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Sky Petroleum board, Diplomatic meetings, Receives brothers, Cooperation with China, Marriages
The government is under serious international pressure over its crackdown on opposition supporters, many of whom have been detained for months without trial and with little or no contact with families or lawyers.
The London Court of International Arbitration’s award of damages to former US diplomat Peter Galbraith and a Yemeni partner comes at a sensitive time in Erbil-Baghdad relations.
Many months after Iraqi elections, delicate horse-trading is still required if Nouri Al-Maliki is to capitalise on the public support of 143 MPs and secure his reappointment as head of government in Baghdad
The mandate for the current Federal National Council (FNC) expires in February, but there is still no news on whether the government plans to allow another election. Last week, several FNC members pressed the government to announce arrangements for the election of a new house, and to give the council more power. But the UAE’s ruling Supreme Council has failed to clarify the situation.
As attempts to form a new government drag on, there is growing evidence that radical Shia militias are planning a coup, according to reports in Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat on 8 October.
Allegations about Maan Al-Sanea were first made in the New York Supreme Court in a counter-claim after Ahmed Hamad Al-Gosaibi and Brothers (AHAB) was sued by the UAE-based Mashreq Bank, owned by the Al-Ghurair family, which claimed it was owed
Merrill Lynch Saudi Arabia has appointed Motashar Almurshed as chief executive.
A number of Brazilian officials have visited the Gulf in 2010, resulting in several bilateral business announcements. The latest visitor, defence minister Nelson Jobim, was in the UAE for talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince
Bahrain remains determined to attract foreign investors – readers of The Economist or travellers on London’s underground system are faced with advertisements promising a friendly and sophisticated business centre, and the Economic Development Board is on a European tour to promote Manama (senior EDB and Bahrain Chamber of Commerce & Industry representatives were in Paris and London in late September).
Pakistan, In his father’s footsteps, Returns home after treatment, Regional UN meeting, China visit, US/Canadian security meetings, Dinner in New York
Dubai’s return to the international credit market has been heralded as another sign that the commercial emirate is rebuilding confidence and balance sheets following its debt crisis. Less public is evidence that Abu Dhabi has built up a commanding position in the Dubai economy, much to Sheikh Mohammed’s discomfort
Projects such as King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) and the new financial city north of Riyadh have been proposed as one solution to make it easier for foreign investors and banks to operate in King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz’s Kingdom than his father, Saudi Arabia’s founder King Abdelaziz Bin Abdelrahman (Ibn Saud), apparently intended.
Commitments by the United States to strengthen its Gulf allies have been confirmed with the public agreement of a multi-billion dollar defence deal intended to shift the balance of power from tipping into Iran’s favour, while allowing the US to safely reduce its boots-on-the-ground military presence in the region and create jobs at home
Following the failed attempt of a Nigerian engineering student Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab to blow up Northwest Airlines’ Flight 253 over the United States last December, Yemen received unprecedented global attention. The media focus has dropped somewhat since then, but the region remains the subject of considerable concern
