DUBAI, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Media authorities in Dubai said on Saturday they were considering whether to allow two leading private Pakistani news channels to resume broadcasting after shutting them down the day before.

'We are in contact with them... to see if there is a possibility to (allow them to) resume' broadcasting, Amina Rustamani, head of Dubai's media watchdog, told AFP.

The two networks, Geo and ARYOne, said on Saturday that they were shut down the night before amid pressure from Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf.

DUBAI, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Media authorities in Dubai said Saturday they were considering whether to allow two leading private Pakistani news channels to resume broadcasting after shutting them down the day before.

'We are in contact with them... to see if there is a possibility to (allow them to) resume' broadcasting, Amina Rustamani, head of Dubai's media watchdog told AFP.

The two networks, Geo and ARYOne, said on Saturday that they were shut down the night before amid pressure from Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf.

DUBAI, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has ordered engines valued at more than 770 million dollars from US conglomerate General Electric to fit 15 Boeing planes, the company said on Saturday.

A statement said the deal involves the GE90-115B engine to power 10 Boeing 777-300s and five GEnx to equip Boeing 747-8 freighters.

The deal was announced two days after the closure of the Dubai air show, during which European and American manufacturers reaped record orders for new aircraft.

DUBAI, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - A court in the Gulf tourist hot-spot of Dubai has sentenced a Briton to four years in prison for possessing ecstasy, a local newspaper reported on Sunday.

The 39-year-old man, who was not named, was caught by a customs official at Dubai International Airport with ecstasy pills weighing 1.71 grams (0.06 ounces), the English-language Gulf News said.

It said he would be deported after serving his sentence.

DUBAI, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - Underpaid and underfed all year, Asian workers in Dubai, as in the rest of the United Arab Emirates, get a chance to eat their fill -- and for free -- during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

As the call to prayer goes out at dusk from a mosque in an upmarket district to signal the end of the fast, hundreds of mostly south Asian men gather nearby to savour a meal offered by charities or philanthropists.

ABU DHABI, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - A fleet of specially modified London taxi cabs will soon be touting for fares on the roads of the United Arab Emirates, the firm behind the project announced on Wednesday.

The iconic cars will appear in the United Arab Emirate capital Abu Dhabi next month but will be painted white rather than the traditional black, the Al Qudra Holding Group said.

The vehicles are being built in Coventry in England and have been upgraded to cope with the often blazing hot climate of the Gulf, it added in a statement.

ABU DHABI, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - Warner Brothers plans to expand its entertainment empire to Abu Dhabi, by opening a theme park in the wealthy Gulf emirate which aims to become an international centre for art and culture, one of the project developers said on Wednesday.

A hotel, several multiplex cinemas and a joint film and computer game development fund will also be created under the deal struck between Warner Brothers, the Abu Dhabi Media Company and real estate developers ALDAR.

STOCKHOLM, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - The trading of shares in the Nordic market operator OMX was suspended on Wednesday on the Stockholm stock exchange until further notice, a statement from the exchange said.

'The trading in OMX AB shares is suspended until further notice. Information is expected later today,' said the statement.

OMX looked set last week to become the centre of takeover bidding battle between Gulf rivals Dubai and Qatar.

DUBAI, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - The prime minister of the United Arab Emirates decreed on Tuesday that journalists should not be jailed over their work, two days after two were jailed for libel, the state WAM news agency reported.

Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum 'has issued instructions ... not to imprison journalists for reasons related to their work,' said the head of the National Media Council, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan.

DUBAI, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Several mainly Western expatriates sit down for lunch at a popular cafe in a well-heeled Dubai district. An unremarkable scene for the cosmopolitan free-wheeling Gulf emirate -- except the diners entered by a back door.

Their low-key arrival is one example of the restrictions observed by thousands of Dubai's non-Muslim residents during Ramadan, when Muslims have to abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and dusk.

OTTAWA, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) on Monday announced the purchase of Canadian oil and gas firm PrimeWest Energy Trust for 5.0 billion dollars, the company said.

TAQA's 26.75-dollar cash offer for each PrimeWest share is its third and biggest Canadian purchase this year.

Last month, the Emirati-based global energy company struck a deal to buy the Canadian unit of Irving, Texas-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co. for 540 million dollars.

DUBAI, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - Police in the bustling Gulf emirate of Dubai have seized one tonne of hashish and 50 kilogrammes (110 pounds) of heroin within a month, the United Arab Emirates official WAM news agency said Monday.

Sixteen suspects, including 'two big drug traffickers,' were arrested by police who thwarted four attempts to smuggle drugs into the emirate, WAM said, quoting the police.

DUBAI, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - Two journalists have been sentenced to two months imprisonment for libel in the United Arab Emirates, local newspapers reported on Monday.

