Saudi Arabia has the most hotel rooms under construction in the Middle East and North Africa, according to STR’s January 2017 Pipeline Report. The hospitality analysts said the Gulf kingdom has a total of 36,742 in 85 projects in the pipeline, ahead of the UAE which has 28,898 rooms in 99 projects. The report also said Qatar 8,462 rooms in 34 projects out of a regional total […]
Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, has been convulsed by civil strife for more than two years. In the west, Houthi rebels ousted the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the United States’ main counterterrorism partner in the country, and have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition of mostly Sunni Arab countries that back Mr. Hadi. Continue reading the main story In the […]
Three GCC-based retailers have been named in a new list of the world’s top 250, with the UAE’s Emke Group ranked the Middle East’s biggest. Emke, which runs the Lulu chain on hypermarkets and earlier this month announces major expansion plans in Saudi Arabia, posted sales revenue of $6.2 billion. Dubai mall operator Majid Al Futtaim saw revenue of $6 billion while Saudi-based food firm Savola posted […]
The National staff ABU DHABI // About 1,650 people have been given a range of medical assistance in Tanzania as part of the UAE’s Zayed Giving humanitarian drive. Children and elderly people were treated by the UAE’s team of medical volunteers. The initiative was carried out under the supervision of the UAE-Tanzanian voluntary medical team. The Zayed Giving convoys have now completed the first phase of its […]
There was no mistaking the arrival of King Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia and his entourage in Malaysia on Sunday morning. Traffic stood still for 30 minutes as we waited for the 600-strong royal party to make their way from the airport to the centre of Kuala Lumpur — a near-endless stream of limos, lorries, outliers and ambulances, sirens screaming. This is King Salman’s first trip […]
Via Michael Snyder of The End of The American Dream blog, If current trends continue, Islam is on track to become the largest religion in the entire world by the end of this century according a stunning new report that was just released by the Pew Research Center. While it is true that Christianity is still growing on a global basis, it is not growing nearly as […]
Saudi Arabia’s main sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF) is looking at taking minority stakes in German technology and financial companies, although any deal is unlikely before 2018, the kingdom’s ambassador to Germany said. Such a move would mirror other Gulf state funds from Dubai, Qatar and Kuwait, which have taken minority stakes in German companies including Daimler, Deutsche Bank and Volkswagen, although Ambassador Awwad Al-Awwad […]
GENEVA Syria’s warring sides both claimed U.N. peace talks in Geneva were going their way on Thursday, but the chief government negotiator and Syria’s ally Russia accused the main opposition delegation of trying to wreck the talks. Syrian government negotiator Bashar al-Ja’afari told reporters that he had discussed “substantive issues, particularly counter-terrorism” with U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura, and would continue on Friday. The government delegation has […]
Uber’s US rival Lyft is seeking $500m in a new fundraising round to provide fresh ammunition as the transportation company takes its fight with Uber to a growing number of US cities, according to two people close to the process. The fundraising comes at a time when Uber has been struggling with a series of public relations crises, including allegations of sexual harassment and a video of […]
GENEVA Syrian government negotiator Bashar al-Ja’afari accused the Saudi-backed opposition on Thursday of holding peace talks hostage because of their reported refusal to unify under one opposition delegation and include terrorism on agenda. “We heard that… the Riyadh platform refused the inclusion… of counter-terrorism,” Ja’afari told reporters after meeting U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura. “This did not come as a surprise because some members of the Riyadh […]
Oman’s government has given itself breathing space from the pressure of financing a large budget deficit by selling $5 billion of international bonds, almost completing its entire foreign borrowing plan for 2017 in a single issue. Wednesday’s bond sale, in tranches of five, 10 and 30 years, was about double the size that most investors had expected and a huge amount for a country which returned to […]
By Kanupriya Kapoor | JAKARTA JAKARTA Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has embraced the “selfie”, taking part in a number of light-hearted self-shot pictures and videos during his tour of Asia that contrast with the pomp and formality of most of the octogenarian monarch’s trips abroad. In the first days of a lengthy regional tour, the king has appeared with top-ranking officials in Indonesia and Malaysia in pictures […]
