Free Republic

The oil minister of the United Arab Emirates has announced that a new oil pipeline bypassing the Strait of Hormuz is nearly complete. The Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline project would ship crude from the UAE’s main oil producing region to the port of Fujairah on the country’s eastern coast, bypassing the vital Strait. The timing of the announcement could not be more prescient; Iranian officials have recently made their most threatening remarks to date about “closing” the Strait of Hormuz as fresh U.S. and international sanctions have put the regime on the defensive. In recent weeks alone, the head...

The United States has signed a $3.5 billion sale of an advanced antimissile interception system to the United Arab Emirates, part of an accelerating military buildup of its friends and allies near Iran. The deal, signed on December 25 and announced on Friday night by the U.S. Defense Department, "is an important step in improving the region's security through a regional missile defense architecture," Pentagon press secretary George Little said in a statement. The U.S. Congress had been notified of the proposed sale in September 2008 by former President George W. Bush's administration. At that time, the system built by...

#DXB11: Certain victory for Rafale turns uncertain So much for the rampant rumours (well, rampant throughout France anyway) that the UAE's long-delayed fighter contract was a done-deal for the Rafale. Everything we know about the United Arab Emirates fighter modernisation plans have turned upside down within the first 24h of the Dubai Air Show. Quick summary: Dassault Rafale still in, Saab Gripen still out, Eurofighter Typhoon made a surprise entrance, Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 60 is now lurking and Boeing throws F-15 Silent Eagle into the mix. And the UAE Air Force, meanwhile, confirmed it wants to buy a "next...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai's fast-growing airline Emirates kicked off the Middle East's biggest airshow Sunday with a huge order for 50 Boeing 777s, marking the U.S. aircraft maker's biggest-ever single order in dollar terms.

DUBAI: UAE issues shock Eurofighter Typhoon request By: Craig Hoyle Dubai France’s long-running campaign to sell up to 60 Dassault Rafales to the United Arab Emirates faces a shock last-minute challenge, with the Eurofighter consortium having been asked to submit a proposal based on its Typhoon combat aircraft. News of the development broke on the eve of the Dubai air show, where both types are scheduled to take part in the daily flying display. Sources have confirmed that the UK provided a formal briefing about the Typhoon to UAE officials on 17 October, after being asked to explore how it...

U.S. may sell precision-guided bombs to UAE-source 1:32am EST WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. government may soon announce plans for a large sale of precision-guided bombs to the United Arab Emirates, a source familiar with the arms sales plans said late on Thursday, as tensions mounted with Iran over its nuclear program. The Pentagon is considering a significant sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions made by Boeing Co , adding to other recent arms deals with the UAE. These include the sale of 500 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles about which U.S. lawmakers were notified in September. The sale of...

French Push Hard to Clinch Jet Deal with UAE Written by Arieh O’Sullivan First foreign sale for French jet may go to Arab nation Fresh from battle experience over Libya, a French Rafale jet is heading to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to strut its stuff amid a heavy pitch to finally clinch a deal for the first foreign sale of the fighter aircraft. The sleek Rafale, built by Dassault Aviation, is expected to fly at the biennial Dubai Air Show, a five-day jamboree of top aviation, defense and aerospace executives, which begins on Sunday. French officials have recently hinted...

#DXB11: Dubai Air Show's biggest non-story is ... the F-35 The Lockheed Martin F-35 is the story that won't happen at the Dubai Air Show, which opens Sunday, and we're not entirely sure why. There is of course no shortage of big headlines at what is now the world's third-largest aerospace event and rising quickly. It's possible the United Arab Emirates will finally sign a check to buy some number of Dassault Rafales, although the total could be fewer than the stated requirement of 60. We may also hear more about the UAE's postponed deals for large airborne early warning...

