DUBAI Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it had arrested 46 members of a militant cell responsible for a deadly suicide bombing attack on the Prophet’s Mosque in the holy city of Medina last summer widely blamed on Islamic State. The suspects, which included foreign and Saudi citizens, were detained in the Western port city of Jeddah, state news agency SPA quoted the interior ministry as saying. (Reporting […]
In a curious incident that is certain to provoke questions about the proximity, not to mention fund flow, between Israel and ISIS the former Israeli Defense Minister, cited by the Times of Israel, said that Islamic State terrorists have on at least one occasion “apologized” to Israel for mistakenly attacking IDF soldiers in the occupied Golan Heights. The disclosure may also provide some insight into why after […]
Hotels in Saudi Arabia suffered during the first quarter of 2017 with occupancy, rates and revenues all showing double-digit decreases, according to new figures. Data released by hospitality analysts STR revealed that hotel occupancy across the Gulf kingdom averaged 58.3 percent in Q1, down 10.4 percent on the year-earlier period. STR also said that average daily rates (ADR) in Saudi Arabia slumped by 12 percent to SR578.09 […]
Sadara’s 26-plant chemical complex makes strong headway towards full operation with completion of plastics envelope JUBAIL, Saudi Arabia, April 27, 2017 – Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara) announced today the startup of its fourth and final polyethylene unit, the High Pressure Low Density Polyethylene (HP-LDPE) Train. This marks a significant milestone for the company as it continues to bring its world-scale manufacturing facilities on stream. The HP-LDPE Train […]
US hotel giant Hilton has announced that it has more than 16,000 rooms under construction in the Gulf region which will open by 2020. Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta underlined the importance of the region to his company’s ambitious expansion plans. He said Hilton has a total of over 21,000 rooms in its pipeline across the Gulf, with the six markets of the GCC contributing more than a […]
28 April 2017 Beirut, April 27, 2017 US$ 43.9 billion of assets US$ 36.0 billion of customers’ deposits US$ 17.0 billion of loans to customers Advertisement US$ 3.8 billion of shareholders’ equity US$ 110 million of net profits in the first quarter of 2017, of which 23% from Odea Bank and 10% from Bank Audi Egypt, raising the contribution of entities abroad to consolidated net profits to […]
Dubai-based business tycoon Mohamed Alabbar is weighing buying in to venture capital firms in the Middle East to help kick start his $1 billion technology fund, according to people familiar with the matter. Representatives for Alabbar held talks with several regional companies, including Middle East Venture Partners and BECO Capital, about either buying them entirely, joining as a co-investor or making a significant investment in the firms, […]
Emerging market equities have been the darling asset class de jour in 2017, mainly in Asia and Latin America, despite the March FOMC rate hike, a US Dollar Index at or above 100 and a mini-swoon in crude oil after a Saudi-Russian output cut spat. Earnings growth (India/Thailand) a stabilized currency (China), policy reforms (India, Brazil, Indonesia) local interest rate cuts (Brazil) and lower US protectionist policies […]
. 240 modern gas stations across the country set for completion by 2020 · Strong support is required to encourage organized companies to step in to the service field. 26 April 2017 Riyadh – Petromin, the leading lubricants and automotive services company in Saudi Arabia, outlined plans to build 240 gas stations across the Kingdom at the 10th edition of the Saudi Travel and Tourism Investment […]
Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, is received by Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior of Saudi Arabia, upon arriving in Saudi Arabia to head the UAE’s delegation for Thursday’s joint meeting of GCC interior, foreign affairs and defence ministers. Wam Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed, on Thursday opened the world’s largest […]
Global energy markets are heading to a rebalancing in the next years after oil prices fell to historic lows due to oversupply, Qatar’s energy minister said Thursday, praising OPEC members for their adherence to a “successful” November deal to cut production. Qatar’s Minister of Energy and Industry Mohammed Saleh Abdullah Al-Sada told the Atlantic Council summit in Istanbul that a decade of high oil prices had led […]
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump complained on Thursday that U.S. ally Saudi Arabia was not treating the United States fairly and Washington was losing a “tremendous amount of money” defending the kingdom. In an interview with Reuters, Trump confirmed his administration was in talks about possible visits to Saudi Arabia and Israel in the second half of May. He is due to make his first trip abroad as […]
