Kane raises the Standard in the Middle East.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

Former Observer business editor Frank Kane is promising to bring "western journalistic standards" to the Middle East when he launches the region's first daily English-language business paper in the autumn.

Mr Kane, the editor, said the Arabian Business Standard, which is backed by former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil, will be "a cross between the Financial Times and the [London] Evening Standard".

The newspaper will be in tabloid form and carry "unremittingly upmarket content" when it hits the newsstands and offices of Dubai in October.

How Dubai, a glittering new arrival on the global commerce stage, welcomes the critical and investigative reporting planned by the Standard will be crucial to the title's success and its parent company's plans to roll out editions across the Middle East.

The editorial team includes the Observer's former media business correspondent, James Robinson, who has been appointed deputy editor, and the Daily Telegraph editor-at-large, Jeff Randall, who will write columns.

Breaking new ground

M Kane is keen to break new ground in Dubai, where much of the business coverage in the daily Gulf News and Khaleej Times is syndicated from other sources such as news wires, the Financial Times and the Economist.

"Our paper will publish a higher …