France, Saudi Arabia seeking to sign deals worth $12bn

The countries set up a joint committee in May to finalise some 20 projects across sectors ranging from defence to transport infrastructure

Saudi Arabia loses spot as top crude supplier to India, China in May

The kingdom fell behind Nigeria for Indian supplies and lost out to Russia and Angola for crude supplies to China

Saudi carrier takes 50 Airbus planes in Islamic leasing deal

Dubai-based International Airfinance Corporation will buy the aircraft and lease them to Saudi Arabian Airlines

Russia’s Lukoil says Saudi Aramco wants to raise stake in Luksar

Luksar is a joint venture between Aramco and Russia’s Lukoil

Delta Air Lines CEO: ‘subsidised’ GCC carriers pose airline industry’s ‘greatest challenge’

Thousands of US jobs are being threatened because of the GCC airlines, alleges Richard Anderson

Qatar teams up with RSE to buy stake in Formula One

RSE is looking to acquire the 35.5 per cent stake from private equity fund CVC Capital Partners

Etihad says not in talks to raise stake in India’s Jet

Etihad bought a stake in Jet two years ago giving it a foothold in India’s fast-growing aviation industry

Accor opens 15th Saudi hotel, Suite Novotel Riyadh Dyar

The new midscale property is the French group’s fifth hotel in Riyadh

Germany frees Al Jazeera journalist despite Egypt’s request

Ahmed Mansour was released after Egypt was unable to dispel concerns about the extradition process

ABN Amro says Dubai employee dismissed for misconduct

The bank said the employee had received about $100,000 from a client and transferred it through his personal account to a third account

Al Jazeera journalist says surprised by arrest in Germany

Ahmed Mansour, a talk show host on the channel’s Arabic service, was detained in Germany after an international police warrant was issued by Egypt.

Saudis say to jointly invest up to $10bn with Russian fund

No details have been disclosed as yet about where or when the joint investments would be made

Saudi Arabia, Russia sign nuclear power cooperation deal

The King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy announced the cooperation deal on its website

World Cup insurers risk flood of claims if Russia, Qatar lose bids

Russia and Qatar could be stripped of their FIFA World Cup hosting rights if evidence emerges of bribery in the bidding process, a senior official has said

Cyber war: Is the Middle East prepared?

From the dark net to increased vulnerability through smart city adoption, is the Middle East ready to fight the next phase of cyber crime?

In Gulf, family business empires wary of going public

Many family firms think they can continue to prosper by modernising themselves without big changes to ownership or control.

Major investor in Dragon Oil says ENOC offer undervalues company

Dubai’s ENOC, which owns 54 per cent of Dragon Oil, raised its offer this week to buy out the minority shareholders

France’s Natixis to make Dubai capital markets hub for Mideast, Africa

In the past two years, Natixis has increased staffing levels in Dubai by around 50 per cent to 45 people

Russia, Saudi Arabia to discuss broad oil cooperation agreement

The talks follow OPEC’s meeting on June 5 in which the group kept its output policy unchanged

OPEC+meeting

OPEC revenues plunge 11%, fall below $1 trillion in 2014

The oil cartel’s revenues fell from $1.112 trillion in 2013 to reach $993.3 bn in 2014, a new report shows

Dubai among world’s top 25 most expensive cities

Dubai and Abu Dhabi were also ranked most expensive cities for expats in the Middle East, according to a new survey

Al Qaeda in Yemen execute 2 Saudis accused of spying for America

Two Saudis, named al-Mutairi and al-Khaledi, were reportedly killed

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed, Forbes settle libel case

The Prince and Forbes have been embroiled in a dispute ever since the magazine’s annual billionaires list was published in 2013

Egypt court sentences Mursi, Brotherhood leaders to death

The court last month sought the death penalty for Mursi after he was convicted of killing and kidnapping policemen

Etihad starts daily flights to Hong Kong

The new service will offer a total of 3,620 seats per week between Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi

Qatar Airways places $4.8bn order for 10 Boeing 777-8Xs, four 777 freighters

The orders were placed on the first day of the Paris Airshow

Dragon Oil agrees to ENOC’s increased takeover bid

Dubai-based ENOC’s offer values Dragon Oil at around $5.75bn

Airbus in talks to sell up to 50 planes to Saudi Arabian Airlines

The deal could include 30 A320neo planes and up to 20 A330 aircraft, sources said

Open skies with GCC crucial for US economy – senior Boeing official

Three US carriers are calling for an end to the US’ open skies agreement with the UAE and Qatar over a subsidies row

Egypt says New Suez Canal to open Aug 6, eyes economic boost

The army began work 10 months ago on the $8 billion canal in order to expand trade along the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia.