Egypt's CIB sees net profit slide, moves forward with expansion plans
CAIRO: Commercial International Bank's (CIB) results for the second quarter of 2009 represent a slide for one of the industry leaders, which finds itself in the midst of an expansion…
Israelis, Palestinians play Beethoven's 'Fidelio' in Salzburg
Argentinean-Israeli maestro Daniel Barenboim brought his pioneering West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to Salzburg this week for two sell-out concert performances of Beethoven s sole opera Fidelio. The choice of Fidelio, which…
Iraq book ban raises fears of free speech clampdown
Moves by Iraq's government to control the flow of information both in print and online have raised fears of a crackdown on free speech reminiscent of the regime of ex-dictator…
Beloved folk hero returns to Old Cairo
This week, I ventured again to the back allies of Gamaleya, the old neighborhood situated behind Al-Hussein Mosque in old Cairo. There was no problem climbing over rubble from dug…
A night of short films and lingering predicaments
There was no introduction to the screenings; the films simply started playing. Five short films by four young filmmakers were shown last Sunday at Rawabet Theater in Downtown Cairo, covering…
In transit: The music of Motel Motel
Wisdom Hall and Boss Bar; Motel Motel were at ease in both, and at home in neither. The up-and-coming rock band from Brooklyn - hailed by the New York Press…
Buddhist-Muslim harmony alive and well in Thailand
BANGKOK: Hamzah Desa, a 42-year-old Thai Muslim, sits cross-legged on the veranda of his one-room wooden house in Kampung Che Bilang in Satun, a Muslim-majority province in southern Thailand.It s…
Fatah's Status Quo Congress
HERZLIYA: The Sixth Fatah Congress, held recently in Bethlehem, was an important event for the future of the Arab-Israeli conflict and for the Palestinian movement. But a careful look at…
Abbas emerges strengthened
The convening of Fatah s Sixth General Conference in Bethlehem is a significant development. Indeed, the Fatah movement, which has long led the modern Palestinian political movement and was responsible…