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Google startup accelerator

Google opens registrations to MENA tech startups for accelerator programme

The three-month long programme will commence in mid-July 2021 and is for ‘Seed to Series’ startups in the region

Citi retail units seen fetching $6bn as sales kick off

Citigroup ultimately plans to exit retail-banking operations in Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam

Bahrain Israel Travel

Quarantine-free travel between Israel and Bahrain for Covid-19 vaccinated individuals

An agreement has been signed between the two countries for mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccine documents

Dina Sam'an Coinmena

The SME Story: Dina Sam’an, founder and managing director of CoinMENA

CoinMENA is a fully-regulated, onshore, and Sharia-compliant crypto assets exchange

Saudi Prince reportedly sells English country estate to Bahrain’s King

The sale price was more than $165m, according to sources

Khalid Yusuf Al-Jalahma Bahrain Ambassador Israel

Bahrain appoints Khalid Yusuf Al-Jalahma as first ambassador to Israel

On Tuesday, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa also directed his country’s officials to set up a diplomatic mission within Israel

Bahrain awarded $4.1bn worth of contracts in 2020

Covid-19 response sees Ministry of Health spending almost tripled compared to 2019

Saudi Arabia’s Almarai acquires Bakemart in UAE, Bahrain

The acquisition is fully financed from Almarai’s operating cash flow

Trade between UAE, GCC worth Dhs229bn in 2019

Saudi Arabia is the UAE’s top trading partner, with a total of Dhs113.2bn in trade exchange in 2019

Bahrain

Bahrain bank waives loan fees for vaccinated customers

Al Salam Bank is waiving administrative fees for personal and property facilities

Investcorp is said to raise $1bn for North American deals

The money manager is the Gulf’s largest private investor in US real estate

Tencent Cloud to set up cloud data centre in Bahrain

The data centre will be the first in the MENA region and will go live by the end of 2021

UAE Exchange suitor in merger talks with Bahrain-headquartered BFC Group

Merger of Finablr assets and BFC would create regional financial services giant

Bahrain seeks PPP partner to build national metro network

Phased project consists of a 109km urban rail transit network

Flat6Labs Bahrain graduates eight startups in latest funding cycle

Startups receive a total of $250,000 in investments, head to demo day

Etihad Gulf Air

UAE’s Etihad and Bahrain’s Gulf Air to expand codeshare agreement

By June 2021, Etihad and Gulf Air will be able to offer up to an additional 30 combined destinations beyond the Abu Dhabi and Bahrain hubs

Bahrain launches digital Covid-19 “vaccine passport”

BeAware app enables individuals to show their immunity status two weeks after receiving both doses

Covid-19: Bahrain updates testing rules for incoming travellers

All inbound travellers will be subject to an additional PCR test on the fifth day of arrival

FlexxPay raises $3m in pre-series A round to enhance technology platform

FlexxPay is currently available in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and will be launched in Bahrain next month

AlUla agreement: What does resetting ties with Qatar mean for the GCC region?

The resumption of ties with Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt will boost the regional economy with certain sectors set to witness a significant impact

Covid-19: Bahrain suspends prayers at mosques for two weeks

The two-week suspension is effective February 11 onwards

In pictures: Landmarks across UAE, region turn red for Hope Probe’s imminent arrival to Mars

The UAE is poised to become only the 5th country ever to enter Mars’ orbit

Bahrain completes first phase of Dhs3.7bn airport modernisation project

Project financed by Abu Dhabi Fund for Development as part of GCC Development Programme

Investcorp buys apartments in $330m bet on suburbs

Investcorp confirmed the purchase in a stock market filing

Bahrain

Covid-19: Bahrain shuts all schools, closes dine-in services at restaurants

All public and private schools, universities and kindergartens in the country will move to remote learning for three weeks

Twitch: 4.4 million GCC gaming fans watched Arabic channels in 2020

Number of streams in Arabic increased by 221% from February to May peak

A health worker holds a vial of Covishield, AstraZeneca's Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine

Bahrain approves emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine

Covishield is the third vaccine to receive emergency authorisation in Bahrain following Sinopharm and Pfizer-BioNTech

Bahrain’s Investcorp launches fintech investment platform

Customers can browse, assess and invest in Investcorp’s investment offerings

cryptocurrency

Central Bank of Bahrain licences Sharia-compliant cryptocurrency exchange CoinMENA

At launch, CoinMENA’s platform will be available to residents of Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman

Bahrain-GCC trade hits $5.7bn in 2020 despite Covid-19 challenges

Bahrain exports surge 12 per cent in Q4 of 2020 buoyed by manufacturing sector