Saudi’s Naimi shifts up to $70-$90 price range
SINGAPORE: Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia on Monday shifted upwards from a price it has backed for around two years, saying oil at between $70 and $90 a barrel was…
Spending in next Qatar budget to match 2010/11
DOHA: Qatari government spending in the next financial year will at least match the $32 billion budgeted for 2010/11, and the Gulf country's economic growth will accelerate next year, its…
Egyptian activist Hossam Bahgat receives HRW award
CAIRO: An Egyptian activist has been awarded the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary activism by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in recognition of his work defending civil rights and personal…
BBVA bank announces big step into Turkish banking
MADRID: BBVA bank, the second-biggest Spanish bank, said on Tuesday that it had agreed to buy 24.89 percent of Turkish bank Garanti Bankasi for 5.8 billion dollars (4.2 billion euros).…
Lebanon: Balancing act on debt
By Oxford Business Group Lebanon’s government has been urged by a multilateral lender to strengthen its public finances, upgrade infrastructure and improve the business environment to sustain recent macroeconomic progress. However,…
US extends Sudan economic sanctions for a year
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama is extending economic sanctions on Sudan for at least one year, the White House said Monday, ahead of the country's January referendum on independence for…
Malaysia can be Muslim ‘thought leader’, says Clinton
KUALA LUMPUR: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that Muslim-majority Malaysia can be a global "thought leader", praising the multicultural nation's efforts to avoid religious rifts. On…
Egypt to reissue new satellite TV uplink permits
CAIRO: Egypt's information minister on Monday ordered the reissuing of new licenses for private TV satellite uplinks amid criticism that the state aims to tighten government control over the media…
Who will rescue the rest of us?
SYDNEY: The rescue of the 33 Chilean miners, from what was feared would be their tomb, gave the world something to cheer about. Hope has not, after all, become a…
Can religious leaders play a constructive role?
By Hanna Siniora JERUSALEM - In a message that concluded two weeks of meetings of the Vatican Synod on the Middle East, the bishops declared that Israel should not use the…