At least 24,448 Palestinians, more than 70 percent of them women, young children and adolescents, have been killed in Israeli bombardments and ground assaults, according to the Gaza health ministry's latest figures. "When we talk about rebuilding Gaza, it's not anymore like before, where we had to rehabilitate some shelter and...

Davos, Switzerland -- The war in Ukraine, tensions in the Middle East, monetary policy in 2024, jobs, equitable economic growth, energy demand, artificial intelligence, and the need to find a common ground were some of the issues discussed at the third day of Davos summit. C4IR to be established in...

Dhahran, Saudi Arabia -- Aramco has allocated an additional $4 billion to its global venture capital arm Aramco Ventures, more than doubling the capital allotted to it, from $3 billion to $7 billion. This, Aramco said in a statement, will take Aramco’s overall venture capital allocation to $7.5 billion, which...

The Regional Network for Cultural Rights said it "strongly condemns the incursion by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)", the paramilitary forces of general Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, "on the sites of Naqa and Musawwarat es-Sufra". RSF forces have been fighting against troops loyal to Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan since...

Davos, UAE - The UAE has announced plans to develop the first-ever sustainability accreditation framework explicitly for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). EcoMark Global Accreditation has been designed to boost the competitiveness of MSMEs in the global green economy by streamlining and standardizing the regulatory processes surrounding sustainability benchmarking...

Dubai, UAE - Gold prices extended losses on Wednesday as the US dollar strengthened after comments from a Federal Reserve official dampened expectations for a March interest rate cut, Reuters reported. Spot gold was down 0.2% at $2,023.49 per ounce, as of 0415 GMT, after stooping 1.3% in the previous...

Abu Dhabi, UAE--The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) saw its balance sheet soar to $182.43 billion at the end of November 2023, marking a significant surge in its financial strength. This impressive growth is revealed in the bank's latest balance sheet report. The report highlights a robust...

Dubai, UAE - A missile hit a Greek-owned cargo ship off Yemen, a maritime risk management company said on Tuesday, following a string of attacks in the Red Sea by the Houthi rebels. "A Malta-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier was reportedly targeted and impacted with a missile while transiting the southern Red...

Davos, Switzerland - The United States wants a "de-escalation" in the Middle East despite its strikes on Houthi positions in Yemen, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday. "We seek to stop the spread of conflict and to create the conditions for de-escalation," Sullivan said at the World Economic Forum...

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND -  The head of the World Trade Organization's fisheries talks voiced optimism  on Tuesday about striking an agreement on limiting subsidies blamed for overcapacity and overfishing. The 164 WTO members kicked off a month of negotiations this week at the global trade body's headquarters in Geneva. Iceland's ambassador Einar...

WASHINGTON, US - British oil giant Shell has paused transit through the key Red Sea shipping route indefinitely, over fears of escalating tensions involving Yemen's Houthi rebels, according to a media report on Tuesday. The worries of escalation grew after United States and United Kingdom strikes on scores of sites in...

While inflation is on a general downward path, there is a worry that it could pop back up anytime, particularly with tensions in the oil-rich Middle East showing no sign of calming.

Dubai, UAE -- The total number of US$10 million plus home sales in Dubai grew by 92.4 percent to 431 sales during 2023, according to analysis carried out by global property consultancy, Knight Frank. The total value of sales above this price point grew by 91 percent last year to...

Dubai, UAE--The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has laid over 364 kilometres of fibre optic (FO) ducts across different areas in Dubai in 2023. The expansion has increased the total length of these cable ducts to 3,998 kilometres, a 10% increase compared to 2022. This initiative aligns with DEWA's...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Iran wants to elevate the levels of trade and investment exchanges with Saudi Arabia to the highest volume in the region, Iran's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Alireza Enayati, said during his meeting Sunday with the President of the Federation of Saudi Chambers, Hassan bin Mujab Al-Huwaizi....

Tehran, Iran – Iran and India on Monday finalized an agreement for the development of the strategic Chabahar port in Tehran. The accord was reached in a meeting between Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash and Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. During the meeting, Bazrpash proposed...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) announced on Monday that it has cut the upper limit of fees for recruiting domestic workers from a number of countries. These countries include the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia. The initiative comes within...

