Search results

Ruler Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi has raised the minimum wage for local citizens by 43%, to Dh25,000 ($6,800) from Dh17,500. It follows a Department of Social Services study into Sharjah living standards.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has ruled that Iran owes an unspecified amount of damages to relatives of the 176 people who died on Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752, which was shot down by Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) missiles soon after taking off from a Tehran airport on 8 January 2020.

Foreign affairs minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Bin Jassim Al-Thani began a multi-country tour of North African states on 23 May, to discuss tensions and instability around the region. His first stop was Libya, where he had meetings with President Mohammed Manfi, vice-presidents Mossa Al-Koni and Abdullah Hussein Al-Lafi, key player prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and foreign minister Najla Mangoush.

A keel-laying ceremony was held at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin on 26 May for HMS Saud, the first frigate to be produced under the Tuwaiq programme for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF). v

The growing popularity of Chinese armed drones may come into question in the coming years, according to a GSN analyst, not least because United States President Joe Biden’s administration has warned that purchases of weapons systems from China comes with a political price.

Dubai’s Emirates Group slumped to a Dh22.1bn ($6bn) loss in the year to end-March, its first non-profitable year in over three decades. Group revenues tumbled 66% to Dh35.6bn due to the impact of worldwide travel restrictions and border closures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Two diplomats serving in the consulate-general in Kerala have reportedly left India and returned to the UAE, while members of the consulate without diplomatic status face trial on gold smuggling charges. The departed two, former consul-general Jamal Hussain Al-Zaab and ex-administrative attaché Rashed Khamis Ali Musaiqri, are no longer employed as diplomats.

Former Qatari prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jaber Al-Thani (HBJ) had some critical words for Qatar’s neighbours in a series of tweets on 6 June, the day after the fourth anniversary of the start of the boycott by Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in 2017, which only ended in January.

Qatar Olympic Committee president Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani was given the International Swimming Federation (Fina)’s highest honour, the Fina Order, at the organisation’s general congress in Doha on 6 June.

The Saudi Season of entertainment events is expected to return in Q4 21, as a popular element in the kingdom’s Vision 2030 plan. The programme will begin with the return of Riyadh Season, an amalgam of events, arts and cultural activities in the capital.

Regional rivalries are not necessarily forever – they may dissolve into historic rapprochements, which is how senior diplomats in the Gulf would probably prefer to interpret recent political and diplomatic manoeuvres involving Qatar, the UAE and Egypt in East Africa.

Just 28.75m people voted in the 18 June election, representing a turnout of just 48.5%. It was the first time in the Islamic Republic’s history that a minority of voters took part in a presidential election. The previous record low was set in 1993, when 51% of eligible voters cast a ballot in an election which ushered in a second term for President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has signed an agreement with India’s Reliance Industries to develop a world-scale chloralkali (used in water treatment and the manufacture of textiles and metals), ethylene dichloride and PVC production facility at Ruwais.

The recently-established North American Camel Ranches Owners Association has thanked International Camel Organisation founder and president Sheikh Fahd Bin Falah Bin Hithlain for his help in setting up the new group. Sheikh Fahd is thought to be a second cousin of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) via MBS’s mother Fahda Bint Falah Al-Hathlain.

 The Ramlat Khelah border crossing could prove a significant development. Customs and immigration facilities and a road linking the frontier to the Omani highway network at Ibri have been ready for some time. However, delays have been caused on the Saudi side by the technical difficulties of building a road through the Empty Quarter’s shifting sands. As of 7 July, the road on the Saudi side appears to have been completed, albeit buried in sand on some sections, but tarmac has not yet been laid on a 300-metre stretch straddling the border.