HSBC scaling down private bank in MidEast: sources
By Dinesh Nair / Reuters DUBAI: HSBC, Europe's biggest lender, is significantly scaling down its private banking operations in the Middle East, two sources told Reuters, and HSBC said its top…
Analysts slam attempt to unite revolutionary powers prior to presidential elections
By Heba Hesham CAIRO: Analysts were reluctant to praise an initiative by politicians and public figures that attempt to bring together the revolutionaries around the main goals of the Jan. 25…
Egypt interim government faces tough task selling IMF reforms
By Patrick Werr / Reuters CAIRO: Egypt's interim government will have to muster all its skills of persuasion to sell austerity measures to a country weary after a year of political…
Saudi says to honor $3.7 bln aid pledge to Egypt
By AFP RIYADH: Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday that it would honor a pledge of $3.75 billion in aid to Egypt, after complaints by the Egyptian premier that donor countries…
Egyptian middleman bought fake Avastin from Turkey
By Edmund Blair / Reuters CAIRO: Fake versions of the multibillion-dollar cancer drug Avastin were purchased in Turkey before being traded by middlemen across the Middle East and Europe to the…
Egypt detains Islamist, confusion over Al-Qaeda link
By Edmund Blair / Reuters CAIRO: An Egyptian Islamist, mistakenly identified as a senior Al-Qaeda commander because he has the same name, was detained at Cairo airport on Wednesday for suspected…
Judges in NGO case faced ‘political pressure’; travel ban on Americans lifted
CAIRO: Political pressure may be the reason why the panel of judges overseeing the probe against foreign NGOs in Egypt withdrew from the case on Tuesday, experts said. The…
Nuclear disarmament’s midnight hour
By Gareth Evans CANBERRA: Last month, the Doomsday Clock’s hands were moved a minute closer to midnight by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the respected global organization that for decades…
Quran burnings indicate need for mission overhaul
By Lisa Schirch and Karim Merchant LONDON: Recent news of US troops burning copies of the Quran in Afghanistan sparked protests and fuelled violence. In response, US President Barack Obama apologized…
Hollywood recognizes Iran’s “glorious culture”
By Persheng Vaziri NEW YORK, New York: If you could climb over the mountain of threats and political posturing that are part of the language used by the United States, Europe…