Bahrain banks announce plans to merge

Arabian Business - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

Bahrain's Al Salam Bank and BMI Bank, an affiliate of Oman's Bank Muscat, have announced plans to merge, a tie-up which would create the kingdom's third-largest bank by assets, the lenders said in a ...

Qatar buys stake in Total’s Congo operations

Arabian Business - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

State-owned Qatar Petroleum International (QPI) has agreed to buy a state in oil giant Total's operations in the Democratic Republic of the ...

Local Haqqani leaders killed in E. Afghanistan

Global Times - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

Two local leaders of the Haqqani militant group had been killed in eastern Afghan province of Paktiya, 100 km south of capital Kabul, said the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Thursday."Afghan and coalition security forces confirmed today the death of two senior Haqqani leaders, Qari Azzam and Mukhlis, during an operation in Zurmat district, Paktiya province, ...

IAEA report indicative of Irans nuclear progress Iranian official

Global Times - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

Iran's permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the recent report of the UN nuclear watchdog about Iranian nuclear program is an indicative of his country's progress and achievements, state- run IRIB TV reported Thursday.The progress in Iran's nuclear program has been made in line with the IAEA regulations and under the watch of the agency, ...

More than 210000 travelers visit Bahrain

Bahrain News Agency - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

Manama, May 23 (BNA) -- The Assistant Undersecretary for Exits, Search and Follow Up at the Nationality, Passports and Residency General Directorate today announced that 210979 travelers have entered the Kingdom between 16 and 22 May. According to weekly figures, King Fahad Causeway witnessed 173229 travelers entered the Kingdom from KSA and other GCC countries, while 37278 travelers entered ...

Jordan stopped receiving Syrian Refugees at Border

Ya Libnan - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

GENEVA- U.N. officials said Tuesday there has been a sudden fall in the number of Syrian refugees arriving in Jordan, amid reports that Jordan’s government has clamped down on the relentless influx of people escaping Syria’s civil war. Panos Moumtzis, the top U.N. refugee official for Syria, said the usual flow of up to about 3,000 refugees daily had ';dropped to almost ...

Fifa World Cup-themed $820 million mall for Qatar

The National - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

A QR 3 billion (US$820 million) World-cup themed shopping mall in Doha which hopes to attract 20 million visitors a year is set to be completed in 2015 the developer said yesterday. Developer UrbaCon Trading & Contracting said the Mall of Qatar, a 162,000 square metre mall located in Doha next to one of the future venues for the FIFA 2022 World Cup, has been designed with a FIFA theme. ...

Disturbances that put spell on Middle East North Africa to be long-term most apparently - Lavrov

Itar Tass - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

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Qatar still backs dollar peg – cen bank boss

Arabian Business - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

Rival news agency Reuters quoted the central bank's director of research earlier this week as saying that a "more flexible exchange rate" than the peg allowed would better suit managing inflation risk over the next ...

Kuwait sees quiet revival in arts scene

Arabian Business - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

After two lacklustre decades, Kuwait is experiencing a quiet revival of an arts scene once known as the most avant garde in the Gulf, thanks to a new generation eager to tackle sensitive issues using cutting-edge art ...

Euro leagues could challenge Qatar 2022 in court

Arabian Business - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

European football leagues could launch legal challenges if Qatar attempts to move the FIFA World Cup 2022 to winter, the head of Germany's top league has ...

Egypts 2011 jailbreaks still a mystery carry potential embarrassment for Islamist leader

Canada.com - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

FILE - In this Wednesday, April 28, 2010 file photo, relatives of the 26 suspected Hezbollah members, accused of plotting attacks on tourists and shipping in the Suez Canal and sending operatives and explosives to Gaza to help militant groups there, waves to prison vehicles carrying them outside Emergency State Security Court in New Cairo, Egypt. It was one of the most perplexing events of ...

Saudi Arabia sees win-win in solar energy boom

Arabian Business - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

A slide in solar power costs and a surge in oil prices over the last few years has made solar power a win-win strategy for Saudi Arabia: saving billions of dollars of crude for export while making electricity at less than half the ...

2011 jail breaks become political issue in Egypt

Miami Herald - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

CAIRO -- It was one of the most perplexing events of Egypt's revolution: orchestrated attacks on prisons around the country that broke out more than 20,000 inmates while police were tied down with the massive popular protests that swept autocrat Hosni Mubarak from power.The prison breaks added to the chaos during the 18-day uprising in 2011, and the flood of criminals onto the streets ...

Qatar Airs cargo unit adds three new planes

Arabian Business - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

The new A330s have replaced three Airbus A300 freighters that the airline has phased out of the fleet to make way for the new state-of-the-art ...

No political crisis in Kuwait claims speaker

Arabian Business - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

The speaker of Kuwait's National Assembly insisted that there is no "political crisis" in the Gulf state, amid moves to question the oil and interior ministers in ...

U.S. may arm rebels if diplomacy fails Kerry says

General Sources - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

John Kerry said. "In the event that we can't find that way forward, in the event that the Assad regime is unwilling to negotiate in good faith, we will also talk about our continued support and growing support for the opposition in order to permit them to continue to fight for the freedom of their country," Kerry said in Amman, Jordan, before a Friends of Syria meeting with key ...

Mall of Qatar project set for 2015 opening

Arabian Business - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

Construction has started on Doha's QR3bn ($820m) Mall of Qatar, which will be the largest retail centre in the Gulf state when it is completed in September ...

Report Saudi bailout of Pakistan energy sector likely

Middle East Times - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

Pakistan may get a bailout worth up to $15 billion from Saudi Arabia for its troubled energy sector, a Pakistani official told Dawn newspaper. The Saudi assistance could consist of supplies of crude and furnace oil on deferred payment at a time when Pakistan's energy sector faces a host of financial and other problems, resulting in constant load shedding or rolling blackouts. The report ...

Blast leaves 12 killed 17 injured in SW Pakistan

Global Times - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

At least 12 people including 10 security men were killed and 17 others injured when a bomb went off near an army vehicle in Pakistan's southwest Quetta city on Thursday morning, local officials ...

Oman Air boosts fleet with three new A330-300

albawaba - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

The aircraft will be operated on long haul routes Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, has placed an order for three A330-300s, growing its A330 Family fleet to a total of ten Airbus aircraft, according to a press release on Wednesday.The aircraft will be operated on long haul routes and can comfortably seat close to 300 passengers."The efficiency, reliability and ...

Morsi appeals to opposition for unified Egypt in face increasingly popular rebellion petition

albawaba - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi appealed Wednesday to the opposition for unity, in the face of criticism he is failing the revolution that brought him to power almost a year ...