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☆ Dubai Old Town: Dubai’s ‘soul’ is about more than historic buildings
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-27 | by ( Rebecca Cairns | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

So in 2016, Badran set up her own tour company, Wander with Nada, to “show a different side of Dubai” to travelers. Her bespoke private tours are designed to suit the interests of each visitor, but her favorite itinerary is Dubai’s “old town,” a group of small neighborhoods around Dubai Creek where the city began and Badran spent her childhood. Badran leads me through the narrow alleys around the Dubai Old Souk, home to stores run by Indian-origin families. Stores in Old Dubai Souk. “Dubai is about opening your mind,” Badran says, “and embracing this diversity that makes it unique.”

Persons: Nada Badran, Badran, “, ”, Nada, Rebecca Cairns, Al Maktoum, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Al Talli, There’s, —, it’s, ” Badran, Al Shindagha, Al, Djamel Boussaa, ” Boussaa, hasn’t, Rashid Haghaght, Al Karama, ” “ Organizations: CNN, “, United Arab Emirates, Dubai, Heritage, UNESCO, Al Shindagha, Trading Locations: Florence, Dubai, The, Arabian, “ Dubai, ”, Rome, Athens, Edinburgh, UAE, Oman, today’s Iraq, Bani Yas, Al Shindagha, Suadna, South, West Asia, Al, Saudi Arabia, Al Fahidi, Jordan, Deira, Isfahan, Old Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Rigga, Souk, Old Dubai Souk, Jebel Ali, Iran, India, China

☆ Israel, Gaza and What We Get Wrong - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Nicholas Kristof | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

We’ve reached a searing milestone: In just five weeks of war, half of 1 percent of Gaza’s population has been killed. The second myth is that Palestinians can be put off indefinitely, strung along by Israel, the United States and other countries. I’m all for surgical strikes against Hamas and I would be delighted if Israel managed to end extremism in Gaza. It also means renouncing what Netanyahu called “mighty vengeance” that transforms entire neighborhoods of Gaza into rubble, with bodies buried underneath. If you weep only for Israeli children, or only for Palestinian children, you have a problem that goes beyond your tear ducts.

Persons: —, We’ve, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Isaac Herzog, Israel, Roy Grow, Mohammed Alshannat, ”, Netanyahu, don’t Organizations: Hamas, Health Ministry, United Nations, Bank, Carleton College Locations: Gaza, Yemen, Syria, Western Sahara, Xinjiang, Israel, United States, Palestinian, Palestine, Saudi Arabia

☆ Opinion | Are We Looking at George H.W. Biden?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Frank Bruni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

It breaks your heart, but as Carly Simon sang, there is more room in a broken heart. And yet here we are, atoms with consciousness, each of us a living improbability forged of chaos and dead stars. Flagg’s highlight mixtapes are downright gratuitous — look at him reducing these poor kids into piles of gristle and bone! It should honestly come with a content warning.” (Matthew Dallett, Brooklin, Maine)In The Wall Street Journal, Jason Gay rendered a damning (and furry!) Maybe the dog lies down and chews a big stick.” (Paul Shikany, the Bronx)

Persons: Anne Lamott, Carly Simon, ”, Melissa France, Steve Aldrich, Maria Popova, “, “ Oppenheimer, Jo Radner, James Bennet, Donald Trump, Mitt Romney, Trump, Romney, bankrupting bender, Roger Tellefsen, Luke Winkie marveled, Cooper Flagg, Flagg, Matthew Dallett, Jason Gay, Paul Shikany Organizations: Washington Post, Times, Republicans, Duke basketball, Street Locations: Washington, Flemington, N.J, Minneapolis, Bulgarian, Lovell , Maine, Berwyn, Pa, Brooklin , Maine, Bronx

☆ New orders lift Saudi non-oil business activity growth to four-month high
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

New business expanded faster with the new orders subindex surging to 66.1 in October, also a four-month high, from 64.2 the previous month. The growth in output and new business was spread across most sectors, including manufacturing and construction, the survey showed. Growth in output remained high although the subindex eased to 60.1, weaker than the long run trend. The employment subindex rose to a nine-year high of 54.5 in October from 52.0 in September. The government estimates non-oil economic growth in 2023 of around 6%, significantly outperforming overall GDP growth.

