TEL AVIV: Last week, Professor John Mearsheimer presented an analysis of the chances of Israel surviving in the long term. Every Israeli who is concerned about the future of the state should grapple with this analysis. Mearsheimer believes that the two-state solution is “dead”. Greater Israel, ruling over the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and …

SANAA: Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh this week marked 20 years ruling a united Yemen, but has little to celebrate in a country buckling under the pressure of separatist, sectarian and al Qaeda violence. Pro-unity billboards lining the streets of the capital Sanaa — "Strength in unity and unity in strength!" — serve as a …

Mediation is becoming an increasingly popular method of resolving commercial disputes. The technique clearly falls into the category of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), which the United States Code says “includes any process or procedure, other than an adjudication by a presiding judge, in which a neutral third party participates to assist in the resolution of …

CAIRO: Manshiyet Nasser Misdemeanors Court on Wednesday handed deputy Cairo governor a five-year suspended sentence for the involuntary manslaughter and injury of the Duweiqa residents. Mahmoud Yassin was also ordered to pay a LE 5,000 bail. Seven other officials from the district authority as well as the housing and property management departments were handed down …

JERUSALEM: Air raid sirens wailed across Israel on Wednesday at the peak of a five-day civil defense exercise to test the Jewish state’s defenses in the event of war, the army said. The sirens sounded at 11:00 am (0800 GMT) for 90 seconds, sending civilians across the country into their nearest bomb shelter or protected …

The Egyptian pound weakened to its lowest against the dollar since March 13, 2009, as it tracked the euro downward on concerns over the health of euro zone economies. The pound traded at 5.6543 to the dollar, down from its Monday close of 5.6480, while the euro traded at 1.2204 to the dollar. "Everyone is …

Egypt’s communications minister said on Monday a final decision had not been made over whether landline monopoly Telecom Egypt would try to boost its stake in Vodafone’s Egyptian unit. Telecom Egypt, 80 percent owned by the Egyptian government, said on Friday it was considering options to enter Egypt’s competitive mobile market, including increasing its 45 …

CAIRO: Border guards in Rafah arrested a man in the early hours of Tuesday morning as he attempted to infiltrate the border into the Gaza Strip. The man was identified as Mohamed Karam Shehata, from Beheira, who allegedly was fleeing domestic troubles. Security authorities at the border said that he was suffering from mental illness. …

CAIRO: Ahly midfielder Ahmed Hassan said he will comment on his row with manager Hossam Al-Badri at the end of the season. "It is not the right time to speak about the issue. I am totally focused on the Cairo derby on Wednesday," Hassan told FilGoal.com. "But all the details will be known when the …

Arafa Holding, Egypt’s biggest garment exporter, will distribute a dividend of one share for every 10 owned, the firm said on Monday. Later in the year, it will distribute yet another share for every 10 owned "subject to the improvement in the global financial markets in general and local market in specific," the firm said …

ABU DHABI: UAE’S Aabar Investments, which has stakes in Daimler and Virgin Galactic, on Sunday said it entered into a $800 million loan agreement with local and international lenders. International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC), wholly-owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, is the majority shareholder in Abu Dhabi-listed Aabar, which is the emirate’s fastest growing …

South African telecoms operator MTN Group is set to disappoint lenders as talks for a $5 billion loan to buy the assets of Egyptian telecoms firm Orascom Telecom (ORTE) fizzle out, banking sources said. As previously reported, MTN has been discussing a $5 billion loan to buy some or all of the assets of Orascom …

manama: Bahrain annual inflation rose to 2.7 percent year-on-year in April from 1.8 percent in March, data showed on Thursday. The consumer price index of the Gulf kingdom stood at 112.5 points in April, an increase of 0.6 percent from March, the Central Informatics Organization’s website showed.

