Showing posts with label Money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Money. Show all posts
Donald Trump On The Middle East... And Much More
Multi-billionaire Donald Trump has vowed to beat terrorism in the Middle East if he was elected president of the United States, and warned that Saudi Arabia would be “nothing” without the US. In a speech at the famous Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York City, on Tuesday, the sixty-nine-year-old tycoon announced his intention to stand as a Republican candidate in the 2016 presidential election. He told viewers: “Islamic terrorism is eating up large portions of the Middle East…Mark my words. Nobody would be tougher on ISIL than Donald Trump. Nobody.” Referring to reports last month that ISIL had re-opened a 262-key luxury hotel in Mosul, Trump said the terrorist group had become so rich he was now “in competition with them”. He said: “Now ISIL has the oil, and what they don’t have, Iran has. I said it, very strongly, years ago, that I want to have the strongest military we’ve ever had, and we need it more now than ever. But I said, “don’t hit Iraq”, because you’re going to totally destabilise the Middle East. “Iran is going to take over the Middle East, Iran and somebody else will get the oil, and it turned out that Iran is now taking over Iraq. Think of it. Iran is taking over Iraq, and they’re taking it over big league. He slammed current president Barack Obama’s Middle East foreign policy as “a disaster”. “We spent $2 trillion in Iraq, $2 trillion. We lost thousands of lives, thousands in Iraq. We have...thousands of wounded soldiers. And we have nothing. We can’t even go there. “Our president doesn’t have a clue… Take a look at the deal he’s making with Iran [intended to force Iran to scale back its nuclear weapons programme]. He makes that deal, Israel maybe won’t exist very long. It’s a disaster.”
Trump also said Saudi Arabia was in “big, big trouble” as a result of its staunch policy on oil production. “Now, thanks to fracking and other things, the oil is all over the place. “They’ve got nothing but money.” He also claimed the Kingdom was dependent upon the US for its economic survival. "Saudi Arabia without us is gone. They’re gone," he said. The real estate magnate, whose luxury $1.76 million Trump-branded Dubai homes at Damac’s Akoya were launched in March, added that he thought China posed a bigger threat to the US than ISIL in the long term. He said: “You have a problem with ISIL. You have a bigger problem with China. They’re building up their military to a point that is very scary…They’re building a military island in the middle of the South China sea.” The US, Trump concluded, needs a “truly great leader” to tackle such threats from foreign enemies. “Sadly the American Dream is dead,” he pronounced. “We need a leader that wrote [Trump’s 1987 business book] The Art of the Deal.” However, his withering attack on Mexico (“They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people”) and his pledge to build a wall – paid for by Mexico – on the US southern border, prompted Hispanic civil rights group the National Council of La Raza to label Trump “an extremely silly man”. “This is a man who has a pathological need for attention,” Lisa Navarrete, a director at La Raza, told the UK’s Guardian newspaper. “I look at him as a two-year-old who will say a naughty word to get their parents’ attention. That’s what he’s doing.”
Dubai's Latest Luxury: Gold Wine
Dubai built the world's tallest building, put a ski slope inside a shopping mall and gave its cops a Lamborghini for a police car. Where else would you sell a $150 bottle of 'halal' non-alcoholic sparkling white wine with flecks of 24-carat edible gold leaf gleaming at the bottom? It makes sense in Dubai, a Gulf Arab emirate that attracts tourists with the promise of an opulent lifestyle. Or so Tony Colley, head manager of Lootah Premium Foods, which distributes the wine, told Reuters. "It has gold in it for no good reason apart from it's fun, it's fantastic, it's frivolous, it's totally Dubai," Colley said recently at the Bystro restaurant, where the sleek bottles are on display. Bystro owner Josh Benson said the gold-leaf bottles were offered a few weeks ago. The restaurant had begun offering non-alcoholic wines in general a few months ago, and they went over well. "For people that cannot drink ... it's a nicer thing to have with a steak than a Pepsi," Benson said.
Hasan Hejazi The Fashion Designer For The Stars
Audi Middle East have collaborated with Fashion designer to the stars, Hasan Hejazi to bring his inaugural catwalk show this October at the Middle East’s definitive fashion platform Fashion Forward (FFWD). His catwalk show, will feature some of Hasan’s favourite archive pieces, famously worn by his celebrity clientele, as well as an all-new collection for Spring/Summer ‘15 that will feature a clean fresh colour palette in luxurious embroidered fabrics and silks. Hasan is renowned for specialising in glamorous luxury women’s evening wear, working with an enviable celebrity client list including Kylie Minogue, Jourdan Dunn, Eva Longoria, Jessie J, Cheryl Cole and Paloma Faith. The show’s highlight will be the premiere of a unique dress, inspired by Audi, to mark Hasan’s debut. Renowned for statement gowns that demand attention, the one-off piece has been inspired by Audi’s design cues of purity, intrigue, creativity, sophistication and originality.