IN FOCUS: Middle East defence market keeps growing By: Stephen Trimble Washington DC A news conference by the elusive ministry of defence of the United Arab Emirates was announced unexpectedly on 18 November 2009. The Dubai air show was all but over, but now the MoD would meet with the press on the afternoon of 19 November. Until that moment it had appeared the air show - the most important aerospace industry event in the Middle East every other year - was a bust in terms of achieving clarity on several major defence orders. Entering the event, industry officials ­wondered...

s Haj tour operators compete to provide the greatest luxury, pilgrims say packages costing more than Dh100,000 detract from what should be a religious experience. Even an "ordinary" Haj package can cost between Dh39,000 and Dh45,000, including airfare and accommodation. But the tour operators say they are only providing what customers want - and some want luxury. "A number of pilgrims want to stay near the holy places like the Kaaba, and hotels in the neighbourhood are more expensive," said Shaban Abdul Maqsood, who works at a tour company he declined to name. "We offer a 'five-star' Haj and have...

Korea awaits new partner for $5 bil. fighter program By Lee Tae-hoon The door is open for another country or foreign firm to participate in Seoul’s initiative to develop a new combat aircraft with a budget of $5 billion, defense officials here said. “Many countries, including the United Arab Emirates, have shown interest in investing in the project,” Noh Dae-rae, head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration Commissioner, said Tuesday. “We are planning to allow another country with the most attractive offer to join the KF-X program.” The KF-X program refers to the multirole fighter development program that Seoul has...

Three Middle East nations considering F-16 orders Posted Wednesday, Jul. 13, 2011 By Bob Cox rcox@star-telegram.com Prospects may be improving for Lockheed Martin to soon book more orders for Fort Worth-built F-16 fighter jets. Iraq's on-again, off-again plans for buying F-16s may be back on again. In addition, Oman and the United Arab Emirates are reportedly again talking to the U.S. government and Lockheed about F-16s after they could not agree on terms for buying French fighter jets. Lockheed officials confirmed reports that they had been in contact with the three Middle East nations about F-16 sales, but they declined...

Will Lockheed's Rival Crash and Burn? By Rich Smith Investors know the saying: "Bulls make money, bears make money, but pigs get slaughtered." If you stumble onto a "good thing," don't get greedy -- take a fair profit. France's Dassault would be wise to heed that lesson. Yesterday, DefenseNews.com reported that Dassault has run into trouble in negotiations to sell the United Arab Emirates a fleet of Rafale fighter jets. The UAE wanted to purchase several dozen of the jets to replace its 63 French Mirage fighters. But a deal that was supposed to cost somewhere between $2.5 billion and...

A proposal to boost the Peninsula Shield, the Gulf Cooperation Council's combined military force, has been approved by its six member states, and could increase to include 100,000 troops before the end of the year... The Peninsula Shield currently consists of about 40,000 troops and has its permanent base in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. The proposed expansion would be a huge boost from the previous force's incarnation, whose numbers fluctuated between 5-10,000 troops during its existence. Its permanent military base could also be moved to Bahrain... Back in March, when the protest movement in Bahrain was gaining the same kind...

NOTE The following text is a quote: JUNE 23, 2011 MACON, GA International procurement network members indicted for supplying Iran with US military aircraft components MACON, Ga. - Seven individuals and five corporate entities based in the United States, France, the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) and Iran have been indicted in the Middle District of Georgia for their alleged roles with illegally exporting military components for fighter jets and attack helicopters from the United States to Iran. One defendant and his company were sentenced on Wednesday, with the individual receiving nearly five years in prison. Another defendant and his company...

Dassault aims to seal €8bn contract with UAE Ivan Gale Jun 2, 2011 Dassault Aviation hopes to seal a proposed order for 60 of its Rafale fighter jets with the UAE worth up to €8 billion (Dh42.34bn), despite reports claiming engine specifications were a major sticking point. The ongoing sales campaign is now in its third year of negotiations and has been one of the most closely watched aerospace developments in the Gulf, especially by rival fighter jet manufacturers in Europe and the US. Charles Edelstenne, the chairman and chief executive of Dassault Aviation, said he was "always hopeful" of...

