DUBAI // Camels will not be sacrificed during this year’s Haj in Mecca in an attempt to stop the spread of the Mers coronavirus. Dr Ulrich Wernery, scientific director at the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) in Dubai, said he was part of a team that recommended the measures to the Saudi Arabian ministry of health. A genetic link between the Mers found in humans and a […]
The Middle East will take a bigger share of gold demand as buyers from Kuwait to Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates diversify investments and Dubai nears offering a contract for immediate delivery bullion. MKS (Switzerland) SA, a Geneva-based bullion trader and refiner, expanded into Dubai three years ago and employs 25 people there, with the gold trade an “important market,” said Frederic Panizzutti, chief executive […]
Saudi Arabian food company Savola Group said on Tuesday its chief executive officer, Abdulraouf Mannaa, is to step down for personal reasons. Mannaa would be replaced by Abdullah Mohammed Noor Rehaimi, currently a board member at Savola, who will take up the role on January 1, 2015. Savola, a producer of cooking oil, sugar and other foodstuffs, added that Mannaa – who took up the CEO role […]
Saudi Arabia plans to open its stock market, the Arab world’s biggest, to direct investment by foreign financial institutions in the first half of next year, the market regulator said on Tuesday. The opening of the Saudi market, capitalized at about $530 billion, is one of the most keenly awaited economic reforms in the largest oil exporting nation. The bourse would be one of the world’s last […]
Lapses in hospital infection control measures exacerbated an outbreak of a deadly new viral disease which has infected more than 60 people and killed at least 10 in the United Arab Emirates, health investigators said on Friday. Reporting the findings of a five-day mission to the UAE, experts from the World Health Organisation said, however, that they found no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission of new Middle […]
Western advisers are drawing up plans for reshaping the Egyptian economy, sources said, with the apparent blessing of president-elect Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who so far has spoken only vaguely in public about reviving the state’s finances. The driving force behind the consulting project is the United Arab Emirates, which along with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait has showered Egypt with billions of dollars in aid since Sisi removed […]
DOHA, Qatar — The five hardened Taliban militants were quickly whisked in a fleet of cars to the shoulder of a highway on the outskirts of the capital just as they arrived. There, out of the public eye and under the watchful gaze of Qatari security, they exchanged warm hugs with a welcome delegation and then once more were whisked off into hiding. If Qatar holds to […]
The annual Banker Middle East Industry Awards is the Middle East’s foremost gathering of key players within the banking and financial services industry (Dubai – June, 2014) – Some 500 top bankers and financiers from around the region came together at the Gala Dinner held at Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai to celebrate their achievements. The top awards went to institutions in Saudi Arabia and the UAE; […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The fevered struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran for regional dominance has for years aggravated nearly every conflict across the Middle East as the two nations armed, funded and encouraged each other’s adversaries. So it has come as a surprise to many here that even with the region still in tumult, there have been signs that both powers are looking to temper their destructive […]
Saudi Arabia’s market regulator has suspended trading in Etihad Atheeb after the landline operator failed to disclose sufficient details on a network sharing deal with Saudi Telecom Co (STC), according to a bourse filing on Thursday. Earlier on Thursday, Atheeb said it had signed a so-called Indefeasible Rights of Use (IRU) agreement that gives it access to 30,000 STC data connections for 15 years, with an option […]
An impending bond issue by Abu Dhabi-based telecommunications firm Etisalat may not only be the region’s largest deal so far this year, but also set a record for tight pricing as the Gulf becomes more of a mainstream investment destination. Etisalat’s debut bond will replace some of the debt used to fund its 4.2 billion euro ($5.7 billion) purchase of a majority stake in Morocco’s Maroc Telecom […]
The authorities in Saudi Arabia, alarmed over the rising human death toll from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, said they would start testing the kingdom’s entire population of camels and other livestock next week, Saudi newspapers reported Thursday. The Arab News quoted Fahd Balghuneim, the agriculture minister, as saying the tests to determine the extent of infection would be conducted via blood or mucus samples. Saudi […]
