LONDON: OPEC raised its estimate for world oil demand growth in 2010 for a third successive month on Tuesday, but its figures showed economic recovery would not be sufficient to wipe out a surplus of supply this year. The monthly report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps more than one in …

Orascom Telecom’s executive chairman said the CEO of Orascom’s Algerian unit met with the Algerian finance minister on Monday, but declined to comment further on the status of talks over the troubled unit. "We are very keen not to comment on the Algerian file, because we are very keen to leave relations with Algeria in …

CAIRO: Egypt’s parliament voted on Tuesday to extend a decades-old state of emergency for a further two years, the official MENA news agency reported. "The People’s Assembly has approved by a 308-member majority the presidential decree to extend the state of emergency for a period of two years," MENA said. A parliamentary source told AFP …

DUBAI: Dubai’s Emirates airline will start flights to Iraq in July, it said on Monday, as it looks to benefit from increasing traffic on the back of reconstruction efforts in the war-torn nation. The Arab world’s biggest carrier, which has not flown to the country before, said in a statement the destination is one of …

LONDON: The Qatari royal family’s investment arm is considering whether to open a flagship Harrods outlet in Shanghai after its acquisition of the British store, the Financial Times reported Monday. Qatar Holding, which bought the landmark London department store for £1.5 billion (€1.7 billion, $2.2 billion) on Saturday, may target the Chinese city as a …

Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin called for offering more investment projects on the Upper Egypt-Red Sea road as soon as possible. During a tour of the Upper Egyptian city of Assiut, he pointed out that major Arab and foreign investment institutions are interested in launching projects along the road. Services including petrol stations, traffic posts, …

Egypt’s central bank kept its key overnight interest rates unchanged on Thursday, a decision that was in line with analysts’ forecasts and the bank’s fifth pause since it last lowered rates in September. Ten out of 10 economists participating this week in a Reuters poll forecast that the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee would keep rates …

CAIRO: Egypt is set to hold elections for chambers of commerce board members nationwide on June 23. A total of 292 candidates are vying for the 193 available seats, and will hold the post for a four-year term The process will begin after appeals committee screenings and approval procedures are completed, along with a performance …

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s oil ministry has sent the final draft of a gas deal with Royal Dutch Shell to the cabinet for approval, Iraq’s oil minister said on Thursday. The deal is for a multi-billion-dollar joint venture between Iraq’s South Gas Company, Shell and Japan’s Mitsubishi in the southern Basra oil hub to capture and use …

JOHANNESBURG: The Gautrain, Africa’s first high-speed rail line, will launch on June 8 in South Africa three days before the opening match of the 2010 football World Cup, the developers said Friday. French construction giant Bouygues said the train’s first segment, linking OR Tambo International Airport and the posh Johannesburg suburb of Sandton, will open …

Dubai is among the ten most expensive office markets in the world, a report on global office rents by commercial real estate services company CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) showed. The report said office rents in Dubai have recorded $108.92 per square foot per annum, placing the emirate at number nine. Occupancy costs in the global …

CAIRO: Ceramics company Lecico Egypt said improved volumes in the sanitary ware segment was the main driver of a 25 percent rise in first-quarter earnings. Profit rose to LE 26.9 million ($4.8 million), on revenue up 11 percent to LE 269.5 million. "The strength that we had seen in our business in the last quarter …

CAIRO: Egypt’s central bank kept its key overnight interest rates unchanged on Thursday, its fifth pause since it stopped lowering rates in September, the central bank said on its website. The overnight lending rate was left at 9.75 percent and the deposit rate stayed at 8.25 percent, the website said. The discount rate was also …

CAIRO: Egypt’s Raya Technology and Communication will pay a cash dividend of 0.25 Egyptian pounds per share, the stock exchange said on Thursday, up from LE 0.21 the year before. The dividend will be paid on May 23 to investors holding the shares on May 18, the bourse said. Shares in Raya were trading up …

UNITED NATIONS: Egypt said there is an urgent need to create a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East and five world powers gave the idea qualified backing at a UN conference here Wednesday. "The need is doubled today for the effective and comprehensive implementation of the 1995 (NPT) resolution on the Middle East," Egyptian …