Tehran, Iran - Iran urged on Monday the United States and Britain to "stop the war against Yemen" following their recent strikes on targets of the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels. US and British forces have hit scores of targets in Yemen after weeks of Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea,...

In Asia, Tokyo rose for a sixth successive day to build on last week's advances, which saw the Nikkei break above 35,000 points for the first time since 1990 thanks to a revival of Japanese inflation and a weaker yen that helps exporters.

Tabuk, Saudi Arabia -- Red Sea Global (RSG), Zain KSA, and the French Serge Ferrari Group have developed and installed advanced telecom towers on Ummahat Island, RSG said. These towers will provide visitors with a "seamless communication experience that blends harmoniously with the island's natural beauty", the statement added. According...

Dubai, UAE - Dubai saw record-breaking sale prices throughout 2023, with super-luxury residences selling for up to US$4,000 (AED14,692) per square foot, marking consecutive year-over-year increases since 2020, according to the 2024 Sotheby’s International Realty (SIR) Luxury Outlook Report. For the past two or three years post-Covid lockdowns, high-net-worth buyers...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia’s inflation declined to 1.5 percent in December 2023, compared with 1.7 percent in November, according to recent data by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).  The cost-of-living index for December rose to 110.15 points, according to the base year 2018, from 108.53 points in the same month...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - The Saudi National Program to Combat Commercial Concealment has exposed various instances falling under the umbrella of commercial concealment or cover-up (tasattur) and clarified the distinctions between such practices and other violations. The program identified cases of tasattur, including scenarios where a Saudi citizen transfers ownership...

Doha, Qatar--Qatar and Czech Republic are looking to ramp up trade and investment cooperation between the two countries. In this regard, Qatar Chamber Acting General Manager Ali Saeed Bu Sherbak Al Mansouri met here on Sunday with CEO of the Czech Trade Promotion Agency (CzechTrade) Radomil Dolezal. The meeting took...

JERUSALEM -  Three fighters who crossed into Israel from Lebanon and two Israelis were killed in clashes and a strike along the frontier between the two countries on Sunday, the army and medics said. Since the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip erupted on October 7, the...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- The number of individual investors on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) reached 6.05 million by the end of Q3 2023, an increase of 117,000 compared with the previous quarter. Argaam reported that the number of male investors reached 4.48 million in Q3 2023, while the number of...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Renowned fashion designer Elie Saab will unveil the Riyadh Season Fall Collection 2025 after signing an MoU with Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority. The Authority said the MoU will create a one-of-a-kind experience that intertwines fashion and entertainment during the upcoming Riyadh Season. This initiative, which...

Dubai, UAE -- The real estate and properties transactions valued at 10.1 billion ($2.74 billion) in total during the week ending 12 January 2024. The sum of transactions was 2,910. A total of 209 plots were sold for AED 2.19 billion, 2,100 apartments and villas were sold for AED 4.84...

South Africa launched an emergency case at the ICJ arguing that Israel stands in breach of the UN Genocide Convention, signed in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust, and wants the court to "immediately" stop its military operations in Gaza which were launched after the October 7 Hamas attacks....

Tel Aviv, Israel--Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv late Saturday calling for the release of hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas fighters, on the eve of the 100th day of their captivity. The protests came after families unveiled a replica of the tunnels in the besieged Palestinian territory where...

Doha, Qatar - The Palestinian team hope to reach the knockout stage of the Asian Cup for the first time to "put a smile on the faces of the Palestinian people", one of its players said on Saturday. The tournament in Qatar is taking place against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas...

Lagos, Nigeria - Africa's biggest diesel and aviation fuel refinery built by the continent's richest man has started production, the company said on Saturday, calling it a "big day for Nigeria". The 650,000 barrel-per-day Dangote refinery could be a game changer when fully operational by helping end Nigeria's reliance on fuel...

Cairo, Egypt - Egypt Saturday said that navigation movement in the canal is regular from both directions, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority Lieutenant General Osama Rabie denied allegations of any temporary suspension of navigation due to the situation in the Bab al-Mandab.‏ ‏In a statement, the Chairman of the...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, officially inaugurated the operational activities for the 1445 AH Hajj season on Friday. The commencement follows the conclusion of the third edition of the Hajj and Umrah Services Conference and Exhibition, a four-day event that showcased facilities for...

