457-Stephen Hodder wordt de nieuwe voorzitter van het Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Dat heeft het Britse vakgenootschap voor architecten woensdag bekendgemaakt. De architect volgt per september volgend jaar Angela Brady op. Hodder (1956) is nu alvast aangewezen als nieuwe voorzitter, zodat hij geruime tijd kan worden ingewerkt. Dat gebeurt vanaf 1 september dit jaar, wanneer de directeur van Hodder + Partners aantreedt als 'president elect'.

201-The Islamic Development Bank is seeking partners to bring investment in a Shariah-compliant megabank to more than $1bn before the opening this year, allowing it to finance larger construction projects.

389-RIBA said that its report, which was carried out with Ipsos Mori, is the first research into housing space since the Government-commissioned Parker Morris Committee report over 50 years ago. Harry Rich, the chief executive of RIBA, said: "This new research provides important evidence on which we can base some changes to the way our homes are designed, delivered, marketed and sold to us.

490-Dans le hall en marbre blanc du Dubai Mall, le plus grand et le plus luxueux centre commercial du monde, les voitures de golf sont prises d'assaut par des femmes en abayas, la robe noire traditionnelle des émirats. Elles s'adonnent à leur passe-temps favori: le shopping. En fin de journée, on les retrouve en après-ski de fourrure dans le Mall of Emirates, jouant aux boules de neige avec leurs enfants au pied de la piste de ski en neige artificielle, la plus prisée du Moyen-Orient.

170-Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population, has committed to producing a regulatory framework for takaful within months, marking the first steps towards a

409-Crescent Petroleum Co., Dana Gas PJSC (DANA)'s biggest shareholder, has no plan to provide cash to the United Arab Emirates-based natural gas producer to help pay a $1 billion Islamic bond due in October. Any "speculation around Crescent injecting further capital to support the Dana Gas sukuk is incorrect," Majid Jafar, Sharjah-based chief executive officer of Crescent, said in a phone interview yesterday.

450-By Mushtak Parker Malaysian Prime Minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak has challenged the liquidity-rich Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, warning that they can no longer afford to ignore investment and business opportunities in Asia. Traditionally, GCC countries have looked west to invest in assets including government bonds, real estate portfolios, financial services and major corporations. Some have also indulged in so-called trophy assets.

179-Islamic investing represents a 1.2 trillion euro market. Now one Malaysian firm wants to bring the trend to Germany. Others have tried and failed before, so it could be a struggle

203-A recent report by the consulting firm A.T. Kearney, The Future of Islamic Banking, and a Reuters article, 'No windfall from Qatar ban on Islamic windows', have generated much productive chatter globally