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Yemen gas investors set sail in choppy water
President Ali Abdullah Saleh insists Yemen’s LNG project will unify the country, but natural gas prices have collapsed with the economic downturn and the country is dealing with political instability
Conflict enters dangerous new phase
Concern mounting that conflict with Houthi movement is distracting Sana from other challenges such as a growing al-Qaeda presence in the north, an unemployment crisis, dwindling natural resources and a secessionist movement in the south
US admits to lack of progress in Middle East
Top diplomats acknowledge that Washington has failed to make substantial progress on the Arab-Israeli conflict and that Tehran was likely to reject a compromise offer
Hariri forms unity government
Lebanon’s pro-western prime minister, Saad al-Hariri, unveiled a new unity government, including two ministers from the pro-Syrian and pro-Iranian Hizbollah movement, in a 30-member cabinet
War veterans make Iraq their business
Growing number of prominent former American military officers and diplomats are using their Iraq experience to develop business links in the country. The US experience in Iraq, however, has been fraught with suspicion
Iran charges US hikers with spying
Iran has charged three US citizens with spying two months after the trio were arrested having walked across the border from neighbouring Iraq, a top judiciary official has said
Islamic bonds spread beyond the Gulf
The swelling coffers of Middle East-based Islamic banks are spurring a wide variety of nations and international companies to prepare bond sales that comply with sharia law
Dubai ruler seeks to combat critics
Dubai’s ruler has sought to dispel concerns about the emirate’s economy, assuring investors that there will be strong support for an intended $10bn bond programme.
Iraqi politicians pave way for elections
Lawmakers passed a long-delayed election law, paving the way for elections early next year and averting a constitutional crisis that threatened to delay the withdrawal of US troops
Roula Khalaf: Abbas hits out from the shadows
Mahmoud Abbas’s decision not to contest the next Palestinian presidential election is a reflection of how quickly and dramatically the hopes for peace that accompanied the election, a year ago, of US president Barack Obama have been extinguished, writes Roula Khalaf
















