Business

16 Feb 2021; MEMO: The Chief Executive of Dubai Airports, Paul Griffiths, yesterday warned of another tough year for Dubai International Airport after the number of passengers passing through its terminals decreased by 70 per cent in 2020, Reuters reported.

"We are planning for it to be a tough year. That's undoubtedly the case … anyone that doesn't think it's going to be a tough year has clearly not been observing what's been going on," Griffiths told the news wire.

16 Feb 2021; MEMO: Egyptian MP Enas Abdel Halim confirmed that 30 per cent of the country's textiles factories have closed as a result of the recession and deteriorating economic conditions in the country.

Abdel Halim said the remaining factories had reduced production by 50 to 70 per cent.

She explained that Egypt had about 1,260 spinning, weaving and dyeing factories registered in Mahalla, but now only 320 factories are operating, employing 120,000 workers.

15 Feb 2021; MEMO: Ali Asghar Haji, senior assistant to the Iranian foreign minister, said yesterday that Tehran is counting on the possibility of buying weapons from Russia to protect the region's security.

Regarding the arms embargo that was imposed on Tehran by the UN, Haji pointed out that "at a time when Iran did not have the right to purchase weapons, other countries in the region bought arms for billions of dollars," noting that these states have "turned the region into an armoury".

15 Feb 2021; MEMO: The US Department of Transportation has warned it would prevent Israel's El Al flights from landing in American airports if Tel Aviv continues to prevent American planes from landing in Israel, Israeli media reported yesterday.

14 Feb 2021; MEMO: Israeli ministers approved arms purchases worth $9 billion with the US on Sunday, the New Arab reported.

The sizeable deal includes purchases of Chinook choppers, F-35 warplanes and aerial refuelling tankers, on top of a vast amount of bombs and munitions.

New Delhi, Feb 14 (PTI) Petrol price crossed the Rs 99 a litre mark in Rajasthan on Sunday while diesel topped Rs 91 after rates were increased for the sixth day in a row.

Petrol price was increased by 29 paise per litre and diesel by 32 paise, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

12 Feb 2021; MEMO: Plans by a member of the Abu Dhabi ruling family to purchase a 50 per cent stake in Israel's controversial Beitar Jerusalem Football Club have been frozen, following reports questioning the sheikh's finances, it was announced yesterday.

New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) Retail inflation eased to 4.06 per cent in January, mainly on account of a decline in vegetable prices, as per government data released on Friday.

The inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 4.59 per cent in December 2020.

Beijing, Feb 13 (AP-PTI) Railway journeys in China during the usually frenetic Lunar New Year holiday travel rush are down by almost 70 per cent amid calls for people to stay where they are to avoid a new outbreak of COVID-19.

The China State Railway Group on Saturday reported 52.33 million passenger trips from Jan 28 to Feb 11 a decline of 68.8 per cent from the same period last year.

LONDON, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- The British economy shrunk faster than at any point in 100 years in 2020, as headline gross domestic product (GDP) dropped by 9.9 percent, according to new data from the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday.

The last quarter of 2020 saw a rise of 1.0 percent in GDP but was sharply down on the 16.1 percent growth seen in the previous three months, said the ONS.