Oil falls under $112 on bearish global demand
LONDON: Oil dropped below $112 a barrel on Friday, down more than $2.50, to its lowest level since early May, pressured by faltering global demand, rising supply and a stronger…
Confessions of a (M)ad Man: What the world needs now is branding, sweet, branding
If it's true that love makes the world go round, Newton's got some explaining to do.What is love anyway? Has there ever been a word so overused and yet so…
Egypt's central bank seen raising rates again this year
CAIRO: Egypt's central bank, which has already raised overnight interest rates by 225 basis points this year, is seen likely to increase them again, by at least 50 bps, by…
Johansson weary of the 'M' word ahead of latest Allen film
Her third Woody Allen film in three years is about to hit US movie theatres, but Scarlett Johansson rejects suggestions that she is the legendary New York director s latest…
10 alternative albums for the summer
Flipping through this summer's world music charts, one can't help but mourn the insipidity of current mainstream offerings. Whether it's a horde of gangsta rap and over-sexualized hip-hop, domesticated rock…
With a Grain of Salt: Who needs Democracy?
I couldn't grasp the reason why people were so distressed about the military coup which overthrew the democratically-elected president of Mauritania.In the third world, the role of the military is,…
Imagine if the kids took over
A couple of months ago, as Israelis celebrated 60 years of statehood and Palestinians marked six decades of dispossession, I wondered whether there would ever be peace between the two…
People and a poet: the voice of Mahmoud Darwish
On Saturday August 9th in the afternoon, I was getting ready to give a talk about Palestinian olive trees to a gathering of authors and thinkers at Keystone College in…
Editorial: Rumors, Egypt's stock market and the media
What happened to Egypt's stock market last week was nothing short of a tsunami. The acute and erratic fall and rise was triggered by rumors involving a murder mystery that…
Garbage City residents learn to turn recycled waste into solar power
CAIRO: Paper, food, cotton balls, and glass bottles fill the allies of Garbage City (known as the Zabaleen community). Waves of flies cover the waste.The stench is overpowering and, in…