Saturday 1 September 2012

Fugitive US businessman returned to Dubai after fleeing to Yemen - The Washington Post

A fugitive American businessman fighting fiscal corruption charges in Dubai has been returned to the United Arab Emirates after fleeing to Yemen, a spokesman said Saturday.

The return of Zack Shahin to UAE custody ends his bid to get American diplomatic assistance to return to the U.S. via Yemen and presumably escape a legal battle in Dubai dating back to 2008.

Saudi Stock Market close - September 1, 2012

General Index
Intraday  3 month  
 Daily Statistics
 Date01/09/2012
 General Index7134.24
 Change (%)-0.07%
 Change-4.77
 T. Volume280527558
 T. Companies 158
   Advanced65
   Declined72
   Unchanged16
   UnTraded5


STOCKS NEWS MIDEAST-Saudi close slightly lower on Saturday - Yahoo! News Maktoob

Saudi shares close slightly lower on Saturday draggeddown by losses in banking stocks.
The all-share ends 0.1 percent lower at 7,134 points and the banking index ends 0.2 percent lower at 15,917
points.
Banque Saudi Fransi closes 1.5 percent lower, and Bank Aljazira ends 1 percent lower while heavyweight
Al Rajhi Bank closes 0.3 percent higher.

Dubai tribunal accepts 'live' video evidence from overseas The World investor - Emirates 24/7

The Dubai World Tribunal allowed Shokat Mohammed Dalal to give oral evidence from abroad at the trial, as he feared being arrested in connection with a dishonored cheque, according to the judgement.

On Tuesday (August 28), the tribunal ordered Nakheel to repay over Dh57 million to Dalal, who had bought three islands in The World project.

In a note with the judgement, the tribunal said it was satisfied that Dalal had a “genuine fear” that he would be arrested and detained if he travelled to Dubai to give evidence in the trial.

Kuwait’s budgetary surplus is excessive | GulfNews.com

Recording of an exceptionally strong exceptional budgetary surplus is at best a mixed blessing for Kuwaiti economy. Pluses include maintaining an attractive credit rating and absence of inflationary pressures. Yet, the adverse effects entail limited economic growth rates on the back of relatively cautious spending, with all implications for foreign investors.
Similar to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) fellow state of Qatar, the fiscal year in Kuwait runs from April to March. The practice is partly meant to provide members of executive and legislative branches sufficient time to sort out details of the budget at the start of the calendar year.
Sadly, the two branches are known for their public disputes over policy choices and spending priorities. The country has experienced six government resignations and shakeups over the past few years reflecting deficiency of a functioning relationship with successive chamber of deputies.

STOCKS NEWS MIDEAST-Saudi stocks rise in early trade - Yahoo! News Maktoob

Saudi shares rise in early trade, led by gains in the petrochemical sector after an oil price rise on Friday.
Oil rose above $114 a barrel in volatile trading on Friday, taking gains in August above 9 percent.
The all-share adds 0.4 percent to reach 7,165 points and the petrochemical sector adds 0.7 percent to hit
6,216 points.
Petrochemical giant Saudi Basic Industries (SABIC) gains 0.8 percent in early trading.

Arabian Aerospace - Potential Emirates/Qantas deal next week

It's looking likely there will be a codeshare deal next week between Emirates and Qantas.
Details of the deal have yet to be confirmed but recent indications have been it will involve putting a service through or to Dubai, and possibly pulling the flying kangaroo's loss-making service to Frankfurt, reports The Australian.
Analyst Saj Ahmad commented: “Given the poor state of affairs at Qantas, the airline is effectively now forced to join up with Emirates, its one-time adversary, as the ailing Australian carrier battles to survive.

Field of dreams: Israel’s natural gas - FT.com

The black and yellow helicopter heads north from Tel Aviv, passing over empty beaches, a yacht harbour and a string of sprawling seafront residences that house some of Israel’s wealthiest families. After a few minutes the pilot makes a sharp turn to the left and steers his ageing Bell 412 towards the open sea.
For more than half an hour, all there is to see is the blue waters of the Mediterranean. Then suddenly a hulking mass of brightly painted steel rises from the midday haze. Towering more than 100m above the water, this is the Sedco Express, a drilling rig that has been operating in this stretch of ocean for almost three years. As the helicopter touches down on the landing pad, we see a small blue and white Star of David flag fluttering in the wind. It is the only sign that the Sedco Express sits atop one of the greatest treasures that Israel has ever found. Far below, connected to the rig by a slender steel pipe that runs through 1,700m of ocean and another 4,500m of rock and sand, lies a vast reservoir of natural gas known as the Tamar field.