tone or the latest big-money initiative. In a matter of just a few years, hyper-wealthy Qatar has increasingly staked out a leadership role once held by Egypt and helped redefine how Arab states measure influence and ambition.
Little more than a spot to sink oil and gas wells a generation ago, Qatar is now a key player in nearly every Middle Eastern shakeout since the Arab Spring, using checkbook diplomacy in settings as diverse as Syria‘s civil war, Italian artisan workshops struggling with the euro financial crisis, and the soccer pitches in France as owners of the Paris Saint-Germain team.
As hosts of an Arab League summit this week, Qatar gets another chance to showcase its swagger.
With power, however, come tensions. Qatar has been portrayed as an arrogant wunderkind in places such as Iraq and Lebanon where some factions object to its rising stature, and Qatar‘s growing independent streak in policy-making has raised concerns among its Gulf Arab partners. It also faces questions — as do other Gulf nations and Western allies — over support for some Arab Spring uprisings while remaining loyal to the embattled monarchy in neighboring Bahrain.
“The adage that money buys influence could very well be the motto of Qatar,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a professor of regional politics at Emirates University outside Abu Dhabi. “But it goes beyond that. Qatar also has learned the value of being flexible and, at the same time, thinking big.”
It’s hard these days to find a point on the Mideast map without some link back to Qatar.
In recent years, Qatar mediated disputes among Lebanese factions and prodded Sudan‘s government into peace talks with rebels in the Darfur region. Qatar‘s rulers even broke ranks with Gulf partners and allowed an Israeli trade office — almost a de facto diplomatic post — before it was closed in early 2009 in protest of Israeli attacks on Gaza. And Doha has been atop the Arab media pecking order as headquarters of the pan-Arab network Al-Jazeera, which was founded with …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
PREI® names Morgan Laughlin to lead its Asia-Pacific business
TOKYO–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Prudential Real Estate Investors has named Morgan Laughlin head of its Asia business, responsible for managing the company’s operations and strategy in the Asia Pacific region. PREI® is the real estate investment management and advisory business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE).
Laughlin, based in Tokyo, replaces Victoria Shigehira Sharpe, who has taken a new role with the Global Institutional Relationship Group for Prudential Investment Management. Based in Singapore, she will focus on expanding key client relationships for all of Prudential’s asset management businesses.
“Morgan is an invaluable addition to our global management team, bringing deep experience in building businesses in emerging and developed markets in Asia and a track record that includes managing real estate debt, direct real estate investing, client engagement and regional management,” said Allen Smith, CEO of PREI. “His well-rounded background will help to expand our business as we seek to offer our clients strong investment opportunities in the region, and strengthen our ability to provide Asian investors access to investments around the world.”
PREI had about $8 billion in gross assets under management in Asia ($4.5 billion net) as of December 31, 2012, and has been investing in the commercial real estate markets of Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, China, India and Australia since 1994. Operating in the region as Pramerica Real Estate Investors, the company has offices in Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Beijing and Hong Kong, and has a representative office in Sydney.
Laughlin joins PREI from Grosvenor Fund Management, where he was most recently a regional director responsible for managing its real estate business Asia Pacific Region. Earlier, he held several roles at the Royal Bank of Scotland, including head of portfolio management, the Japanese business, real estate advisory business and real estate finance. He previously led DB real estate for Asia ex-Japan for Deutsche Bank (RREEF), and worked for Bankers Trust Company and Paine Webber.
Laughlin earned a bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies from Columbia College. He has lived and worked in the U.S., Japan, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong.
PREI is a leader in the global real estate investment management business, offering a broad range of investment vehicles that invest in private and public market opportunities in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and Latin America. Headquartered in Madison, New Jersey, PREI has other offices in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Miami, London, Lisbon Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, Istanbul, Abu Dhabi, Mexico City, Sao …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By G. A. Chester, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
LONDON — It’s more than five years since Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Lloyds Banking Group were bailed out by the British taxpayer — and Barclays narrowly avoided the same fate by raising 7 billion pounds from investors in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Today, RBS is still more than 80% taxpayer-owned, and the taypayer’s stake in Lloyds stands at 39%. Meanwhile, Barclays has joined the ranks of the rank-smelling banks after a series of scandals, the latest of which concerns allegations that Barclays’ Middle East rescuers were loaned money to invest in the bank by Barclays itself.
