ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi’s Sorouh Real Estate, one of the Middle East’s biggest developers, said on Tuesday a lack of land sales in the second quarter explained a sharper-than-expected drop in net profit and revenues, both of which fell about 80 percent. "There were no land sales this quarter, so revenues and profits were lower. …

CAIRO: Egypt’s main index inched up, helped by Orascom Telecom, which has gained 6.5 percent since Algerian ministers said in parliament on Thursday talks would soon begin with the Egyptian company over its Algeria unit. Orascom gained 2.2 percent. Algeria is waiting until experts complete a valuation of Orascom’s Djezzy unit, which the Algerian state …

MUMBAI: Indian real estate firm DLF is buying out the stake held by a property unit of debt-laden Dubai World in an equal joint venture in India for about 2 billion rupees ($43 million), the Economic Times reported on Monday. A unit of DLF will buy the stake owned by Limitless Group, part of Dubai …

RIYADH: Infrastructure upgrades are the order of the day, with the government of Saudi Arabia giving its full financial backing to big-ticket transport projects in a bid to ensure that passengers and cargo can move about the Kingdom more quickly, efficiently and affordably. One of the largest projects under way is a significant expansion of …

State agencies are to increase supply of meat, poultry fish, oils, rice and beans in order to keep prices low during Ramadan, reported Al-Ahram newspaper. Other measures are being taken in order to relieve inflationary pressure including setting up outlets which provide goods at prices 20 percent lower than their market price, Beltone Finacial said …

Real achievers never complain about the past. Complaining is a form of self-talk in the science of communication. When you experience a situation you dislike, you can hear a voice inside your head talking negatively. If it is an experience you want to learn from, the voice will be talking positively. It is easy to …

GENEVA: The World Trade Organization raised on Friday its forecast for growth of global commerce to 10 percent this year, with its director general saying that even this might yet "turn out to be too low." WTO chief Pascal Lamy said: "Our forecast for world trade this year is plus 10 percent in volume after …

AMMAN: Jordan’s budget deficit more than halved in the first five months of the year as the government maintained a freeze on non-essential capital spending, finance ministry sources said on Wednesday. They said the shortfall shrank to 137 million dinars ($193 million) from 348.3 million dinars in the same period of 2009 – a year …

CAIRO: Ahmed “Mido” Hossam was one of few players to be dropped from Middlesbrough’s pre-season trip to Ireland due to lack of fitness. The Egyptian striker, who returned from a loan spell at West Ham this summer, was left behind to work alone ahead of the new season. "Mido isn’t fit, so he’s stayed behind …

  LONDON: Oil rose to around $77 per barrel on Tuesday, supported by firmer stock markets and expectations of a drop in US crude inventories.   European shares were slightly stronger in early trade, tracking gains on Wall Street, as optimism grew over second-quarter corporate earnings ahead of results from US companies. US crude for …

  The Managing Director of Iran Foreign Investment Company (IFIC) stated that Iran and Egypt will open the first branch of a joint bank in Tehran in the near future.   The Mehr News Agency quoted Mehdi Razavi as saying that the first branch in Iran of Misr Iran Development Bank (MIDB) will be established. …

Eni has started gas production in the Tuna field offshore Egypt, the Italian oil and gas company said in a statement on Monday. Eni said the project would produce about 4.5 million cubic meters of gas a day at the end of the ramp-up period, expected to be in September. That will contribute about 8,500 …

CAIRO: Middlesbrough striker Ahmed “Mido” Hossam is poised to join Turkish club Kayserispor starting next season, according to media reports. Few days ago, the towering player told FilGoal.com that a Turkish side had tabled a “worthwhile offer” to acquire his services but kept his suitor anonymous. Later on, Turkish papers reported that a summer deal …

Eleven of Semiramis InterContinental talented chefs participated in the National Salon Culinary competition that took place recently at Intercontinental City Stars. The hotel chefs managed to win different prizes through their creative and outstanding work. The winning team consisted of: Chef Moustafa Omar El Farouk, Chef Hassan Aly, Chef  Mohamed Sliem, Chef Hassan Mohamed Nour …

  The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) will extend feeder vessels, with a load capacity of 5,000 tons, a discount of up to 30 percent on the charges paid to the authority, which is valid for six months, Al-Mal reported, citing a new SCA regulation.   The authority, however, has restricted the discount to vessels that …

