High rents allied with rising food and gold prices to push up inflation in Saudi Arabia in July although the increase is not a source of concern for the Gulf Kingdom this year, according to a local investment firm.

Year-on-year inflation rose to 4.9 percent in July from 4.7 percent in June and food, rents and higher prices of jewelry and those for holiday accommodation were the main cause of the rise, though there were some notable falls, the Riyadh-based Jadwa Investment said in a study sent to Emirates 24/7.

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A company under Dubai-based investment group Al Ghurair would build a storage facility in Vietnam to hold between 1.5 million and 2 million tonnes of petrol and oil products, a Vietnamese government report said.

Al Ghurair Commodities would open a subsidiary in Vietnam and use the storage to supply fuel to neighbouring countries, Chief Executive Officer Saeed Saif Al Ghurair was quoted in the Vietnamese government report late on Monday as saying.

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Rents in some areas of Sharjah have risen 2 per cent over the second quarter of 2011 despite a power cuts, petrol problems and a growing exodus of tenants to Dubai.

Quoting officials from real estate firm Asteco, Gulf News reported that rents for studio apartments in Al Khan and Corniche have climbed up to Dh25,000 though prices have fallen in other areas of the emirate. Office rents in the two areas also saw an increase by 5 per cent.

However, the growing exodus to Dubai, where the rents dipped further, continues even as tenants are prepared to pay the premium to be closer to their work places.

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Saudi Arabia's central bank expects moderate inflationary pressures in the Gulf oil producer in the second quarter of 2011, it said yesterday, but analysts remain wary of import inflation and dollar weakness.
Inflation in the world's top oil exporter has eased since touching an 18-month high of 6.1 per cent in August 2010 as a rise in food costs subsides."Available data ... show possible continued domestic inflationary pressures, at moderate rates, during the second quarter of 2011," the central bank said in a quarterly inflation report.
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A powerful aftershock that rocked an area of Japan still reeling from last month’s earthquake and tsunami disaster killed three people and injured around 100, officials said.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said a 63-year-old woman in Yamagata prefecture died after her respirator failed when the power was knocked out by the 7.1 magnitude tremor.

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Dubai based Channel 2 Group on Monday announced the Middle East launch of its new $30m internet radio initiative, which aims to become the largest of its kind in the world by 2015.

Indian cricket legend Kapil Dev launched www.cricketfreeq.com, the official internet radio for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, which has just reached the knockout phase.

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His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain on Tuesday enforced emergency law for three months in all parts of the Kingdom as two died in fresh violence.

The Act was declared in the wake of the major political unrest and sectarian tensions which Bahrain has been witnessing since February 14.

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Not knowing the traffic rules and regulations and the associated penalties is no longer a valid excuse following the large-scale distribution of the Abu Dhabi Road Code 2011.

A compact reference book by the emirate’s police to mark the 27th GCC Traffic Week, the Road Code provides a concise and complete summary of the emirate’s road traffic rules and regulations, including the penalties (fines and black points) for breaking the law.

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Rents and sale prices for Abu Dhabi property will continue to fall across the board during 2011 due to heavy oversupply, according to the latest research from Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

The property consultancy said that although there have been limited transactions for residential sales, average prices per square foot have now dropped some 45 percent since their peak in the second quarter of 2008.

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