UAE’s Futtaim, QIB, Aqar in $1.6 bln Qatar project
DUBAI: UAE conglomerate Al-Futtaim Group, Qatar Islamic Bank and Qatar's Aqar Real Estate Investment signed a 6 billion dirham ($1.63 billion) deal to develop a large retail and leisure project…
Troubled Afghan bank faces another day of long queues
KABUL: Customers of Afghanistan's biggest bank queued again Sunday in the hope of withdrawing their savings, though lines were shorter days after corruption allegations appeared in US newspapers. Security appeared…
Abu Dhabi: Evolving insurance market
ABU DHABI: Regulations enforcing higher capital standards in the UAE’s overcrowded insurance market have reduced the amount of insurance brokers, while slower growth in commercial business means the sector is…
At least 43 killed in violence in Sudan’s Darfur
CAIRO: Clashes in a refugee camp in Sudan's restive Darfur region left six people dead, UN-African Union peacekeepers said, days after violence elsewhere in the area claimed the lives of…
Kidnapped Japanese journalist freed in Afghanistan: report
TOKYO: A Japanese journalist believed to have been kidnapped by the Afghan Taliban has been released after five months, a report said on Sunday. Kosuke Tsuneoka, a freelance journalist who…
Vatican says in touch with Iran over stoning case
CASTEL GANDOLFO: The Vatican said Sunday it was in touch with Tehran "through diplomatic channels" over the controversy surrounding the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. The…
Iran Guards deny siege on Iran opposition leader
TEHRAN: Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Sunday denied they and Islamist militiamen had besieged opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi's home, but urged that the cleric and "seditionists" like him be tried. The…
Israel appoints Gaza war commander as new military chief
JERUSALEM: The Israeli cabinet on Sunday confirmed as armed forces chief Major General Yoav Galant, who directed Israel's 2008-2009 Gaza war, the prime minister's office said. "The government approved his…
US likely to keep thousands of troops in Iraq after 2011
WASHINGTON: The United States likely will need to keep thousands of troops in Iraq beyond 2011 to keep a lid on sectarian tensions and to bolster Baghdad's fledgling military, experts…
Bahrain presses terror charges against opposition leaders
MANAMA: Prosecutors have pressed terrorism charges against Shia opposition activists in Bahrain raising tensions in the run-up to an October 23 election in the Gulf state where a Sunni royal…