LONDON/DUBAI: Royal Dutch Shell and other oil companies are taking less Iranian crude because of poor economics and the difficulty of making financial transactions with Tehran, industry sources said on Thursday. The lower sales coincide with a build-up of Iranian crude in storage and a draft UN resolution to expand sanctions against the Islamic Republic …

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.: The Atlantis astronauts finally get a chance to relax in orbit, following two grueling spacewalks. Only one spacewalk remains for the shuttle crew, on Friday. The astronauts will finish installing batteries at the International Space Station. Two of the crew replaced four space station batteries during Wednesday’s spacewalk. They also fixed a …

KABUL: Rescuers located the wreckage of a passenger plane that crashed in the Afghan mountains with 43 people on board but there was no immediate word on whether anyone had survived, officials said Thursday. Afghan and NATO rescuers located the tail of the Pamir Airways plane, which had been carrying three Britons, an American and …

CAIRO: Foreign donors must make aid to Egypt conditional on the government making human rights and democratic change concessions, an Egyptian NGO said Wednesday. “Financial assistance will be meaningless if it is not accompanied by political and diplomatic engagement,” Moataz El-Fegeiry, executive director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) said. “We need …

TRIPOLI: Libya will list the state-owned Abu-Kammash petrochemical complex on the stock market, an official said, the latest step to open up an economy that is attracting growing interest from foreign investors. After decades of Socialist policies and international isolation, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has begun tentative economic liberalization in his oil exporting country, including …

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s economy is expected to grow by 7-8 percent this year while inflation remains stable as capital keeps pouring into the Arab country, central bank governor Riad Salameh said on Thursday. Capital inflows, especially from Lebanese expatriates, contributed to 9 percent growth last year, with Lebanon shrugging off the effects of the global financial …

DUBAI: Markets in the United Arab Emirates gave a weary welcome to a long-awaited debt deal with Dubai World, with investors worried about a sluggish economic recovery and the fallout from Greece’s debt problems. Volatile global markets weighed on sentiment, while investors remain unsure whether local banks will take provisions on Dubai World and resume …

KARACHI: At least 17 people including two children have been killed in political clashes in Pakistan’s financial capital Karachi in the past two days, a government official and police said Thursday. Police and paramilitary have been put on high alert and authorities closed all schools and colleges after the latest outbreak of politically related violence …

CAIRO: The weighted average yield at a 14-day deposit auction was 8.288 percent, compared with 8.321 at last auction on Dec. 2, Egypt’s central bank said on Wednesday. The bank had asked for LE 10 billion ($1.77billion) and received bids worth LE 11.86 billion. It accepted the whole amount at rates between 8.275 and 8.310 …

CAIRO: Egyptian developer Sixth of October Development and Investment Company (SODIC) posted a first quarter net loss of LE 10.9 million ($1.94 million), well below analysts’ expectations. Forecasts from three analysts polled by Reuters had ranged from a net profit of LE 15 million to LE 75.8 million. The high-end real estate firm, which does …

MANAMA: Non-OPEC oil producer Bahrain has recently made its first shipment of ultra-low sulphur diesel of less than 10 parts per million (ppm), the country’s Minister of Oil and Gas Affairs said on Tuesday. "We celebrated the first shipment of the 10 ppm last Saturday," Abdul-Hussain Bin Ali Mirza said in a speech to an …

DUBAI: This year’s Indian Akshaya Tritiya festival helped boost retail gold sale volumes in the Gulf region by 11 percent compared to last year’s despite high bullion prices, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Tuesday. More than 720 kilograms of gold worth around $30 million was sold in the Gulf region during the one-day …

  FIFA has banned Egypt from playing in Cairo for two World Cup qualifiers after fans attacked Algeria’s team before a match.   FIFA ruled Tuesday that Egypt must stage its first two home matches in qualifying for the 2014 finals at least 100 kilometers from the capital. FIFA’s disciplinary panel said Egypt’s federation "failed …

CAIRO: Zamalek boss Hossam Hassan said he isn’t concerned with renewing his contract with the club as he is ready to offer his assistance for free. Hassan reaffirmed comments from his twin brother Ibrahim (football director) that no talks of a new contract have yet to be opened with the board. Even so, the Egypt …

CAIRO: Hamas has denied reports emanating from Cairo that Egypt has severed relations with the Islamist group, but stated its objection to recent practices against the blockaded Gaza Strip. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri (whose brother Yousef died in an Egyptian jail last year) said in a statement Monday that Egypt had not officially informed …

DUBAI: Growth in the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council states is expected to rise to 4.4 percent in 2010 and 4.7 percent in 2011, the Institute of International Finance (IFF) said in a report on Monday. "The GCC is emerging from the global recession and is recovering at a solid pace," after a near-zero growth in …

TRIPOLI: OPEC members will watch the market before deciding on any action over the drop in oil prices, Libya’s top energy official told Reuters. Shokri Ghanem, the head of Libya’s NOC state energy firm and its representative to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said part of the reason for the fall in prices …