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No relaxation seen in Gulf states’ curbs on Syria’s refugees

The Gulf states worry about the political, social and economic impact of an influx of refugees

UAE says over 100,000 Syrians given visas since 2011

More than 242,000 Syrian nationals currently live in the country

Majority of UAE firms planning international expansion

Around 10.4 per cent of all firms planning global expansion are from the UAE, a new poll showed

Gulf firms turn to banks to fund big projects as state coffers squeezed – SocGen

A drop in oil prices, which hit a six-and-a-half-year low last month, has pushed some Gulf state budgets into deficit for the first time in years

Yemen coalition readies for 10,000-troop Sana’a offensive

Al Houthi rebels seized the city in September last year

Qatar sends 1,000 ground troops to Yemen battle – Al Jazeera

A total of 1,000 Qatari soldiers, backed by 200 armoured vehicles and 30 Apache helicopters have reportedly been deployed

Gulf oil ministers to meet on Thursday amid price slide

Oil prices have more than halved since peaks hit in summer last year due to abundant supplies

Carlson Rezidor to enter Iraq

The 260-room hotel will be located in Erbil’s Western suburbs, about 3kms from the airport

UAE, Bahrain say 50 soldiers killed in Yemen attack

The incident took place in the oil-producing Marib area of central Yemen near the border with Saudi Arabia

War prevents 13m children from attending school in MENA – UN

Attacks on schools are one of the main reasons why many children cannot go to classes, a report by UNICEF said

UAE’s Arabtec says no progress on mega Egypt housing project

The company announced over a year ago that it had agreed in principle with the Egyptian government to build one million homes in the country

Huawei plots 10 Middle East customer service centres

The plans come following the launch of the company’s Dubai location this week

Satellite images show Islamic State destroyed major temple at Palmyra – UN

The images show the remains of the Temple of Bel at the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Geneva-based United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) said on Twitter

Egypt sets parliamentary election date in October

Egypt has been without a parliament since June 2012 when a court dissolved the democratically elected main chamber

Saudi-led coalition air strike kills 36 Yemeni civilians -residents

Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri denied the strike had hit a civilian target

French thieves pose as Gulf Arab tourists, rob hotel guests

The thieves pretended to have lost their keys in order to gain access to the rooms of wealthy Arab tourists at luxury hotels in Europe

About 22% of Gulf firms say they only ‘talk about innovation’

A new survey shows that Gulf firms are not big risk takers in terms of innovation

Egypt summons UK ambassador over criticism of Al Jazeera trial

British Ambassador John Casson said that Egypt’s stability should be built on freedom of the press and freedom of expression after the court sentenced the three journalists to prison

Countries with the highest air pollution levels in the Middle East

The UAE tops the world for exposure to tiny air pollutants, according to the latest report compiled by The World Bank

Saudi-led air strikes kill 10 people in central Yemen – officials

The war in Yemen has killed more than 4,300 people, many of them civilians

Egyptian court sentences 3 Al Jazeera journalists to prison

The journalists were accused of operating without a press license and broadcasting material harmful to Egypt

Thirsty Middle East faces worsening water stress – researchers

Thirteen Middle Eastern countries plus the Palestinian Territories are projected to face extremely high water stress in 25 years’ time, researchers warned

OPEC+meeting

Iran says some in OPEC do not want high oil price

The group will require approval from all countries to execute any market regulating measures, the official said

Saudi military intercepts Scud missile fired by Yemeni forces

The Saudi military said it intercepted the missile and retaliated with air strikes on Yemeni territory

Saudi Arabia holding main suspect in 1996 Khobar bombing

The attack killed 19 U.S. service personnel and wounded almost 500 people

Yemen’s Al Qaeda denies it held British hostage

The militant group said in a statement via Twitter that there were no British hostages in its custody

UAE among top 5 ‘at risk’ countries for mobile security

The Emirates ranked at the bottom of a list of countries that have high levels of mobile security, a new survey showed

Iran says an OPEC emergency meeting may stop oil price slide

U.S. oil prices fell below $40 a barrel on Friday for the first time since the 2009 financial crisis, pressured by signs of oversupply in the United States and weak Chinese manufacturing data

Middle East firms’ business confidence falls in Q2 2015

Nearly 43 per cent of regional companies polled said that they were looking for opportunities in other markets, a new survey shows

Britain reopens ransacked embassy in Tehran

Britain had operated without an embassy since Iranian protesters stormed its two main diplomatic compounds in Tehran on Nov. 29, 2011