Regional News

  Paris / Reuters Iran is assessing whether to apply for associate membership of the ITER multi-national nuclear fusion project, its director said, just a year after Tehran struck a deal with six world powers to curb its own atomic programme. The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, which was launched 10 years ago by Europe, United States, China, India, ...

  Riyadh / Reuters A consortium of electricity companies led by Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power has completed refinancing of more than $1.825 billion in debt for its Rabigh 1 power project, ACWA Power said. The consortium, which includes state-run Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) and Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), runs the 1240 MW fuel oil-fired plant on the western coast ...

  Riyadh / TNS While total number of retirees from government jobs declined to lowest levels in 2015, early retirement rates among public sector employees increased as compared to 2014. A recent report by General Organization for Retirement revealed a 7.5 increase in early retirement among government sector employees last year. According to report, the percentage of new retirees, as compared ...

  Riyadh / TNS Saudi citizens and residents can now enjoy a white winter in an environment that is safe. This follows the Kingdom’s indoor snow theme park at Al-Othaim Mall Rabwa in Riyadh. Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar inaugurated the Kingdom’s first Snow City. The latest tourist destination is described as a new chapter and a huge leap in ...

  REUTERS Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Russia’s Zarubezhneft recently for a feasibility study on two joint fields in the west of the country, according to oil ministry news agency SHANA. It is the latest of several MoUs the ministry has signed since the lifting of international sanctions on Tehran in January. Countries seeking long-term oil cooperation ...

  REUTERS National Bank of Oman (NBO), the sultanate’s third-largest lender by assets, beat analysts’ expectations on Thursday despite posting flat growth in second-quarter net profit, according to Reuters calculations. The lender made a net profit of 15.46 million rials ($40.2 million) in the three months to June 30, Reuters calculated based on previous financial statements in lieu of a ...

  REUTERS Italy’s state railways company expects to sign a contract to build the first stretch of a high-speed rail line in Iran in February 2017, its chief executive said on Thursday. The contract for the roughly 100 km-stretch between Qom and Arak is worth about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion), Ferrovie dello Stato <IPO-FERRO.MI> chief Renato Mazzoncini said at ...

  WAM The British-based mining company Savannah Resources has announced that it has appointed two new directors to reflect a 1.7 million pound investments made by Al Marjan Limited. According to Mozambique News Agency, AIM, Savannah has rights to three blocks in the copper-rich Semail Ophiolite Belt in the Sultanate of Oman. Its strategy is centred on building a copper ...

  BAGHDAD / Reuters Iraq, pressured by lower-than-expected oil prices, will cut non-oil spending in its 2016 budget by 15 percent and take on several billion dollars in international debt, it said in a memo which the International Monetary Fund released on Thursday. OPEC’s second-largest producer, which relies on oil exports for nearly all its revenue, has sought donor support ...

  Riyadh / TNS Saudi Arabia, represented by the Ministry of Education and the King Abdul Aziz Foundation for Talent and Creativity (Mawhiba), is due to participate in three international competitions in mathematics, physics and chemistry from the fourth to the 27th of Shawwal 1437 AH in Hong Kong, Switzerland and Georgia. Saudi Arabia is competing in the International Olympiad of ...