By Phil Stewart and Yara Bayoumy | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON When U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis greeted Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister at the Pentagon last month, the first thing he did was joke about the time “the Iranians tried to murder you.” Mattis’ reference to a foiled 2011 plot, denied by Iran, was a telling sign of how much more aligned President Donald Trump’s administration is with Gulf […]
Two Saudi soldiers were killed Thursday in a rocket attack near the border with war-torn Yemen, the interior ministry said. They died in a simultaneous landmine explosion and rocket attack while on duty patrolling the border around Jazan, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency. Saudi Arabia leads a Gulf coalition that has battled Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen for two […]
Oman positioned fourth among Dubai’s top 10 source markets for inbound tourism, with the second highest contribution to visitation among GCC countries 26 April 2017 Dubai, UAE – The Annual Visitor Report 2016 released by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) during this year’s Arabian Travel Market reveals the emirate welcomed over a million overnight visitors from Oman. This marks a 3 per cent […]
A recent Saudi government and security shake-up aims to strengthen King Salman’s increasingly powerful son against a royal rival and to bolster ties with Washington, analysts and diplomats say. Royal decrees at the weekend saw a number of allies of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman moved into key positions and another son of the king named as ambassador to Washington. The goal, a foreign diplomat told […]
A UAE court on Wednesday sentenced an Iranian to 10 years in prison followed by deportation for attempting to ship a generator to his home country in breach of international sanctions. The appeals court in Abu Dhabi found the unnamed man guilty of “attempting to export a power generator to Iran for its nuclear programme, in breach of international sanctions,” state news agency WAM reported. It did […]
Saudi Arabia has imposed limits on the ownership of prepaid SIM cards for citizens and foreigners, restrictions that the regulator said aim to prevent the use of cards in carrying out militant attacks in the kingdom. Foreign residents, who make up more than a third of the population, are now limited to two prepaid SIM cards across all operators, according to two people familiar with the matter. […]
· “The Middle East remains an extremely important region and we are committed to enhancing our customer experience,” says Robert Williams · British Airways’ recently announced investment plans to boost customer experience with the new First Wing now open to passengers flying from Kuwait · Airline set to launch 22 New Routes in 2017 expanding its network of onward connections for Kuwaiti and wider Middle […]
Qatar said Wednesday that the deal to secure the recent release of a hunting party kidnapped in southern Iraq went ahead with the “full knowledge” of Baghdad. Responding to a complaint by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi that ransom money was brought into Iraq without its approval, the emirate said it had regularly consulted with officials in Baghdad during the tense negotiations. It was the first official statement […]
. 240 modern gas stations across the country set for completion by 2020 · Strong support is required to encourage organized companies to step in to the service field. 26 April 2017 Riyadh – Petromin, the leading lubricants and automotive services company in Saudi Arabia, outlined plans to build 240 gas stations across the Kingdom at the 10th edition of the Saudi Travel and Tourism Investment […]
Increasingly sophisticated hackers possibly linked to a foreign nation aimed to disrupt key organisations in Saudi Arabia, the US-based cyber security firm McAfee said. It did not name the possible attacker but US intelligence officials said they suspected a link to the kingdom’s regional rival Iran after the Shamoon virus struck the Saudi energy sector in 2012. Renewed Shamoon campaigns that began late last year attacked a […]
Citigroup Inc has received an investment banking licence from Saudi Arabia’s Capital Market Authority more than 10 years after exiting the kingdom. The CMA board authorised Citigroup Saudi Arabia “to conduct dealing as underwriter, arranging and advising in securities business activities,” according to statement posted on the regulator’s website. The firm lost its key banking licence when it sold its stake in Samba Financial Group in 2004. […]
Oil prices reversed early losses on reports of the third weekly drawdown of crude stocks in the US, although analysts cautioned on waiting for further signs that Opec’s production cuts are finally tightening the market. Inventories of US crude fell by a larger than expected 3.6m barrels in the week ended April 21, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, compared with expectations for a draw of […]
