Plans by sovereigns outside the Middle East and other largely Islamic regions to tap the sukuk market could meet pent-up demand from Islamic institutional investors and banks to diversify their bond holdings, making the sukuk market a useful source of additional funding over time, Fitch ratings said.

Fitch ratings agency said the EU ban on Iranian oil is largely credit neutral for EU integrated oil and gas companies, although Iran’s reaction to sanctions is hard to predict. The cash flow impact of the ban may be negative for refining operations, but should be positive or neutral for upstream operations.

A Tunisian television director faces trial on morality charges for airing Persepolis, the French animated film.

The 2011 Saif Ghobash–Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation, the sixth year of the prize, is awarded to Khaled Mattawa for his translation of Adonis: Selected Poems, published by Yale University Press.