The September11 terror attacks in the US were staged to overcome disunity in al-Qa'ida, confidential computer records reveal. Alan Cullison reports on what happened after his laptop was wrecked while he was covering the combat in Afghanistan IN the autumn of 2001, I was one of scores of journalists who ventured into northern Afghanistan to write about the US-assisted war against the Taliban. After losing use of my computer in an accident, I scrawled stories by candlelight with a ballpoint pen and read dispatches to my editors at The Wall Street Journal over a satellite phone. When the Taliban's defences...

CNN (blog) - Jenifer Fenton Shelter from horrors of slavery By Jenifer Fenton, CNN Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates (CNN) - From the outside it looks no different from the luxury villas that dot this affluent emirate. Inside the modern building, though, are secrets: stories of depravity and horror that sound out of place in the 21st Century ... enslavement, quasi-slavery practices, or detachment of organs.

RAS AL KHAIMAH // Sustainable development is the only answer to spreading the wealth among nations, the Ruler of Ras al Khaimah told a science forum yesterday. Sheikh Saud bin Saqr was speaking yesterday at the opening of the 17th Annual Micromachine Summit, a gathering of leading research scientists from 22 countries. "I can't overemphasise the role of scientists and research," he said. "What is our wealth? It's really nothing. With the six or seven billion people on Earth, we have great challenges ahead of us. Only through knowledge and research can we afford to make a better future for...

The UAE’s trade with the rest of the OIC countries has witnessed tremendous growth in the past five years, and the OIC Expo presents an opportunity to give a further fillip for intra-trade among Islamic countries, according to senior officials attending the show that got under way today (April 24) at Expo Centre Sharjah. The 13the edition of the show was inaugurated by H.H. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Bin Sultan Al Qassimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah. The intra-trade among member countries has touched US$ 550 billion in 2009 and this is in for a 20 per cent...

FMS: United Arab Emirates Requests 218 AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II Air-to-Air Missiles News >> Missiles & Munitions >> Sales & Contracts Released on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 United Arab Emirates � AIM-9X-2 SIDEWINDER Missiles WASHINGTON, April 19, 2011 � The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Monday of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of the United Arab Emirates of 218 AIM-9X-2 SIDEWINDER Block II Tactical Missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $251 million. The Government of the United Arab Emirates has requested a possible sale of 218 AIM-9X-2 SIDEWINDER...

Kuwait's navy plans to head to Bahrain soon to protect the Gulf Arab island nation's waters, Kuwait's ambassador to Bahrain was quoted as saying on Thursday. On Monday, Bahrain asked for support under a Gulf defense pact after weeks of protests... mainly majority Shi'ites who complain of discrimination by a Sunni monarchy... Some 1,000 Saudi soldiers and 500 police officers from the United Arab Emirates entered Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, earlier this week as Bahraini security forces led a crackdown...

His air force is already bombing the outskirts of the city, but not for much longer. The Security Council’s expected to vote at 6 p.m. ET and the French are telling people that airstrikes against Libyan air defenses — and maybe more — could begin immediately thereafter. At the same time, Qaddafi just delivered another insane stemwinder against the rebels on Libyan radio warning people in Benghazi that the army will be rolling into town tonight and that, if they don’t surrender, they’ll receive “no mercy.� Which means, unless someone blinks in the next few hours, that city will be...

Sweden to deliver an early warning air-borne system to UAE in April Haseeb Haider 16 March 2011 ABU DHABI — Sweden’s Saab Group, one of the leading global defence contractors, will deliver to the UAE next month the second of the two Erieye long range Airborne Early Warning & Control systems. “The Swedish firm won a deal in November 2009, to sell two latest early warning systems to the UAE,” to beef up its ariel and on land surveillance, Magnus Scholdtz, Sweden Ambassador said. Speaking to reporters on the occasion of opening of the Middle East’s largest IKEA store on...

Missing a Father in Iran Daniel Levinson June 22, 2008 It has been 471 days since my father, Robert "Bob" Levinson, went missing in Iran -- more than the 444 days that 52 American diplomats were held hostage after they were seized in Iran in 1979. These past 15 months have brought my mother, four sisters, two brothers and me nothing but grief and sadness. We are no closer to finding answers than we were when our father disappeared March 9, 2007, on Kish Island, Iran. He was on a private business trip, and I emphasize "private" because, although he...

