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Dubai Airport Raises Capacity with New Extension

Dubai International, already the world's busiest airport by international passenger traffic, opened a new extension on Wednesday that will raise its annual capacity to 90 million passengers.

The opening of Concourse D is the "result of a $1.2 billion investment to enhance service and boost capacity for the more than 70 international airlines," Dubai Airports said in a statement.

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Pound Falls to Fresh Seven-Year Low on 'Brexit' Fears

The pound on Wednesday fell below $1.40 to a fresh seven-year low on growing worries that Britain may vote to leave the European Union, as Prime Minister David Cameron ramps up his bid to stay in the 28-nation bloc.

Sterling briefly dropped as low as $1.3975 in morning Tokyo trade, its lowest since March 2009.

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S.Africa Faces Budget Crunch as Downgrade Looms

South Africa's finance minister walks a tightrope Wednesday as he presents a budget watched closely by ratings agencies that are on the verge of downgrading the country's debt to junk status.

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank predict South Africa's growth this year will slide to less than one percent -- far below levels needed to deal with unemployment running at 25 percent. 

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Iran Dismisses Oil Production Freeze as 'Joke'

Iran's oil minister on Tuesday dismissed an output freeze deal between the world's top two producers Saudi Arabia and Russia as "a joke," the ISNA news agency reported.

"Some neighboring countries have increased their production over the years to 10 million barrels per day and export this amount, then say let's all freeze our oil production," Bijan Zanganeh said.

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Mars, Snickers Bars Recalled from 55 Countries after Plastic Find

U.S. chocolate giant Mars Tuesday ordered a massive international recall of Mars and Snickers bars made at its Dutch factory after a piece of plastic found in one snack was traced back to the site.

Millions of chocolate bars were deemed possibly unsafe for consumption in 55 countries after a customer in Germany found a piece of red plastic in his Snickers bar last month. 

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UFI Regional Seminar Examines the Future of the Exhibition Industry in a Changing Middle East

UFI, the global association of the exhibition industry, is set to hold its annual Middle East Open Seminar in Lebanon this year.

Under the auspices of H.E Dr Alain Hakim, Minister of Economy and Trade in Lebanon, who will greet delegates in a welcome address, the seminar will run from 23 to 24 March 2016 at the Rotana Gefinor Hotel in Beirut.

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Nigeria President in Saudi for Oil Talks

The leader of Africa's number one oil producer was in Saudi Arabia Tuesday, with analysts forecasting his country's eventual support for an output freeze to stabilize prices.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is to meet King Salman before travelling on to Qatar.

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Germany Notches up Record Budget Surplus in 2015

Germany ran up a record surplus in its public finances in 2015, with Europe's biggest economy showing "solid and consistent" growth last year, the federal statistics office said on Tuesday.

Germany notched up an overall surplus of 19.4 billion euros ($21 billion) on its public budgets last year, "which in absolute terms is the highest since unification" in 1990, the office said in a statement.

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Irish Firm Awarded Saudi's First Privately Run Air Terminal

A subsidiary of state-owned Irish airport operator daa has won the bid to operate Saudi Arabia's first privately run terminal, official media in the kingdom and the company said Monday.

Colm Moran, CEO of daa International, signed the deal to manage and operate Riyadh's Terminal 5 with Sulaiman al-Hamdan, president of regulator the General Authority of Civil Aviation, the Saudi Press Agency said.

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IMF Chief Urges Gulf States to Bring in Taxes

The International Monetary Fund chief urged on Monday oil-exporting Gulf countries to introduce taxes, warning that low crude prices are likely to stay for an "extended period".

Gulf economies "need to strengthen their fiscal frameworks and reengineer their tax systems by reducing their heavy reliance on oil revenues and by boosting non-hydrocarbon sources of revenues," Christine Lagarde told a forum in Abu Dhabi.

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