By Mike Stone | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Washington is working to push through contracts for tens of billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia, some new, others in the pipeline, ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to the kingdom this month, people familiar with the talks told Reuters this week. Saudi Arabia is Trump’s first stop on his maiden international trip, a sign of his […]
ABU DHABI // A milestone in the UAE’s military journey is how Brig Gen Shahwan Al Dhaheri recalls the unification process of the UAE Armed Forces when he witnessed it 41 years ago. He was 20 at the time and had been serving in the land forces as an armed officer for two years. “We are the generation that lived the moment the unification announcement was made […]
Donald Trump on Thursday confirmed his first foreign trip as president will include stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican. Trump will add the three stops to an already announced visit to NATO and G7 summits in Brussels and Sicily later this month. “My first foreign trip as president of the United States will be to Saudi Arabia, then Israel, and then to a place that […]
By Dominique Vidalon | PARIS PARIS The shareholders of AccorHotels (ACCP.PA) on Friday granted former French President Nicolas Sarkozy a seat on the board of Europe’s largest hotel group, and rejected a bid to block long-term shareholders from getting more double voting rights. Chairman and CEO Sebastien Bazin reiterated at the annual shareholders meeting that double voting rights were a good way to foster loyalty and stability […]
Saudi Arabia should urgently review its definition of terrorism under a law used to prosecute non-violent journalists and human rights defenders, a United Nations special rapporteur said on Thursday. After a visit to the kingdom, Ben Emmerson told reporters that a 2014 counter-terrorism law contains an “unacceptably broad definition” of the crime and does not comply with international rights standards. “I strongly condemn the use of counter-terrorism […]
MOSCOW The agreement on safe zones in Syria will come into force from midnight tonight, but Russia’s air force will continue striking Islamic State elsewhere in the country, Russian news agencies cited Russian Defence Ministry as saying on Friday. The first and the largest safe zone in northern Syria will include the Idlib province and adjoining districts of Latakia, Aleppo and Hama with a total population of […]
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, bids farewell to Abdel Fattah El Sisi, President of Egypt, at the Presidential Airport on Thursday. Ryan Carter / Crown Prince Court – Abu Dhabi Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, on Thursday receives Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, Djibouti Minister of Foreign Affairs and International […]
Saudi Arabia is seeking foreign investment in its healthcare industry as it plans to turn hundreds of government-owned hospitals and thousands of primary care centres into better-run corporations, Health Minister Tawfig Al-Rabiah said. Nearly 80 percent of health care in Saudi Arabia is provided by the government, Al-Rabiah said in an interview in Boston. But the kingdom “is trying to move the private sector to invest more,” […]
Photo Gholamali Khoshroo, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, speaking at a U.N. Security Council meeting in February. Credit Mark Lennihan/Associated Press Iran responded angrily on Thursday to criticisms by Saudi Arabia’s defense minister, accusing him of acts that violate the United Nations Charter and calling his kingdom an instigator of “dangerous ambitions in the region and beyond.” The Iranian response came in a formal protest letter […]
Bahrain-based Ibdar Bank has announced the appointment of Ayman Sejiny as its new CEO. The Islamic investment bank said in a statement Sejiny has previously held roles at Barclays, Citi Bank and ABN Amro. Previous to his appointment with Ibdar, Sejiny was the Group CEO of Bahrain-based Bank Alkhair, which has a presence in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Turkey and Malaysia. Ibdar chairman Tareq Sadeq said: “Ibdar is […]
White House officials said foreign leaders would be more willing to help the United States if disagreements over human rights and other issues were aired in private. They cited the recent release of an Egyptian-American aid worker detained in Egypt, which was negotiated in quiet talks with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Continue reading the main story “Obama’s approach was to build support with the Arab public through […]
May 4, 2017 by: Katrina Manson in New York Donald Trump will visit Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican on his first foreign trip as US president in an effort to unite a coalition against Islamist terrorism and Iran and extract more from traditional allies. The travel plans mark a departure from US foreign policy norms, which usually see new presidents visit neighbouring Canada or Mexico within a month of taking office. […]