Manama, BAHRAIN: The Bahraini parliament has adopted an amendment forbidding the kingdom’s Muslims from consuming or importing alcohol. Bahrain is a popular holiday destination or weekend getaway spot for Saudi Arabian youth unable to drink in their own country. The move, taken by the all-appointed Upper House of Bahrain’s parliament, will all but end such …

TEHRAN: Iran is willing to address accusations of rights violations and host UN human rights chief Navi Pillay and experts, a senior official was was quoted as saying on Wednesday. Human rights chief Mohammad Javad Larijani made the comments as Iran faces mounting international pressure over its controversial nuclear program and risks further sanctions. Iran …

ATHENS: Three people died when an Athens bank went up in flames Wednesday as tens of thousands of Greeks took to the streets to protest harsh spending cuts aimed at saving the country from bankruptcy. Tear gas drifted across the city’s center as hundreds of rioters hurled paving stones and Molotov cocktails at police, who …

GAZA CITY: Palestinian medical officials say two smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border have collapsed, killing two Gaza workers. Medics say the bodies arrived at the local hospital late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Hundreds of Gazans work in a vast network of tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border. The tunnels provide Gaza’s 1.5 million Palestinian residents …

DUBAI: Dubai’s second airport, designed to be the world’s largest when completed, will open in June for cargo only, with plans to receive passengers in spring next year, Dubai Airports chief said Tuesday. "Dubai will no longer be a single airport city," chief executive officer, Paul Griffiths, told a press conference on the sidelines of …

DUBAI: Qatar Airways increased its order for Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner to six from two and expects to take delivery by September next year, the carrier’s chief executive said on Tuesday. "At the moment, we will be receiving six 787s next year; initially it was two," Akbar al-Baker told reporters at a travel and tourism …

DUBAI: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on Tuesday said that for the first time it assigned a rating to a sharia fund, in a bid to boost transparency in an industry that has come under fire after some recent defaults. S&P said it assigned a "AAf/S1+" fund credit and volatility rating to a Luxembourg-based, …

LONDON: US crude oil fell more than $1 to below $85 per barrel on Tuesday, retreating from 19-month highs ahead of an expected rise in US crude and fuel stocks and as the dollar strengthened. Data published later on Tuesday is likely to show US crude inventories rose last week as a discount for prompt …

BAGHDAD: Iraq has announced the arrest of a network it says was behind the April bombings of foreign embassies that killed 46 people. Military operations spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim Al-Moussawi says the key to the arrests was the capture of one would-be bomber involved in the April 4 attacks. Three suicide bombers struck the German, …

CAIRO: A draft law concerning the rights of people with disabilities is slated for discussion during the upcoming Cabinet meeting this month before submitting it to the People’s Assembly and the Shoura Council for final approval. "We are trying to reach the international standards for the rights of disabled people," said Moushira Khattab, Minister of …

Orascom Telecom has a week to disclose further detail on the Mobinil deal reached with co-owner France Telecom, Egypt’s market regulator said on Monday. The Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority said it wanted to know how the companies calculated a $300 million settlement fee being paid to Orasocm and an Orascom put option price. EFSA also …

TEHRAN: Iran is investing more than $5 billion in nine major petrochemical projects which will be completed during the 2010-11 year, a senior official said in remarks published on Monday. Abdolhossein Bayat, head of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), said the facilities would boost output capacity by 10.5 million tons and create 3,000 new jobs, …

DUBAI: Dubai World’s restructuring plan is "very fair" and could be signed by lenders in coming weeks, a senior executive at one of its major bank creditors said on Monday. Simon Cooper, head of HSBC’s Middle East operations, made the remarks on the sidelines of an HSBC trade survey launch. "The proposal is very fair …

TEHRAN: A senior Iranian oil official denied on Monday that the Islamic Republic’s crude sales to China and Japan had declined during the first few months of 2010, the ISNA news agency reported on Monday. "There is no change in our crude sale to these countries," said Deputy Iranian Oil Minister Hossein Noghrehkar-Shirazi. In March, …

CAIRO: To identify and write about a problem and for 40 years watch as it deteriorates while the warning messages are ignored is a frustration economist Galal Amin is all too familiar with. He calls his 40-year-long writings on Egypt’s identity crisis as the nation grappled with a growing ‘foreign complex’ a Greek tragedy — …