Abraaj Capital’s ASAS fund makes first acquisition
CAIRO: Abraaj Capital said Monday that its real estate fund, ASAS, acquired a grade-A commercial office building in Cairo. ASAS is an income-generating real estate fund, which complies with Sharia…
IDSC launches online commodities index
CAIRO: Egypt’s Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) launched this week an online portal listing local and international commodities' prices with the support of the Ministry of Finance. The new…
African refugees being held captive by smugglers, says Sinai source
CAIRO: African refugees are being held captive by smugglers in Sinai and are often subjected to torture and abuses as captors demand more ransom money, a source in Sinai told…
A confederal solution for Palestine
By Robert Skidelsky LONDON: Last month, while in New York City, I happened to be staying in the same hotel as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. To accommodate his security needs,…
Thinking the unthinkable in Europe
By Dani Rodrik CAMBRIDGE: When Greece was bailed out by a joint eurozone-IMF rescue package back in May, it was clear that the deal had bought only a temporary respite. Now…
Alternatives to austerity
By Joseph Stiglitz NEW YORK: In the aftermath of the Great Recession, countries have been left with unprecedented peacetime deficits and increasing anxieties about their growing national debts. In many countries,…
The dissident and the Mahatma
By Shashi Tharoor NEW DELHI: With the Nobel Peace Prize presented this month in the absence of this year’s laureate, the imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, it might be wise…
Coens part ways with Wayne in their ‘True Grit’
By David Germain/ AP If there were a Hollywood Remakes 101 college class, "True Grit" directors Joel and Ethan Coen no doubt would be in violation of a basic lesson: Never…
China’s Zhang says Bale to star in Nanjing project
By Gillian Wong/ AP Christian Bale will star in Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou's new project about 13 young prostitutes who help save compatriots from Japanese troops rampaging Nanjing, the latest film…