Persons: Naif Al, Ghaith, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Rachna Uppal, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Bank Saudi, Riyad Bank, Thomson Locations: DUBAI, Saudi Arabia, Bank Saudi Arabia, Saudi

☆ To Make ‘Fellow Travelers,’ Ron Nyswaner Had to Fall in Love
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Alexis Soloski | More About Alexis Soloski | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ron Nyswaner, the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated screenwriter, can still recall a chance meeting on a beach more than 50 years ago. Then a teenager and a self-described “Jesus freak,” he’d come to Ocean City, N.J., to attend a Youth for Christ conference. That young man asked him to speak in tongues — it was an invitation to religious ecstasy and nothing more. Moving back and forth from the early 1950s to the late ’80s, “Fellow Travelers,” based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon, is a précis of 20th-century queer history viewed through a turbulent relationship between two men. Jonathan Bailey (“Bridgerton”) plays Tim Laughlin, a milk-drinking, God-loving naïf who dreams of working for Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Persons: Ron Nyswaner, he’d, Nyswaner, ”, Thomas Mallon, Matt Bomer, Mike ”, Hawkins Fuller, Hawk, Jonathan Bailey, Tim Laughlin, Joseph McCarthy Organizations: Christ, “, Paramount, Showtime, State Department Locations: Ocean City, N.J, Manhattan’s Soho

☆ Once Inconceivable, Officials’ Visits Highlight Warming Saudi-Israeli Ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Patrick Kingsley | More About Patrick Kingsley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Parallel visits this week by an Israeli minister to Saudi Arabia and a Saudi envoy to the Israeli-occupied West Bank have highlighted the fast-warming ties between the Jewish state and the most powerful Arab country. In the first-ever public visit by an Israeli minister to the Arab kingdom, Haim Katz, the Israeli tourism minister, attended a multilateral tourism conference in Riyadh on Tuesday and Wednesday that was organized by the United Nations. Simultaneously, the Saudi ambassador to the Palestinians, Naif al-Sudairi, traveled through an Israeli border checkpoint to visit the West Bank, where he met with the leaders of the Palestinian Authority, the organization that administers just under 40 percent of the Israeli-controlled territory. Experts said the visit by Mr. Sudairi, who is based in neighboring Jordan, was the first known visit by a Saudi official to the region since Israel captured it from Jordan in the 1967 war between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Persons: Haim Katz, Naif, Sudairi Organizations: Bank, United Nations, West Bank, Palestinian Authority, Saudi Locations: Saudi Arabia, Saudi, Riyadh, Jordan, Israel

☆ Axiom Space raises $350 million from Saudi and Korean investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Chief Engineer Jim Stein wears the new spacesuit during the Axiom Space Artemis III Lunar Spacesuit event at Space Center Houston in Houston, Texas, on March 15, 2023. Space company Axiom raised $350 million in a round that was led by Saudi-owned Aljazira Capital and Korean health-care investment firm Boryung, the company announced Monday. Houston-based Axiom trains and flies both private and government astronauts on missions to the International Space Station via launches with SpaceX. It's developing human spaceflight technologies including a commercial space station and a lunar spacesuit. It's flown two crews to the ISS, including the recently completed Ax-2 mission, and is working to launch its first space station module by 2026.

Persons: Jim Stein, Axion, It's, Naif Almesned Organizations: Space Center Houston, Saudi, Aljazira Capital, Houston, International Space, SpaceX Locations: Houston , Texas

☆ Saudi Arabia appoints first envoy to Palestinians amid talks on Israel normalization
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Abeer Salman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Jerusalem CNN —Saudi Arabia has appointed its first ambassador to the Palestinians, in a move that comes amid talks with the United States over a possible deal to normalize relations between the Gulf kingdom and Israel. Palestinians maintain that the eastern part of the city should serve as the future capital of a Palestinian state. All members of the Arab bloc, including Saudi Arabia, recognize Palestinian statehood and the kingdom maintains a Palestinian embassy in the capital Riyadh. The move comes amid reports of a normalization deal in the works between Saudi Arabia and Israel, with the Unites States involved in the rapprochement. Miller’s comments came after a Wall Street Journal report saying that the US and Saudi Arabia had agreed on the “broad contours” of a normalization deal.

Persons: Jordan, Naif bin Bandar, ”, Mahmoud Abbas’s, Al, Eli Cohen, Israel, Saudi Arabia’s, ” Cohen, ” “, Donald Trump, Matthew Miller Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, of, Palestinian, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel, Saudi, United Nations, ”, State Department, CNN Locations: Jerusalem, Saudi Arabia, United States, Israel, Naif bin, Naif bin Bandar Al, of Palestine, Jordanian, Amman, Saudi, Palestinian, Riyadh

CNN —Three Palestinians have been killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at the Jenin Camp in the occupied West Bank, the IDF announced on Sunday. According to the IDF, three individuals who were part of the cell were killed during the operation. The IDF released a statement detailing the incident, stating that the head of the cell, Naif Abu Tsuik, along with two other members, were killed. This weekend, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said a Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli settlers in the village of Burqa, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Jenin has long been a flashpoint – last month saw Israeli forces carry out their largest-scale military operation there in decades.

