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World’s Tallest Tower to be Built in Jeddah
In a bit more than five years from now the world’s largest building will be completed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Known as the Kingdom Tower, the plans for the building’s construction by the Kingdom Holding Company were announced in mid-April, 2012 by the KHC’s Chairman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Also announced was the increase in…
Tariq Al Farsi Appointed General Manager of Bank Nizwa
Coming into his position as general manager of Retail and Private Banking with eleven years of experience in investment, retail and corporate banking, Tariq Al Farsi is well-positioned to continue to lead Oman’s Islamic Bank Nizwa to further success. Al Farsi is a native Omani and has a history of successfully running Islamic banks. He…
TRI Hospitality Survey Reveals Dubai Hotels Doing Well
TRI Hospitality Consulting conducted a HotStats survey which showed that UAE hotels had excellent improvement in performance in all the relevant indicators in January of 2012. The strong performance was partly attributed to increased tourism for the Dubai Shopping Festival. According to the survey Dubai hotels outperformed the other MENA markets by a wide margin….
Two New Medical Cities worth SR 2 Billion in Planning Stages in Saudi Arabia
Over SR2 billion is going to be invested in the creation of two private medical cities by the Doctor Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Group. The first city will be situated in north Riyadh and will have 500 beds and will cost SR1.5 billion. The second medical city will cost SR 800 million and will be equipped…
Dubai Tower Stalled in Favor of London Dynamic Tower
Officials in Dubai are disappointed that their city will not be the home to the first ‘rotating tower’ to be constructed in the world. Instead, the first “Dyanamic Tower” will be constructed in London, beginning soon. “We will announce the start of the construction in London in due time. Most probably within the year,” said…
Qatar Getting Ready for 2020 Olympics
In order to have a chance at winning their bid to host the 2020 Olympics, Qatar is speeding up work on several infrastructure projects, including the Doha Metro project. Qatar Railways’ Deputy Chief Executive Geoff Mee, said that phase 1A of the Gulf state’s $40 billion rail network will be finished by 2019, right in…
Safari Land Development Under Way in Riyadh
An agreement was signed last week between the real estate development company Dar Al Arkan and the investment and real estate development company Al Othaim. The agreement is a 15 year lease for a 10,963 square meter space in the Alqasr Mall which was developed by Dar Al Arkan in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. Al…
Price of iPhones Dropping in UAE
With the expectation that a newer model of the iPhone 4S is about to come to market, the price of the 16GB top-of-the-line smartphone has been steadily declining. Price Going Down The Apple iPhone has experienced a 20 percent price drop just in the last week or so. The latest reduction was offered as a…
Worried Sri Lanka Looking to Oman for Back-up Oil Imports
Talks were held to discuss the possibility of the Sultanate of Oman supplying oil to Sri Lanka in case their oil flow is disrupted due to sanctions by the United States against Iran. The Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Oman, Asoaka Girihagama announced that discussions had been held between the Omani Minister of Oil and…
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Independent Middle East News
- GCC Forming Gulf Union May 14, 2012by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh At least three members of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have hinted they are likely to back a Saudi plan to transform the council into a Western-backed diplomatic and military union. The London-based Al Hayat daily cited a senior GCC source who said Qatar and possibly Kuwait could join Bahrain […]
- PLC Deputy Speaker Reveals Scope of PA Corruption May 12, 2012by Mahmoud Aby Ghosh Hasan Khreishah, deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, blasted the Western-backed Palestinian Authority on Saturday, holding it responsible for rampant corruption and human rights violations. He specifically blasted the Fatah-led PA for human rights abuses against Palestinian journalists. “Since the signing of the Oslo A […]
- Turkish Forces Kill 5 Kurds, Detain 28 May 9, 2012by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh Turkish forces killed five Kurdish rebels on Tuesday near the town of Tatvan in northern Kurdistan’s Bitlis province. The fighters killed were believed to be members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Ankara also announced on Tuesday that Turkish forces have detained 28 people in simultaneous raids across six provinces, [... […]
- Kurds Ambush Turkish Troops, Kill 3 May 4, 2012by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh Turkish forces hunting Kurdish resistance fighters were ambushed by guerrillas from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Friday. Three soldiers were killed in the ambush, which took place in Turkish-occupied northern Kurdistan. The soldiers were killed when guerrillas opened fire on Turkish troops raiding suspected rebel hideouts in the […]
- PA Defends Internet Censorship April 30, 2012by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh The Western-backed Palestinian Authority on Sunday defended its decision to block websites that are critical of Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, denying allegations it was violating freedom of expression. PA Attorney-General Ahmed al-Mughni claimed that the websites were blocked for breaking the law and following complaints from Palestinians. […]
- GCC Forming Gulf Union May 14, 2012