Dubai’s Aramex appoints Othman Aljeda as CEO

Aljeda replaces Bashar Obeid who submitted his resignation to the board on April 29

UAE’s Mashreq to use Oracle’s Transaction Banking platform

The platform is expected to help Mashreq respond more efficiently to the funding needs of local businesses and address capital diversification too

Saudi Arabia may bar overseas Hajj pilgrims again – report

Last year, Saudi Arabia restricted the hajj pilgrimage to Makkah to a ‘very limited’ number of Muslims

Kuwait’s health ministry to notify availability for second dose of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine

The ministry said it had not taken a decision to change the type of vaccine in the second shot

Dubai Watch Week 2021

Dubai Watch Week confirms dates for in-person event in November

The five-day event will take place at The Gate within the Dubai International Financial Centre

Emirates fits upscale coach class in A380s as market mutates

The change should help adapt the Emirates fleet to a post-Covid travel market in which well-heeled leisure passengers may be prepared to pay more for extra personal space

Air Arabia Abu Dhabi

Air Arabia Abu Dhabi launches new service to Tashkent

Starting June 24, the airline will operate a twice-weekly direct flight to the capital of Uzbekistan

Abu Dhabi Businesswomen Council award helps female entrepreneurs

The award is open to female graduates whose ideas are still on the drawing board as well as women entrepreneurs

Dubai Airport Freezone Authority

Dubai Airport Freezone Authority’s non-oil foreign trade crossed Dhs119bn in 2020

China was DAFZA’s biggest trading partner accounting for 27 per cent of all trade valued at Dhs32.3bn

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi offers discounted PCR testing

The price of the tests will be Dhs55 in Abu Dhabi and Dhs120 in Dubai

Danube Home

Dubai’s Danube Home launches home and office sterilization service

Doctors and nurses can avail of the service for free in the inaugural month of its launch

Covid-19 update: UAE reports 1,954 cases, 3 deaths

The case count across the UAE has risen to 529,220

The impact of VAT on the Omani economy

GCC states have the discretion to zero rate and exempt certain categories of supplies and Oman has used this discretion

Exclusive: Kempinski exits management of Emerald Palace hotel in Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah

The hotel has been closed since April 2020 and is scheduled to reopen in September 2021

Expo 2020 Dubai Cisco

Expo 2020 Dubai: Cisco to provide high-speed wifi coverage

More than 9,000 access points are being deployed across the site for blanket wifi coverage

Saudi Arabia’s Real Estate Development Fund appoints Mansour bin Madi as CEO

He previously held the fund’s general manager’s post

team The research team at the New York University Abu Dhabi

UAE researchers sequence genome of 2,000-year-old extinct date palm tree

The research on the Judean date palms was undertaken by a team at the New York University Abu Dhabi in partnership with entities in Israel and France

Saudi private-sector employment rises for first time this year

PMI in the United Arab Emirates rose to 52.7 from 52.6 in March, the highest since July 2019

JPMorgan, FAB poised to win roles on IPO of ADNOC drilling unit

ADNOC is looking to sell a minority stake in its drilling unit in a deal that could value the business at up to $10bn

DDoS cyberattacks

Cyberattacks on UAE small businesses up 183% in 2020 – report

Help AG says that these attacks, known as Distributed Denial of Service, have affected businesses across sectors including oil, healthcare and telecom

Saudi Aramco’s profit soars in Q1 as crude prices rise

Brent crude has gained over 30 per cent this year to top $68 a barrel

saudi arabia coronavirus

Covid-19: Saudi warns of hefty fines, jail term and deportation for violators of quarantine rules

Fines ranging from SAR100,000 to up to SAR1m will be imposed on those found guilty of ‘spread rumours or false information’ on social media

Dnata Blue Aqua

Dubai’s dnata partners with Blue Aqua to boost food security in Singapore

Blue Aqua will upcycle organic waste from dnata’s catering and ground handling operations into alternative insect protein for aquafeeds

flydubai

Flydubai announces additional flights to Russia

It takes the Dubai-based carrier’s total operational network to over 80 destinations

Covid cases August 5

Covid-19 vaccines: Dubai opens direct appointment bookings at private healthcare facilities

The vaccine is available for free for Dubai residence holders, GCC nationals who have an Emirates ID and elderly residents above 60 who live in Dubai, but have a residency permit issued in another emirate

Covid-19 update: UAE reports 1,699 cases, 2 deaths

The overall case count in the UAE stands at 527,266

Anghami

UAE-based Anghami launches Live Radio feature

Anghami also plans to launch a Premium Live Radio feature in which users can send token and gifts to artists and creators

Dubai’s Emirates to reduce passenger flights to Pakistan between May 5-20

This decision is as per the latest government directive in Pakistan

Covid-19: UAE extends ban on travellers from India

Cargo flights will continue to operate between the two countries

Self-driving platform ekar integrates with CarPro to enable 500,000 rental cars

The partnership aims to enable car rental companies in over 40 countries to digitally rent their fleet using ekar Mobility OS