Dubai Holding seeks to raise up to $487 million in residential REIT IPO
($1=3.6724 UAE dirham)
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Reuters
15 hours ago
- Reuters
Most Gulf markets dip as Trump-Putin talks fell short; Saudi gains
Aug 17 (Reuters) - Most stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Sunday as high-stakes talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to produce an agreement to resolve the Ukraine conflict. The highly anticipated Alaska summit yielded no agreement to end or pause the war in Ukraine, failing to remove major uncertainties for oil-reliant economies in the Middle East. In Qatar, the index (.QSI), opens new tab fell 0.5%, hit by a 1.2% fall in the Gulf's biggest lender Qatar National Bank ( opens new tab. Leading stock indexes in Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait also ended lower. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI), opens new tab, however, gained 0.6%, helped by a 0.4% rise in Al Rajhi Bank ( opens new tab and a 5.2% increase in Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development ( opens new tab. Elsewhere, oil giant Saudi Aramco ( opens new tab added 0.4%. Aramco signed an $11 billion rent and leaseback agreement involving its Jafurah gas processing facilities with a consortium led by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), part of BlackRock, it said on Thursday. Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30), opens new tab advanced 1.1%, with Commercial International Bank ( opens new tab gaining 1.7%. Egypt registered a record primary surplus of 629 billion Egyptian pounds ($13 billion) in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, equal to 3.6% of the country's gross domestic product, the presidency said in a statement on Saturday. The primary surplus came 80% above that in the 2023-2024 fiscal year. ($1 = 48.2700 Egyptian pounds)
Daily Mail
16 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Americans are all wanting the same thing as they buy mansions in London's richest neighborhoods at cut prices
Americans are now looking across the pond for homes in London 's richest neighborhoods - and there are certain aspects they can't do without. Over the past eight to 12 months, there has been a 25 percent increase in US homebuyers snatching up properties in the United Kingdom, Camila Dell, the managing partner and founder of Black Brick Property Solutions LLC told Daily Mail. Dell, whose firm frequently helps Americans find their dream London homes, said many buyers are after period architecture and modern homes. Similarly, US buyers are also in search of the 'quintessential English life', Ugo Arinzeh, the founder and Managing Director of Onyx Property Consultants, told Daily Mail. Dell also noted that while many people are drawn to the historic properties, there is a 'real mixture' of US buyers looking for modern homes as well. Arinzeh said she has also noticed American clients looking for a key feature that is not all too common in Europe - air conditioning. The amenity has become such a common interest among American buyers that a lot of homes in England have been adding units to appeal to them, Arinzeh said. Both experts said US buyers have been flocking to specific areas in London, including Chelsea, Kensington, Notting Hill, Hampstead and Knightsbridge. Arinzeh added that many American families have shown interest in St. John's Wood. Although some US buyers pay attention to the home's amenities, they are specifically drawn to places that have shops and parks nearby, according to Dell. Americans are 'much more about the neighborhood' than other aspects, she said. For Arinzeh, her clients have been interested in the area, but that has not been their main focus. She noted that many of the popular neighborhoods all have public locations within about 10 minutes. Americans have also moved to the UK because they don't have to pay annual taxes on their home there. In the US, homeowners have to pay hefty yearly taxes for their properties, but in the UK there is a stamp duty - a one-time tax that is paid when the property is bought. Arinzeh said her American clients 'really appreciate that', especially the ones from high-taxed states like California, New Jersey and New York. US buyers have gravitated to London for homes for several different reasons, according to the realtors. According to Dell, many of her clients have shown interest in secondary or vacation homes while still keeping a property in the states. Meanwhile, Arinzeh said she has seen a lot of Americans permanently move to the UK for immigration and political reasons, and also for work. Her clients often search for their 'base home' in England when they have to travel there for work and travel. Overall, Arinzeh said it's 'a good time to buy' as five to 20 percent of homes are being bought below asking price in London. These luxury neighborhoods are not the only England locations Americans have their eyes on, as many have opted for hunting for properties in the Cotswolds - a charming countryside region that's a scenic 90-minute train ride from London. Cotswolds Council leader Joe Harris said Yankees are now 'all over' the area. 'We have an American member on our council,' he previously told Daily Mail. 'Most people in our area know an American or have an American neighbor.' This is reflected in the footfall at D'Ambrosi's Fine Foods store, which sells classic American snacks it's hard to find anywhere else in the UK.
