UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments has purchased 40 percent of Daimler AG's stake in electric-car start-up Tesla Motors Inc, with the aim of launching a joint venture, Aabar said on Monday.

Speedy electric cars will soon compete with gas-guzzling SUVs on Abu Dhabi streets as the oil-exporting emirate buys into alternative energy, including, on Monday, a stake in electric-car start-up Tesla Motors Inc.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will seek to reassure Gulf Arab states this week that U.S. dollar assets they hold in large quantities remain a strong investment.

The United States joined the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) on Monday as part of the Obama administration's commitment to developing a new energy policy, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

Thousands of red shirt supporters of ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra rallied in Bangkok on Saturday in their biggest protest since violent street clashes two months ago.

Japan has concluded a basic agreement with the United Arab Emirates to start receiving oil from Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) to help stock up its oil reserves, the government said on Thursday.

Abu Dhabi state investment agency Mubadala Development said on Wednesday it was interested in partnerships with leading aerospace groups but denied a report it planned to take stakes in major European aerospace companies.

The Norwegian government said on Wednesday it would assess the impact of climate change on financial markets and urged global investors to join forces.

Abu Dhabi sold an 11 percent stake in Barclays on Tuesday, making $2.5 billion from an investment that helped the British bank through the financial crisis and raising fears that the rally in bank shares may be over.

Abu Dhabi on Tuesday sold about 3.5 billion pounds ($5.7 billion) of shares in UK bank Barclays , traders said, to reap a near 1.5 billion pound profit in just seven months.

The world economy has avoided utter catastrophe and industrialized countries could register growth this year, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said on Monday.

The world economy has avoided utter catastrophe and industrialized countries could register growth this year, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said on Monday.

The world economy has avoided utter catastrophe and industrialized countries could register growth this year, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said on Monday.

(Corrects paragraph 10 to read 'cap-and-trade system' instead of 'capping grade system')

The World Trade Organization (WTO) chief urged the United States and India to start talks as soon as possible to tackle protectionism and called on Gulf Arabs to open up to international business.

Dubai property developer Deyaar DEYR.DU is looking to expand into five countries to tap into cheap valuations stemming from the global financial crisis, the company's chief executive said late on Friday.

Global hoteliers are pinning their hopes on the east's underserved leisure markets to offset falling revenue as holidaymakers and business travelers cut back to save money in the global downturn.

The German government is examining competing plans to invest in carmaker Opel and aims to decide by the end of the month whether to provide the firm with financing guarantees, a leading Social Democrat said.

Dubai-listed Air Arabia AIRA.DU, the Middle East's largest low-cost carrier by market value, earned 103 million dirhams ($28 million) in the first quarter, up 32 percent from the year-earlier period.

Saudi Arabia is a Middle Eastern country that occupies most of the Arabian peninsula and has both Persian Gulf and Red Sea coast lines. Its surrounding countries are Jordan to the northwest, Iraq to the northeast, Kuwait and Qatar to the east, United Arab Emirates to the south east, Oman and Yemen to the south.

Mexico said a new flu virus has killed up to 149 people and it ordered all schools to close across the country on Monday as the disease spread in the United States, Canada and Europe, raising fears of a pandemic.