C. G. Prem Chandran, an Indian former editor of the English-language daily Khaleej Times, and Egyptian journalist Mohsen Rashed Hussein, were sentenced by a court in Dubai on Sunday and will appeal the ruling, Al-Khaleej said.

Papers said the two men were accused of defaming an Iranian woman in an article written by Hussein and published in Khaleej Times in June 2006.

ABU DHABI, Sept 23, 2007 (AFP) - The United Arab Emirates will cut oil output by around 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November due to maintenance work at three oilfields, the state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said Sunday.

'A scheduled essential maintenance programme will take place in November 2007 at three offshore fields -- Upper Zakum, Lower Zakum and Umm Shaif. During the maintenance period, production will be reduced by approximately 600,000 bpd,' ADNOC said in a statement.

ABU DHABI, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Abu Dhabi's investment vehicle Mubadala Development Co is to buy a 7.5 percent stake in the US-based Carlyle Group at a cost of 1.35 billion dollars, Mubadala announced on Thursday.

It said Mubadala will also contribute 500 million dollars to an investment fund owned by Carlyle, a private equity heavyweight, adding the deal would be completed during October.

Oil-rich Abu Dhabi is part of the seven-member United Arab Emirates. The confederation also includes Dubai, which is fast becoming a global business and leisure hub.

ABU DHABI, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - The United Arab Emirates on Thursday joined the chorus of condemnation of the murder of an anti-Syrian lawmaker in Lebanon days before a key presidential poll and urged the Lebanese to close ranks.

The United Arab Emirate 'condemns the loathsome crime which took the life of Lebanese MP Antoine Ghanem and a number of Lebanese citizens,' Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said, quoted by the official WAM news agency.

DUBAI, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - The ruler of the wealthy Gulf emirate of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, launched a charity drive on Wednesday to help educate one million children in poor countries.

The six-week long Dubai Cares fundraising campaign will 'tap into the spirit of giving and tradition of philanthropy deeply rooted in the Emirati community', said a statement on the launch of the drive, without indicating how much money was aimed to be raised.

DUBAI, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - The wealthy Gulf emirate of Dubai is pressing on with plans to build a 1.2 billion dollar track that will host the world's richest horse race in three years, the local press reported on Wednesday.

The Khaleej Times said a developer had been chosen for the Meydan Racecourse which will include a 60,000-seat grandstand and is set for completion in time for the 2010 Dubai World Cup.

ABU DHABI, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - The oil-rich United Arab Emirates announced on Tuesday it has established diplomatic ties with North Korea at the level of ambassadors.

Abu Dhabi and Pyongyang 'signed a joint statement on the establishment of diplomatic relations at ambassador level' during a ceremony at the United Arab Emirate's mission to the United Nations on Monday, the state WAM news agency said.

The two countries said they aimed to 'enhance understanding and boost the links of friendship and cooperation between their two peoples.'

TOKYO, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - Japanese energy giant Cosmo Oil said Tuesday it will sell a 20 percent stake in its business to a state-managed fund in the United Arab Emirates that will become its biggest shareholder.

Abu Dhabi-owned International Petroleum Investment Company will pay 89.18 billion yen (775 million dollars) to Cosmo Oil, which said it will use the money to upgrade its refineries and to explore new business opportunities.

DUBAI, Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) - A court in the United Arab Emirates has slapped a five-month jail sentence on a website owner already facing a one-year prison term on defamation charges, a lawyer said Thursday.

Mohammad Rashed al-Shehhi, owner of the popular website majan.net, was sentenced to five months imprisonment on Wednesday by the court in Ras al-Khaimah, one of seven emirates making up the United Arab Emirate, his defence lawyer Abdullah Omran told AFP.

DUBAI, Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) - The world's tallest building, still under construction in the booming Gulf emirate of Dubai, has become the world's tallest free-standing structure, its developers said on Thursday.

The Burj Dubai tower is now 555 metres (1,831.5 feet) tall and has surpassed the 553-metre- (1,824.9-feet) CN Tower in Toronto, Canada, which held the record for the world's tallest free-standing structure since 1976, developers Emaar Properties said in a statement.

ABU DHABI, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin, heading a large business delegation, held talks on boosting economic links with the oil-rich United Arab Emirates on Monday.

On the first visit by a Russian head of state since the United Arab Emirate was created in 1971, Putin met his Emirati counterpart President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan.

They discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties and presided over the signing of several cooperation agreements, the state news agency WAM said.

MOSCOW, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Russia and the United States still have a chance to reach agreement on the vexed question of Washington's missile defence plans, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

'All is not lost and we still have a certain amount of healthy optimism,' Putin said in comments broadcast on Russian television.

'Regarding our differences, they've always existed and of course will do so given the size of our relations and such multifaceted contacts in different spheres and areas,' Putin said.

