UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion was hit with its first major ban on Sunday after the United Arab Emirates, citing security risks, said BlackBerry services would be barred in October.

World Gold Council said jewellery purchases in world's largest gold consumer, India rocketed by 291 per cent to 147.5 tonnes in the first quarter. In its report named Gold Investment Digest, the WGC also said India's total consumer demand surged 698 per cent to 193.5 tonnes.

The BlackBerry, made by Canada's Research In Motion , is open to misuse that poses security risks to the United Arab Emirates, which said on Sunday it would seek to safeguard its consumers and laws.

Internet sales of counterfeit and pirated goods to European consumers are frustrating attempts to stem illegal trade, a European Commission report said on Thursday.

Struggling state firm Dubai Worldis ready to use a special tribunal to force rebel lenders into line on plans to delay repayment of $14.4 billion in debts, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Decades of sanctions against Iran have stunted its economic development and the growth of its all-important oil sector. The international community, led by the United States, has made sanctions more and more stringent as Iran has refused to abandon its nuclear programme.

UAE lender Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank reported a 56 percent increase in second quarter profit as it recorded lower credit provisions, beating analysts' forecasts.

The UAE employment market is improving, but remains to be unstable and inconsistent, corresponding to a report released today by Big Daw, a worldwide job search website

Contracts for the UAE's $10 billion Shah gas project were 40-50 percent cheaper than expected, the chief executive of the Abu Dhabi Gas Development Company said on Monday, after economic crisis made firms cut prices.

BP boss Tony Hayward met with an Abu Dhabi state investment fund on Wednesday, part of a quest for cash to ward off takeovers and help pay for the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

BP boss Tony Hayward met with an Abu Dhabi state investment fund on Wednesday, part of a quest for cash to ward off takeovers and help pay for the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward met representatives of Abu Dhabi government investment body Mubadala Wednesday after discussions with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority .

BP's boss met officials from Abu Dhabi state funds on Wednesday as prospects for fresh investment and progress toward closing a leaking U.S. oil well lifted the company's battered shares.

BP's boss met officials from an Abu Dhabi state fund on Wednesday as hopes for fresh investment and progress toward closing a leaking U.S. oil well lifted the company's battered shares.

Unnamed Saudi investors seek to buy a stake worth 10 to 15 percent in British oil company BP dealing with a massive U.S. oil spill, a Saudi newspaper said in an unsourced report on Wednesday.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Wednesday after the previous session's tepid gains, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.2 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.3 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.4 percent at 4 a.m. EDT.

Drilling of a relief well to halt the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a week ahead of schedule, the U.S. official overseeing the response to the disaster said on Tuesday.

BP Plc said on Tuesday that it could cover the costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill without selling new shares, despite reports it was talking to government-owned funds in the Middle East about buying a stake to ward off takeover attempts.

British oil company BP has approached sovereign wealth funds with a view to securing a strategic investor to fend off takeover bids while it deals with its massive U.S. oil spill, a senior UAE source said on Tuesday.

U.S. stock index futures rose sharply on Tuesday, tracking gains in global equity markets, as investors looked for bargains after Wall Street closed its worst week in two months.

BP ruled out a share issue and talk persisted of sovereign wealth fund interest in the British oil major, boosting its shares on Tuesday even as its Gulf of Mexico oil slick spread to the Texas coast.