Business activity in the non-oil private sectors of the Arab world’s two biggest economies continued to improve in August, with output growth driving the fastest rise in employment in the UAE since January 2018.
Saudi Arabia's IHS Markit Purchasing Managers' Index indicated continued momentum in the kingdom’s non-oil economy, albeit at a slower pace. The index fell to 54.1 in August from 55.8 in July. A reading above 50 indicates economic expansion while anything below points to a contraction.
Business activity in Saudi Arabia has steadily improved in the past 12 months, as its economy bounces back from the pandemic-driven slowdown.
The latest data indicated a sharp growth in new business in August although, as was the case with output, the rate of growth slipped from July.
"The non-oil economy went slightly off the boil in August, as output growth slipped to the weakest level for 10 months amid a slowdown in new business gains," David Owen, an economist at IHS Markit, said.
"Demand momentum is still largely on the upside, with nearly three times as many firms seeing a rise in new orders as those registering a fall."
Although pandemic-related challenges persist, domestic orders in August surged and the number of tourists to the kingdom increased, Mr Owen said.
The output index dropped, but still pointed to a solid rise in non-oil activity, which the companies surveyed attributed to an improvement in demand and the easing of travel measures.
New business in the kingdom continued to grow sharply over the month, albeit at a slower rate, partly due to a softer increase in export sales as the virulent Delta variant led to a rise in Covid-19 cases in other parts of the world.
The rate of job creation was unchanged from July, with companies finding that the current output capacity was sufficient to complete existing work.
"Firms expect an improvement in domestic business conditions in the coming months", however, the unpredictability of the pandemic means that downside risks remain, Mr Owens said.
The headline PMI reading for the UAE reached 53.8 in August, slightly lower than the 54 it recorded in July. It was, however, the second-fastest improvement in the country’s non-oil private sector for more than two years.
With output requirements growing, non-oil private sector companies also increased their employment levels at the fastest rate since the beginning of 2018.
The August data indicated that business activity in the UAE grew at the quickest rate since July 2019, driven by an improvement in demand as the economy continued to recover with easing of pandemic-related restrictions.
New orders in the country rose for the sixth straight month, although the rate of growth eased slightly from July's recent high.
"PMI data signalled another robust rise in business activity across the non-oil sector in August, as demand continued to rebound from the pandemic," Mr Owen said. "This increasingly fed through into firms' hiring decisions, with employment numbers ticking up."
Uneven economic recovery and the renewed movement restrictions in some parts of the world due to a surge in Covid-19 Delta variant cases dented foreign demand in August. Despite continued shipping delays, latest data hinted that supply-side conditions are improving with overall delivery times shortened for the first time since January this year.
The outlook for the UAE's non-oil private sector economy remained positive in August, with businesses "hoping to gain investment from the Expo 2020 and benefit from a general pick-up in economic conditions", according to the survey.
Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have pressed ahead with their extensive Covid-19 mass inoculation campaigns. The UAE has eased some travel restrictions as the number of Covid-19 infections continue to decline in the Emirates.
The UAE has administered more than 18.3 million doses of vaccines, enough to vaccinate more than 85 per cent of the country's population. Nearly 76 million PCR tests have been conducted to date and about 71 per cent of people in the country have received two doses of vaccine. So far in Saudi Arabia, 37.8 million shots have been administered, enough for more than 55 per cent of the kingdom's population, according to Bloomberg's vaccine tracker.
Meanwhile, business conditions in Egypt's non-oil private sector economy improved to just a notch under the 50 neutral mark in August. The headline PMI reading rose to 49.8 in August, up from 49.1 in July, just shy of June's seven-month high.
Although the PMI was still in contraction territory, it "masked renewed upticks in output and new orders" in August to suggest that businesses had taken further steps to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the survey.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
The fake news generation
288,000 – the number of posts reported as hate speech that were deleted by Facebook globally each month in May and June this year
11% – the number of Americans who said they trusted the news they read on Snapchat as of June 2017, according to Statista. Over a quarter stated that they ‘rarely trusted’ the news they read on social media in general
31% - the number of young people in the US aged between 10 and 18 who said they had shared a news story online in the last six months that they later found out was wrong or inaccurate
63% - percentage of Arab nationals who said they get their news from social media every single day.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
START-UPS%20IN%20BATCH%204%20OF%20SANABIL%20500'S%20ACCELERATOR%20PROGRAMME
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How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
Honeymoonish
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Company%C2%A0profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Aayan%E2%80%99s%20records
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Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Champions League Last 16
Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) v Bayern Munich (GER)
Sporting Lisbon (POR) v Manchester City (ENG)
Benfica (POR) v Ajax (NED)
Chelsea (ENG) v Lille (FRA)
Atletico Madrid (ESP) v Manchester United (ENG)
Villarreal (ESP) v Juventus (ITA)
Inter Milan (ITA) v Liverpool (ENG)
Paris Saint-Germain v Real Madrid (ESP)
Central%20Bank's%20push%20for%20a%20robust%20financial%20infrastructure
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3ECBDC%20real-value%20pilot%20held%20with%20three%20partner%20institutions%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EPreparing%20buy%20now%2C%20pay%20later%20regulations%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EPreparing%20for%20the%202023%20launch%20of%20the%20domestic%20card%20initiative%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EPhase%20one%20of%20the%20Financial%20Infrastructure%20Transformation%20(FiT)%20completed%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Rooney's club record
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
MATCH INFO
Azerbaijan 0
Wales 2 (Moore 10', Wilson 34')
MATCH INFO
Inter Milan 1 (Martinez 18' pen)
Juventus 2 (Dybala 4', Higuain 80')
Brief scores:
Scotland 371-5, 50 overs (C MacLeod 140 no, K Coetzer 58, G Munsey 55)
England 365 all out, 48.5 overs (J Bairstow 105, A Hales 52; M Watt 3-55)
Result: Scotland won by six runs
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Summer special
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
MATCH INFO
Uefa Nations League
League A, Group 4
Spain v England, 10.45pm (UAE)
Read more about the coronavirus
BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP
Group A
Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA
Group B
Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti
Group C
Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia
Group D
Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria
ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
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