China, the biggest buyer of Iran's oil, has publicly rejected U.S. sanctions aimed at Tehran's energy industry while American allies Japan and South Korea are scrambling to find a compromise to keep critical supplies flowing.

Beijing is buying less Iranian crude this month but analysts say China is unlikely to support an oil embargo. Instead, they say, the smaller purchases might be a tactic aimed at obtaining lower prices as the West squeezes Tehran.

President Michel Suleiman praised the United Arab Emirates for embracing the Lebanese community there, the Emirates News Agency reported on Monday.

WAM quoted Suleiman as hailing the country for “embracing the largest Lebanese community that lives in a tolerant and diverse community and contributes through the expertise of its citizens and their capabilities to the development process of the UAE.”

The Pentagon awarded U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp. with a $1.96 billion contract Friday to supply the United Arab Emirates with a missile defense system.

Under the contract, Lockheed will deliver two Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or Thaad systems that include radar, interceptors and launchers, according to a Pentagon statement.

The United Arab Emirates said Thursday it is revoking the citizenship of six naturalized citizens because the government says they pose a threat to national security.

The unexpected order was issued by President Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan earlier this month, according to the announcement by state news agency WAM. The men were granted Emirati citizenship between 1976 and 1986.

United Arab Emirates airline, Etihad, is to pay 72.9 million euros ($95 million) to become the biggest shareholder in Germany's second-largest airline, Air Berlin, the German group said on Monday.

Etihad, which already held 2.99 percent in the German carrier, is to buy 31.6 million more shares in a capital increase, thereby raising its stake to 29.21 percent, Air Berlin said in a statement.

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari will be discharged on Thursday from a Dubai hospital where he has spent more than a week but will remain in the Gulf emirate to rest, his spokesman said Wednesday.

"All tests are clear and the doctors plan to discharge the president from hospital tomorrow to take rest at home and continue the heart medication," Farhatullah Babar told Agence France Presse.

Fast-growing Gulf carrier Etihad Airways says it is buying 10 more of Boeing's new 787-9 planes, making it the largest customer for that version of the aircraft.

Etihad said on Monday it is also ordering two Boeing 777 cargo planes.

The oil-rich United Arab Emirates on Friday celebrated the 40th anniversary of its establishment with parades, musical shows and ceremonies across the seven-member federation.

The president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan who is also ruler of Abu Dhabi, the richest member, vowed in a speech to widen the participation of "citizens in public affairs."

Five Emirati Internet activists, jailed for up to three years on charges including insulting the Gulf state's leaders, have been pardoned, their lawyer said on Monday.

"An official has informed me that a presidential pardon has been issued to release them," Mohammed al-Roken told Agence France Presse a day after the five activists were sentenced by the Federal Supreme Court.

A United Arab Emirates court on Sunday sentenced a blogger and four other democracy activists to prison terms after finding them guilty of charges including insulting the Gulf state's leaders.

The State Security Court handed the blogger, Ahmed Mansour, a three-year prison sentence and the four others each received two years. They have no recourse to appeal.