Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Government

Tie, Accessories, Accessory

Elon Musk’s satellite firm seeks exemption from Iranian sanctions

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Monday that the company will ask for an exemption from sanctions against Iran to provide the firm’s Starlink satellite broadband service in the country. Musk made the statement on Twitter at a time of widespread protests in Iran over the death of a woman in police custody. Some people […]

US Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Yerevan, Armenia, on September 18

Turkey’s VP rebukes Pelosi for ‘biased’ remarks in Armenia

Turkey’s vice president Fuat Oktay has branded Nancy Pelosi’s speech on clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan “biased”, suggesting that her comments “sabotage diplomacy efforts”. The Speaker of the US House of Representatives visited Armenia this weekend, in an unprecedented show of American support for the country, which has been locked in conflict with its neighbour […]

Israel’s El Al will begin Tel Aviv to Tokyo flights in March

El Al Israel Airlines will start direct flights from Tel Aviv to Tokyo next March, it said on Monday – two years after the launch was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Israel’s flag carrier has been looking to expand eastbound flights since its second-quarter results showed a rebound from the slump in travel during […]

European Central Bank to inflict pain as it mulls interest rate hikes

The European Central Bank (ECB) could raise interest rates into next year, causing pain for consumers as it tries to depress demand that is now increasingly adding to sky high inflation, chief economist Philip Lane said on Saturday. With inflation approaching double digit territory, the ECB delivered two oversized rate hikes in July and September, […]

Turkish florists rush to meet surge in UK demand after Queen’s death

Turkish florists are resorting to cargo planes instead of trucks as they rush to send as many flowers as they can to the United Kingdom to meet a deluge of orders after the death of Queen Elizabeth. Orders for cut flowers have soared by 90 percent since the queen died, said Selcuk Celebi, a member […]

Apple, Amazon pass on media rights to Saudi-backed LIV Golf

Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc have both passed on the media rights to the LIV Golf tournament, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Critics have said that LIV Golf, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, amounts to “sportswashing” by a nation trying to improve its reputation in […]

IMF to send mission to Lebanon to discuss slow reform progress

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday that a staff mission will visit Lebanon next week to discuss ways to “speed up” implementation of agreed reforms required for an IMF loan program amid deteriorating living conditions in the country. “We are looking to support Lebanon as strongly as we can. It’s a difficult situation,” […]

Tunisian government and union sign wages deal to ease tensions

Tunisia’s government and main labour union, Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), on Thursday signed a deal to boost wages, a step that may ease social tensions, but they did not announce any further agreement on reforms needed for an IMF bailout. The increase in state salaries of five percent a year for three years, and […]

PD in July 2021 pulled a $350m Islamic bond sale ahead of pricing, saying the interest received did not match the company's plan and vision

Abu Dhabi royals-owned firm raises $300m Islamic loan

The Private Department of Sheikh Mohamed Bin Khalid al-Nahyan LLC (PD), a relatively small real estate company owned by members of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, priced on Thursday $300 million of sukuk at 8.75 percent, a bank document showed. PD in July 2021 pulled a $350 million Islamic bond sale ahead of pricing, saying the […]

Saudi inflation up 3% in August on higher food and transport costs

Saudi Arabia’s consumer price index rose three percent in August from a year earlier, official data showed on Thursday, accelerating from a 2.7 percent pace in July. Food and beverages and transport prices were again the main driver of inflation in August, both rising four percent, the General Authority for Statistics said in a statement. […]

Person, Human, Shoe

Tunisia’s labour union agrees to wage deal amid IMF talks

Tunisia’s government and a powerful labour union have agreed a public sector wage increase over the next three years, part of their talks on wider economic reforms aimed at securing a foreign bailout for state finances. UGTT union officials and a state news agency said on Wednesday the agreement would lift wages for state employees […]

Depositors hold up two Lebanese banks to grab their own money

Two seemingly armed and desperate Lebanese depositors held up banks on Wednesday to force access to their own money, which has been blocked during a national financial meltdown. One woman with a gun and some associates briefly held hostages at a branch of BLOM Bank in the capital Beirut, before leaving with more than $13,000 […]

Lebanon-Israel maritime talks over oil allocation to conclude in ‘days’

Maritime border talks between Lebanon and Israel that could help allocate oil and gas resources are close to concluding after around two years of negotiations, a top Lebanese security official said on Tuesday. “We’re talking about weeks – actually, days – to finish the delineation issue. I’m hopeful that the situation is positive,” the head […]

Qatar wealth fund buys stake in Turkey’s Eurasia Tunnel

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has bought a stake in the Eurasia Tunnel company in Istanbul from the South Korean partner in the venture, SK Group, a statement by the Turkish Competition Board showed on Tuesday. The competition board decision, taken on September 8 and posted on its website on Monday evening, showed that QIA […]

Turkey’s new rules force banks to curtail corporate lending

Some Turkish banks are curtailing corporate lending after the government’s latest raft of regulations raised their costs and forced many to cut their balance sheet risks, five banking and private sector sources told Reuters. The new rules, part of President Tayyip Erdogan’s unorthodox management of the economy, have especially depressed longer-term lending. The owner of […]

Abu Dhabi royal-owned firm revives plans for dollar sukuk

The Private Department of Sheikh Mohamed Bin Khalid Al-Nahyan LLC (PD) is reviving plans to sell US dollar-denominated sukuk, bank documents showed on Monday. PD, a relatively small real estate player in Abu Dhabi owned by members of its ruling family, last year pulled a $350 million sukuk after its launch and ahead of pricing. […]

Tie, Accessories, Accessory

Turkey’s foreign reserves boosted by friendly country support

The Turkish central bank’s foreign currency reserves are getting stronger as friendly countries are providing support, President Tayyip Erdogan said, broadcaster Haberturk reported on Friday. The central bank’s reserves have come under pressure from its forex market interventions to support the Turkish lira and to meet government institutions’ forex needs. “Our central bank reserves started […]

Airplane, Aircraft, Vehicle

Turkish firm eyes drone manufacturing in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday met with the head of Turkish defence firm Baykar and said the company would set up a factory in Ukraine to build unmanned aerial vehicles. Baykar’s Bayraktar TB2 drone has been hugely popular in Ukraine, where it helped destroy many Russian artillery systems and armoured vehicles. “We discussed the […]

Saudi’s PIF to issue green bonds as early as next week

Saudi Arabia’s $620 billion (SAR 2.33 trillion) sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is expected to tap international debt markets for a debut green bonds issue as soon as next week, five sources familiar with the matter said. The fund is at the centre of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious reform plans being spearheaded by […]

UAE firm signs contract with Taliban to run Afghan airports

The Taliban administration announced on Thursday they would sign the third and final major contract for running Afghanistan’s airports with the United Arab Emirates’ GAAC Holding. The contract would run for 10 years, Ghulam Jelani Popal, deputy head of Afghanistan’s ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, told reporters at a press conference in Kabul. He […]

Nature, Grassland, Field

Israel, Guatemala sign free trade agreement

Israel and Guatemala on Thursday signed a free trade agreement that will include industry, food and agriculture goods, the Israeli Economy Ministry said. The ministry said the agreement will come into effect once it receives final ratification in Guatemala and Israel, whose trade reached $40 million in 2021 – an 11 percent rise from 2020. […]

Lebanon’s bid for IMF rescue package hits snags

Five months after Lebanon’s draft International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal raised hopes it could finally pull together an economic reform plan to address its financial meltdown, political and financial elites are obstructing prospects of securing any rescue package. Efforts to enact eight reforms sought by the IMF are going nowhere or falling short, hitting resistance […]