Under the memorandum they signed as guarantors of a cease-fire, fighting between government forces and insurgents is to stop in four zones that include rebel-held territory in the north, central and southern parts of the country. Continue reading the main story It remains unclear precisely how the guarantors will monitor compliance with what they are calling “de-escalation zones.” Aleksandr Lavrentyev, the Russian negotiator at the Astana talks, […]
I’m a firm believer in always seeing the glass as half-full rather than half-empty, for seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and so on. When people congratulate me for taking the positive view, I say I’m not – it’s simply all a matter of perspective. Take my country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One of the richest countries in the history of the world, […]
WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to Saudi Arabia and Israel this month as part of his first foreign trip, wading directly into the tangled diplomacy of Middle Eastern politics, a senior administration official said on Thursday. The swing through the Middle East, added to a trip that includes a NATO meeting in Brussels on May 25 and the Group of Seven summit in Sicily on […]
Digitization identified as key for region to retain leadership in global logistics landscape Dubai, United Arab Emirates, May 4 2017 Supply chain optimization took center stage at the ninth GPCA Supply Chain Conference, which took place between 2-4 May 2017 at the Rosewood Hotel in Abu Dhabi. During the event, speakers highlighted logistical efficiency as a top industry priority in the GCC as traditional supply chains across […]
Mr. Abbas, 82, who was among the negotiators on hand for the historic signing of the Oslo Accords on the White House lawn in 1993, indicated that he did feel optimistic that nearly a quarter-century later Mr. Trump might be the president who finally builds on that initial agreement to forge a final resolution to the conflict. Continue reading the main story Praising Mr. Trump’s “courageous leadership,” […]
In its bid to make the United Arab Emirates city the “safest electronic city in the world,” the Dubai Electronic Security Centre (DESC) is looking to expand its Emirati-only workforce by 50 percent this year. The centre, which has a budget of millions of dollars, monitors and researches potential electronic incidents that may affect governmental institutes. To do that, the relatively new center, established in 2014, is […]
ITFC and ITC sign partnership agreement on project implemenation in Djibouti and Algeria 03 May 2017 Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group and the International Trade Centre (ITC), will work together to implement joint projects and strengthen the competitives of SMEs in IsDB member countries. This was disclosed during an official visit by Arancha Gonzalez, Exective Director of ITC, to the President […]
GENEVA Yemen faces a “famine of Biblical proportions”, veteran aid expert Jan Egeland warned on Wednesday during a visit to the war-battered nation, expressing fury over the failure of the “men with guns and power” to end the crisis. Yemen’s two years of civil war have pitted the Iran-aligned Houthi rebel group against a Saudi-backed coalition, causing economic collapse and severely restricting the food and fuel imports […]
Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that it will issue a quarterly budget progress report for the first time as part of efforts to boost transparency while diversifying its oil-dependent economy. The world’s biggest oil exporter is wooing investors as it tries to reduce budget deficits caused by a collapse in energy revenues. “We will for the first time in Saudi announce, possibly in a couple of weeks or […]
A big part of that is its watering down of the anti-Semitic language of the original Hamas charter in 1988, with its talk of war between Arabs and Jews. “We are making it clear that ours is a liberation project — not about religion or the Jews,” Mr. Meshal said in an interview on Tuesday in Doha, his latest home. Continue reading the main story His offer […]
OPEC and allied oil producers should extend their collective production cuts into the second half of the year when an expected upturn in demand will help to re-balance the crude market, UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said. All countries participating in the cuts must agree to any extension, he said Tuesday in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major […]
Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, arrived in Abu Dhabi on Monday on an official state visit, state news agency WAM reported. Upon her arrival at the Presidential Airport, Merkel was greeted by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. An official reception ceremony was held in honour of the German Chancellor, where both the […]