All three banks still have a long way to go to repair their reputations and businesses. After their recent annual results, which of the three offers investors the best value?
Value basics
Let’s start with the key numbers used by classic value investors: discount to tangible net asset value (TNAV), price to earnings (P/E) ratio, and dividend yield
| Share Price | TNAV Per Share | Discount to TNAV | Forecast P/E 2013 | Forecast Yield 2013 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barclays | 320p | 373p | 14% | 8.6x | 2.3% |
| Lloyds | 50.5p | 54.9p | 8% | 11.7x | 0.4% |
| RBS | 308p | 446p | 31% | 12.8x | 0% |
For a simple overview, if we rank the banks on the three value measures, with one being the best value and three being the worst, we get: Barclays 2, 1, 1; Lloyds 3, 2, 2; and RBS 1, 3, 3. On this basic test of relative value, Barclays stands head and shoulders above its rivals.
For some value investors, the fundamental numbers are all that count, and such investors would declare Barclays the best value without going any further. But let’s go a bit further and see where it takes us.
Assets
The banks have been slimming down their businesses by disposing of non-core assets. The affect of these disposals on the balance sheet can be positive or negative, as Lloyds and RBS demonstrated just last week.
Lloyds sold part of its shareholding in FTSE 250 wealth manager St James’s Place for around 500 million pounds, adding 1.7 pence a share to TNAV — bringing the end-of-year number in the table above up to 56.6 pence and the discount to 11%.
RBS also raised around 500 million pounds last week, but in this case incurred a modestly negative result. The bank’s sale of part of its shareholding in FTSE 250 insurance group Direct Line was at 201 pence a share compared with a carrying value of 216 pence on the year-end balance sheet.
RBS‘s sale of Direct Line was mandated by the European Commission, and both RBS and Lloyds face further forced disposals under obligations to Europe.
Lloyds has been in talks with the Co-operative Group since last July about the sale of 632 branches. Meanwhile, there is currently no definite interest in the 316 branches RBS is obliged to relinquish, and there looks little prospect of RBS avoiding a loss on disposal.
While RBS appears to be more vulnerable to asset writedowns than its rivals, how future asset sales will actually play out is anybody’s guess.
Earnings
The banks have made provisions of billions of pounds for a litany of past vices, including the mis-selling of payment protection insurance and interest rate hedging products. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Oil-rich Abu Dhabi on Sunday officially opened the world’s largest Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant, which cost $600 million to build and will provide electricity to 20,000 homes. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
By Kenneth Rapoza, Contributor
Etihad Airways is the best airline you’ve never heard of. In fact, in 2012, the World Travel Awards recognized the Abu Dhabi-based airline as the world’s best for the fourth consecutive year. If that’s not enough, world travel agencies and frequent fliers that vote for the so-called Oscar of travel awards put Etihad as the leading first class; fifth year running. Etihad also beat out its much larger and older rivals — Qatar Airways and Emirates from Dubai — to be ranked the world’s best airline flying to the Middle East. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
The oil-rich United Arab Emirates has named a new energy minister as part of a limited Cabinet reshuffle that is not expected to bring major policy shifts in the Gulf nation.
The most significant change brings in Suhail Bin Mohammed al-Mazroui, an executive from at a state-linked oil company, to oversee the nation’s energy resources. His predecessor had served in the post for more than eight years.
The official WAM news agency said Tuesday’s changes also brought new leaders for three other ministries, including public works and two ministers of state positions.
The change in the energy ministry is not expected to alter energy policies in the OPEC nation.
Mazrouri has served as deputy CEO and senior vice president for new business development at Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Oil & Gas.
By Rich Smith, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
General Electric won contracts worth $500 million for equipment that will be used in phases 1 and 2 of a United Arab Emirates aluminum project, the Emirates Aluminium, or EMAL, smelter complex in Abu Dhabi, the company announced Monday.