ABU DHABI, Sept 10, 2007 (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin was in the United Arab Emirates on Monday as he made his second visit to the oil-rich Gulf this year along with a large business delegation.

The Russian leader was due to hold talks with his United Arab Emirate counterpart President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the official WAM news agency said without giving any detailed agenda.

It was the first visit to the United Arab Emirate by a Russian head of state since it won independence from Britain in 1971.

DUBAI, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - Herve Novelli, French minister of state for businesses and foreign trade, was in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday at the start of a series of trips aimed at reversing a record foreign trade deficit.

He will visit 15 countries between now and the end of the year, Novelli told AFP at Dubai's Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX), the largest annual information technology fair in the Middle East.

France's foreign trade deficit in 2006 was 29 billion euros (40 billion dollars).

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DUBAI, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - An appeal court in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday adjourned the case of a website owner jailed on defamation charges while he remained behind bars despite a court order to free him on bail, a lawyer and relatives said.

The next hearing in the appeal filed by Mohammad Rashed al-Shehhi in Ras al-Khaimah, one of the seven members of the United Arab Emirates, has been set for September 17, defence lawyer Abdullah Omran told AFP.

ABU DHABI, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - The president of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Sunday the oil cartel will seek at a meeting this week to maintain market stability, but that current output was sufficient.

'Any decision taken by OPEC will take into account the stability of world markets,' said Mohammad bin Dhaen al-Hamli, who is energy minister of the United Arab Emirates.

DUBAI, Sept 7, 2007 (AFP) - Dubai's carrier Emirates wants to double its order of 55 Airbus A380 superjumbo jets when airport capacity in its home base permits, its president said Friday.

'I want to double (the number of A380s on order)' from the European aircraft maker, Tim Clark told reporters.

But '55 is the absolute number of aircraft we can accommodate at the moment,' he added ahead of a demonstration flight of the Boeing 777 long-haul aircraft just received by the airline owned by the government of Dubai, a member of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates.

DUBAI, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - Shareholders of two banks in the United Arab Emirates have approved a merger deal, creating the biggest bank in the Gulf region, with assets of 165 billion dirhams (45 billion dollars), the offical WAM news agency said Thursday.

Shareholders gave the green light to the tie-up of the Emirates Bank International (EBI) and the National Bank of Dubai (NBD) at special general assemblies on Wednesday and Thursday.

DUBAI, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - The departure of tens of thousands of illegal foreign workers from the United Arab Emirates under an amnesty has created a labour shortage in the country's booming construction sector.

'It is creating an impact on construction sites... About 300,000 workers have evaporated from the market,' said Mike Cairney, director of EC Harris construction consultancy firm in Dubai.

WELLINGTON, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Thursday abandoned its controversial bid to take a majority stake in New Zealand's aviation hub, Auckland International Airport.

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) and Auckland International Airport Ltd (AIAL) said they had terminated their merger agreement.

Under the deal, the United Arab Emirates-based aerospace and aviation company would have taken a stake of between 51 and 60 percent of the airport company for up to 2.6 billion dollars (1.78 billion US).

ABU DHABI, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - Abu Dhabi-owned International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) chose WorleyParsons to design an oil pipeline costing more than one billion dollars, the official WAM news agency said on Wednesday.

The Australia-based engineering firm has been tasked with planning the construction of the 360-kilometre (224-mile) pipeline that will pump 1.5 million barrels of oil a day from Abu Dhabi's Habshan oil field to Fujairah, WAM said, adding the project would be completed in the second half of 2009.

DUBAI, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - Dubai-based carrier Emirates on Wednesday received the first of 10 Boeing 777 long-haul aircraft from a 9.7-billion-dollar order made in 2005, the official WAM news agency said.

The aircraft's maiden voyage will be from Dubai to the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo on October 1 and will represent the first direct flight route between the Middle East and South America, WAM said.

The news agency also reported that the airline would use its new type of aircraft to fly direct from Dubai to Houston, Texas on December 3.

SEOUL, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - The head of a major Middle Eastern development company flew to North Korea Wednesday, and a South Korean report said he may be looking at investment opportunities.

Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties based in the United Arab Emirates, used his own plane for the trip from South Korea, an education foundation official said.

It was the first time a private plane had been allowed to fly from Seoul to Pyongyang through a west coast route that opened in 2000 for official trips.

MOSCOW, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Indonesia on Thursday to discuss deals on natural resources and weapons at the start of a three-country tour with a high-powered team of energy, banking and arms magnates.

This will be Putin's first visit to the world's most populous Muslim country, whose government is keen to boost foreign investment in developing rich mineral reserves.

MOSCOW, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin leads a high-powered team of energy, banking and weapons magnates this week on a three-