CAIRO, March 13 (Reuters) – With croissants, baguettes and
bagels spilling off metal trolleys at the bakery where Mohammed
Alif works in central Cairo, food is not scarce, but profits
certainly are.

The Egyptian pound has lost more than 8 percent of its value
against the U.S. dollar since the end of December as concern
deepens about the state of the economy, which is being
undermined by political instability and rioting.

CAIRO, March 13 (Reuters) – YDBWith croissants, baguettes
and bagels spilling off metal trolleys at the bakery where
Mohammed Alif works in central Cairo, food is not scarce, but
profits certainly are.

The Egyptian pound has lost more than 8 percent of its value
against the U.S. dollar since the end of December as concern
deepens about the state of the economy, which is being
undermined by political instability and rioting.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Bedouin gunmen in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula seized and briefly held the country boss of U.S. oil major ExxonMobil and his wife on Thursday, in an attack that highlights increasing risks oil firms face across North Africa and the Middle East.

Exxon said Andy Wills, chairman and managing director of its Egypt and Cyprus operations, and his wife were both unhurt.

KUWAIT, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Freight trucks trundle down the
dusty, potholed roads of Kuwait’s busiest port, running into
traffic jams as they emerge into the surrounding streets. But
after years of inaction, the government is finally moving to
ease the congestion.

It is pushing ahead with a $2.6 billion plan to build a 36
km (22 mile) causeway, one of the longest in the world,
connecting Shuwaikh port and densely populated southern Kuwait
with the north of the country, near the Iraqi border.

KUWAIT (Reuters) – Governments in North Africa and the Middle East rocked by Arab Spring revolts must listen to citizen demands for accountability by cracking down on corruption in the armed forces, an anti-graft watchdog said on Wednesday.

Defence and security bodies had a significant role in the regional upheaval and should use the momentum of the changes to reform from within, a Transparency International report said.

KUWAIT (Reuters) – Donor countries have pledged more than $1.5 billion to aid Syrians stricken by civil war, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday after warning that the conflict had wrought a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

In a pointed message for Syria’s leader, Ban told a fund-raising conference that President Bashar al-Assad bore primary responsibility to stop his country’s suffering after nearly two years of conflict that have cost an estimated 60,000 lives.

KUWAIT, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Donor countries have pledged more
than $1.5 billion to aid Syrians stricken by civil war, U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday after warning
that the conflict had wrought a catastrophic humanitarian
crisis.

“Every day Syrians face unrelenting horrors,” Ban told a
donors gathering in Kuwait, including sexual violence, arbitrary
killings and detentions. Sixty-five people were shot dead
execution-style in Aleppo on Tuesday, opposition activists said.

KUWAIT (Reuters) – Denouncing “unrelenting horrors” in Syria’s war, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed on Wednesday for an end to the violence and urged more aid to address a situation he said was catastrophic and worsening by the day.

“How many more people will be killed if the current situation continues?,” Ban said, speaking at a conference of donors in Kuwait called to drum up more pledges of financing for U.N. humanitarian efforts.

KUWAIT, Jan 21 (Reuters) – The outlook for Kuwait’s banks
has improved after a turbulent year thanks to an expected
increase in state infrastructure spending, the head of Gulf
state’s largest lender said.

Ibrahim Dabdoub, group chief executive officer of National
Bank of Kuwait (NBK), said there was cause for
optimism this year as the government adopts a more dynamic
fiscal policy and accelerates spending on mega projects.

KUWAIT (Reuters) – Countries whose leaders were overthrown in the “Arab Spring” revolts of 2011 mostly made democratic gains in 2012 but the uprisings triggered crackdowns elsewhere in the region, an annual survey of political and civil liberties around the world showed.

Libya improved the political rights of its citizens significantly in 2012 by holding successful elections and Egypt’s progress was described as “modest”, according to Freedom House, a U.S.-based advocate for spreading democracy.