In Friday's Middle East papers

12 September 2008 06:00  [Source: ICIS news]

 

 OMAN TRIBUNE

Front page

Bush ‘secretly okayed’ Pak raids
President George W Bush secretly approved orders in July allowing US special forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without approval from the Pakistan government, the New York Times reported on Thursday.

Over 30 feared dead as boat capsizes
Over three dozen people, mostly women and children, are feared drowned after an overloaded boat capsized in flood-hit Bihar on Thursday, an official said.

Business

Oil slips as dollar touches one-year high against euro
Global oil prices fell on Thursday, weighed down by a stronger dollar and concerns over weakening demand.

Opec cut meant to keep oil price above $100
With oil prices falling below $100/bbl this week, oil producer group Opec decided to cut production to prevent a further drop, despite an economic crisis in consumer countries.

KHALEEJ TIMES

Front page

Tears, political truce mark 9/11 anniversary
Survivors mourned at New York's Ground Zero on Thursday as John McCain and Barack Obama suspended their rancorous White House campaign to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Transfer of US backed patrols a test for Iraq
Sunni Arab neighbourhood patrols have been vital to cutting violence in Iraq. But how the Shi'ite-led government handles their future could foster sectarian reconciliation or start a new round of bloodshed.

Business

Shares close third weekly trading in red
UAE shares continued to fall on Thursday, closing a bearish weekly trading three weeks in a row as foreign investors sold their shares.

US posts $111.91bn August budget deficit
The US government turned in a bigger-than-expected $111.91bn budget deficit for August as a weakening economy shrank revenues, US Treasury Department data showed on Thursday.

ARAB TIMES

Front page

MPs nod to cap stay for unskilled at five years: Kuwait mulls change to sponsorship
Kuwait said on Wednesday it was considering alternatives to its widely criticised employee sponsor system after violent protests by foreign workers demanding better conditions.

Violators urged to leave or adjust residence: ‘Interior’
The Kuwaiti Interior Ministry on Wednesday urged residency violators to leave the country without any delay fine or to adjust their positions within 35 days in line with a relevant ministerial decree.

Business

Bernardo proves the best in ‘Attack’ challenge 
There was a very strong wind blowing on Tuesday evening, churning up a lot of dust which reduced visibility to the minimum and blew away everything in its path, but all this failed to stop Filipino Action Shooting Team (FAST) members from holding their weekly fun shooting competition at the Mayadeen Shooting Range in Subhan.

KPC to invest $55bn 
Kuwait Petroleum Corp’s (KPC) CEO Saad Al-Shuwaib said the corporation’s target volume of investments within the next five years, both in the country and abroad, would reach $55bn.

ARAB NEWS

Front page

Children show their creative genius at art competition
In cooperation with the Prince Salman Centre for Disability Research (PSCDR), the Nazeeh & Wartan anti-littering campaign took on a new dimension with the launch of a unique art competition where children between the ages of 6 and 12 were invited to show off their creativity and help design a special T-shirt.

Last minutes before iftar
The last 15 minutes before iftar are the most difficult for fasting people who become nervous and tense, and ready to fight over the most trivial of things.

Business

Saudi Arabia extends Chevron deal by 30 years
US-based major oil company Chevron Corp said on Wednesday it extended by 30 years an agreement that allows it to drill for oil and natural gas in the Neutral Zone area shared jointly by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Oil scene: OPEC succeeds in staying a step ahead of pundits
To cut or not to cut and the debate continued well until Sahur on Wednesday in Vienna, as the OPEC ministers sat down for the first time since the heady days of March.

TEHRAN TIMES

Front page

Iran tells UN to end Iraq’s Chapter VII status
In separate meetings with UN envoy to Iraq Staffan de Mistura, high-ranking Iranian officials asked the United Nations to make efforts to remove Iraq from the provisions of Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

Land artist Nadalian to tour South Africa
Iranian land artist Ahmad Nadalian left Tehran on Tuesday for a 16-day sojourn in South Africa to perform a series of artistic earthworks.

Business

Soaring costs hit Japanese economy: official data
Japan was hit by more bad economic news on Wednesday as rising energy costs shaved the current account surplus and wholesale prices grew at their fastest pace in nearly three decades.

Russia’s economic expansion slowed in second quarter
Russia’s economy expanded at a slower pace in the second quarter as lower investment and the strong ruble hurt domestic producers.

ALJAZEERA

Front page

Zimbabwe power-sharing deal agreed 
The party of Zimbabwe's president and the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have reached a power-sharing deal, opposition and government sources say.

Venezuela expels US ambassador 
Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, has ordered the US ambassador to leave the country amid a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions between Bolivia and the US.

Business

Lehman losses hit world stocks 
World stocks have slipped after Lehman Brothers, the fourth largest US investment bank, reported a massive third-quarter loss of about $4bn.

Opec agrees to cut oil output 
Opec oil ministers have agreed to curb their collective output by more than 500,000 bbl/day.

THE DAILY STAR

Front page

Lebanese parties vow to work past Aridi murder
Lebanese and international leaders urged calm on Thursday as they condemned a political assassination that threatened to undermine efforts to reconcile rival factions in Lebanon.

Sleiman vows Lebanon will be 'better off' after dialogue
President Michel Sleiman has invited Arab League chief Amr Moussa to the national dialogue conference that will kick off at Baabda Palace on September 16, news reports said on Thursday.

Business

Lebanese finance minister expects $3.2bn budget deficit in 2009
Lebanon's budget deficit is expected to surpass 37% of spending, or $3.2bn, in 2009 due to mounting losses at the state-owned electricity firm and higher allocations for government employees' wages, Finance Minister Mohammad Shatah said on Thursday.

AUB celebrates Sweet Corn Day to as part of annual event to promote local produce
The American University of Beirut (AUB) celebrated over the weekend one of Lebanon's popular agricultural products: sweet corn.

GULF DAILY NEWS

Front page

Father drops charges 
The father of a Bahraini boy, who died after being accidentally locked in a kindergarten bus for several hours in the searing heat, dropped any criminal complaint against the school yesterday.

Power cuts forcing families out of homes 
Powers cuts across swathes of Bahrain are forcing families out of their homes and into makeshift community shelters in mosques and ma'atams.

Business

Stocks scare 
The US dollar scaled a one-year high as investors dumped overseas investments on worries about global growth yesterday, and stocks fell in a global rout on fears of Lehman Brothers' impact on the financial sector.

CBB plays major role in insider trading clamp 
The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has led the way in the region in clamping down on attempts at insider trading and market manipulation.

By: Staff Reporter
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