Fighters in for major upgrades Kareem Shaheen and Rory Jones Last Updated: Feb 23, 2011 ABU DHABI // The UAE will spend more than Dh400 million to modernise its existing fleet of Mirage and F-16 fighter jets, the military announced yesterday. The deals involve weaponry and software upgrades for the Mirages, and reconnaissance pods and other equipment for the F-16 Desert Falcons. The two aircraft types are the mainstays of the UAE Air Force, which has 60 Mirages and almost 80 F-16s. The pods would give the UAE's F-16s, already among the most advanced of their kind in the world,...

Fighter market heats up in the Gulf David Donald Sunday, 20 February, 2011 In recent times, the focus of the world’s fighter manufacturers has been distracted away from the Gulf region to the major competitions in Brazil and India. However, the announcement towards the end of last year of a huge potential order by Saudi Arabia served as a reminder that the Middle East remains a market offering enormous potential, as several Gulf States seek to further modernise their fighter forces. Last October, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) released details of a proposed sale of vast proportions to...

Air force to get Airbus transporter planes by year-end Rory Jones Last Updated: Feb 22, 2011 The UAE Air Force will receive the first of three new Airbus military transporter planes by the end of the year. A military version of the Airbus A330 passenger airliner, the Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), is designed as both a transport and an air-to-air refuelling aircraft. Having ordered three MRTT planes in early 2008, the UAE will receive the first of them in December, Didier Vernet, the head of market development at Airbus, said yesterday. The UAE is one of four countries to...

UAE-built ship launched First to be made in the region By Samia Badih, Staff Reporter Published: 00:00 February 21, 2011 Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), the UAE's naval and commercial vessels supplier, launched its second naval ship Baynunah at Idex yesterday, the second of a series of six naval ships, in the presence of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. "It's the first ship ever to be built in this region," Mohammad Salem Al Junaibi, CEO of ADSB, told Gulf News yesterday. "This ship is...

A proven fighter for the UAE Ivan Gale Last Updated: Feb 16, 2011 Dassault was the leading supplier of fighter jets to the UAE long before the major US defence companies began selling to the country. Regis Duvignau / Reuters France may be smaller than the US state of Texas but in the world of aerospace and defence it is a giant. It trails only the US in supplying arms to the Gulf, accounting for 35 per cent of purchases between 2005 and 2009 by the UAE, and 21 per cent of all defence sales in the region during the...

A new book by David Horowitz and Richard Poe has enraged the Left and alarmed many conservatives. It exposes the machinations of a radical clique working at the highest levels of government and finance to undermine American power. That book is The Shadow Party: How George Soros, Hillary Clinton and Sixties Radicals Seized Control of the Democratic Party. It hit the New York Times bestseller list in its first week in print. Here to tell us about The Shadow Partyis co-author Richard Poe, our esteemed colleague at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, where he serves as director of research. Mr....

PICTURE: AirTractor delivers UAE's first AT-802Us By Stephen Trimble The first two of 10 AirTractor AT-802Us ordered by the United Arab Emirates air force have been spotted by alert photographers. The counter-insurgency aircraft - each powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT-6A turboprop engine - arrived at Luqa airport in Malta in late December while en route to their final destination in the UAE. Abu Dhabi ordered the adapted cropdusters last year, when it became the first acknowledged military buyer for the counter-insurgency version. The AT-802U is fitted with a turret-housed electro-optical/infrared sensor to identify targets on the ground....

Recent events in Tunisia, Lebanon and Egypt spell a dangerous new trend in the region. There have been major developments in Tunisia, Lebanon and Egypt, each of which is of tremendous importance. In Tunisia, a popular uprising fueled by unemployment, economic suffering and long-term discontent has overthrown the dictator, but not necessarily the dictatorship. In 55 years of independence, the country has been governed by two dictators, the current one being Zine al-Abedin Ben Ali, who has been president for 23 years and was a key power in the regime even before that. Is this going to spread? Does it...