WHO team makes five-day visit to UAE International experts and local authorities agree to continued exchange of information in attempt to reduce risk of further infections ABU DHABI // International infection experts yesterday praised the work of UAE health authorities in attempting to better understand the deadly Mers coronavirus after completing a mission to assess the risk the virus poses to the country. A team from the […]
An aerial view of Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi Reuters Capacity at seaports and airports in the Middle East is growing faster than regional trade, potentially jeopardizing the viability of billions of dollars worth of new investment in transportation infrastructure. Government-led investment in regional logistics and transport has taken off in the past decade, driven by energy-rich Gulf Arab countries trying to carve out a niche as […]
Initial public offers of equity in Gulf Arab countries are set to boom, helped by lighter regulation and legal reforms as governments seek to diversify their oil-dependent economies, according to one of the region’s top IPO lawyers. An exemption from Dubai IPO rules granted by regulators to real estate giant Emaar Properties, which will permit an offer worth up to $2.45 billion, is a sign of the […]
Three Saudi lawyers were sentenced this week to fines of more than 1 million Saudi riyals ($266,666) in total and a complete media ban after they criticized the kingdom’s Ministry of Justice on Twitter. The lawyers were also ordered to issue a formal apology to Justice Minister Mohammed Al Isa. In complaints filed last November with a Ministry of Culture and Information’s legal committee responsible for looking […]
Saudi Arabia revised sharply upward the number of cases of the new MERS virus within its borders and said it had been fatal in more than 40 percent of the cases. After a review of medical records, the country’s total number of cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome since the virus was isolated in 2012 is now 688, up from 575; the death toll is 282, not […]
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has won Egypt’s presidential elections by a huge majority, the country’s election commission has said. The former military chief, who last July overthrew Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, won 96.91 of legal votes cast in last week’s election. SISI 23,780,104 (96.91%) SABAHI 757,511 (3.09%) Accepting the result, Sisi urged Egyptians to work to restore stability and achieve “freedom” and “social justice”. “I look forward to your […]
PineBridge Investments, a New York-based asset manager, said on Tuesday its Middle East unit had raised $140 million for a sharia-compliant fund that would invest in income-producing real estate assets in Gulf Cooperation Council countries. PineBridge Investments Middle East’s fund will acquire existing real estate assets that generate stable returns, with a focus on the logistics, social infrastructure and community retail sectors, chief executive Talal Al Zain […]
With the election in Egypt last week of former army chief Abdel Fattah Al Sisi as the new president, a nation and a region awaits a potential period of stability in the troubled Arab state. And one company that is desperate for calm is the flag carrier EgyptAir. EgyptAir website “We expect some indication of recovery, especially after the presidential election,” said Sameh El Hefny, the chairman […]
CAIRO — Mohamed Morsi did not enjoy being ridiculed on television as president. With the election of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the laughter has stopped. Bassem Youssef, a comedian whose satire of the politically powerful became emblematic of freedom in post-revolutionary Egypt, said Monday that he was ending his popular weekly television show, citing unspecified political pressure and threats. “We consider the shutting down of the show a […]
Bassem Youssef, a heart surgeon who became a wildly popular political satirist following the 2011 revolt that felled the durable autocratic regime of Hosni Mubarak, announced on Monday that his show would not be returning to the airwaves following months of uncertainty. While the announcement stunned his fans, it did not come as a surprise: the program, called El Bernameg (The Program in Arabic), had been the […]
DUBAI // The emirate’s oldest prehistoric resident finally has a name. The long necked, whip-tailed, 155 million-year-old dinosaur was called DubaiDino on Monday. The name was chosen by Johara Al Bayedh, a bank manager and Saudi national. The 24 metre long, 7.6 metre high Diplodocus longus dinosaur from the late Jurassic period has been on display at Dubai Mall for the past three months. Ms Al Bayedh […]
A substantial number of Middle East funds intend to cut their exposure to stocks in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, shifting money to less richly valued markets such as Saudi Arabia, a monthly Reuters survey showed. Shares in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar have surged over the past 12 months in anticipation of those markets’ upgrade to MSCI’s emerging market index, which will take place at […]
