Dubai real estate, hotel industries decline sharply

Palm-shaped islands, the world's tallest tower and the seven-star sail-shaped hotel are icons of Dubai’s once-booming real estate and hotel sectors that have been hit hard by the financial crisis as more than half of the residential and commercial property projects due for completion in Dubai through 2012 have been put on hold or cancelled amid the steepest decline in hotel occupancy rates in five years.

Alarabiya

China's economy still growing

In stark contrast to Europe, the Chinese economy is still expected to grow by over 6% this year helped by a huge spending programme to create jobs.
20 million migrant workers are unemployed in China but it is the only one of the world's biggest economies not to be in recession.

BBC

US economy 'will shrink by 6.2%

The US economy is shrinking much faster than had been thought, the US Commerce Department estimates. Correspondent Laura Trevelyan reports on the revised figures, which were estimated at 3.8% a month ago, but have now been revised to 6.2% - the worst figures for 25 years.

BBC

IMF warns of slow African growth

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that Africa's economic growth will be affected by the continuing world downturn.
It predicts that growth in sub-Saharan Africa will slow to 3.25% in 2009, half the growth rate it previously thought.

Drug firms in $41bn giant merger

Merck is to buy rival Schering-Plough in a $41.1bn (£29.4bn) deal, creating one of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies.
The merger unites the makers of cholesterol drugs Zetia and Vytorin at a time of falling sales.
The deal follows Pfizer's $68bn takeover of Wyeth, unveiled in January.

BBC

HSBC cuts jobs amid fall in profits

HSBC, Europe's largest bank, has announced it is cutting 6,000 jobs in the US after reporting a 60 per cent drop in profits for 2008.
The bank also announced Britain's biggest-ever rights issue on Monday as it seeks to raise nearly $18bn.
HSBC's said it planned to offer five billion shares at 254 pence - 48 per cent lower than Friday's closing value of 491 pence.
Stephen Green, HSBC's chairman, said the cash raised would help the bank amid the current global economic problems.
"This capital raising will enhance our ability to deal with the impact of an uncertain economic environment and to respond to unforeseen events," he said in the earnings report.
The bank reported an adjusted pretax profit of $19.9bn, down 18 per cent versus 2007, but said that profit had slumped 62 per cent to $9.3bn from $24.2bn a year earlier.

Aljazeera

Asian markets face gloomy outlook

Major Asian markets have entered the weekend on a gloomy outlook, weighed down by bad corporate news and the sharp decline on Wall Street.
Investors were anticipating more negative news from an important report that is expected to show further huge job cuts in the US as the recession deepens.
News of General Motors, once the world's biggest car maker, facing possible bankruptcy if it fails to generate more cash, has also dragged share prices from Wall Street to Tokyo sharply lower.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei, Asia's biggest by value, slumped by more than three per cent on Friday, following Wall Street's drop to a 12-year low.
Other major regional markets slid an average 1.4 per cent, with Sydney shedding 1.6 per cent to hit the lowest level since august 2003.
Malaysian shares were down slightly more than one per cent as news came that the country's exports had dropped 27.8 per cent in January from a year ago.
The country's trade ministry on Friday said it was biggest fall in 28 years, and worse than expected.

Source: Aljazeera

Nikkei dives on Japan trade data

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei share index has closed at the lowest level in more than 26 years after news that Japan logged its biggest-ever current account deficit, deepening fears about the health of Asia's biggest economy.
Monday's trade saw the Nikkei shed 1.2 per cent to end at 7,086.03, the lowest closing level since October 6, 1982 and more than 80 per cent off its all-time high of 38,915 reached in December 1989.

Poorer nations face financing gap

Developing countries face a financing gap of $270bn to $700bn this year as trade income dwindles and rich nations vie for capital to deal with a global slump, the World Bank says.
Resources of international financial institutions would not be sufficient to meet their needs as more and more emerging and developing countries are hit, the World Bank said on Monday.
"Should a more pessimistic outcome occur, unmet financing needs will be enormous," the World Bank said in a paper prepared for meetings of the G20 group of countries in London in April.Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said developing countries would need $25bn, and possibly as much as $140bn, in 2009 to meet their financing needs.
The World Bank said the crisis could have long-lasting repercussions for developing countries, which are contending with a drop in exports as world trade shrinks for the first time since 1982.

Source: Aljazeera

"Moody's": 30 billion U.S. dollars in the instruments market in 2008

The Islamic finance industry has faced unprecedented challenges in 2008 affected by the global credit crisis is the worst in more than 80 years.
According to a report issued by the international rating agency "Moody's" market instruments, in particular, faced significant challenges during the past year because of the high cost of credit, the controversy raised about the legitimacy of some of the structures of the instruments.

Nano Computers for Rs. 500 about $11

Reveal India on Wednesday unveiled a computer on the "Lap Top" its price does not exceed the price of 500 rupees (7.35 pounds, or approximately $ 11). In an attempt to bridge the "digital divide" in the country between the rich and the poor, the Government will present the prototype of a mobile computer as a cornerstone of an ambitious education program to link the mail 18 thousand college and university in 400 across India. this laptop called.

U.S. banks receive new impetus from the funds of rescue plan

The U.S. Treasury Department said that it provided 1.5 billion $ to 42 bank in the U.S. as part of the financial rescue plan adopted by Congress in last October at the cost of $ 700 billion.
This is the second installment since President Barack Obama Authority last month.
359 financial institution has received in the 45's state until now the amount of 195 billion dollars.

Ford sales dropped 40% and Toyota 32%

Ford Motor Co. said U.S. sales of cars fell by 40% last month at the beginning of pessimistic for the new year, while Toyota also said that sales dropped by 32% as well last month.

bad weather Deepen the wounds the UK economy

Ice storm caused severe damage to the British economy, which are groaning under the weight of the global financial crisis. The Union of small firms in Britain that the storm damage may be left up to 3.5 billion pounds (5 billion U.S. dollars). He estimated the number of people whom could not performe their work on Monday to six million people or about a fifth of the workforce in Britain, when, when all means of transport because of the intensity of snowfall, which had been the largest in the country in 18 years

The Oil Kingdom

This from 60 minutes program produced by CBS channal, this episode highligted the role of the kindom of Saudi Arabia in the energy market and its countrbution to keep the price of oil at reasnable level.

Part One


Part Two