CAIRO: Real estate firm Egyptian Resorts said on Sunday its board of directors agreed to take back a piece of land the company had sold for about $11 million after the buyer failed to meet some sale requirements. The firm, which makes most of its money selling land to developers, has not sold any plots …

KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait is closely monitoring "sleeping terror cells" that would resort to violence if Iran came under a military strike, a newspaper quoted a security source as saying on Sunday. "The security agencies have been monitoring those cells for a long time and are aware of their moves and sources of funding," the unnamed …

State-run Korea National Oil Corp made a hostile £1.67 billion ($2.6 billion) bid for British group Dana Petroleum, highlighting South Korea’s stronger resolve to secure energy assets overseas. Korea gave KNOC a $6.5 billion warchest this year to compete with energy-hungry Asian state firms looking to secure supplies for their growing economies. Chinese and other …

SINGAPORE: In his days as a jet-setting telecom executive, ready-to-eat meals were a regular part of Fazal Bahardeen’s luggage. Many of the hotels he stayed in did not have halal-certified restaurants for Muslim travelers like the 47-year-old Sri Lankan-born Singaporean. Rooms lacked markers pointing to Mecca for prayers and staff were unable to answer questions …

CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) will call a meeting within a few days to make a final decision on whether the group will participate in the upcoming People’s Assembly (PA) elections due to be held in November, MP Mohamed El-Beltagy told Daily News Egypt Tuesday. “The group’s consultative council will call a meeting within a …

CAIRO: The average yield on Egyptian 182-day Treasury bills dipped to 10.108 percent at an auction on Sunday versus 10.369 percent at last auction on Aug 1. The central bank accepted bids worth LE 2 billion ($351 million), the same amount it was seeking. It accepted bids at rates between 9.979 and 10.2 percent compared …

CAIRO: The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan may be delaying the start of talks between the Algerian government and Egypt’s Orascom Telecom to buy the mobile firm’s Djezzy unit, an executive said on Sunday. Orascom said in May it would start talks to sell the unit, its top revenue earner, to the government after Algeria …

CAIRO: The unemployment rate among youth has reached 22 percent in 2009, with 47.2 percent among women and 13.7 among men, according to a recent government study. The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics issued a study on Wednesday, offering statistics that describe the situation of Egyptian youth, regarding employment, education and marriage. The …

Egyptian group Maridive and Oil Services posted second-quarter net profit below forecasts as it suffered from a continued oil industry downturn. The biggest oil services company in the Middle East by fleet size posted second-quarter net profit of $11 million on Thursday, down from $29.5 million a year ago and below a forecast for $18.7 …

CAIRO: Egyptian real estate firm Palm Hills Developments said on Monday it would relaunch a delayed Red Sea development in the fourth quarter of 2010 and start marketing a bond issue by the end of the year. The company is stepping up construction work on its projects, including developments in Cairo and on the Mediterranean …

The Egyptian state’s main wheat buying agency said on Tuesday it wanted to buy cargoes of 55,000 to 60,000 tons of optional-origin wheat for shipment September 10-25. The agency said it was not seeking offers of wheat from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Romania. It did not give details, but the Black Sea region has been …

Dairy and juice maker Juhayna Food Industries, which debuted on Egypt’s stock exchange in June, more than tripled first-half net profit, the exchange said on Tuesday. The firm, which carried out Egypt’s first initial public offering since 2008, made profit of LE 100.4 million ($17.71 million), up from LE 29.1 million the previous year, the …

CAIRO: Urban consumer inflation in Egypt was steady at 10.7 percent in the 12 months to July, the state-run CAPMAS statistics agency said on Tuesday but prices jumped on a monthly basis. The urban consumer price index – Egypt’s most closely watched indicator of prices – was 151.2 versus 136.6 a year ago, the agency …

CAIRO: Afghanistan’s entire wheat crop may be at risk of devastation from a wheat rust disease called Ug-99, which originated in Uganda in 1999, said Egyptian and US officials at a press conference held Tuesday at the Ministry of Agriculture. The disease, which can devastate entire crops within days and has already spread through parts …

Egyptian real estate firm Palm Hills Developments said on Sunday demand for homes in Egypt helped fuel the firm’s highest ever reservations of new units in the second quarter, despite a dip in its bottom line. Palm Hills said a new financing and advertising campaign also helped it sell LE 1.75 billion of new reservations, …

