Arab Cotton Ginning begins new dividend policy
Arab Cotton Ginning Company (ACGC), Egypt’s biggest publicly traded textiles holding company, began implementing a new dividend policy “based on high and sustainable dividend yields,” the company said in…
Metlife completes Alico acquisition
MetLife, Inc. said this week that it has completed its acquisition of American Life Insurance Company (Alico) from American International Group, Inc. (AIG) for $16.2 billion, according to a statement.…
MSCC to open Nigeria branch
Egypt’s Mediterranean Smart Cards Company (MSCC), an electronic payment processing company, will open its first international branch in Nigeria, the firm announced at a recent conference. Hoda Shoukry, CEO…
Arafa to own 59 pct of shirt-making company
Arafa Holding will set up a new shirt-making company in which it will hold a 59 percent stake. Arafa’s board of directors approved establishing the company, to be called…
The dilemma of democracy in new Iraq
By Faiza Alaraji BAGHDAD: When America invaded Iraq in 2003, the Bush administration claimed that they came to liberate Iraq and bring democracy — to make it a shining example in…
The peace process should quit smoking
By Karam Dana BOSTON: Nothing makes a person more uncomfortable than visiting their home country and feeling very helpless. As a Palestinian-American, visiting the West Bank, where I was born, forces…
Angela Merkel’s fear of Europe
By Joschka Fischer BERLIN: Ever since the global financial crisis erupted in September 2008, the European Union has been in turmoil. On the one hand, the euro protected the eurozone, particularly…
A scramble for Asia?
By Brahma Chellaney NEW DELHI: Asia’s festering Cold War-era territorial and maritime disputes highlight the fact that securing long-term region-wide peace depends on respect for existing borders. Attempts to disturb Asia’s…
Massive Doonesbury retrospective worth it
By Mike Householder/ AP "40: A Doonesbury Retrospective" (Andrews McMeel), by G.B. Trudeau: Forty years after the ever-helmeted football hero B.D. first met his dorky Walden College roommate Mike Doonesbury, the…
Third European film panorama kicks off
* Headlining this year’s edition is Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Biutiful” starring Academy Award winner Javier Bardem. # ! Disparate conflicts old and new are at the center of this week’s…