For phase 1, GE will be upgrading six GE Frame 9F 3-series gas turbines currently operating at EMAL. GE will supply new gas and steam turbines, generators, and a plantwide control system for the EMAL phase 2 expansion. GE is supplying the equipment to EMAL general contractor Samsung C&T, which is building the new combined-cycle power plant for EMAL phase 2. Once complete, this and other equipment operating at the plant will be capable of producing more than 1,000 megawatts of power. Farther out, GE will provide long-term maintenance on the equipment in both phases of the contract.
The EMAL aluminum complex, a joint venture between Mubadala Development and Dubai Aluminium, is situated in the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi in Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi.
GE shares declined 0.6% in Monday trading, closing at $23.62.
The article General Electric Wins $500 Million Dubai Deal originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Rich Smith has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of General Electric. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Filed under: Investing
In the following video, Motley Fool industrials analyst Blake Bos discusses a Monday full of news for General Electric and its investors. He talks about a $500 million contract the company secured with the Emirates Aluminum Smelter Complex in Abu Dhabi, and he takes a look at Mary Schapiro, who has just been nominated to GE‘s board of directors.
For GE, the recent financial crisis struck a blow, but management took advantage of the market‘s dip to make strategic bets in energy. If you’re a GE investor, you need to understand how these bets could drive this company to become the world’s infrastructure leader. At the same time, you need to be aware of the threats to GE‘s portfolio. To help, we’re offering comprehensive coverage for investors in a premium report on General Electric, in which our industrials analyst breaks down GE‘s multiple businesses. You’ll find reasons to buy or sell GE today. To get started, click here now.
var FoolAnalyticsData = FoolAnalyticsData || []; FoolAnalyticsData.push({ eventType: “TickerReportPitch”, contentByline: “Blake Bos“, contentId: “cms.23007”, contentTickers: “NYSE:GE“, contentTitle: “A Big Week for General Electric: Abu Dhabi and Mary Schapiro“, hasVideo: “True”, pitchId: “30”, pitchTickers: “NYSE:GE“, …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Rich Duprey, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Just as it did in 2011 when it relocated its corporate headquarters to China for 30 days, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide will relocate more than 200 executives and general managers to Dubai for a month-long immersion in the region’s culture. Headquarters are usually in Stamford, Conn.
Starwood President and CEO Frits van Paasschen said that with 80% of Starwood’s “pipeline” coming from rapidly growing markets, the company’s executives can’t begin to assess the global culture it needs to cultivate by sitting behind desks in Connecticut. “Just as with our one-month relocation to China in 2011, our time in-market will spark new ideas that will fortify our position as the most global high-end hotel company,” he was quoted as saying in a company press release.
As part of the relocation, Starwood will have more than 200 executives and general managers from the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Latin America travel to Dubai to run day-to-day operations from there. The executives will meet with associates, customers, owners, and prospective developers in the UAE and also “take advantage” of Dubai’s location for business travel to destinations including Mumbai, Addis Ababa, Jeddah, Dushanbe, and Kuwait, the company said.
“We are on the cusp of a new Golden Age of Travel, and Dubai is at the epicenter of this sea change,” van Paasschen said.
Starwood opened the first W luxury hotel in 2009 in Doha, Qatar, and plans are under way to open new W hotels in Amman, Muscat, and Abu Dhabi as well as two W properties in Dubai. The company also runs the St. Regis brand in the Middle East and continues to grow its Luxury Collection brand in the region.
Starwood has 1,134 properties in nearly 100 countries.
The article Starwood Hotels to Relocate HQ to Dubai for a Month originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Rich Duprey has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Ninety four people have gone on trial in the United Arab Emirates on charges of trying to overthrow the state as authorities barred international media and several rights groups from the proceedings.
The trial marks is the culmination of a crackdown that started last year on Islamist groups in the Emirates with suspected links to the Muslim Brotherhood. Rights groups have criticized the crackdown and it has also raised tensions with Egypt, which is governed by the Islamist group.
