Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Europe

Dubai hotel rates surge by up to 75% during World Cup

Dubai Marathon has been forced to move its upcoming race in December 2022 to February 2023, as organisers said the massive demand by football fans to base themselves in the emirate has resulted in a lack of hotel rooms, with average daily rates during the tournament rising by as much as 75 percent. “Thousands of […]

UAE sees dramatic rise in flight bookings from Russia

The UAE has seen a hefty rise in flight bookings from Russia as domestic tourists, shut off from most western countries, flock to the emirates for leisure and business. Air travel from Russia to the UAE during the first eight months of the year exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 27 percent, according to London-based ForwardKeys, a […]

Turks frustrated by ‘deliberate’ visa rejection by European nations

Turkish sports presenter Sinem Okten was surprised to see her visa application to Europe’s Schengen area rejected twice, having visited often to cover matches and interview figures like Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon and Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp. “I applied first to Germany then to France. Both rejected my application,” she said. “I’ve travelled abroad numerous times […]

Russian central bank eases forex restrictions for banks

Russia’s central bank said on Saturday a slight easing of foreign currency restrictions on banks that took effect this week would boost the supply of cash dollars and euros on the local market. Under current rules, banks have only been allowed to sell foreign currency cash that had been bought from individuals after April 9. […]

Bread, Food, Croissant

Cash-rich Germany criticised by watchdog over money laundering

Germany has been criticised by a global watchdog for failing to do enough to tackle money laundering, such as by prosecuting very few for the crime despite being one of the globe’s biggest cash centres. The report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global body that groups countries from the United States to […]

Car, Automobile, Vehicle

Britain looks to the Gulf as recession looms

At the height of a long hot summer of discontent, the decision by PIF, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, to take a stake in Aston Martin came as welcome relief to British industry.  As inflation soars and recession looms in the UK, it is hoped the £78 million pledge not only signals a turnaround for […]

Person, Human, Crowd

Alabbar to acquire stake in online retailer YOOX Net-A-Porter

Richemont Wednesday announced a long-awaited deal to offload most of its online fashion retailer YOOX Net-A-Porter (YNAP), clearing the way for its labels to sign up for technology run by luxury e-commerce specialist Farfetch. The deal, removing from its books a loss-making business that had become a distraction for the Swiss luxury group, was welcomed […]

Northacre sees ‘pent-up demand’ for London from GCC investors

The Dubai-owned developer behind plans to transform the former Metropolitan Police HQ in London says it is seeing “lots of pent-up demand” from GCC-based investors. Walid El-Hindi, group CEO of Northacre, a subsidiary of Dubai-based Shuaa Capital, told AGBI that London remains a “safe haven” for buyers from the Gulf and wider Middle East region. […]

To get ahead, plastics producers need to be running in circles

The volume of plastics produced globally every year has soared over the past half century, from 15 million tonnes in 1964 to more than 300 million tonnes today. This figure is forecast to double again over the next two decades and nearly quadruple by 2050. But synthetic polymers have one major drawback: they generally take […]

Damac's data centre company Edgnex has started work on a Riyadh facility

Dubai’s Damac to invest $990m in data centres in Germany

Dubai-based conglomerate Damac Group is planning to invest $990 million in data centres and technology acquisitions in Germany. The company is currently on a fact-finding expedition in the European country to identify opportunities. “It’s a very interesting time now in Germany, especially for future-oriented industries and the country has a lot of opportunities in sectors […]

Talks under way to forge UK-GCC trade deal

Discussions to broker a trade agreement between the UK and GCC have begun, with the trade commissioner for the Middle East, Simon Penney, describing the Gulf as an “important region” for the UK.   “Today marks the launch of the first round of negotiations towards a UK GCC Free Trade Agreement,” Penney said.  “The GCC is […]

Cyprus cash-for-passports scheme rife with tax failings

A cash-for-passports scheme discontinued by Cyprus in 2020 after a political furore cost the state hundreds of millions of euros in lost revenues from misdirected tax breaks, an independent watchdog said on Monday. Cyprus’s Auditor-General, which is an independent division of the state, said authorities may also have been duped into issuing passports on investments […]

Britain to recruit health workers from Nepal to offset shortage

Britain will recruit health professionals from Nepal under its first labour agreement with the Himalayan country, officials said on Monday, helping Britain offset a labour gap while Nepal bids to boost remittances from migrant workers. A joint statement by Nepal government and the British Embassy in Kathmandu said they had signed a preliminary agreement to […]

British Airways to cut winter schedule capacity

British Airways would make further cancellations up to the end of October and tweak its winter schedule, the airline said on Monday, following Heathrow airport’s decision to cap capacity to tackle widespread disruption. Sky News earlier reported that the IAG-owned carrier’s total capacity for winter schedule until the end of March would be reduced by […]

TotalEnergies and ENI make major gas discovery off Cyprus shore

Energy companies TotalEnergies and ENI announced a significant gas discovery at the Cronos-1 well, in Block 6, offshore Cyprus. Cronos-1 encountered several good quality carbonate reservoir intervals and confirmed overall net gas pay of more than 260 metres, said TotalEnergies in a statement. TotalEnergies and ENI each have a 50 percent stake in Block 6. […]

UK rules out criminal action against DP World’s P&O Ferries

The UK has announced it will not pursue criminal action against P&O Ferries over mass redundancies announced earlier this year.  The company, owned by Dubai-based DP World, whose ships sail across the English Channel, North Sea and Irish Sea, laid off nearly 800 workers in March and then went on to hire cheaper agency staff, […]

US warns Russia trying to bypass Western sanctions via Turkey

US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told Turkish Deputy Finance Minister Yunus Elitas that Russian entities and individuals were attempting to use Turkey to bypass Western sanctions imposed over Moscow’s war in Ukraine, the Treasury Department said. In a phone call, the two also discussed ongoing efforts to implement and enforce the sanctions against Russia, […]

FC Barcelona still unable to register Kounde as player

Barcelona have still not been authorised to register French defender Jules Kounde as a player, one of their marquee summer signings, as the club works to comply with LaLiga’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, manager Xavi Hernandez said on Saturday. “At the moment, we don’t know anything. We are on stand-by,” Xavi told a news […]

UK trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan launched free trade negotiations with the GCC in June

UK-GCC trade in numbers: relationship set for new era

Total trade between all six GCC countries and the United Kingdom increased in the year to the end of the first quarter of 2022, as talks begin on a free trade agreement aimed at further boosting the relationship. The UK posted a trade surplus with all the nations apart from Qatar, with the data showing […]

Person, Human, Suit

Elon Musk says he was joking about buying Manchester United

Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, said early on Wednesday that he was joking when he tweeted hours previously that he was going to buy currently struggling English football club Manchester United Plc. “No, this is a long-running joke on Twitter. I’m not buying any sports teams,” Musk posted when asked by a user if […]

Formula One governing body approves 2026 engine rules

Formula One’s governing body approved engine regulations for 2026 on Tuesday, an eagerly-awaited move that could lead to the arrival of premium Volkswagen Group brands Porsche and Audi. The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said its World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) also updated the 2022 and 2023 technical rules to address safety concerns. The new power unit […]