The United Arab Emirates has gone into a princely snit over our refusal to grant it more landing rights in Canada for its airline, and has decided it can bully us into changing our minds. I suggest that we push back, firmly, because the UAE has not realized that Canada has options, too. ... When the Canadian government refused, the UAE proceeded to: a) kick Canada out of our staging base for Afghanistan that was located on UAE soil; b) refuse our minister of national defence and our chief of the defence staff permission to fly through its airspace after...

For centuries people living in the Middle East have dreamed of turning the sandy desert into land fit for growing crops with fresh water on tap. Now that holy grail is a step closer after scientists employed by the ruler of Abu Dhabi claim to have generated a series of downpours. Fifty rainstorms were created last year in the state's eastern Al Ain region using technology designed to control the weather.

Shortage due to India increasing its export prices to meet domestic shortfallOnion is causing tears to flow freely in UAE kitchens as price of the most used vegetable in the world have almost doubled following a recent enhancement of maximum export price ceiling in India, one of the main sources of onions. Due to mounting shortage in the domestic market, the Indian government has increased the Maximum Export Price (MEP) of onion from $375 per tonne to $525 per tonne, an increase of $150 per tonne. Onion price per kilo in India has gone up from Rs15 to Rs40. Shortage...

Hundreds of camels from the UAE and other Gulf nations will line up next month to show their good looks in the latest beauty contest involving the massive desert animal to be held by the country, local newspapers reported on Saturday. The Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage Society will organize the December 16-25 pageantry in the Western region, the reports said. Authorities have started to conduct tests on all participating camels from the UAE and those coming from nearby Gulf states to ensure they are free of diseases. “Test will continue on all camels round the clock before and during...

Report: Rafale sale sparks war between France's "industrial jewels" By Stephen Trimble on November 16, 2010 Selling weapons to the United Arab Emirates must not be as easy as it looks. Sure, the Emiratis have plenty of cash and happen to occupy the non-Iranian half of the Strait of Hormuz, but they still like to drive a hard bargain. The global arms industry has waited for years for the UAE to sign a contract to buy 60 Dassault Rafales, which has already lost more potential customers than BP gas station owners in Louisiana. Until recently, France was reportedly resisting demands...

Country’s first Shariah-compliant CDs have a tenor of one week and 12 monthsThe UAE Central Bank said on Sunday it had started issuing the country’s first Islamic certificates of deposits (ICDs) as part of a plan to create a new investment tool for Shariah-compliant banks in the country. The Central Bank said it held an auction to sell one-week and 12-month ICDs on Wednesday, adding that they are based on Murabaha, which is widely practiced by Islamic banks worldwide as an alternative to interest-bearing deposits. “Islamic banks operating in UAE have started participating in the auction of these Certificates for...

A court in India has sentenced to death seven men convicted of attacking the American cultural centre in Calcutta in January 2002. Those convicted include Aftab Ahmed Ansari, who the judge said had planned the attack in which five policemen were killed and nearly 20 others injured. Two other men were acquitted for lack of evidence. The attack heightened tensions in South Asia, coming just weeks after a bloody raid on India's parliament. India accused Pakistan of having a link to both attacks which was strongly denied by Islamabad. Although India still supports the death penalty it is rarely carried...

Bahrain and Dubai are expecting to get more MGM-164 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) manufactured by Lockheed Martin. Last week the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified the U.S. Congress about the planned sale of 130 ATACMS missiles carrying Unitary Warheads T2K (MGM-164), equipping the two gulf states with medium range ballistic missile capability for the first time. According to the agency, the United Arab Emirates’ Army will get 100 ATACMS missiles while Bahrain buy additional 30. The recent announcement includes only missiles, but no launchers, as both countries already have the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) in service.