ADEN: Two US drone strikes killed at least four suspected Al-Qaeda members in southern Yemen on Thursday, security officials said, barely a month after a controversial US commando raid against the jihadists.The first strike targeted the home of a known Al-Qaeda member in the Yashbum Valley in Shabwa province, a provincial security official told AFP.Four suspected militants who had been standing outside the house were killed, he […]
Middle East fund managers have turned more bullish towards Saudi Arabian equities on hopes that corporate earnings may finally have bottomed out after a slide due to low oil prices, a monthly Reuters poll found. The poll of 13 leading fund managers, conducted over the past week, also found they had become very bearish on Qatari and Egyptian shares. The poll found 62 percent of managers expect […]
Photo King Salman of Saudi Arabia, center, arriving at the presidential palace in Bogor, Indonesia, on Wednesday. Credit Achmad Ibrahim/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images LONDON — You could call it bling diplomacy. As part of a monthlong tour in Asia to promote economic ties, King Salman of Saudi Arabia arrived in Indonesia on Wednesday to great fanfare, accompanied, the news media said, by a retinue with a […]
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Wednesday landed at a military airbase in the capital of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, to kick off the longest leg of a month-long trip across Asia. The visit is the first by a Saudi monarch in nearly five decades and will see the two nations sign a pact to combat terrorism, according to the Saudi envoy to Indonesia. Secular Indonesia […]
Social media conversation about ride-hailing app Uber is on the decline in the Middle East, while its local competitor Careem is gaining pace, according to a new report. US-based Crimson Hexagon, a social media analytics company, on Wednesday said in its “The Middle East Consumer Trends” report that Careem is gaining traction over Uber because it is perceived as a “local” brand as regional consumers now prefer […]
Address Hotels + Resorts, the premium luxury hotel brand of Emaar Hospitality Group, on Wednesday unveiled its new city lifestyle resort, Address Boulevard. Address Boulevard has 196 rooms including 116 deluxe rooms, 44 deluxe club Rooms, 28 one-bedroom suites, seven two-bedroom suites and a luxurious Presidential Suite. In addition, there are 532 serviced apartments including duplexes and two penthouses, with short-term guests at the residences also guaranteed […]
King Salman’s extravagant travel arrangements have captured the public imagination ahead of the Saudi monarch’s high-profile visit to Indonesia beginning Wednesday, but billions of dollars in oil and other investment deals are also at stake. The trade deals could be worth as much as $25 billion, including a $6 billion project between the two nation’s oil companies, according to Indonesian officials who briefed reporters on the scheduled […]
The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will discuss the likelihood of constructing a regional rail network by 2021 at a meeting of regional ministers in April, a United Arab Emirates minister said on Tuesday. The regional bloc made up of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar last year reached an agreement in principle to delay the 2018 completion date until 2021. “Commitment is there. […]
Though the big-name international authors appearing at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, such as Jeffery Archer and crime novelist Kathy Reichs, often get the most attention, it is worth remembering there are 140 writers attending the event. Among them are some of the biggest names in the Arab literary world. All Arabic sessions will be translated into English, so everyone can share their ideas on literature, […]
28 February 2017 Dubai, UAE – Gulfood 2017, the 22nd edition of the world’s largest food and beverage trade platform, has rubberstamped its standing as a true industry weathervane and innovation laboratory. Right across the 1,000,000 square foot show, which runs until Thursday 2 March at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), up to 90,000 food professionals from 150 countries are absorbing tens of thousands of products being […]
A voracious thirst for petroleum makes the US one of the largest importers of oil. But for the past two weeks it has also scaled the ranks of exporters. Outbound shipments of crude have surpassed 1.2m barrels a day, more than last month’s daily production of Algeria, Ecuador or Qatar, each a member of Opec. The foreign sales underscore how the US has become more integrated into […]
Pro-government lawmakers accused Mr. Sadat of leaking drafts of the law to foreign embassies, and of faking the signatures of 16 fellow lawmakers on another proposed law that he had drafted. Mr. Sadat denied the accusations, saying he had circulated his criticism only in a news release via email and his website. Continue reading the main story Mr. Sadat’s expulsion highlighted the lopsided balance of parliamentary power […]
