Al Arabiya English to provide ‘Arab perspective’ at 2013 WEF annual meeting
Saturday, 19 January 2013
Al Arabiya English will be providing extensive coverage from the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting 2013. The site will supplement the region’s leading news channel, Al Arabiya’s signature yearly coverage of this highly exclusive event which is held every year in Davos – Read More
‘We don’t export meat to MidEast’, British retailer Tesco tells Al Arabiya
Saturday, 19 January 2013
After the discovery of pig DNA in its “beef” products, UK’s biggest retailer Tesco apologized to “customers who do not consume pork,” in reference to Muslims, saying it was seeking further detailed information on the matter. The scandal broke out earlier this week when an investigation by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland ... Read More
France eyes Saudi nuclear reactor sales
Saturday, 19 January 2013
A top French minister and the chief executives of French utility EDF and reactor builder Areva are visiting Saudi Arabia this weekend to build a case for selling French nuclear reactors to the oil-rich country. Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg will meet with Saudi officials and with representatives of EDF and Areva, who ... Read More
IMF in loan talks with Tunisia: senior official
Saturday, 19 January 2013
The International Monetary Fund has begun negotiations with Tunisia on a loan program and is reviewing budget measures in Egypt before it moves forward with talks on a crucial $4.8 billion funding deal, a senior IMF official said on Friday. Masood Ahmed, IMF director for the Middle East and North Africa, told reporters he ... Read More
Mali conflict poses risk to region’s economies: IMF
Saturday, 19 January 2013
The conflict in Mali, which has extended to a hostage crisis at a natural gas field in Algeria, poses a risk to the region's economies, the International Monetary Fund said Friday. “It is certainly a source of vulnerability for the neighboring economies,” Masood Ahmed, the head of the IMF’s Middle East and ... Read More
Oil market tightens, raid clouds Algerian energy: IEA
Saturday, 19 January 2013
Price pressures on the global oil market have suddenly tightened, and the deadly hostage drama at a gas field in Algeria puts a “dark cloud” over the country’s entire energy sector, the International Energy Agency warned on Friday. The IEA said that a dominant factor in the global energy market now “has a lot ... Read More
Saudi to send cash-strapped Palestinians $100 million
Friday, 18 January 2013
Saudi Arabia will send the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority $100 million to help alleviate its financial crisis, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. In a report late Wednesday, the agency said that president Mahmud Abbas received a call from Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf who ... Read More
Dubai’s QE2 to float as luxury hotel in Asia
Friday, 18 January 2013
Iconic cruise ship Queen Elizabeth 2 will be upgraded into a luxury floating hotel with 500 rooms and will be moored in an Asian harbor, its Dubai owners said in a statement on Thursday. The ship “will be moved today (Thursday) to Drydocks World Dubai for undertaking classification checks prior to her ... Read More
Algeria unrest unlikely to stir Europe gas supply: analysts
Friday, 18 January 2013
The Algerian hostage crisis is unlikely to threaten European gas supplies too heavily, which relies mostly on Russia for its imports, analysts said as markets brushed aside the mounting unrest. Algeria’s gas deliveries to Italy have fallen by 17 percent, a spokesman for Italian gas transport group Snam said on ... Read More
UK’s Tesco struggles to survive ‘horse meat’ scandal
Friday, 18 January 2013
Britain biggest retailer Tesco launched a media campaign in an attempt to contain the damage from revelations some of its products contained horse meat. Taking out full page ads in a number of British newspapers, Tesco apologized to its customers after horse meat was found in some of its frozen beef burgers saying it had ... Read More
UAE’s Etisalat eyeing Vivendi’s Maroc Telecom stake
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Etisalat, the United Arab Emirates’ largest telecommunications operator, said it is interested in buying Vivendi’s 53 percent stake in Morocco’s Maroc Telecom. The former monopoly has submitted a “preliminary expression of interest” for the stake, valued at around $5.8 billion at the current market price, it said in a ... Read More
Egypt central bank accepts bids for $72.9 million in 11th currency auction
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Egypt’s central bank said on Thursday it has accepted bids worth $72.9 million with a cut-off price of 6.57 Egyptian pounds against the dollar at its 11th foreign currency auction. The cut-off price at the previous auction, held on Tuesday, was 6.55. The auctions are part of a shift in currency policy announced in late ... Read More
Qatar Airways grounds Boeing 787 fleet
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Qatar Airways has grounded its entire fleet of five Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft until further notice, the company said in a statement on Thursday. It said it was following instructions from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Qatar’s Civil Aviation Authority. The FAA on Wednesday grounded Boeing’s newest ... Read More
Over 30 major firms interested in Lebanon gas, oil drilling: Energy minister
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
More than 30 major international companies have expressed interest in bidding for oil and gas exploration and drilling in Lebanon’s territorial waters, Energy Minister Gebran Bassil told Al Arabiya on Wednesday. “We discovered significant oil wealth and resources in our waters, and especially natural gas; its existence ... Read More
Egypt central bank will retain ‘total independence:’ newly-appointed chief
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Egypt’s newly-appointed central bank governor Hisham Ramez said in an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya that the bank would retain “total independence” under his leadership and that his priority is to promote transparency. “Central bank independence is essential. But this does not mean we work in isolation, there will be ... Read More
2030 target for renewable energy in doubt: Abu Dhabi energy conference
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
The share of renewables in the global energy mix has increased over the past decade to more than 15 percent but doubts remain over whether a 2030 target of 30 percent is achievable, delegates to an international conference in Abu Dhabi said on Wednesday. Fossil fuels still account for 80 percent of world energy ... Read More
Ryanair to open two new bases in Morocco
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Low-cost Irish airline Ryanair is to open two new bases this spring in Morocco, its first outside Europe, company chief Michael O’Leary told AFP on Wednesday. “We will open two new bases in Morocco, in Fes and Marrakesh, and we’ll be in two new airports, Essaouira and Rabat,” O’Leary said during a visit to ... Read More
EU hails decision to allow Saudi women in parliament as ‘major development’
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
The European Union has welcomed Saudi King Abdullah’s recent decree allowing women to be members of in the kingdom’s Shura Council for the first time as a major development in the direction of women empowerment. “We welcome the announcement made by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on Friday Jan. 11 to appoint 30 women to the ... Read More
Abu Dhabi opens World Future Energy Summit with 30,000 participants
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
More than 30,000 people from 150 countries, including world leaders and government ministers gathered in the UAE capital Tuesday for the sixth World Future Energy Summit (WFES). The summit will discuss, debate and display the latest ideas in renewable and clean energy by business executives, academics, scientists, ... Read More
Iran could reach key point for nuclear bomb by mid-2014: U.S. experts
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Iran could produce enough weapon-grade uranium for one or more nuclear bombs by mid-2014, and the United States and its allies should intensify sanctions on Tehran before that point is reached, a report by a group of U.S. nonproliferation experts said. President Barack Obama should also clearly state that the United States ... Read More