Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-- Banks in Saudi Arabia have reported a 9.6 percent increase in aggregate profit to $1.71 billion in July, according to official data. The Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA, said that the aggregate assets of these banks also rose 8.84 percent year on year in July...

Ankara, Turkey - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin in September, ahead of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, which begins on September 19, s political source based in Ankara disclosed this information to TASS, a Russian news agency. The...

Tehran, Iran -  India and Iran have reportedly reached an agreement on the legal terms for the development of the deep-sea Chabahar Port in southeast Iran. The agreement marks a breakthrough in their long-standing negotiations and could potentially pave the way for a long-term deal between the two nations. The...

Sharjah, UAE--Sharjah will host the first-ever Gulf-Iraq Business Forum on 26th and 27th September to boost economic ties between the GCC and Iraq. The event is an initiative of the Federation of GCC Chambers and is being organized in partnership with the Federation of UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry...

Dubai, UAE--The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity has "lost contact" with two of its foreign staff in Yemen, the group told AFP on Monday. The employees, a German and a Burmese, had been in the northern province of Marib, the aid group said without giving further details. International organizations and...

Dubai, Riyadh - PureHealth, the largest healthcare group in the Middle East, has entered into an agreement to acquire Circle Health Group, the UK's largest independent operator of hospitals, for a substantial AED 4.41 billion ($1.19 billion).  PureHealth's existing roster of companies includes healthcare names such as SEHA – Abu...

Tehran, Iran - Iran on Monday warned Iraq that it would take action if Baghdad does not honor its commitment by mid-September of disarming Iranian Kurdish rebel groups on its territory. "According to a deal reached between the Iranian and Iraqi governments, the Iraqi government has pledged to disarm armed terrorist...

PARIS, FRANCE - Attempts to change the existing world order threaten to weaken the West and especially Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron said at the annual conference of his country’s ambassadors here. “The situation on the international arena is becoming more complicated, which is fraught with the risk of the...

Moscow, Russia -- Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states have invited observers from Saudi Arabia, Iran, China and Mongolia to monitor the Combat Brotherhood-2023 drills in Belarus, CSTO Joint Staff Chief Colonel General Anatoly Sidorov said at a briefing. Saudi Arabia, Iran, China and Mongolia are not the members...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- ADES International Holding, an oil and gas driller backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, PIF, has announced its intention to go public and list its shares on Saudi stock exchange (Tadawul), with the planned Initial Public Offering expected to reportedly fetch more than $1 billion....

Moscow, Russia - Google's Russian subsidiary is on the brink of bankruptcy as it struggles to cope with its mounting debt to creditors, Russian news agency TASS reported on Monday.  The subsidiary's financial liabilities have now surpassed a staggering 20.1 billion rubles ($211,579,032), according to documents revealed during the first...

Dubai, UAE - The Barclay family is reportedly making a bid to regain control of the Telegraph newspaper group. Months after relinquishing ownership due to financial struggles, the family is said to be enlisting support from investors based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to facilitate their comeback, Guardian newspaper...

Cairo, Egypt - Egypt announced on Sunday that negotiations had resumed over Ethiopia's controversial mega-dam, after agreeing last month to reach a deal following years of tensions between the two countries. For years at loggerheads over the issue, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had agreed...

TEHRAN, IRAN - Iran exported $7.2 billion worth of products to West Asian countries in the first four months of the current Persian calendar year (March 21 to July 22), the director general of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPOI) for West Asia said. The administration of President Ebrahim...

Paris, France - Silicon Valley's favorite philosophy, longtermism, has helped to frame the debate on artificial intelligence around the idea of human extinction. But increasingly vocal critics are warning that the philosophy is dangerous, and the obsession with extinction distracts from real problems associated with AI like data theft and biased...

Tehran, Iran -- Iran became the eighth largest steel supplier in the world in the first half of 2023 as the country kept increasing its output despite supply and price hike in international markets caused by the Ukraine War. Figures from the World Steel Association (WSA) showed that Iran’s steel...

Kuwait City, Kuwait -- The Arab Monetary Fund has said that the market capital in Arab bourses reached US$4.5 trillion at the end of last week's trade, climbing by 1.2 percent.The fund's weekly report said the market capital of BouKuwait amounted to US$137.5 billion, that of the Abu Dhabi stock...

