Creditors near deal with Global
Global Investment House, a struggling Kuwaiti investment company, is close to an agreement with its creditors on a possible restructuring of its debt
US-Israel talks ‘productive’
US envoy George Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could not agree on a Jewish settlement freeze in talks on Tuesday but said negotiations were advancing
Abu Dhabi group backs Branson’s space tourism push
Aabar, an Abu Dhabi state-linked investment vehicle, plans to buy a 32% stake in Virgin’s commercial space venture, Virgin Galactic, in the latest sign of the emirate’s rising ambitions
Kurds and Arabs told to settle disputes
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, urges Iraq’s Kurds and Arabs to resolve long-running arguments over oil and land that could spark fresh sectarian violence in the country
Hostages’ families ‘upset’ by reports
The families of British hostages in Iraq say they are ‘deeply upset and troubled’ by reports that two more of the men are likely to have been murdered
UAE case highlights ‘spyware’ innovations
The company behind the ‘spyware’ distributed to BlackBerry users in the UAE is based in Silicon Valley, backed by top-tier venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and largely serves law enforcement agencies
Mortgage lenders await upturn
A slump in the value of domestic property has hit the Gulf’s lenders and governments are having to step in
Syrian activist held: rights group (AFP via Yahoo! News)
Security services have arrested a lawyer who heads one of Syria’s human rights groups, the chairman of the National Organisation for Human Rights in the country said on Thursday.
Syria arrests top human rights lawyer, group says (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
Syrian authorities have arrested a leading human rights lawyer after he was called for interrogation at a security branch, human rights activists said Thursday.
Egypt s Central Bank Cuts Key Interest Rate to 8.5% (Update1) (Bloomberg)
July 30 (Bloomberg) — The Egyptian central bank reduced its benchmark interest rate to its lowest level since November 2006 as economic growth slowed and the inflation rate fell.
Kurdish surprise
The election in Iraqi Kurdistan offers an example of pluralist opposition in a region long marooned in tyranny. But will this invigorate or destabilise Iraq?
Iranian president warned by allies
In a sign of the escalating political infighting within the Iranian regime, President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad was warned by some of his staunchest supporters that he might not survive a second four-year term in power