  Egypt will sign an agreement with Jordan in two weeks under which it will provide the latter with an additional 500 million cubic meters of natural gas annually, according to a statement.   A network will be created to provide 280,000 houses and 4,000 industrial and commercial facilities with natural gas in Amman and …

CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak’s meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have again been pushed back to next week but speculation that this is due to Mubarak’s health has been officially denied. Mubarak and Netanyahu were due to meet Tuesday. This was then pushed to Wednesday and finally to …

LONDON: British pay-TV company BSkyB is in talks with a private Abu Dhabi investor to launch a round-the-clock Arabic language news channel under the Sky News brand. The new channel, which could launch within 24 months, would be run as a 50-50 joint venture, providing coverage of news across the Middle East and North Africa …

  The Central Bank of Egypt has recently turned down requests to grant new licenses for setting up new foreign exchange or money transfer companies, pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat daily reported.   Only banks can be granted money transfer licenses while existing foreign exchange firms are allowed to expand their branches network against a deposit of …

  The Ministry of Finance plans to double tax revenue within five years to LE 408.27 billion in fiscal year 2014/15 from the targeted LE 197.3 million in fiscal year 10/11.   This will be achieved through several measures among which are implementing the VAT (Value Added Tax) system instead of the current general sales …

BEIRUT: Dream of commuting into bustling Beirut minus the nightmarish traffic? The Beirut Water Taxi will offer an alternative for tens of thousands of people crowding into the Lebanese capital every day. "Traffic has become unbearable in this country," said Khaled Takki, head of the privately-owned Lebanese Water Transportation Alternative which is behind the project. …

CAIRO: Egypt’s main index fell for a first day in three as blue chips Orascom Telecom (OT) and Commercial International Bank (CIB) weighed. OT dropped 3.4 percent and CIB slipped 1.9 percent. Traders expect the market to move sideways as investors hold off ahead of company results. "Earnings season is almost here, a wait-and-see attitude …

  CAIRO: Private equity firm Citadel Capital announced Sunday the start of commissioning at its 220,000-square-meter greenfield float glass factory, according to a statement.   With a production capacity of 600 tons per day, the LE 1.1 billion facility is one of Egypt’s largest producers of float glass, the firm said. Sphinx Glass is 51 …

RIYADH: HSBC’s Saudi affiliate SABB bank missed forecasts and two other banks in the kingdom reported sharp falls due to high provisions to counter exposure to troubled Saudi firms and a slowdown in lending. The second quarter results for SABB, Arab National Bank(ANB), and Saudi Investment Bank (SAIB) on Monday reflect a challenging period for …

  A painting that depicts a dead Nelson Mandela undergoing an autopsy provoked outrage this week in South Africa, but the artist who created the work has said it is a tribute to the iconic leader.   The painting by local artist Yuill Damaso depicts South Africa’s first black president’s dead body on an operating …

CAIRO: Press reports on an official complaint filed against former Lawyers’ Syndicate chairman Sameh Ashour accusing him of allegedly seizing LE 10 million during his term are untrue, board member Mohamed Abdel-Ghaffar said Thursday. Abdel-Ghaffar told Daily News Egypt that on July 1 he had filed a complaint before the Public Prosecutor, not the Public …

CAIRO: Fifteen Bedouin detainees were given release orders on Thursday and at press time were waiting to be discharged at the state security office in Al-Arish. Those released belong to families which reside in cities, Bedouin spokesman Moussa El-Dilh told Daily News Egypt. “The government is favoring those from the cities over people from the …

CAIRO: Egypt’s highest judiciary body on Wednesday overturned a ruling ordering the Coptic church to allow its faithful to remarry, the official MENA news agency said, in a move welcomed by the church. The Supreme Constitutional Court overturned a May decision by the High Administrative Court that obliged the head of the church, Pope Shenuda …

KUALA LUMPUR: Sumitomo Corp is arranging the first Islamic funding deal in Japan, which could pave the way for other Japanese issuers to tap the $1 trillion industry, a source with knowledge of the deal said. The yen-denominated issue, which would be the first by a Japanese issuer in the country, mirrors the structure of …

DURBAN, South Africa: Carles Puyol soared high to head in the goal that sent Spain into the World Cup final for the first time with a 1-0 win over Germany on Wednesday. In a rematch of the 2008 European Championship final that Spain won by the same score, Puyol’s powerful header in the 73rd minute …