Dubai, UAE – Sales of properties worth more than $1.35 million and $2.70 million in Dubai hit record levels in 2023, reaching 10,296 and 3,806, up 54.5% and 68.4% from a year earlier, respectively, says CBRE in its study. Off-plan sales in both segments of the market have been the primary...

New Delhi, India - India said on Friday it had likely found wreckage from an Indian Air Force transport plane that went missing over the sea almost eight years ago with 29 people aboard. A Russian-built Antonov An-32 was carrying service personnel and six crew members during a routine courier service...

DUBAI, UAE - Yemen's Houthi rebels, who vowed to retaliate against US and British strikes early on Friday against key military sites, have built up a significant arsenal, including cruise missiles and drones. Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7, the Iran-backed Houthis have carried out a spate of...

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- Real estate transactions in Abu Dhabi amounted to approximately AED 1.9 billion ($517 million) in the first two weeks of 2024, comprising 348 transactions of sales and mortgages on various types of real estate units. According to the "DARI" platform, affiliated with the Department of Municipalities...

ABU DHABI, UAE - Lunate Capital announced the launch of the Chimera SP India Shariah ETF, a physical, in-kind, liquid, and fully fungible exchange traded fund, that will list on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). Lunate Capital is an Abu Dhabi-based management company licensed by the Securities and Commodities...

Beijing, China--China called Friday for all sides to prevent the Yemen conflict from expanding, after strikes by the United States and United Kingdom on Houthi rebel targets. Heavy US and British air strikes pounded targets in rebel-held Yemen early on Friday after weeks of disruptive attacks on Red Sea shipping by...

Manama, Bahrain – Morocco became the fifth country to join the UAE, Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain at the fourth meeting of the Higher Committee of the Industrial Partnership for Sustainable Economic Development which began on Thursday here. The Executive Committee of the now five country partnership held meetings with officials,...

Sharjah, UAE--The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Sfax, Tunisia, held a meeting to discuss advancing cooperation and joint efforts to further develop the relations between the two countries' business communities. The meeting touched on exchanging commercial delegations, holding joint events...

Paris, France - The world's political and business elites will convene in Davos next week, with wars in Gaza and Ukraine set to dominate the annual gabfest in the Swiss Alps. Russia's nearly two-year-old assault on Ukraine has taken center stage at previous editions of the World Economic Forum (WEF), with...

GAZA, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES - Bombed-out neighborhoods, mass graves dug in the sand, spreading hunger and disease -- as the bloodiest ever Gaza war nears 100 days, besieged Palestinians have endured ever new horrors. More than three months of relentless Israeli bombardment since the October 7 Hamas attack have taken a...

Doha, Qatar -- The volume of real estate trading in sales contracts at the Department of Real Estate Registration at the Ministry of Justice during the period from 31 December to 10 January 2024 reached 791 million QR. Total sales contracts for residential units in the Real Estate Bulletin for...

Cairo, Egypt -- The Egyptian government signed an agreement yesterday with a consortium led by the Saudi company ACWA Power for the largest wind energy production project in the Middle East.With investments reaching up to $1.5 billion, the project will be established in the Gulf of Suez and Jebel El-Zeit...

Dubai, UAE--The Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has signed an agreement with Etihad Credit Bureau to enhance tax compliance in the UAE. The agreement aims to establish an electronic link between the two entities, enabling the Authority to directly access credit reports provided by the Bureau, using them to strengthen compliance...

Abu Dhabi, UAE - The UAE passport has climbed two positions to secure the 11th spot in the 2024 Passport Index by Henley & Partners. This advancement allows UAE citizens visa-free access to 183 countries. The UAE has been the most improved nation on the Index over the past decade,...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Public Investment Fund (PIF) Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan on Wednesday said that the Kingdom’s mineral wealth currently stands at $1.3 trillion, with a target to increase it to $1.5 trillion.Speaking at the third annual Future Minerals Forum (FMF) held in Riyadh on January 10-11, Al-Rumayyan said the...

The 24 teams spanning Australia to Palestine will battle for regional glory over the next four weeks, culminating in the final at the 88,000-capacity Lusail Stadium on February 10.