UAE

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Budget carrier FlyDubai announced record profits on Wednesday, benefitting from a surge in air travel following the lifting of pandemic restrictions.

The state-owned carrier, based in the business and tourism hub of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, reported $327 million in profit in 2022, up 43% from the previous year. Annual revenue for 2022 was up 72%, to $2.5 billion, it said.

28 Feb 2023; MEMO: Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) and its unit Aabar Investments PJS have agreed to pay $1.8 billion to settle a legal dispute over the scandal at Malaysian state fund 1MDB, Malaysia's Ministry of Finance said yesterday, according to Reuters.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Over the past three months, hundreds of young girls attending different schools in Iran have become overpowered by what are believed to be noxious fumes wafting into their classrooms, with some ending up weakened on hospital beds.

Officials in Iran’s theocracy initially dismissed these incidents, but now describe them as intentional attacks involving some 30 schools identified in local media reports, with some speculating they could be aimed at trying to close schools for girls in this country of over 80 million people.

23 Feb 2023; MEMO: The 16th edition of Art Dubai, Middle East's leading international art fair, will take place between 1-5 March in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The fair will donate 50 per cent of all online ticket sales to earthquake relief efforts in Syria and Turkiye.

The organisation had also donated 25 per cent of ticket sales from its 2022 event to Ukrainian refugees.

DUBAI, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Iraq's central bank said on Wednesday it planned to allow trade from China to be settled directly in yuan for the first time, in an attempt to improve access to foreign currency.

The central bank has been taking urgent steps to compensate for a dollar shortage in local markets, which prompted the cabinet to approve a currency revaluation earlier this month.

21 Feb 2023; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates signed defence deals worth 8.14 billion dirhams ($2.22 billion) on the second day of a major industry expo in Abu Dhabi, with the bulk of the business signed with a state-owned firm, a state defence acquisitions agency said.

22 Feb 2023; MEMO: A shipping company in the UAE is to deliver a fleet of naval corvettes to Angola following the signing of a €1 billion deal. The deal was announced yesterday during this week's IDEX defence show in Abu Dhabi.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Russia offered weapons for sale on Monday at a biennial arms fair in the United Arab Emirates, ranging from Kalashnikov assault rifles to missile systems — despite facing sanctions from the West over its war on Ukraine.

The event, known as the International Defense Exhibition and Conference and held in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi, underscores how the Gulf Arab federation has sought to embrace Moscow while balancing its ties to the West.

DUBAI, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said consensus was building in the Arab world that isolating Syria was not working and that dialogue with Damascus was needed "at some point" to at least address humanitarian issues, including a return of refugees.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud's remarks at a Munich security forum on Saturday mark a shift from the early years of Syria's 12-year civil war when several Arab states including Saudi Arabia backed rebels that fought Bashar al-Assad.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Protesters in Iran marched through the streets of multiple cities overnight in the most widespread demonstration in weeks amid the monthslong unrest that’s gripped the Islamic Republic, online videos purported to show Friday.