News

  Ajman / Emirates Business The Ajman Tourism Development Department (ATDD) announced the launch of two classification programs for desert camps and tourism villages, the first of its kind in the United Arab Emirates. Desert camps are divided into two types which are day use and overnight but will fall under one category while tourism villages will have different categories ...

  Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business The growing power of social media influencers and bloggers has been borne out by new research from Dubai-based PR agency BPG Cohn & Wolfe that shows that 71 per cent of UAE residents aged 18-40 are happy to take advice online before purchasing. Beauty, fashion and food are the areas where residents are most ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business ENOC Retail, Emirates National Oil Company’s retail business segment, announced ambitious growth plans of 150 per cent for its Zoom stores network in the UAE by 2025 to cater to increasing customer demand and population growth. The company also aims to triple its turnover in the next 15 years. ZOOM’s growth plans include the opening ...

  WAM CEO of Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) Mohammed Ghazi Al-Mutairi announced that a collective KD1.71 billion has been spent on a bio- fuel project, which was locally and internationally financed. In an interview with Al-Rai, carried by state news agency, KUNA, on Sunday, Al-Mutairi said that the funding was possible through loans from local banks which is given ...

  Bloomberg Iran’s central bank is signaling that it will loosen its grip on the rial in an effort to end a dual-exchange rate system seen as an obstacle deterring foreign investment needed to rebuild the economy. Policy makers, in a decision reported earlier this month, allowed commercial lenders to buy foreign currencies using rial rates set by the market ...

  Bloomberg Bahrain’s GFH Financial Group is in talks to buy a majority stake in Islamic lender Bank Alkhair. GFH has signed a memorandum of understanding for the potential acquisition, which is subject to board and shareholder approval, completion of due diligence, agreement on an acquisition structure and regulatory approvals, according to a statement Monday to the Dubai stock market. ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business DP World’s announcement of launching a feasibility study to explore the possibility of using high-speed transport technology – Hyperloop – to move containers from Jebel Ali Port to an inland storage depot had a strong echo in the media and have been widely applauded. The announcement concurs with Dubai Future Foundation’s announcement of holding an ...

  Dubai / Emirates Business The new GITEX Startup Movement will support global startups experimenting in robotics, drones, and 3D printing in securing funding and reaching new markets and audiences. UAE startup DigiRobotics, which launched CafeBot and CarBot driverless car at last year’s GITEX, will return to showcase the first virtual reality robotic simulator, 3D printing by a seven-axis robot, ...

  Hasakeh / AFP Kurdish fighters advanced in the flashpoint city of Hasakeh in northeast Syria after a Russian mediation bid failed to halt clashes with pro-regime forces, a monitoring group said on Sunday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a military source said the Kurds seized territory across several neighbourhoods in the city’s south in violent clashes on ...

  ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE’s Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) hosted a workshop on nuclear non-proliferation, at which US nuclear nonproliferation experts provided FANR staff with training in implementing export controls over commodities that can have either nuclear-weapon or peaceful purposes. Held in Abu Dhabi, the three-day workshop was conducted by the US Department of Energy’s International ...