Dubai

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian state oil giant Aramco 2222.SE on Tuesday reported a 44.6% drop in third-quarter net profit as the coronavirus crisis continued to choke demand and weigh on crude prices.

Share prices of global oil companies have been hammered this year as investors fret over the impact of the pandemic on energy demand and the long-term shift away from fossil fuels.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Tens of thousands of Muslims, from Pakistan to Lebanon to the Palestinian territories, poured out of prayer services to join anti-France protests on Friday, as the French president’s vow to protect the right to caricature the Prophet Muhammad continues to roil the Muslim world.

Hardline Islamic groups across the region have seized on the the French government’s staunch secularist stance as an affront to Islam, rallying their supporters and stirring up rage.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar apologized Wednesday after authorities forcibly examined female passengers from a Qatar Airways flight to Australia to try to identify who might have given birth to a newborn baby found abandoned at the airport earlier this month.

Under pressure after Australia condemned the searches, Qatar’s government said it had begun an investigation into the treatment of the women who were taking Qatar Airways Flight 908 to Sydney on Oct. 2.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Yemen’s Houthis want to strengthen bilateral ties with Iran in various fields, the foreign minister for the Houthi administration that runs north Yemen told Iran’s new ambassador to the country on Tuesday, Houthi-run Saba Net news reported.

Iranian ambassador Hassan Eyrlo said Iran would make every effort to achieve peace in Yemen, in a meeting with Foreign Minister Hesham Sharaf Abdallah during which Eyrlo presented his diplomatic credentials.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, is getting busier. But it’s a long way from what it once was amid the coronavirus pandemic as it prepares for a possible ”extended, slow recovery,” its CEO told The Associated Press.

After long-haul carrier Emirates drastically cut its flights in March and slowly resumed its routes, passenger numbers at the mammoth airport serving East-West travel have crept up to over 1 million a month — just below 15% of what they were a year ago, CEO Paul Griffiths said.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran on Friday blacklisted the U.S. ambassador in Iraq and two other diplomats following a similar move by the United States against Iran’s envoy to Baghdad, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

“US Amb(assador) to Iraq, Matthew Tueller, has had a central role in coordinating terrorist acts in Iraq & beyond, in ... assassination of Gen. (Qassem) Soleimani... Today, Iran designated him & two other officials involved,” ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Twitter.

DUBAI (Reuters) - The Saudi-led coalition fighting against Yemen’s Houthi movement intercepted and destroyed two explosive-laden drones launched towards Saudi Arabia by the Houthis on Friday, Saudi state TV reported.

There was no immediate comment from the Houthis on the report, which cited a coalition spokesman.

Yemen has been locked in conflict since 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa, the capital, and then much of the country’s north.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran summoned the Swiss envoy on Thursday to protest against what it called “baseless” U.S. claims that Tehran has tried to interfere with the 2020 presidential election in November.

“Iran’s strong rejection of American officials’ repetitive, baseless and false claims was conveyed to the Swiss ambassador...As we have said before, it makes no difference for Iran who wins the U.S. election,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told state TV.

Switzerland represents U.S. interests in Iran because Washington and Tehran have no diplomatic ties.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Lebanon should revamp its subsidy system to reach those most in need and make better use of its rapidly dwindling foreign currency reserves, the IMF said on Monday.

Crushed by a mountain of debt, Lebanon is facing its worst economic crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war. As prices soar, many Lebanese have been plunged into poverty and are increasingly reliant on subsidies, but the state is fast runnning out of cash.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. diplomats and security officials privately warned the state of Nevada not to use Chinese-made coronavirus test kits donated by the United Arab Emirates over concerns about patient privacy, test accuracy and Chinese government involvement, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.