Monday’s hearing was attended by about 200 relatives of the defendants who were bussed to the security court in the capital, Abu Dhabi.
Khalid al-Roken, whose brother Mohammed is on trial, said before boarding a bus that the charges were baseless but that he remains hopeful his brother would be freed.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 24 (UPI) — A man in Abu Dhabi who was allegedly promoting and selling fake bank notes attempted to hide them by swallowing them, United Arab Emirates officials said.
A defense official in the United Arab Emirates says the Gulf nation has signed $1.4 billion in military contracts that include purchases of U.S.-made drones.
The drone deal, worth nearly $200 million, suggests Gulf Arab states are looking to boost surveillance capabilities to match claims by rival Iran of growing drone technology. The UAE says the Predator drones, built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, will not be outfitted for weapons capabilities, but used for reconnaissance.
Iran has claimed it has developed its own sophisticated drones and managed to reverse-engineer a CIA drone seized in December 2011 after it entered Iranian airspace.
UAE military spokesman Maj. Gen. Obaid al-Ketbi also said the deals include 750 U.S.-made mine-resistant vehicles.
The contracts were announced Monday at a defense show in Abu Dhabi.
Etihad Airways needs to revise its deal to buy a stake in India’s Jet Airways and it is too soon to say when a final agreement will be struck, the Abu Dhabi airline’s chairman told Reuters on Sunday. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox Business Headlines
Syrian rebels fought pitched battles Wednesday against regime forces at a military base that protects a major airport in the country’s north in fighting that has left more than 40 government troops dead, opposition activists said.
Rebels have been attacking the civilian airport in the city of Aleppo for weeks, and now appear to have overrun the main defenses around the facility. But the airport itself, which stopped handling any flights weeks ago because of the fighting, still remains in regime hands.
Also Wednesday, Syria‘s former Foreign Ministry spokesman made his first comments since disappearing in December, saying he left the country because “of the polarization and violence that left no place for moderation and diplomacy.”
Jihad Makdissi, who was known for defending President Bashar Assad‘s regime in fluent English, said in a statement sent to the Abu-Dhabi-based Sky News Arabia that he did not go to Europe or the U.S. after leaving Syria. He did not say where he currently is, adding that “I have no secrets that anyone would want.”
In his statement Wednesday, Makdissi said the Syrian uprising has “legitimate demands.”
On Dec. 3, Lebanese security officials said Makdissi flew from Beirut to London. But it was not immediately clear whether he had defected.
After Sky News Arabia posted the letter on Wednesday, Makdissi posted his first tweet on his Twitter account since Nov. 25, saying in English “I confirm authenticity of the Press Release issued today.”
The fighting Aleppo’s international airport came a day after opposition fighters captured large parts of the nearby “Brigade 80” base and attacked another major air base, Nairab, adjacent to the airport after taking control of the al-Manara army checkpoint just outside it.
By Wednesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels were “almost fully in control” of the “Brigade 80” base. He said more than 40 government troops were killed in the fighting, including two brigadier generals, a colonel and two lieutenant colonels. The report could not be independently confirmed.
Heavy clashes were also still raging for control of the Nairab base as well as outside the civilian airport, which both have their own defenses in addition to the protection provided by Brigade 80.
Abdul-Rahman said the brigade is an air defense force that’s main task is to protect the international airport and the Nairab air base.
Syria‘s rebels have notched several of strategic victories in recent days, capturing a military air base in the province of Aleppo on Tuesday and the country’s largest dam on the Euphrates River the day before.
With the back-to-back blows to Assad’s regime, opposition fighters appear to be regaining some momentum in the nearly 2-year-old conflict, expanding their northern zone of control while at the same time pushing deeper into the heart of the capital, Damascus.
Activists reported clashes outside Damascus on Wednesday, with regime warplanes hitting several of the restive suburbs as part of a government offensive to dislodge opposition fighters from their strongholds around the capital. Fighter jets also carried out airstrikes on rebel positions in the central province of Homs, the …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
