Emirates NBD Bank, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates, has taken over the troubled Islamic lender Dubai Bank on orders of the ruler of Dubai, a government statement said on Tuesday.

"Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, in his capacity as the ruler of Dubai, has given orders that Emirates NBD take over Dubai Bank," the statement said.

Voters chosen by the rulers of the United Arab Emirates began casting their ballots on Saturday in only the second-ever polls to elect half of the members of the powerless Federal National Council.

Men dressed in traditional Emirati white gowns and women wearing black abaya cloaks trickled into a large polling center at a conventions complex in Dubai.

Mideast investment firm Abraaj Capital says it has bought French asset manager Amundi's private equity business in North Africa.

The Dubai-based private equity house said Sunday the deal includes assuming control of Amundi's offices in Morocco and Tunisia and the management of a $161 million regional buyout fund. It will also acquire Amundi's stake in the fund.

The MBC media conglomerate has canceled a show by a popular Lebanese presenter known in the Arab world for hosting the Arabic version of "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" because of support of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The Dubai-based MBC Group said it has decided to cancel a show hosted by George Qordahi that was to start airing next week "out of respect for the feelings of the Syrian people."

The indebted state developer behind Dubai's man-made islands says it has completed a long-awaited financial restructuring and will issue over $1 billion in Islamic bonds to some of its creditors.

Nakheel said Wednesday that the Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, would be issued on Thursday.

Paris Hilton is suffering a new bout of cellphone drama. The heiress-turned-TV star reportedly lost two mobile devices on a flight to the Philippines for a visit to promote a hotel resort.

Television footage showed Hilton combing through a bag looking upset while she was surrounded by airline staff at the Manila airport late Sunday after arriving from Dubai.

Stocks are tumbling across the Middle East as most of the region's markets open for their first day of business following a historic downgrade of the United States' credit rating.

The main market index in the regional financial hub Dubai led the declines Sunday, plunging over 5 percent before rebounding slightly to a 4.4 percent drop by midday local time. Other Gulf markets also opened sharply lower.

Shoppers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are among the wealthiest and most discerning in the world. Most major malls in Dubai, for instance, feature couture retailers usually associated in the United States with upscale fashion districts. It is not an uncommon sight to see shoppers with several large shopping bags, loaded into a cart just as a family buying groceries would, only the purchases being Gucci shoes and Louis Vuitton handbags. According to Business Monitor International, U.S.$31 billion worth of retail sales are expected this year in the UAE, and will top U.S.$41 billion in less than five years.

As there is more total retail space supply in the country than its entire population -- according to retail surveys, an estimated 5.75 million square meters by the end of 2014, or 1.27 square meters of shopping space for every UAE resident -- online retail has struggled to find room. Because of concerns about fraud, 45% of UAE shoppers said they would not buy online, according to a survey this year by MasterCard.

A Lebanese waiter and a Filipina saleswoman have been accused of public intimacy after police caught them having consensual sex on a public beach in Dubai, Gulf News reported on Tuesday.

“Prosecutors charged the 21-year-old waiter, A.B., and his 30-year-old Filipina girlfriend, M.B., with having out-of-wedlock sex in a public place and committing an indecent act in public,” said the English-language daily.

Hit hard by the global economic crisis, the Gulf city of Dubai decided Friday not to bid for the 2020 Olympics and will focus instead on a possible candidacy for the 2024 Games.

A feasibility study found 70 percent of the infrastructure demands were already in place but that a "a bid would be better timed for 2024," the National Olympic Committee of the United Arab Emirates said.