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Category Archives: Sunday Business Post

Irish Sunday Business Newspaper

Obama plays down rift with Karzai

Sunday Business Post by Raymond Barrett US president Barack Obama welcomed his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai to Washington last week, as the two leaders sought to rebuild a relationship that had faltered amid allegations of corruption, electoral fraud and recurring civilian casualties. During a joint address in the White House, Obama downplayed reports of a […]

Karzai takes control of election complaints

Sunday Business Post By Raymond Barrett in Washington Afghan president Hamid Karzai has strengthened his control on the country’s political infrastructure by wresting control of a key component of the electoral system from the United Nations. Karzai issued a decree last week giving himself the power to appoint all five members of the Electoral Complaints […]

Dubai seeks Mossad chief’s arrest in assassination case

Sunday Business Post By Raymond Barrett in Washington The fallout over the murder of a senior Hamas commander in Dubai continued last week as the city’s police chief said the head of Mossad – Israel’s intelligence service – should be arrested. CCTV footage released by the Dubai authorities revealed that 11 people travelling on forged […]

Baghdad carnage a sign of growing unrest

Sunday Business Post By Raymond Barrett A coordinated series of attacks against hotels used by foreign journalists and Iraqi politicians left nearly 40 people dead in Baghdad last week. Gunmen and suicide bombers targeted three hotels in and around the heavily fortified green zone, which is home to both the US embassy and the Iraqi […]

Burj rename a telling insight into Dubai’s economic reliance

Sunday Business Post By Raymond Barrett The full extent of Dubai’s financial implosion was revealed this week as the world’s tallest building was officially opened amid much fanfare in the small Persian Gulf emirate. At a height of 828 metres – twice the height of the Empire State Building – Burj Dubai was meant to […]

Dubai World creditors must wait it out

Sunday Business Post By Raymond Barrett Creditors of Dubai World are assessing their options in light of the announcement that the state-owned company is suspending repayments on debts of someUS$60 billion. British banks such as HSBC, RBS and Lloyds, along with the US hedge fund QVT, have considerable exposure to Dubai’s flagship holding company – […]

Financial markets rocked as Dubai economy falters

Sunday Business Post By Raymond Barrett Many analysts wrongly thought Dubai had sufficient funds to cover debt repayments for the current year, writes Raymond Barrett. Dubai, once the posterchild of the global economic boom, looks like becoming the symbol of its collapse, with major question marks over its financial health. The Persian Gulf emirate that […]

Corruption is the cost of doing business in Afghanistan

Sunday Business Post By Raymond Barrett Afghan President Hamid Karzai has secured a second five-year term after a controversial run-off election scheduled for yesterday was cancelled by the country’s independent electoral commission. Former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah withdrew from the contest a week before the second round of voting, questioning the impartiality of the electoral […]

UN takes cover as controversial election looms

Sunday Business Post By Raymond Barrett Eight people were killed in the Afghan capital, Kabul, last week when Taliban gunmen attacked a guesthouse used by United Nations international staff. The three attackers – who were armed with AK-47 assault rifles, machine guns and grenades – also died during a fierce fire fight with security guards […]

Pakistan reignites assault against Taliban

Sunday Business Post By Raymond Barrett Pakistan’s army has reported killing more than 100 Taliban militants as part of an ongoing offensive in south Waziristan – a semi-autonomous region along the Afghan border. Two divisions – around 28,000 soldiers – have been deployed to target strongholds of the Tehreeke-Taliban network, the group linked to a […]