By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) -Tunisia and Egypt are edging closer to major debt crises that could suck in a volatile North Africa region and pose tough choices to wealthy Gulf Arab neighbours, investors and analysts warn. The countries are already being challenged by shortages of essential goods and financial market dysfunction and in Tunisia’s…
By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Thursday announced that 21 Coptic Orthodox Christians beheaded by Islamic State in Libya in 2015 are being recognised as martyrs by the Vatican. He revealed the move during a meeting with Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church and said he was doing so…
By Ece Toksabay and Birsen Altayli ANKARA (Reuters) -The man challenging Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey’s presidential elections this weekend received a boost on Thursday when a small party candidate abruptly withdrew and a closely-watched poll gave him a more than five percentage point advantage. The withdrawal by Muharrem Ince, one of four contesting Sunday’s presidential…
By Nidal al-Mughrabi KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (Reuters) – As nearby explosions from Israeli air strikes continued to rock their Gaza home for the third night this week, Hani al-Hindi and his wife slept with their six children huddled together in the same room, where they felt it was safer. Next to the front door,…
(Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan faces his toughest political challenge yet when the nation votes on Sunday, with the opposition sensing its best chance yet of ending his two decades in power and reversing his policies. The presidential and parliamentary votes, set for May 14 with a possible May 28 run-off, will decide not…
DUBAI (Reuters) – Abu Dhabi oil giant ADNOC intends to offer 15% of its shares in unit ADNOC Logistics & Services (ADNOC L&S) through an initial public offering (IPO) on the Abu Dhabi stock exchange, the company said on Wednesday. ADNOC will offer about 1.1 billion shares in its maritime logistics services unit, which is expected…
By Khalid Abdelaziz and Aidan Lewis DUBAI (Reuters) – Fighting in Sudan’s capital escalated on Wednesday with fierce clashes and air strikes, but rival military factions were reported to be close to a ceasefire agreement in talks in Saudi Arabia. Residents reported ground battles in several neighbourhoods of Khartoum between the army and the paramilitary…
By Yousef Saba and Rachna Uppal DUBAI (Reuters) – Lucid’s electric vehicles are often displayed prominently at public events and financial conferences in Saudi Arabia to symbolise its crown prince’s multi-billion dollar “Vision 2030”. The electric car maker is among the biggest U.S. investments by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) which has been tasked…
CAIRO (Reuters) -Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation in April slowed to 30.6% from 32.7% in March, data from the state statistics agency CAPMAS showed on Wednesday, lower than analysts had expected. Month-on-month, urban inflation slowed to 1.7% from 2.7% in March and 6.5% in February. Inflation had steadily crept up over the last year after…
By Orhan Coskun ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s economy is bracing for a “lost year” no matter who wins landmark elections on Sunday, political insiders say, even if the opposition pledges to tear down President Tayyip Erdogan’s unorthodox policies. The main opposition alliance, which is leading in some opinion polls, promises to free up the economy…