Johannesburg, South Africa--The 2023 CAF Super Cup match between Al Ahly of Egypt and USM Alger of Algeria will be staged in the Saudi Arabian city of Taif on September 15, the organizers announced on Saturday. Ahly qualified for the annual match by winning the Champions League and USM by capturing...

AMMAN, JORDAN  - The value of the Kingdom's oil bill decreased during the first half of 2023 by 15.6 percent, Jordan’s Department of Statistics (DoS) announced. According to the DoS foreign trade report, value of the Kingdom's imports of crude oil, its derivatives and mineral oils went down in the...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia  - Saudi Arabia has to not only enhance its defensive capabilities but also establish effective deterrence measures against Iran and its proxies, particularly in the context of its ambitious Vision 2030 initiative, a latest analysis by Middle East Institute (MEI) says.  The policy brief authored by MEI...

Tehran, Iran - The inclusion of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Iran, will significantly increase BRICS’ weight in the oil market, as per calculations based on 2022 OPEC data, reported by InfoTech news outlet on Thursday. Together with the existing participants, Russia and Brazil, these countries jointly command 39% of...

Budapest, Hungary--Senior officials from the UAE and Hungary met in Budapest on 22nd August for the inaugural round of the Political Consultations Committee between the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The UAE delegation was led by Ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister...

New Delhi. India - DP World on Friday signed a concession agreement with the Deendayal Port Authority to develop, operate and maintain a new 2.19 million TEU per annum mega-container terminal at Kandla in Gujarat on India’s western coast. The project involves the construction of a mega-container terminal at Tuna-Tekra...

NEW DELHI, INDIA - Breakneck development of artificial intelligence risked repeating mistakes made by the tech industry at the start of the social media era, Microsoft president Brad Smith told a business forum on Friday. Rapid advancements in AI have stoked global alarm over the technology's potential for disinformation, misuse and...

Dubai, UAE -- A total of 3,229 real estate transactions worth over AED 23.1 billion ($6.28 billion) were conducted during the week ending 25th August 2023, according to figures released by the Dubai Land Department (DLD). The DLD report showed that 183 plots were sold for AED 1.33 billion, while...

Beirut, Lebanon -- Acting Lebanese Central Bank Governor Wassim Mansouri has said the bank will not be providing government lending to cover Lebanon's 2023 state budget deficit. This applies to both the Lebanese lira and the US dollar. "The Central Bank has no plans to address the nation's deficit through...

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia-- The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has reached a partnership deal with Port of Rotterdam to collaborate in the areas of smart ports, human capital development, knowledge transfer, and performance optimization in support of the Kingdom's economic diversification efforts aimed at creating a state-of-the-art investment and trade hub....

Berlin, Germany -- A delegation of Saudi Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, which visited Germany, discussed enhancing cooperation to develop human capacities in industry and mining with a number of German companies. The delegation from the ministry, headed by Deputy Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources for Human Capability...

Baghdad, Iraq - Iraq has signed a preliminary agreement with Turkmenistan to import gas. The agreement signed by the undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil for gas affairs Ezzat Saber, is a big step in Iraq's quest for diversified energy sources. In a statement to Iraqi News Agency, Saber, said: ...

Dubai, UAE - Savings deposits held by UAE banks, excluding interbank deposits, totaled approximately $73.01 billion (AED268.6 billion) by the end of June 2023. According to the latest data from the Central Bank of the UAE, these deposits experienced a monthly growth rate of 5.8%, equivalent to an increase of...

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - As the world grapples with the economic aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Middle Eastern countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have showcased resilience with their currencies holding firm against the US dollar. According to recent data, the Saudi Riyal (SAR) and the UAE Dirham (AED)...

Washington, United States -- NASA and SpaceX are preparing to launch a crew of four to the International Space Station on Friday. Dubbed Crew-7, the mission will be commanded by American Jasmin Moghbeli and includes Andreas Mogensen of Denmark, Satoshi Furukawa of Japan and Konstantin Borisov of Russia. Lift-off is...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- An American pure ultra-white falcon cherrug sold for SAR550,00 ($146,000) at the third edition of the International Falcon Breeders Auction, hosted by the Saudi Falcons Club in Malham, north of Riyadh. The most expensive falcon, known locally as a Hur, belongs to the American MGE farm....