Persons: Naif Abu Tsuik, Hazem Qassem, ” Organizations: CNN, Israel Defense Forces, West Bank, IDF, Palestinian Ministry of Health Locations: Jenin, Palestinian, Burqa, Ramallah, Tel Aviv

☆ Saudi non-oil business activity surges in February on strong demand-PMI
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, March 5 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's non-oil business sector activity soared to its highest level in eight years in February, a survey showed on Sunday, based on a strong increase in demand and an optimistic economic outlook. A substantial rise in new orders indicated improved economic conditions for businesses. As a result the Output sub-index also recorded a strong increase, at 65.6 in February from 63.6 in the previous month, leading to further expansion in employment and purchasing. Saudi inflation rose to 3.4% in January, slightly up from the previous month. Improving economic conditions are driving confidence for future business activity over the next 12 months, the survey said.

☆ Saudi non-oil private sector activity jumps in January on higher output, orders
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Growth in Saudi Arabia's non-oil business activity accelerated in January, having hit a three-month low the previous month, a survey showed on Sunday, supported by an increase in new orders and output. The seasonally adjusted Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers' Index increased to 58.2 in January, from 56.9 in the previous month and well above the 50 mark separating growth from contraction. "This growth confirms the Saudi position as the fastest-growing economy among the Group of 20 countries despite economic headwinds," said Naif Al-Ghaith, Chief Economist at Riyad Bank. The output sub-index rose to 63.6 in January from 61.0 the previous month, mainly on higher demand, as the new orders sub-index jumped to 65.3 from 62.9 in December, with the strongest increase recorded among service providers. Confidence among private firms in the non-oil sector increased to a two-year high last month with survey participants forecasting a strong year ahead supported by new order inflows, high capacity, and lower expected costs.

☆ Elon Musk attorneys try to move trial from California to Texas, citing ‘local negativity’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Attorneys for Tesla and Elon Musk are asking a federal judge in San Francisco to move, or delay, a forthcoming trial from Northern California to Western Texas, saying they won’t be able to find unbiased jurors and citing “local negativity” toward Musk. That year, Musk resided in California and Tesla was headquartered in Palo Alto. In a recent public appearance in San Francisco, Musk was booed after comedian Dave Chappelle invited him on stage. The Tesla CEO has repeatedly claimed that he made a handshake deal with investors from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take Tesla private at $420 per share. Text messages revealed in another trial in 2022 suggested Saudi PIF investors had not fully agreed to fund a Tesla deal.

☆ Elon Musk attorneys aim to move trial from California to Texas, citing ‘local negativity’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Attorneys for Tesla and Elon Musk are asking a federal judge in San Francisco to move, or delay, a forthcoming trial from Northern California to Western Texas, saying they won't be able to find unbiased jurors and citing "local negativity" toward Musk. That year, Musk resided in California and Tesla was headquartered in Palo Alto. In a recent public appearance in San Francisco, Musk was booed after comedian Dave Chappelle invited him on stage. Musk and his attorneys have previously argued that his statements about a possible take-private deal for Tesla in 2018 did not violate the law. The Tesla CEO has repeatedly claimed that he made a handshake deal with investors from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund to take Tesla private at $420 per share.

☆ Saudi non-oil private sector activity eases in December
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Growth in Saudi Arabia's non-oil business activity slowed to a three-month low in December, a survey showed on Tuesday, although higher sales and strong demand ensured firms remained confident about the outlook for the coming year. The seasonally adjusted Riyad Bank Saudi Arabia Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 56.9 in December from 58.5 in November. However, the output subindex softened to 61 from November's 64.6 while the pace of growth in new orders also slowed. The Saudi government has estimated GDP growth of almost 9% in 2022, revised up from its earlier estimates, with the finance ministry attributing the adjustment largely to non-oil private sector activity. This made us comfortably project growth of non-oil GDP to exceed 4% in 2023."

☆ Saudi non-oil private sector continues to expand in November
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's non-oil business activity expanded at the fastest rate in seven years in November, supported by a sharp rise in new orders and continued confidence in the growth outlook, a survey showed on Monday. The output sub-index rose to 64.6 in November from 61.3 the previous month while the new orders sub-index accelerated to 65.7 from 62.9 in October. The manufacturing, construction, wholesale & retail and services sectors all recorded strong growth, the survey said. Aside from strong domestic conditions, new export business also saw the fastest increase since November 2015. "The Saudi economy is continuing its expansion in the non-oil sector in November, business conditions have improved across the board in light of rising demand," said Naif Al-Ghaith, chief economist at Riyad Bank.

☆ Saudi non-oil private sector activity grows strongly in Oct - PMI
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's non-oil private sector expanded at a faster rate in October on the back of strong demand and rising new work inflows, a survey showed on Wednesday. "Saudi Arabian non-oil businesses signalled a strong degree of confidence in future economic conditions in October. "At the same time, business activity and new orders rose sharply again, with firms seeing client demand strengthen at a robust rate. Over a third of survey respondents noted that new orders had increased since the previous survey in September. The output subindex rose to 61.3 in October from 59.5 in September, while the employment subindex slipped to 50.2 from 50.5 but notched a seventh consecutive month of growth.

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