Yahoo has struck a deal with Al Jazeera to publish the Qatar-based TV channel's broadcasts on its site. The deal is Yahoo Middle East's latest partnership after an agreement with the Saudi media giant Rotana to publish more exclusive content to try to boost online traffic and advertising revenue. Ahmed Nassef, the vice president and managing director of Yahoo Middle East, said the bilingual website should start publishing a new version in the fourth quarter of the year, offering its users customised, local information.
Mr Nassef said international interest in the Arab world was such that "there's a big focus with our content to get together with regional players to get as much content as possible". Terms of the deal between Yahoo and Al Jazeera were not disclosed. Representatives from Al Jazeera could not be reached. Yahoo bought the Maktoob portal in November for US$164 million (Dh602.3m), leading to the creation of Yahoo Middle East. It was the first Arab company to be acquired by a major internet player.
Hosam el Sokkari, the head of audience for Yahoo Middle East, said the Al Jazeera deal represented another step in achieving the company's goal of becoming a leading global provider of content. "It's not just about Al Jazeera's content," he said. "It's about a portfolio of content providers that would offer a comprehensive [package] to our audience." He said more deals were expected to be announced soon, as Yahoo's talks with the BBC and the Abu Dhabi Media Company, the owner and publisher of The National, were progressing well.
Mr Nassef said content from two Egyptian newspapers, Al Youm Al Sabea and Al Dustoor, would be included on the site, as well as Helwa, a channel dedicated to women, and an Arabic version of OMG, Yahoo's entertainment site. "Yahoo has a lot of global content and we have a lot of global rights for content," said Mr Nassef. "Our challenge is looking at our English offerings and repurposing that on Yahoo's Arabic property."
The region's online advertising is expected to more than triple its share of the overall ad sector from 4 per cent last year to 13.4 per cent by 2014, recent research by the consultancy Booz & Company shows. Recent estimates valued the sector at about $90m last year, up from $65m in 2008. A source at Yahoo Middle East said the company had about 40 per cent of the region's online advertising market.
Mr Nassef said Yahoo's Cairo editorial team was generating between 40 and 50 "content packages", in the hope of raising advertising rates. "In our experiences, people are very attracted to content-focused verticals because they perform better [for advertisers] and they are more likely to interact with adverts," he said. dgeorgecosh@thenational.ae
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
if you go
Getting there
Etihad (Etihad.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Air France (www.airfrance.com) fly to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. Return flights cost from around Dh3,785. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Paris to Compiègne by train, with return tickets costing €19. The Glade of the Armistice is 6.6km east of the railway station.
Staying there
On a handsome, tree-lined street near the Chateau’s park, La Parenthèse du Rond Royal (laparenthesedurondroyal.com) offers spacious b&b accommodation with thoughtful design touches. Lots of natural woods, old fashioned travelling trunks as decoration and multi-nozzle showers are part of the look, while there are free bikes for those who want to cycle to the glade. Prices start at €120 a night.
More information: musee-armistice-14-18.fr ; compiegne-tourisme.fr; uk.france.fr
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Price, base / as tested From Dh173,775 (base model)
Engine 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo, AWD
Power 249hp at 5,500rpm
Torque 365Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Gearbox Nine-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined 7.9L/100km
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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