Abu Dhabi, UAE -- The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization (MoHRE) of the UAE and job search and recruitment platform Bayt.com have signed an MoU to enhance the retention of competent talent working in the Emirates' labor market. The MoU was signed by Khalil Al Khoori, Undersecretary of MoHRE...

Dubai, UAE – The global semiconductor industry is set to witness a significant revenue boost in the coming year, with artificial intelligence (AI) chips taking center stage. According to the latest report from Gartner, Inc., AI chip revenues are projected to reach a staggering $53.4 billion in 2023, marking a...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia--GCC Secretary General Jasem Albudaiwi has emphasized the importance of Gulf-US strategic relations that support joint cooperation and coordination across all fields. In a statement today, he highlighted the outcome of the joint meeting which was held last June between the GCC foreign ministers and the USA. The...

Dubai, UAE -  The UAE astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi on Wednesday participated in a cardiovascular study to examine cardiorespiratory impact in space.  The UAE’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) shared a glimpse into astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi’s contribution to the Cardiobreath experiment on the International Space Station (ISS).  The experiment is...

Algiers, Algeria  - Algeria has initiated a diplomatic effort aimed at finding a political solution to the ongoing crisis in Niger, with the goal of preventing further destabilization in the region.  The Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf has begun a series of visits to...

Tehran, Iran -- The trade exchanges between Iran and China in the first seven months of the current year reached $8.540 billion, with China’s export of products to Iran accounting for $6 billion of it. The trade declined by 11 percent compared to the same period last year, China’s Customs...

Johannesburg, South Africa -- Russia's special military operation pursues the goal of ending the war in Ukraine unleashed by a number of Western countries and their satellites, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of BRICS leaders. "Russia has decided to support the people who are fighting for their...

Dubai, UAE -- The Gulf Cooperation Council countries were the top destinations for exports and re-exports of Dubai Chamber of Commerce member companies during the first half of 2023. The Chamber, one of the three chambers operating under the umbrella of Dubai Chambers, said Saudi Arabia was named the top...

Tehran, Iran - The World Steel Association (WSA) has reported a significant 4.1% increase in Iran's steel production during the first seven months of 2023 (January-July), compared to the same period last year. Iran's crude steel production for this period totaled 18.1 million tons, showcasing strong growth. In July 2023,...

Cairo, Egypt--Shipping traffic was flowing normally on Egypt's Suez Canal on Wednesday, two shipping sources based in the country said, after two tankers that collided earlier were separated. The two tankers, the Singapore-flagged liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier BW Lesmes and the Cayman Islands-flagged oil products tanker Burri, briefly collided...

Washington, United States - The US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Tuesday said that the prospect of a peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not imminent. Speaking at a press briefing Sullivan indicated that substantial obstacles still need to be overcome before such an accord can be...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia--The Saudi Esports Federation will launch the "Next World Forum" on August 30 and 31 in Riyadh, at the conclusion of the activities of the largest event for games and electronic sports in the world, "Gamers8: The Land of Heroes." The forum will discuss promising opportunities in the...

Abu Dhabi, UAE - The UAE Minister of Climate Change and the Environment Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, affirmed on Tuesday the UAE's readiness to host the upcoming Conference of the Parties (COP28) this November, in collaboration with all associated partners and entities. She underscored the UAE's pivotal role in advancing...

The gains, including a jump in US tech stocks, "looked more like a correction than a reaction to fresh news, as there was no fresh news that went against the slowing China rhetoric" or indication of a possible shift in policy by US monetary policymakers, said Swissquote Bank analyst Ipek...

RAS AL KHAIMAH, UAE - Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ) reported a remarkable surge in the registration of holding companies since introducing this company structure in 2020. The consistent rise in registrations highlights the growing appeal of this innovative investment vehicle, as the total number of holding companies rose...

Dubai, UAE -- The Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) Tuesday said it is waiving trading, clearing and delivery fees for its Shariah Compliant Spot Gold Contract as it expects the move to increase trading volumes. In a statement, DGCX said after having received regulatory approval from the UAE Securities...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia has officially acceded to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) to become the 96th State that accedes to the Convention. Saudi Arabia became the 96th State Party to the Convention. The Convention will enter into force for...