Lebanese consumer protection agents have been investigating the trade and use of spoiled meat, frozen and canned goods, and other food products in the Lebanese markets. Around 180,000 kilogrammes of spoiled meat has been confiscated. Penalties of up to 25 million Lebanese pounds ($16,600) and three months in prison were meted out, but most were reduced to 1 to 2 million or less.
French Minister of Finance (since 2007) Christine Lagarde has been appointed as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after Russian and American backing, effective July 5, for five years.
Lagarde was up against Bank of Mexico governor Agustin Carstens, both of whom were deemed “well qualified,” and has officially become the first woman to head...
Kuwait Energy Company, a privately owned oil and gas exploration and production company, announced the discovery of two new oil fields in East Ras Qattara in Egypt’s Western Desert.
According to reports, Kuwait Energy, which currently holds a nearly fifty percent claim in exploration rights in East Ras Qattara, has already discovered eleven oil fields to date. The recent...
While Israeli leaders continue to campaign the international community to impose sanctions on Iran, one of Israel’s wealthiest families, the Ofer Brothers, is facing public scrutiny for violating US sanctions and Israeli law by trading with Iran.
According to reports, the Ofer Brothers Group - which reportedly owns Zim Integrated Shipping Services, one of the largest...
Abu Dhabi has allowed European cucumbers back in its supermarkets after a second testing phase found no evidence of E. coli contamination. The vegetables from the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, and Denmark had been removed and a temporary import ban had been in place since Wednesday.
Dubai had also imposed bans on tomatoes and lettuce, and after conducting tests they also announced...
New York State Supreme Court Judge Michael Obus has granted International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn possibility of a $1 million bail with round the clock house arrest and electronic monitoring, plus armed guards and a $5 million insurance bond.
Strauss-Kahn, had fallen under fire for charges of sexual abuse against a hotel maid, and was formally indicted...
Lebanon’s black market in arms has tripled in price during the last two months due to a demand by Syrians who are increasingly crossing the border since the outbreak of anti-government protests, while Lebanese fearing sectarian tension could result from a destabilized Syrian regime.
According to reports, Syrian security forces have reportedly seized several trucks, in the...
The United Arab Emirates, Dubai and Abu Dhabi have become safe havens for foreign investors, Arab businesses and tourists looking to conduct business as usual and escape the ongoing upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
According to reports, Dubai struggling economy due to last year’s real estate market crash has seen an estimated three percent rise in the...
Global piracy has hit an all time high at 142 incidents in the last three months, sparking a two-day conference in Dubai aimed curbing maritime piracy and armed robbery.
According to reports, more than fifty countries will attend the conference, titled ‘Global Challenge, Regional Responses: Forging a Common Approach to Maritime Piracy. In response to a wave of attacks,...
Thousands of skilled Palestinians, especially youth, who continue to languish arbitrarily in Israeli jails has created a dire financial situation for their families and added strains to the Palestinian economy.
Although the World Bank cited an almost eight percent growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), they warn that growth is unreliable because the Palestinian economy was...
Wael Ghonim, the Google Inc. executive who anonymously launched the Facebook page that contributed to sparking the Egyptian revolution, has urged tourists, corporations, and countries in general to invest in Egypt to ensure its economic success.
Ghonim said that despite some risks, failure to back up the countries overthrowing their despots would send the wrong message to the...
The MENA region’s economic growth is expected to begin spiraling downwards in light of this year’s wave of anti-regime upheavals – as opposed to previous years, according to Justin Lin, the World Bank’s chief economist.
In January, the World Bank’s expectations for the growth of the Arab world’s economy was projected at 4.3% in 2011 from 3.3%...
Arab leaders must move swiftly to implement reforms in order to spur sustainable economic growth, attract foreign investors and curb rising unemployment.
However, analysts point out that the rise of fall of economic growth rate figures were always tainted by the reality on the ground. Reliance on external factors to alleviate poverty and other social hardships could threaten...
An ambitious real-estate development project in Dubai known as ‘The World’ is on the verge of sinking due to the global financial crisis, which not only halted construction but has also forced many of it’s investors to bail out.
According to reports, the luxurious man-made islands shaped in the form of the world’s countries has failed to revive interest in...
Arab League member states have pledged nearly $800 million to aid ailing Arab economies following poverty and unemployment related unrest in Tunisia, which could spread if measures are not taken to alleviate poverty in the region warned Arab League chief, Amr Moussa.
According to Al Jazeera, Omanis took to the streets in a rare show of frustration over rising prices and demanded...
