DUBAI: Saudi Arabia s Almarai has acquired an additional stake in a bakery company.
Almarai, through its Western Bakeries Company unit, has bought an additional 15 percent stake owned by Olayan Financing Company in Modern Food Industry (MFI), which is known for its long shelf-life pastries under the brand name “7Days.”
The transaction totaled SR150 million ($39.9 million), according to a stock exchange filing on Sunday.
A bumper year of sales and an increased focus on food security in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic is encouraging a wave of merger and acquisition activity across the booming regional food industry.
MFI was established in 2009 as a joint venture between Almarai and the Saudi conglomerate Olayan Group. It is known for its sales and manufacture of packed croissants, swiss rolls, and cake bars.
DUBAI: The US Navy announced Sunday it seized an arms shipment of thousands of assault weapons, machines guns and sniper rifles hidden aboard a ship in the Arabian Sea, apparently bound for Yemen to support the country’s Houthi rebels.
An American defense official told The Associated Press that the Navy’s initial investigation found the vessel came from Iran, again tying the Islamic Republic to arming the Houthis despite a United Nations arms embargo. Iran’s mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment, though Tehran has denied in the past giving the rebels weapons.
There was a large fire and blast at Homs in January, involving a nearby crude oil loading station and dozens of trucks that transport petroleum products across the country.
Syria s refineries at Homs and at Baniyas on the Mediterranean coast have faced supply shortages in recent months due to erratic supplies of Iranian crude oil to the sanctions-hit country, which relies mainly on Tehran for its energy needs.
Syria has over the past
two years faced months of gasoline and fuel shortages, forcing it to ration supplies distributed across government-held areas and to apply several rounds of steep price hikes.
Saudis reduced visits to relatives by 46 percent and to friends by 54 percent, the center found
Updated 09 May 2021
May 09, 2021 00:07
JEDDAH: A new poll has revealed that Saudis reduced their participation in social events by more than 70 percent amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The results were part of a recent telephone study by the Saudi Center for Opinion Polling that surveyed a random sample of 1,190 people aged 18 years and older during Ramadan.
Saudis also reduced visits to relatives by 46 percent and to friends by 54 percent, the center found. During Ramadan, 42 percent of people maintained regular levels physical exercise, while 39 percent of respondents said they watched less television.
Updated 09 May 2021
May 09, 2021 06:27
DUBAI: Dubai’s long-haul carrier Emirates will begin shipping aid for free into India to help fight a crushing outbreak of the coronavirus, the airline said Sunday.
The offer by Emirates, which has some 95 flights weekly to nine cities, comes as air freight costs have skyrocketed. That’s as air cargo demand has risen to its highest recorded level ever amid the pandemic, which has seen carriers including Emirates fly cargo in otherwise-empty passenger seats.
Emirates made the announcement at Dubai’s International Humanitarian City, already home to a World Health Organization warehouse that’s been crucial to the distribution of medical gear worldwide.