Sky Arabia to offer mobile news



Sky News Arabia, a news channel to be based in Abu Dhabi, will launch services for mobile phones and tablet devices such as the iPad, a senior executive said yesterday.

The Arabic-language TV station will start broadcasting next spring through a venture between the BSkyB of the UK, which operates the Sky News channel, and the Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation (Admic).

John Ryley, the head of Sky News, said the launch would be followed by news services for smartphones and tablet devices.

"We're not just talking about a TV news channel," Mr Ryley said. "We plan to put it online and on mobile applications and tablets - not immediately, but in the months and years to come.

"We aim to offer a new voice for the Arab world - not just through the TV but through different outputs as well."

The new station will be based at the twofour54 media zone in Abu Dhabi, with bureaus around the world.

_____________________________

Abu Dhabi Media Summit - Read our special report on the showcase event in the capital

_____________________________

Sky News Arabia will be available in standard and high-definition television formats, and will broadcast free to air to more than 50 million households across the Mena region, the channel said yesterday.

Dr Sultan al Jaber, the chairman of Admic and Sky News Arabia, confirmed the channel will launch in the second quarter of next year.

"The ongoing events in the region and the world have proved the necessity to have an Arab-language tool that conveys the news with objectivity as well as clarity," Dr al Jaber said. "We'll provide the news content through the internet and portable devices, in addition to high-definition TV."

James Murdoch, the non-executive chairman of BSkyB and chairman and chief executive of News Corp in Europe and Asia, was at the launch in Abu Dhabi of the station's name and branding yesterday.

Sky News Arabia will enter a TV news market dominated by Al Arabiya, which is part of the Saudi-owned MBC Group, and Al Jazeera, which is backed by Qatar and has recently won plaudits for its coverage of events in Egypt and Tunisia.

Mr Murdoch, who will also jointly open the Abu Dhabi Media Summit this evening with the Hollywood film director James Cameron, said the new channel would "bring a new voice to Arabic viewers".

"For BSkyB this is a significant step, a real milestone for us in one of the world's most dynamic marketplaces," he said.

Mr Ryley said the new channel would be editorially independent. Executives at the station were keen to emphasise that Admic was privately owned and not part of the Abu Dhabi Government.

Mr Ryley said editorial decisions would be left to Nart Bouran, the recently appointed director of news for Sky News Arabia. "The buck, editorially, will stop with him," said Mr Ryley.

"We're not aiming to compete with [existing news channels], we're offering to offer something a bit different: the Sky News way of doing things."

Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Game Changer

Director: Shankar 

Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

Rating: 2/5

The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
All Blacks line-up for third Test

J Barrett; I Dagg, A Lienert-Brown, N Laumape, J Savea; B Barrett, A Smith; J Moody, C Taylor, O Franks, B Retallick, S Whitelock, J Kaino, S Cane, K Read (capt).

Replacements: N Harris, W Crockett, C Faumuina, S Barrett, A Savea, TJ Perenara, A Cruden, M Fekitoa.

UAE%20athletes%20heading%20to%20Paris%202024
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEquestrian%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EAbdullah%20Humaid%20Al%20Muhairi%2C%20Abdullah%20Al%20Marri%2C%20Omar%20Al%20Marzooqi%2C%20Salem%20Al%20Suwaidi%2C%20and%20Ali%20Al%20Karbi%20(four%20to%20be%20selected).%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EJudo%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EMen%3A%20Narmandakh%20Bayanmunkh%20(66kg)%2C%20Nugzari%20Tatalashvili%20(81kg)%2C%20Aram%20Grigorian%20(90kg)%2C%20Dzhafar%20Kostoev%20(100kg)%2C%20Magomedomar%20Magomedomarov%20(%2B100kg)%3B%20women's%20Khorloodoi%20Bishrelt%20(52kg).%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECycling%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3ESafia%20Al%20Sayegh%20(women's%20road%20race).%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESwimming%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EMen%3A%20Yousef%20Rashid%20Al%20Matroushi%20(100m%20freestyle)%3B%20women%3A%20Maha%20Abdullah%20Al%20Shehi%20(200m%20freestyle).%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EAthletics%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EMaryam%20Mohammed%20Al%20Farsi%20(women's%20100%20metres).%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sustainable Development Goals

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere

2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation

10. Reduce inequality  within and among countries

11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects

14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development