UAE seeks $5bn deal to double Apache fleet By Craig Hoyle The United Arab Emirates plans to double the size of its Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter fleet to 60 aircraft, under a potential acquisition and modernisation package worth $5 billion. The UAE's current 30 AH-64Ds would be upgraded to Boeing's Apache Block III configuration under the possible deal, while 30 new-build examples would also be acquired. The plans were announced by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) in a 3 November notification to Congress. According to the DSCA: "The UAE needs these helicopters to fulfil its strategic...

Shows the Hollywood star how to handle a falcon during the meeting where Sheikh Hamdan was also present His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, received Hollywood star Tom Cruise who is in Dubai to shoot 'Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol'. The 48-year-old Hollywood actor, whose death-defying stunts atop the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, grabbed global headlines only a day ago, also met Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai during the occasion. Sheikh Mohammed showed Cruise how to handle a...

Two Emiratis bought a knife from a grocery, stabbed the salesman with it, stole Dh400 and 12 mobile phone cards, and ran away, the Dubai Criminal Court heard. The 31-year-old Indian grocery worker Abdul Rahiman Kobamo had to undergo three stiches for wounds on his forehead and another 16 stiches on his arm with two per cent rate of disability in his thumb’s movement. At 3.30pm on June 9, the two accused identified as BII, 19, jobless, and KMA, 30, sailor, entered Al Areesh grocery in the Al Rashidiya area and asked the salesmen for a knife. Abdul Rahiman gave...

A dispute over airline landing rights has led to Canada’s eviction from an air base in the United Arab Emirates that is an important logistical hub for its military mission in Afghanistan, the Canadian defense minister, Peter MacKay, said Monday.

Dispute over article freezes France-UAE arms talks: source By Emmanuel Jarry PARIS | Fri Oct 1, 2010 2:53pm EDT PARIS (Reuters) - A row over a French newspaper article is behind the breakdown of talks for a sale of French warplanes to the United Arab Emirates worth $5-6 billion, a senior French government source said on Friday. UAE officials were angry about a June 26 article in Le Figaro, owned by conservative politician Serge Dassault, whose family-controlled Dassault Aviation made the Rafale, government officials said. The newspaper said the UAE used Israeli technology to help secure its borders. Business with...

UAE May Turn Away from Rafale as Interest is Expressed in Super Hornet (Source: Forecast International; issued September 17, 2010) NEWTOWN, Conn. --- The United Arab Emirates has requested technical information on the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, indicating it wants competition in its search to replace its fleet of Mirage 2000-9 jets first purchased from French company Dassault in 1983. The UAE is considering a purchase of new aircraft worth about $10 billion. This news is unlikely to be greeted with much enthusiasm in Paris, where French officials had hoped to lock down a sale of the Dassault Rafale combat...

The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East made an observation that the Gulf Arab nations wished he hadn't. General David Petraeus noted that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Force, and it's 80 F-16E fighters could probably quickly destroy the entire Iranian Air Force. The Gulf Arabs would prefer the Iranians to believe their own propaganda, that the Iranian military is much more powerful than it actually is. The Iranian Air Force is mainly a mighty force only in terms of Iranian propaganda. The Gulf Arabs don't want the Iranians to make a strong effort to upgrade their...

Apparently New York's Mayor Bloomberg was on the short list to be named Secretary Treasurer back in 2008, and now the White House is revisiting the idea. From the NYPost: "It's been the focus of a lot of discussion," said one Democrat. "He's very well-liked and well-respected on Wall Street." At least the second half is probably true. The roots of this rumor are in Martha's Vineyard. Asked about last weekend's four-hour golf game with President Obama on Martha's Vineyard, Bloomberg told reporters yesterday, "The economy was the main subject, other than discussing golf."

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a staunch supporter of the proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero, recently has been expanding his business dealings in the Arab and Muslim world, including opening a new "Islamic finance portal." Some critics are questioning whether Bloomberg's unpopular decision to back the controversial mosque project may be colored by his billion-dollar financial software, news and data company's decision to build a hub in the United Arab Emirates and North Africa. The mayor's privately held company, Bloomberg L.P., has been increasing its revenue in the Middle East while its U.S.-based division has...