Business & Investments, Food & Dining

Alshaya Group Takes Over Starbucks in Greece and Cyprus

Alshaya Group acquires the Starbucks franchise in Greece and Cyprus and becomes the new exclusive owner and operator

KUWAIT – Wednesday 8 April 2026: Alshaya Group has today announced that it has acquired the Starbucks Greece & Cyprus licensed business, becoming the new exclusive owner and operator of the business, which was formerly operated by Marinopoulos family and led by Managing Director, Giannis Marinopoulos, who will return to the family business.

Opening in 2002, Starbucks Greece & Cyprus operates 30 stores in Greece and 18 in Cyprus and employs around 500 people.

As one of Starbucks’ largest and long-standing licensed partners across the world, since it’s first Starbucks in Kuwait in 1999, Alshaya Group now operates over 2,000 stores in 13 countries, offering the unique Starbucks experience to over one million customers every day.   

Saleh Alshaya, President of Starbucks at Alshaya Group, said: “With today’s announcement, we are continuing our vision of growth for our licensed Starbucks business, and we look forward to working with our new colleagues to offer even more choice for our customers to experience their favourite Starbucks coffee across Greece and Cyprus.  This is an exciting time for our business, and we look forward to a great future.”

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Featured

Mashreq Launches Instant Digital Accounts for Non-Resident Egyptians

Mashreq Becomes First UAE Bank to Offer Instant Digital Cross-Border Accounts for Non-Resident Egyptians — With Free Quick Remit Transfers

Dubai, UAE; 08 April 2026: Mashreq, one of the leading financial institutions in the MENA region, has announced the launch of a new service for its UAE-based Egyptian customers. For the first time, UAE-based customers of Egyptian nationality can open accounts with Mashreq Egypt instantly, fully remotely, and enjoy a single view of their accounts and transfer money in real time – all through the Mashreq UAE mobile app.

Fernando Morillo, Global Head of Retail Banking

This fully digital service is available to Egyptian nationals who hold a NEO, Gold or Private account with Mashreq UAE. It eliminates the need for physical documents or in-person visits to branches in Egypt, replacing the traditional manual process with a seamless, end-to-end digital experience.

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Featured

Azizi Developments Celebrates Inanna Reborn Launch in Dubai

Azizi Developments Joins in Celebrating the Launch of Inanna Reborn, Founded by HH Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 8 April 2026: Azizi Developments, a leading private developer in the UAE, was honored to be part of the momentous debut of Inanna Reborn, the luxury heritage and cultural movement founded by Her Highness Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, daughter of His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah.

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Technologies

Confluent Intelligence Expands Real-Time Business Data to Enterprise AI

Support for the Agent2Agent protocol helps connect AI agents anywhere in real time so they can collaborate at enterprise scale

Multivariate Anomaly Detection takes anomaly detection to the next level, stopping problems before they start

Dubai, United Arab Emirates—April 8, 2026—Confluent, Inc. (Nasdaq: CFLT), the data streaming pioneer, today announced new Confluent Intelligence capabilities that connect artificial intelligence (AI) agents and uncover more accurate, intelligent data analysis. Confluent’s Streaming Agents use the Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol to trigger and coordinate external AI agents using real-time data streams, making it easier to connect AI systems across an enterprise. Multivariate Anomaly Detection looks at multiple metrics to automatically spot unusual patterns in data streams, helping teams prevent issues with greater accuracy—before they cause outages or downstream impacts. Together, these capabilities create intelligent context-aware AI systems that adapt as data, agents, and business conditions change.

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Featured

UAE Celebrates Graduation of Childhood Development Diploma Students

Under the patronage of Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed 

National Academy for Childhood Development celebrates graduation of 1st and 2nd class of Diploma in Childhood Development graduates

Abu Dhabi, 7 April 2026: Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Development and Fallen Heroes’ Affairs and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority, the National Academy for Childhood Development celebrated the graduation of the first and second class of the accredited Vocational Diploma in Childhood Development at Erth Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The event marks a significant step reflecting the UAE’s commitment to investing in childhood development and building future generations.

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