Leaders in the Arab world are taking measures to slash prices of much needed food staples, fuel and taxes in the wake of Tunisia’s political unrest.
According to the Digital Journal, analysts are concerned that increases in oil prices affecting food transport costs could further strain the global food supply chain causing widespread discontent to spread.
In an effort to expand India’s economy to Islamic investors the Taqwaa Advisory and Shariah Investment Solutions (TASIS) and the Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd (BSE) have created the country’s first Shariah-based stock market index.
According to reports, the index is comprised of India’s top fifty Islamic law-compliant companies. The new index is expected to promote...
Tensions are rising in Tunisia after a youth was left dead and dozens wounded during clashes between security forces and thousands of protestors who took to the streets demanding the creation of more jobs.
Tunisia’s economy, which relies heavily on tourism, remittances and agriculture as it main source of income, has an unemployment rate of fourteen percent. According to...
Twitter's increasing database of users, which is now up to 175 million, has attracted a new round of funding worth $200 million, increasing the value of the organization to $3.7 billion.
Since its launch four years ago, Twitter has tripled its number of staff and has plans to open a Dublin sister branch to its sole current office in San Francisco. In a bid to make the company...
Egyptian authorities have decided to reopen beaches in Sharm el-Sheikh after a series of shark attacks two weeks ago led to the death of one German tourist and the injury of four others from Russia and the Ukraine.
Resorts in the Red Sea town restarted their water sports once again with some new guidelines to ensure the safety of swimmers and divers.
In an attempt...
The Egyptian government has claimed to have caught the two sharks allegedly responsible for mauling four tourists, three Russians and one Ukrainian, while swimming in the Red Sea off popular tourist resort Sharm el Sheikh.
The authorities warned people to stay out of the water until the “guilty” sharks were caught, and soon thereafter a Mako shark and an Oceanic White...
The world’s largest mobile-phone company, Vodafone Group, has enraged many in the Egyptian Twitter and blogoshpere after Vodafone Egypt aired a controversial television ad portraying one of the Muslim worlds greatest scientist as a lunatic.
In the USB modem ad, the Da Vinci of the Islamic world and ninth century inventor, Abbas Ibn Firnas was seen as someone who wanted to...
Rallies in France continue over a governmental project which aims to reform the country’s pension system, through raising minimum retirement age from 60 to 62 years of age.
The protests, which started one week ago and are led by labor unions, resulted in major financial and economic damage. The transportation system was disrupted as fuelling stations ran short on gas...
The board of directors for the public free media zone in Cairo has shut down some of the most famous Islamic channels in Egypt. Those four channels are: Al-Nas, Al-Khaleejia, Al-Hafez and Al-Seha wal Gamal.
The council said that the company that owns the channels had violated the terms of its license in spite of being warned more than once before. It also stated that the shutdown...
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a $741 million loan to Iraq as reward for maintaining reconstruction efforts and economic progress despite continued instability.
Recently, Iraq’s Ministry of Oil announced a possible increase in the price of gas as a means of assisting the country in fulfilling loan commitments.
However, analysts argue that...
The United Arab Emirates' largest telecoms company, Emirates Telecommunication Corp. - known to customers as Etisalat - has offered a reported $10.5 billion to buy 46% of Kuwaiti telecommunication company Zain.
The head of Al-Shal Economic Consultants in Kuwait, Jassim Al-Saadoun, said that if the deal goes through, Etisalat will be the biggest telecoms company in the region.
In the latest development in a protracted conflict, the owners of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times have clashed, after the Murdoch-owned Journal attempt to purchase the Times from its owner Arthur Sulzberger. Murdoch has sought to purchase the New York Times since 1998.
The conflict between the two owners reached new levels when the Wall Street Journal published a...
In what is considered to be a threat for one of Egypt's most important national income sources, Russian gas tanker Baltica has made it through Murmansk, Russia, heading to Shanghai, China through the Arctic Ocean; experimenting with the use of this course as a substitute for the southern route, which goes through the Suez Canal.
If Baltica makes it safely to its final...
Several reports have emerged of negotiations being held between British TV network BSkyB and a private investor in Abu Dhabi over the launch of a new Arabic version of Sky’s satellite news channel.
According to these reports, the channel could be launched within two years if negotiations are successful. If launched, this will be the first project led by a British network...
Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal's Kingdom Holding group is to launch a news channel run by Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In a statement, the company said the new channel "will focus on the political, economic, and social developments in Saudi Arabia and the Arab world."
It is expected to compete with Saudi funded Al-Arabiya and Qatari...
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