by Armando Mombelli, swissinfo.ch On March 3, 2002, the Swiss population narrowly voted to join the United Nations – a historic decision. It came after more than half a century of refusing to be part of the body, out of fears linked above all to safeguarding Switzerland’s cherished neutrality. “The […]
PARIS — Many countries censor the Internet, but few spell out their intentions as explicitly as Pakistan. The government published a public tender last month for the “development, deployment and operation of a national-level URL filtering and blocking System.” Technology companies, academic institutions and other interested parties have until March […]
Saudi Arabia and Egypt have renewed an agreement on constructing a causeway between Tabuk and Egypt through Aqaba Bay at an initial cost of $3 billion, Al-Watan newspaper reported yesterday, […]
(Reuters) – Wolfgang Schaeuble was playing Sudoku on his iPadas he waited to hear whether Greece’s negotiating team had persuaded private creditors to accept a bigger loss on their Greek bonds. Germany’s finance minister needed this last piece of the debt restructuring puzzle to fall into place. Without the private […]
On average, two children die and about 50 are injured every week when someone accidentally backs over them in a vehicle, according to KidsAndCars.org, a nonprofit group that pushed the government to begin tracking such tragedies. And more than two-thirds of the time, a parent or other close relative is […]
MEXICO CITY — As finance ministers from the Group of 20 countries began a two-day meeting here dominated by the European sovereign debt crisis, the United States was adamant that European nations must do more to buffer their economies. At the center of the dispute is the reluctance of cash-rich […]
By SELCAN HACAOGLU | AP ARABNEWS ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey’s prime minister called on Libya on Saturday to disband militia forces to restore security and assume full power in the country, even as his Libyan counterpart invited Turkish companies to return to Libya to finish construction projects worth billions of dollars. […]
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — New home sales exceeded forecasts in the latest government readings Friday, another sign of a long-awaited recovery in the battered housing market. The Census Bureau reported that the pace of new home sales hit a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 321,000 in January, up from the previous […]
Focus will be on economic growth, SMEs by Hani Hazaimeh | Feb 22,2012 | JORDAN TIMES AMMAN — Jordan will receive a financial assistance package of around 3 billion euros […]
AMMAN –– His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday voiced appreciation for the EU’s continued support for programmes and plans Jordan is implementing to achieve sustainable development in all areas. During a meeting with EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, the King said Jordan seeks to become a “successful” model for reform […]
LISBON, Portugal – For nearly 600 years, Portugal had one of the greatest colonial empires in Europe, commanding trade centers in Africa, South America and China. Now, laid low by […]
WASHINGTON — President Obama will ask Congress to scrub the corporate tax code of dozens of loopholes and subsidies to reduce the top rate to 28 percent, down from 35 percent, while giving preferences to manufacturers that would set their maximum effective rate at 25 percent, a senior administration official […]
Businessinsider.com: “No government has ever commanded the resources at the disposal of our ungodly Leviathan, which consumes about 25% of the product of the world’s richest country. It is driven by a voracious alliance of government’s own employees, and those who receive benefits from the state. At least 90 million […]
Dawn: Murtaza Haider: Pakistanis are fast becoming a wasted nation. The alarmingly high level of malnutrition observed in Pakistan in the past few years is far worse than what has […]
(Reuters) – Euro zone finance ministers agreed a 130-billion-euro ($172 billion) rescue for Greeceon Tuesday to avert an imminent chaotic default after forcing Athens to commit to unpopular cuts and private bondholders to take bigger losses. The complex deal wrought in overnight negotiations buys time to stabilize the 17-nation currency […]
Businessinsider.com: The enemy of the conventional wisdom is not ideas but the march of events. – John Kenneth Galbraith The western embargo against Iran’s oil seems to be running into a […]
(Reuters) – It’s 10.30 on a chilly winter’s morning in central Madrid and retailer Emanuela Scena is opening up for business. Her shop is one of several offering second-hand goods […]
By SIRAJ WAHAB | ARAB NEWS DAMMAM: Three years from now Saudi Arabia will have one of the most extensive rail networks in the world. It will rival grids in […]
by Mohammad Ghazal | Feb 20,2012 | JORDAN TIMES AMMAN — Malaysia is seeking the expertise of Jordanian academicians to establish the World Association of Islamic Business School, according to a senior Malaysian official. “Jordanian universities enjoy a very strong reputation and we are seeking their expertise and assistance in […]
Companies know a lot about you. Probably more than you’re comfortable with. Charles Duhigg of the New York Times wrote yesterday about how major corporations use sophisticated statistical analysis in an effort to know exactly how to target customers. Data mining is a $100 billion industry, according to Martin Lindstrom’s “Brandwashed,” which we used […]