CAIRO: Egyptair, Egypt’s flagship carrier and one of Africa’s largest airlines, aims to boost full-year profit nearly a third, rebounding from a global economic downturn, an executive said on Sunday. "We are making a profit," said Hussein Massoud, chairman and chief executive officer of the EgyptAir holding company. "We are planning to see more this …

CAIRO: Egypt’s benchmark index ended almost flat at 0.3 percent lower, led by heavyweight Orascom Telecom (OT) and Orascom Construction. "Heavyweight stocks are down as investors are selling to make profit following the market gains of last week," said Mina Iskander of investment bank EFG-Hermes. OT lost 1.5 percent and Orascom Construction 1 percent. Egypt’s …

BRUSSELS: Somali pirates seized a freighter with 24 Syrian and Egyptian crew members in the lawless waters of the Gulf of Aden, the EU’s anti-piracy force said, reporting the second pirate capture this week. The Syria Star, flagged in Saint Vincent and Grenadines, radioed for help on Thursday and "reported that she was under attack …

Egypt’s net foreign reserves rose to $35.28 billion in July, from $35.22 billion a month earlier, the Central Bank of Egypt said on its website on Thursday. In July 2009, net foreign reserves came in at $31.63 billion.    

Egyptian sanitary ware and ceramics maker Lecico posted a decline in second-quarter revenue and net profit on Thursday, hit by costs from a fire at one of its export warehouses. Lecico exports a third of its sanitary ware including toilets and sinks and has a significant presence in Britain and France. It said continued weakness …

Orascom Housing Communities (OHC) announced Monday plans to launch the new phase of Haram City, the company’s flagship low-income housing project located in Sixth of October. The new phase will include over 4,500 additional housing units, with new designs featuring modern architecture and finishes, according to a company statement. The new units will go on …

Ezz Steel said it has increased steel prices by LE 50 per ton ($9 per ton) to reach LE 3,600 ($632 per ton), inclusive of the 8 percent sale tax. In its daily market report, Beltone Financial said, “The minor increase in Ezz rebar prices comes on the back of stability witnessed in the global …

BUENOS AIRES: Mercosur, a South American trade bloc that groups big agricultural exporters Brazil and Argentina, will sign a free-trade deal with Egypt next week, the Egyptian trade minister said on Friday. Egypt is the world’s biggest importer of wheat and Argentina is among the leading global exporters of the grain, although it did not …

GAZA CITY: Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers rattled sabres on Sunday after fighters fired rockets into southern Israel, prompting a series of retaliatory air raids. Israeli warplanes launched two pre-dawn raids on tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday after a Palestinian rocket struck the southern town of Sderot, damaging a university building without …

JERUSALEM: Israeli warplanes launched two pre-dawn raids on tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip, injuring one person, after Palestinian insurgents fired rockets into Israel, the army and Palestinian sources said. A spokesman for the Israeli military confirmed the strikes targeted two tunnels used to smuggle arms into the Islamist Hamas-run enclave. Palestinian medical sources said …

The current portfolio of cooperation between Egypt and the World Bank comprises 18 development projects, financed through loans at a total $3.209 billion, in addition to 10 grants worth $66.200 million, according to Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Aboul Naga. “The ministry is keen on varying this portfolio of cooperation with the World Bank, covering …

CAIRO: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) left its key overnight interest rates on hold on Thursday a day after the government announced that economic growth had accelerated to an annual 5.9 percent. The decision by the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to keep rates unchanged, its seventh pause since it last lowered rates in …

CAIRO: Egypt said Wednesday it has received US assurances that may help in restarting direct peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel. Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awwad did not disclose details of the US assurances, which come on the eve of a crucial Arab League meeting to determine the future of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Palestinian …

Egyptian state-owned National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) plan to sell medium-term bonds in the coming weeks, two people familiar with the transactions said on Sunday. NBE last week began marketing dollar-denominated bonds it is issuing through a fully owned special purpose entity, Nile Finance Limited, incorporated in the Cayman …

WASHINGTON: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that Israel will strike directly at Lebanese institutions if the group Hezbollah launches rockets at Israeli town, in an interview published Monday. Barak, who is expected to arrive in Washington Monday, made clear his government will not tolerate any more Hezbollah attacks. If Hezbollah fires a rocket into …