Dr. Kassem Alom The Healthcare Pioneer
When Dr Kassem Alom arrived in Abu Dhabi in 1978, he immediately started to question whether the UAE really was the right spot for a young doctor looking to start up his own business. “There was nothing here,” he recalls. “There was one hospital - called Central Hospital - which consisted of a group of caravans. When it rained, the water just flooded inside.” Alom’s decision to stay and carve out a niche for himself in the UAE capital was vindicated last year when Al Noor Hospitals Group, the company he founded in 1985, and which is now Abu Dhabi’s largest private healthcare provider by far, listed on the London Stock Exchange. The initial public offering (IPO) netted $342m, valuing the company at $1bn. Along the way, Alom treated Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late President of the UAE, has been appointed to the Supreme Council of the Ministry of Health, and is one of the few expatriates to be voted onto the board of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Al Noor Hospitals has three hospitals and nine medical centers in Abu Dhabi and is looking at expanding its offering into the rest of the Gulf.
Afiya Khalid: A Personal Grooming Entrepreneur
When Afiya Khalid’s childhood interest in becoming a make-up artist began to mature in her teenage years, she practiced her techniques on her family, friends and neighbors. That was as a 16-year-old, and although her make-up and henna creations helped her win the support of her family to pursue her dream job, it was another decade before the Emirati made the move. Instead she took a traditional career path, entering the banking industry after leaving school, and spending the past 16 years working as a senior product manager. In 2008, Ms Khalid decided to go back to class. She graduated from a six-month course at the Makeup For Ever Academy in Paris, where she learnt how to transform any face into picture-perfect. “Before I went to the institute I didn’t know what’s the perfect shape for a face,” says Ms Khalid, now 34. “Now I know how to control the nose, for instance, and can do make-up for all kinds of faces and eyes.” However, it wasn’t until May this year that she finally decided to turn her hobby into a business venture, launching her eponymous enterprise afiyakhalid.com in Dubai via a business licence called Intilaq for Emirati entrepreneurs.
UAE The First Arab Country to Sell The iPhone 6
UAE consumers will have to wait at least three weeks before getting their hands on the Apple iPhone 6, which was launched in California on Tuesday night. As early as last Thursday, Apple fans began to camp outside the company’s flagship US store ahead of the launch. While an exact date for the UAE launch is not yet known, retailers in the country have estimated that it could be anywhere between three to six weeks before it arrives in local stores (or ten days online). The Khaleej Times, speaking to founder of online retailer JadoPado, Omar Kassim, estimated that the new iPhone could be available in the UAE as early as September 20, and could retail for somewhere in the region of AED3,100 ($750). “I’d expect a bit of a price premium for the first week or so, around eight to 10 per cent over Apple’s retail US prices, but I don’t expect it to change versus their current iPhone 5s prices,” Kassim said. “It is likely the iPhone 6 will be available in launch markets 10 days after the announcement.
Kareem Shamma Elaborates On Qatar's Spectacular Mall
Driving around Doha, evidence of Qatar’s rampant redevelopment agenda is at every turn. From the myriad road works to an entire metro rail system, sports stadia and new residential and commercial towers under construction, it’s a city in full transformation mode as it hurtles towards 2022 and hosting the FIFA World Cup tournament. About 15km north of downtown Doha and another sign of the capital’s burgeoning industries is literally rising from the desert on Al Shamal Road. Identifiable currently by the Middle East’s biggest IKEA store, which opened last March, work on the remainder of the QR6bn ($1.6bn) Doha Festival City (DFC) project is now well under way. When finished, it will be Doha’s biggest mall with a total gross leasable area (GLA) of 250,000sqm and the third of joint-venture partner Al Futtaim Group’s Festival City-branded destinations in the Middle East, after Dubai and Cairo. Comprising 550 outlets, it will feature a 15-screen cinema and an indoor-outdoor entertainment park, as well as the city’s first mall with an integrated hotel and conference center.
