UAE

17 July 2023; MEMO: India and the UAE have signed an agreement to start using a rupee-dirham payment mechanism to settle cross-border trade, following Prime Minister Narenda Modi's visit to Abu Dhabi yesterday. An agreement was also signed to link their fast payment systems, namely the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India with the Instant Payment Platform (IPP) of the UAE.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian authorities on Sunday announced a new campaign to force women to wear the Islamic headscarf and morality police returned to the streets 10 months after the death of a woman in their custody sparked nationwide protests.

The morality police had largely pulled back following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last September, as authorities struggled to contain mass protests calling for the overthrow of the theocracy that has ruled Iran for over four decades.

DUBAI, July 14 (Reuters) - Standard Chartered (STAN.L) said on Friday it has reached an agreement to sell its subsidiaries in five sub-Saharan African countries to Nigeria's Access Bank, putting into motion a plan announced last year to divest those businesses.

Standard Chartered will sell its shareholding in its subsidiaries in Angola, Cameroon, Gambia and Sierra Leone to Access. It will also sell its consumer, private & business banking business in Tanzania to Access Bank, a subsidiary of Access Holdings (ACCESSCORP.LG).

13 July 2023; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has released 15 Iranians from prison, amid the recent warming of relations between Abu Dhabi and Tehran.

According to Iran's state-affiliated Fars News Agency, Emirati authorities today released the 15 prisoners, with initial charges against them and the details surrounding them remaining unknown.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran summoned Russia’s ambassador on Wednesday after Moscow released a joint statement with Arab countries earlier this week challenging Iran’s claim to disputed islands in the Persian Gulf.

It marked a rare spat between Iran and Russia, which have deepened ties since Moscow invaded Ukraine, with Iran supplying killer drones that have been used to devastating effect there. Iran and Russia are also strong backers of President Bashar Assad in Syria’s civil war.

DUBAI, Jul 10 (NNN-WAM) – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is committed to embracing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions and tools, across various sectors, to accelerate the country’s digital transformation, said Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, the county’s minister of state for artificial intelligence, digital economy, and remote work applications.

Al Olama made the remarks, during a meeting of the UAE Council for Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain held at the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure in Dubai.

DUBAI, July 6 (Reuters) - Iran said on Thursday it had a court order to seize a tanker in Gulf waters a day earlier after it collided with an Iranian vessel, one of two tankers the U.S. Navy said it prevented Iran from commandeering.

The Richmond Voyager, a Bahamas-flagged oil tanker, had collided with an Iranian vessel and the Iranian navy had a court order to seize it, the Maritime Search and Rescue Center of Iran's Hormozgan Province told the official IRINN news agency.

DUBAI, July 3 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world's biggest oil exporters, deepened oil cuts on Monday, sending prices higher despite concerns over a global economic slowdown and possible further interest rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Saudi Arabia said it would extend its voluntary oil output cut of one million barrels per day (bpd) for another month to include August, adding that the cut could be extended beyond that month.

DUBAI, June 22. /TASS/: Qatar’s authorities support a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian crisis and urge the sides not to take any steps which may lead to an escalation, Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Thursday.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The president of the United Arab Emirates met with Iran’s visiting foreign minister on Thursday in the latest sign of improving relations between Arab Gulf countries and the Islamic Republic.