Daily Mail
18 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Notorious Kinahan drug cartel introduces McDonald's-style franchise system to flood the streets of Ireland with cocaine
Ireland's notorious Kinahan drugs cartel has introduced a fast-food-style franchise system in its efforts to continue dominating the cocaine trade. The drugs syndicate has muscled its way back to being the dominant force in the Irish cocaine scene in recent months, reasserting itself as the main supplier to almost all major criminal organisations across the country again. Such is their stranglehold on the trade, that many of the gangs who filled some of the holes left by the mobsters when they fled to Dubai in the mid-2010s to exploit the lack of extradition agreement between the UAE and the EU, are also now back on board. Representatives from narcotics networks in Dublin and beyond are believed to have travelled to Dubai to meet high-ranking members of the Kinahan cartel to arrange future shipments directly from them. Those said to have travelled to the Middle East are a Clondalkin gang known as 'The Family' as well as another group who operate from Cabra, who have long been involved in major drug trafficking operations, according to The Times. It is reported that this power play by the Kinahans will now see them operate like a franchise, flooding cocaine to gangs through the streets of Ireland akin to how fast-food suppliers deliver produce to stores in an attempt to eliminate competition. The move may explain the recent decrease in gangland feuds and murders across Ireland, with the street price of the Class A drug also remaining at a stable level after a sharp increase last year. The Kinahan's new network structure is believed to be a repeat - or is at least similar - to how the cartel up bulked itself up during its original network before a series of global law enforcement operations targeted its leadership. Drugs kingpin Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh, who ran the UK arm of the Kinahan catrel, is one of the major players to be brought down in recent times. He was jailed for 21 years at Ipswich Crown Court in March 2022 after pleading guilty to conspiring to import class A and B drugs and money laundering offences in July 2020. Fearing the same fate, the cartel's leader Christy 'Dapper Don' Kinahan, 68, and his two sons Daniel, 48, and Christopher Jr, 44, have already devised a contingency plan should the gardai attempt to extradite them from their base in Dubai. The Irish government signed two treaties with UAE representatives which allowed them to extradite suspected organised crime accomplices last October - a move which now has the Kinahans on red alert. Security sources also told The Times that 'Dapper Don' now travels with a bodyguard when in public, such is his paranoia about being snared. Author Mark Galeotti, an expert on multi-country crime, told the publication that the cartel's move to seemingly become a drugs conglomerate made sense - for them. The three are said to have already devised a contingency plan should the gardai attempt to extradite them from their base in Dubai He said: 'If you've got all the architecture, the pipeline, the infrastructure in order to move the drugs and you know where the markets are, why would you abandon that? Isn't it better to trade that out to others who are going to be your proxies in effect?' The Kinahan's global clients are said to include Mexican cartels, Hezbollah and Iran's intelligence services. It is believed that the gang have assets worth around $1.5billion hidden in offshore accounts and in hidden international investments. The cartel was previously headed-up by Liam Byrne, who relocated to Dubai when Garda drug teams began closing in. He was arrested in June 2023 while holidaying in Mallorca and was later extradited to the UK. Byrne, a close friend of 'Dapper Don', was convicted of firearms offences by Britain's National Crime Agency and was released on licence in January. In April 2022, the US Department of State placed up to $5million in rewards for information that leads to each of the arrests and prosecution of 'Dapper Don' and his two sons, branding them the heads of a major international drugs cartel.
