Author: Aadam Galla

Iran’s oil exports are surging, offering solace to both Tehran and a global market fretting over the prospect of sanctions squeezing Russian supply. Much of it appears to be finding its way to China. The Persian Gulf country’s oil exports climbed to about 1.3 million barrels a day in November, and last month held near the highest in four years, according to data from Vortexa and Kpler, two well-known shipping analytics firms. FGE, an energy-market consultant, forecasts that Iran will boost its shipments of crude and refined products by as much as 200,000 barrels a day this year. The jump comes as sanctions…

An army pilot officer, a paramilitary member, and a doctor were killed on Wednesday by gunmen in separate incidents in Iraq, security sources said. Unidentified armed men shot dead Iraqi Air Force officer Saad Mohsen Marzouq who was driving in Fallujah city, some 50 km west of the capital Baghdad, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. In a separate incident, gunmen opened fire on a joint checkpoint manned by police and paramilitary Hashd Shaabi in Kirkuk city, some 250 km north of Baghdad, Ihsan al-Obaidi from the Kirkuk police told Xinhua. The attackers killed a Hashd…

President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol will visit the United Arab Emirates starting later this week, his office said Tuesday, Report informs, citing Yonhap. Yoon will pay a state visit to the UAE at the invitation of President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan from Saturday to Tuesday and then travel to Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 18-19, national security adviser Kim Sung-han said during a press briefing. During the visit, Yoon will hold a summit with his UAE counterpart; visit the Akh unit, a South Korean military contingent; and the Barakah nuclear power plant built by South Korea.

Finland will become the 31st member of NATO after Turkey’s parliament voted to approve its application. Turkey had delayed Finland’s bid to join the West’s defensive alliance for months – complaining the Nordic nation was supporting “terrorists”, BBC reports. Sweden, which applied to join NATO at the same time last May, is still being blocked by Ankara over similar complaints. Any NATO expansion needs the support of all its members. Finland will now be formally admitted into NATO at its next summit, taking place in July in Lithuania. In a statement following the Turkish vote, the Finnish government said joining…

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s economic growth is expected to accelerate to 3 percent in 2023 backed by a robust non-oil sector, according to a forecast by Riyad Capital.  The report forecasts the output from this part of the economy will rise by 5 percent this year. The growth will be driven by a sturdy fiscal policy geared towards increasing investment spending, according to the capital market company. The oil sector is also expected to continue its growth trajectory estimated at 1.2 percent this year, noted the report. In 2022, Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product growth rate increased to 8.7 percent –…

UAE economy’s anticipated growth to a number of factors, the most important of which are government efforts to diversify the economy, a business-conducive ecosystem, ease of doing business, and sophisticated infrastructure: Abu Suleiman Hatem Mohamed, WAM (Emirates News Agency) ABU DHABI  -The Regional Director of the Gulf Cooperation Council at the World Bank, Issam Abu Suleiman, has confirmed WB’s forecast for the UAE economy to grow by 4.1%, indicating that the expected growth rate is good enough in view of the current difficult global economic conditions. “The UAE economy has secured good performance in the past year, and we expect it to…

At the end of this year, Novak Djokovic could become The GOAT aka The Greatest of All Time in Grand Slam tennis. Last month Novak Djokovic won Australian Open 2023 rather easily. While also battling a hamstring injury, he dispatched 7 opponents almost all with straight sets. He only lost one game against Enzo Couacaud in the second round. Djokovic defeated number 5 seed, Andrey Rublev (6-1, 6-2, 6-4) in quarter finals, and number 3 seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas (6-3, 7-6 [7-4], 7-6 [7-5]), in the final. The Serbian claimed a record tenth Australian Open title. He already won Australian Open…

Fawaz Gruosi lives a life of duplicitous duality: he has managed a career as a famed jewelry designer to the stars while simultaneously being at the center of one of the largest money laundering schemes in modern history on behalf of his benefactor, Isabel dos Santos. Dos Santos, daughter of the late Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, is currently wanted by Angolan prosecutors for widespread embezzlement and fraud, having stolen billions of dollars’ in assets from the Angolan state. Dos Santos has denied the embezzlement charges and claims she is the victim of a political “witch-hunt”. She continues to live…

RIYADH: Aiming to reimagine the global living experience through its portfolio of tech-enabled branded residences Stella Stays is planning to become the biggest residential hospitality player in the region, said its co-founder and CEO. Speaking to Arab News in an exclusive interview, Mohannad Zikra said that the Dubai-based proptech startup that is disrupting the global residential real estate sector with its innovative business model will be adding about 2,500 apartments regionally this year of which 50 percent is going to be in Saudi Arabia. “We’re adding just over 1,200 apartments mainly focused on Riyadh but we’re also planning to launch…

In December, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Saudi Arabia to meet with the royal family and the leaders of the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council as Washington-Riyadh relations were at their lowest point since the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Biden administration had publicly expressed its discontent with the Saudi administration, both on the killing of Khashoggi and the administration’s position on the production of crude that was more in line with Russia than with the United States proposal. Saudi officials in coordination with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Companies decided to cut oil production…