Private Jets Are Taxis For MENA CEOs
The use of corporate jets among CEOs is making a comeback in MENA, according to a leading operator. Over the last five years, the financial crisis saw corporations in the region curtailing their expenditure on luxury aviation travel, but now, Private Jet Charter is noticing a staggering rise in demand. The independent private jet consultants say that although the percentage of CEOs using private jets has now reached a total of 10 percent, this number is just the beginning and we will see more CEOs opting for this form of transportation in the upcoming years. “This trend is gaining greater momentum in MENA because of the upgraded civil aviation infrastructure with improved services for private jets,” said Ross Kelly, Managing Director for MENA, PJC. “We expect private jet travel to gain acceleration over the next five years as a result of an economic rebound in the region and greater interconnectivity amongst GCC countries.” A review of Federal Aviation Administration flight records revealed that dozens of jets operated by publicly traded corporations made over 30 percent of their trips to or from resort destinations.
Secrets From The Fashion Industry
Fashion is not a glamorous industry. It’s all a façade, designed to lure you and leave you feeling like you are out of trend. The four traditional seasons are no longer the norm. New trends are coming out every week and fast-fashion retailers are aggressively churning out new looks to sell as much clothes as possible in as little time as possible. To be part of the fashion industry means cutting corners, chasing sales, negotiating deals, digging for raw materials, hours upon hours of creating new designs and developing technical knowhow , but above all, shelfing your ego and succumbing to the endless array of judgement. In fashion, what you see is certainly not what you get. It is all part of the marketing sceme that plays on your heartstrings. The reality is vailed, just like in many other industries, and the high cost of putting on the show is usually passed on to the customers. So if you plan on joining this industry, be ready for rigorous labour, thick skin, and some hard core dirty facts: 1- Outlets don’t carry the real merchandise. You’re not really getting discounted designer clothing in outlet stores, they were never on the designer’s shelves nor will it ever set foot in a label’s flagship store.
Khaled Samawi's Life Is All About Art
Khaled Samawi is in a good mood. “my house is full of art. The most expensive piece I have is worth around $200k. But I have art everywhere in my house. I never get bored of it. Can you imagine a world without art? That would be terrible. I just can’t imagine life without art,” he says. So far, life with art has been pretty good for Samawi. His Ayyam Gallery is considered the benchmark for Arabic art. With galleries in Damascus, Beirut, Cairo and Dubai, the gallery is pushing the envelope in the promotion of top Arab art. Ayyam Auctions is also the first regional auction house with auctions in Dubai and Beirut. Ayyam Publishing has published more than 50 art books in the last five years. The recently inaugurated Ayyam Art Centre in Dubai is the first private museum in the Gulf dedicated to the exhibition of Arab art. “We have two big auctions coming up in October and they will be busy, maybe $1m worth of art will be sold at each,” he says. This is clearly a good time to be in the art business. Experts suggest that the market has really grown in the Middle East during the past five years, with prices rocketing close to 500 percent.
Mótto; Cuisine And Psychology
Picture this: You walk into a restaurant, serve yourself a generous helping of each of the items on the buffet, have a waiter pour you unlimited cups of water and then get up to have another helping from the buffet. Before leaving, instead of requesting the bill, you pay what you judge to be a reasonable amount for the experience you just had. You are free to pay as little as a dollar or as much as a hundred bucks or more. Mótto, a new restaurant in Mar Mikhael and a fusion of the names of its founders Mohamad Fayyad and Tony Sfeir, has brought the concept of “pay what you want” to Beirut. This concept in the hospitality world is not new, and is used in countries like the United States, Germany, Austria and England. Sfeir learned about the concept during his trips to Berlin and found it very attractive. According to him, the “pay what you think is fair concepts” fare well in cities where people have a sense of community and social awareness. It all started when Sfeir found out that Fayyad was about to close down his venue, Mó, a restaurant in an alleyway off of Mar Mikhael’s main road, and leave the country. Sfeir, who owns the neighboring guest house BEYt and Plan BEY, a design and exhibition space, had often visited Mó to eat and loved the space.
Dress For Success
The importance of how you look in the workplace is nothing new, but recent changes to the office environment, spearheaded by the more relaxed atmosphere of places like Silicon Valley, have altered how people view their wardrobe. Tamara Pupic examines whether you should try to dress for success in your chosen industry. What does ‘dress for success’ mean? It means much more than you might think. Since the 1970s, Margaret Thatcher’s power suits and dressing for success have symbolized the aspirations of women to reach managerial positions within the world’s male-dominated business community. Later on, designer labels have become status symbols of certain professions and social circles. The so-called power dressing has been supported by the increasing use of credit cards, and has helped many to rise the corporate ladder or achieve the lifestyle of aspiration. Is it still important? Yes. The relaxed standards of the less-conventional business people of Silicon Valley may lead you to think that traditional business attire and its power symbols have been forgotten since the start of the 1990s tech era, but don’t be fooled – it’s still alive and kicking. For example, technically oriented business meetings and long hours spent in coding often require more comfortable clothes.
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