Lebanon invites Saudis for talks as diplomatic row deepens

• "Lebanon invites Saudi Arabia to engage in dialogue to solve all outstanding problems and not just the latest spat, so that the same crisis is not repeated every time"
• On Friday, Saudi Arabia gave Lebanon's ambassador 48 hours to leave the country, recalled its envoy from Beirut

First Abu Dhabi records 26% rise in net profit to AED9.2bn

• The bank's revenue was up 17 percent supported by business growth, solid fee generation and strong trading performance, helping to offset headwinds from low-interest rates
• The Group’s foundation remains robust across liquidity, capital and asset quality metrics

Islamic Development Bank of KSA sets the price of its issuances

• The Saudi Press Agency reported the final price of issuance instruments by the bank was SR6.3 billion ($1.7 billion)
• The president wanted to "thank investors" for trusting the institution during the recovery from the pandemic.

UAE spacecraft to explore asteroid belt beyond Mars

• In September 2019, the oil-rich country sent the first Emirati into space
• The UAE also has plans to send an unmanned rover to the moon by 2024

Apple’s iPhone 13 set to capture 5G potential

• iPhone 13 will have custom 5G antennas and radio components
• The Series 7 smart watch will feature a larger display and will start at $399

Saudi e-invoicing scheme to come into force in three months

• The shadow economy costs the Kingdom up to $107 billion annually
• Under the new regulation, buyers and sellers will have a digitized system that allows the smooth exchange and processing of invoices, credit notes, and debit notes

Lebanon gets new govt amidst economic turmoil

• Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati was the third man to take on the mantle after his predecessors Moustapha Adib and Saad Hariri failed to come to terms with the President
• Eddy Maalouf, a parliamentarian in President Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement bloc told the media that the government would be formed of 24 ministers

Police rescues Egyptian boy from kidnappers

• Video footage captured the terrifying moment two men snatched an eight-year-old boy from his mother’s side on an Egyptian street and bundled into a car
• his desperate mother falling to the floor as she tried to stop her son’s captors from escaping

Drake & Scull net profit vaults to $21.2m in H1

• As of June this year, accumulated losses amounted to 4.82 billion dirhams, compared to 4.9 billion dirhams at the end of December 2020
• The losses have been attributed to, among others, the work in progress and contract receivables in the company’s legacy projects

Egypt records 13 percent jump in food exports in first half