Latest in Tag: Investment Highlight
Latest in Tag: Investment
In support of the man behind the shoe
Top US Mideast diplomat quits government
WASHINGTON: The top US diplomat for the Middle East will step down from his post and move to the private sector at the end of the week, as President-elect Barack Obama s transition team weighs possible successors, State Department officials said Wednesday. David Welch, a career diplomat and assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern …
World powers, Arabs share concern on Iran nuclear program
UNITED NATIONS: Arab nations conferred Tuesday with six nations leading international efforts to convince Tehran to abandon its nuclear program, in a first-of-its-kind briefing at the United Nations. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain – plus Germany held a two-hour meeting with seven …
OPEC agrees to record cut in oil output: Saudi minister
ORAN: The OPEC oil cartel agreed on Wednesday to a record output cut of two million barrels a day, the Saudi Arabian oil minister said, with non-member producers also ready to slash 600,000 barrels. “There is a consensus on a cut of two million barrels a day, Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali Al-Nuaimi told reporters …
Court overturns decision to audit private newspapers
CAIRO: The administrative court overturned Tuesday a decision by the Central Auditing Agency (CAA) to monitor the financial and administrative records of privately owned newspapers. The head of the Cairo Administrative Court Mohamed Ahmed Attiya in his ruling stressed that freedom of the press is enshrined in the Egyptian constitution, and that imposing restrictions on …
Celebrating a shoe
Iran-Egypt political rift widens
CAIRO: Egypt has cancelled a scheduled visit of an Iranian delegation to Cairo, further escalating a political row between the two nations. Egypt s Parliament Speaker Dr Ahmad Fathi Sorour announced the cancellation of an Iranian visit, which was supposed to arrange the final preparations toward a scheduled conference of the Islamic Parliament s (IP) …
Sinai tribes give government ultimatum
CAIRO: Bedouin tribes in Sinai have given the government an ultimatum to heed their list of demands by Jan. 15. At a conference in Al-Ajira in Northern Sinai, the four main tribes of Sinai gathered to reiterate their demands and request from the government to act upon them by early next year. The four tribes …
UN ministerial meeting on Iranian nuclear program
UNITED NATIONS: Ministers from the six nations involved in talks on Iran s nuclear program prepared to meet Tuesday to assure several Arab countries they will maintain pressure on Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions. The so-called P5-plus-1 – Germany and permanent UN Security Council members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – …
Mubarak hosts Singapore's parliament speaker
Iran trying to dominate Mideast, says Aboul Gheit
CAIRO: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit lashed out at the Iranian government on Sunday, accusing the Islamist regime of trying to dominate the Middle East. Aboul Gheit s statement signaled an escalation in a simmering diplomatic dispute between the two countries, which have both vied for a dominant role in the region. The Iranians …
Iraqi 'shoe' reporter detained by PM security
BAGHDAD: A reporter who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush was being held for questioning by the Iraqi prime minister’s guards, an Iraqi official said Monday, as Arabs across the Middle East hailed the incident as a proper send-off to the unpopular US president. Muntazer Al-Zaidi was being interrogated over whether anybody paid …
Egypt police discover 114 migrants in truck
CAIRO: Egyptian police have detained 114 sub-Saharan African migrants who were found packed into a single truck in the Sinai peninsula, the state news agency MENA reported on Monday. Police regularly detain or shoot African migrants who try to enter Israel illegally from Sinai. During a search of the vehicle, the group of Africans was …
Physical, verbal brawls erupt in PA
CAIRO: Clashes erupted at the People s Assembly Sunday between members affiliated with the National Democratic Party (NDP) and Saad Aboud, of Al-Karama opposition party, as they discussed the Ministry of Interior s role in obstructing an aid convoy to Gaza. Verbal as well as physical assaults were exchanged between the NDP members and Aboud. …
Egypt police kill Togolese migrant at Israel border
CAIRO: Egyptian border police shot dead a Togolese migrant as he tried to enter Israel illegally, a security official said on Saturday. The 25-year-old was shot in the head near the border, just south of the Gaza Strip, the official said. Egyptian police have killed at least 28 migrants, most of them Sudanese and Eritrean, …
Security Council mulls text in support of Mideast peace
UNITED NATIONS: UN Security Council envoys huddled behind closed doors Saturday to mull a text in support of the Middle East peace process which their ministers plan to adopt here next week. US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad announced Friday that the council would hold a ministerial meeting next Tuesday to encourage the successful …
