Pfizer Inc on Tuesday forecast $26 billion in sales of the COVID-19 vaccine this year, an increase of more than 70 percent from its last projection and a reflection of the growing global vaccination drive. The vaccine, which it co-developed with Germ [Read story...]

Saudi Arabia reduced its budget deficit to 7.4 billion riyals ($1.97 billion) in the first quarter of the year, the finance ministry said on Tuesday, asthe government reaps the benefits of consolidation measures introduced last year. The kingdom, the [Read story...]

The European Union and India will agree to relaunch free-trade talks stalled since 2013 at a virtual summit on Saturday, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters, as concerns about China’s rise bring Brussels and New Delhi closer. The draft s [Read story...]

The United Arab Emirates is expected to issue its first local currency bonds this year, ratings agency Moody’s said.While individual emirates — most notably Abu Dhabi and Dubai — have issued government debt, the UAE has no debt of its own.For the [Read story...]

A coalition of musicians and human rights groups urged music streaming company Spotify on Tuesday to rule out possible use of a speech recognition tool it recently developed to suggest songs – describing the technology as “creepy” and “invasive [Read story...]

Sudan announced on Wednesday it had secured a multi-million-dollar bridge loan from the United Kingdom, Sweden and Ireland to clear its arrears to the African Development Bank.The move comes as Sudan pushes to secure much-needed debt relief, access i [Read story...]

Swedish lender Swedbank has been fined 46.6 million Swedish crowns ($5.50 million) by the Nasdaq Stockholm for shortcomings in the bank’s anti-money laundering controls between December 2016 and February 2019, the bank said on Wednesday. “During [Read story...]

Royal Dutch Shell has informed Tunisian authorities it will leave the country next year, Rania Marzouki a senior official in the energy ministry, told Reuters.She said the decision was related to Shell’s plans to focus on renewable energy.She said [Read story...]

On the back of workforce disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic company directors are taking action to reimagine the future of work with human capital issues at the top of their agenda, according to a new report from Deloitte.Executives are shifting p [Read story...]

Saudi Arabia’s Sary, a wholesale grocery e-commerce platform, said on Thursday it had raised $30.5 million in its latest funding round which it would use to finance expansion plans.The business-to-business marketplace, launched in 2018, says it con [Read story...]

Saudi Arabia’s real estate market has begun to show an overall improvement in business activity following a downturn caused by COVID-19, a report released by real estate firm Knight Frank showed Thursday.The coronavirus pandemic caused an economic [Read story...]

Twitter suspended several accounts this week that were set up to share statements from a new part of former US President Donald Trump’s website, saying they broke its rules against evading an account ban.Trump was banned from Twitter, where he had [Read story...]

Qatar’s emir stripped Finance Minister Ali Shareef al-Emadi of his duties as minister after being arrested earlier in the day over embezzlement allegations, according to a statement on Thursday.In a statement carried by state news agency QNA, the p [Read story...]

Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala’s total income rose nearly 36 percent to a record high last year, driven by growth in its public equities portfolio and funds, while it accelerated investment during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We navigated our portf [Read story...]

Abu Dhabi Ports has hired banks to arrange an issuance of 10-year US dollar-denominated bonds, which it will use for general corporate purposes, a presentation for investors seen by Reuters showed on Monday. Citi, First Abu Dhabi Bank and Standard Ch [Read story...]

The head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said on Monday he hoped talks would soon yield an agreement with the owner and insurer of a giant container ship which is still being detained since it blocked the waterway for six days last month.The 400-me [Read story...]

Saudi National Bank (SNB), the country’s biggest lender, posted a 20.3 percent rise in first-quarter net profit on Monday with lower impairments and higher fees, in a sign that the economy has been recovering from last year’s pandemic lockdowns.S [Read story...]

The lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and last year’s sharp drop in oil prices will leave most governments in the Gulf with deficits this year, ratings agency Fitch said.Countries in the region will see their finances improve thanks to a re [Read story...]

Bitcoin soared nearly 10 percent on Monday, after five straight days of losses, on reports that JPMorgan Chase is planning to offer a managed bitcoin fund.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The cryptocurren [Read story...]

A Chinese space mining start-up launched into low Earth orbit on Tuesday a robot prototype that can scoop up debris left behind by other spacecraft with a big net. The NEO-01, which will also peer into deep space to observe small celestial bodies, wa [Read story...]

Toyota Motor Corp. has acquired the self-driving division of American ride-hailing company Lyft for $550 million, in a move that highlights the Japanese automaker’s ambitions in that technology. The acquisition, announced Tuesday, was carried out b [Read story...]

Heathrow Airport can charge airlines 30 pence ($0.42) more per passenger to help recover COVID-19 losses, Britain’s regulator said on Tuesday, a fraction of what Heathrow had asked for but enough to infuriate the owner of British Airways.Heathrow� [Read story...]

Egypt is targeting annual economic growth of 6-7 percent over the next three years as it implements a new round of reforms from the fiscal year that begins in July, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Tuesday. The government will focus on develop [Read story...]

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman confirmed there are no plans to ever introduce income tax in the Kingdom during a televised national interview marking five years since the launch of the Saudi Vision 2030 program.“There are no plan [Read story...]