Middle East

Tunisia resists calls to cut public wage bill and subsidies in 2018

By Tarek Amara and Ulf Laessing TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia will not cut public salaries and subsidies for food and petrol next year, a move which may avert protests but sets the country on a confrontation course with its lenders. Finance Minister Ridha Chalgoum said the government wanted to raise taxes and custom duties on […]

Read More
world news, trump, u.s., business news, stock market, entertainment news, business news, company news, market, commodities, commodity, Africa news

Fighting in Libyan capital temporarily shuts down flights

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Civilian flights were suspended for several hours at the Libyan capital’s Mitiga airport on Monday evening and Tuesday morning as rival armed groups clashed nearby, a spokesman said. Sporadic shooting could be heard early on Tuesday near Mitiga, a military air base near the centre of Tripoli that has also hosted civilian […]

Read More

Somalia calls for blood donations after bombing, Turkey sends doctors

By Maggie Fick NAIROBI (Reuters) – Somalia is in desperate need for donated blood to treat survivors of a truck bombing in the capital Mogadishu on Saturday that killed more than 300 people and injured at least 400 others, a minister said. The bombing was one of the worst such attacks in Somalia. Officials said […]

Read More

South Africa’s Mediclinic sees Middle East weakness denting earnings

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s Mediclinic International said it expects a drop in half-year earnings, sending its shares lower, as a weak performance in the United Arab Emirates weighed on its business. The private hospital group, which has stakes in Britain’s Spire Healthcare and Switzerland’s Hirslanden, said underlying earnings per share is expected to be […]

Read More
world news, trump, u.s., business news, stock market, entertainment news, business news, company news, market, commodities, commodity, Africa news

Congo elected to U.N. rights council; Britain, U.S. unhappy

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo was among 15 countries elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council for a three-year term on Monday, a moved criticized by Britain, the United States and rights groups after the vote by the 193-member General Assembly. While Congo was elected uncontested to the 47-member Geneva-based council, […]

Read More

WWE signs first woman wrestler from Arab world in global push

By Noah Browning DUBAI (Reuters) – World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. signed its first female performer from the Arab world on Sunday, smashing cultural taboos as the U.S.-based pageant seeks to piledrive its way into lucrative foreign markets. Shadia Bseiso, a Jordanian versed in jiu-jitsu, dreams of encouraging more Arab women to take up sports – […]

Read More
world news, trump, u.s., business news, stock market, entertainment news, business news, company news, market, commodities, commodity, Africa news

U.S. judge in Texas invalidates Allergan patents on Restasis

By Jan Wolfe and Michael Erman (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Monday invalidated patents on Allergan Plc’s dry-eye medicine Restasis on grounds that the patents cover ideas that are obvious, sending shares of the pharmaceutical company down 3.5 percent. Judge William Bryson issued the ruling in federal court in Marshall, Texas, in a longstanding […]

Read More

Ruins of Jerusalem hall shed light on Roman-era gatherings

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A small, half-built and roofed amphitheatre from 2nd-century Jerusalem has been unearthed during excavations below Judaism’s Western Wall, the first such Roman-era find in the city, Israeli archaeologists said on Monday. The 200-seat carved stone structure was found underneath a passageway leading to the raised esplanade where an ancient Jewish temple stood […]

Read More

British piers, Alabama buildings named among 25 at-risk monuments

By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) – Historical gems around the globe, ranging from a Syrian bazaar and the last active synagogue in Alexandria to England’s Blackpool Piers and Alabama civil rights buildings, are threatened by war, disasters and urbanization, a monument conservation group said on Monday. Days after the United States and Israel said […]

Read More

Death toll from Somalia bomb attacks tops 300

By Abdi Sheikh MOGADISHU (Reuters) – More than 300 people died after twin bomb explosions in Mogadishu, an official said on Monday, as locals packed hospitals in search of friends and relatives caught up in Somalia’s deadliest attack in a decade. The death toll has steadily risen since Saturday, when the blasts – for which […]

Read More

Israel targets fashion industry over underweight models

By Miriam Berger TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Israeli lawmakers want to tighten a ban on the employment of underweight models and on the undeclared digital slimming-down of fashion images, amid concern that the measures are being routinely flouted even as they are adopted abroad. The fashion industry’s use of wafer-thin models has long been the […]

Read More

Huawei aims to challenge Apple and Samsung on technology as well as price

By Eric Auchard and Sijia Jiang LONDON/HONG KONG (Reuters) – China’s Huawei [HWT.UL] has unveiled a new line of smartphones that match or even improve on key features offered by Apple or Samsung while undercutting their rivals on price. Huawei aims to distinguish itself through technological advances that will put it on a level playing […]

Read More