Hamas rules out renewing truce
CAIRO: Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said on Sunday it was unlikely that a truce with Israel in and around the Gaza Strip would be renewed when it expires next week. His comments, given in a Hamas statement, came as Israeli and Egyptian officials met in Cairo on renewing the six-month truce which was agreed under …
PA to discuss seven investigation requests Sunday
CAIRO: Out of the 76 investigation requests filed to the PA by independent, Muslim Brotherhood and opposition MPs last month, seven are set to be discussed on Sunday, according to MP Mohamed Khalil Kwaitah. Kwaitah, who is affiliated with the National Democratic Party (NDP), says that the seven investigation requests revolve around the process of …
Obama plans major address in Islamic capital: interview
WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama plans to give a major address in an Islamic capital soon after taking office as he seeks to mend America s image in the Muslim world, a Chicago Tribune interview said. I think we ve got a unique opportunity to reboot America s image around the world and also in the …
Arabs urge Obama to focus on Mideast peace
CAIRO: The Arab League has urged US president-elect Barack Obama to focus on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after he takes office in January, spokesman Hisham Youssef said on Thursday. The 22-member pan-Arab institution detailed its vision for an end to the decades-old conflict in a letter signed by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and …
Egyptians, Israelis row over 'pilgrimage' to Jewish grave
CAIRO: Egyptian members of parliament and activists are campaigning to prevent thousands of Israeli Jews from flocking to Egypt every year to visit the grave of a famous rabbi. Thousands of Israelis make annual trips to the neighboring Egypt to celebrate the birthday of Rabbi Ya aqov Abu Ha seira, a 19th-century Moroccan Jew who …
Egypt furious over Tehran demonstrations
CAIRO: Egypt’s Foreign Ministry summoned Iran’s diplomatic representative in Cairo on Tuesday over anti-Egypt protests in Tehran, which also led to the recall of the Egyptian envoy from the Iranian capital. In a statement released by the ministry Tuesday, Egypt pointed out its objection to the protests – the last of which occurred on Monday …
Court could order Muslim Brotherhood MP out of parliament
CAIRO: Only one month into the 2008-2009 People’s Assembly (PA) term and controversy is already looming over it, especially with regards to the Muslim Brotherhood. A court ruled that Muslim Brotherhood MP Adel Hamed, had violated the criteria for candidacy. He should not have been allowed to run under the workers’ quota because he owned …
Iran cleric warns Israel of Muslim anger over Gaza
TEHRAN: Iran s former president and influential cleric is warning Israel of the consequences of the ongoing siege of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani says Muslim anger over the siege will eventually explode and burn Israelis. Rafsanjani spoke during a prayer sermon Tuesday. The remarks were carried by state radio. The cleric …
Accused 9/11 plotters say they want to confess
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba: The five men charged with coordinating the Sept. 11 attacks are in a hurry to enter guilty pleas on their apparent quest for martyrdom, with only six weeks remaining before President-elect Barack Obama takes office. The war-crimes detainees said they decided on Nov. 4 – the day Obama was elected …
Israel under fire at UN over rights record
GENEVA: Israel came under sustained criticism from its Arab neighbors over its human rights record at a UN council Thursday, with Western states also expressing concern at the treatment of Palestinians. The Jewish state was being examined by the UN Human Rights Council as part of the Universal Periodic Review to which every UN member …
Tense Egypt-Hamas relations take a turn for the worse
CAIRO: Already tense relations between Egypt and Hamas have soured after Cairo for the first time openly accused the group of torpedoing Palestinian reconciliation talks. Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit was quoted as saying on Thursday that months of Egyptian-mediated talks between rivals Hamas and Fatah failed in November because of Hamas lack of enthusiasm …
Israeli Arabs plan to sail to Gaza
GAZA CITY: Leaders of Israel s Arab community said Wednesday they will sail to Gaza on a boat laden with humanitarian supplies to challenge their government s blockade of the territory. The Israeli Arabs would also defy their country s own ban on citizens visiting Gaza with their voyage, set for Sunday. Israel and Egypt …
Egypt arrests 64 MB members over Gaza protests
CAIRO: Police on Thursday arrested 64 members of the Muslim Brotherhood opposition group for organizing protests against the siege of the Gaza Strip, the group said. The arrests were made during dawn raids in Alexandria, the Suez Canal town of Ismailia and other governorates in the Nile Delta, the Brotherhood website said. The arrests were …