EGYPT

Schlumberger Ltd , the world's largest oilfield services company, expects turmoil in the Middle East and Africa to knock 8 to 10 cents per share off first-quarter profit, Chief Executive Andrew Gould said on Monday.

Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's deposed president, has been placed under house arrest along with his family, according to a statement from Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Egypt's first parliamentary election since the fall of president Hosni Mubarak will be conducted in September, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) confirmed on Monday.

The symbolic action of turning lights out for an hour in an expression of concern for the environment is in the process of being officially observed in thousands of communities across 134 countries and territories on Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe.

Financial regulators have clarified that banks can provide services to foreign diplomatic missions and still comply with anti-money laundering laws after several major banks moved to close embassy accounts.

The triple disaster in Japan and the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa likely would have only a limited impact on the global economy - provided the twin shocks of higher oil prices and the supply chain disruptions from Japan do not get much worse, market research firm IHS said.

The swelling ranks of protesters in the Syrian city of Deraa demanded the end of the cancerous regime of Bashar al-Assad and warned that the country was a bomb ready to explode.

As the western powers and some of their allies in the Middle East impose a no-fly zone over Libya in an effort to protect civilians from Moammar Gaddafi’s armies, many questions have been raised about the campaign and its long-term implications.

Gold hit its second new record high on the trot at the London Gold Fix on Thursday morning, hitting $1441.25 per ounce for US investors as the Dollar held flat on the forex market, and US crude oil rose.

About 20,000 people have gathered in the southern Syrian city of Deraa for the funeral of six people killed on Wednesday allegedly by the Syrian security forces.

In a weird twist in the tale, the Egyptian government has approved a law criminalizing strikes and protest marches in the country, raising questions from various quarters whether this was the outcome expected by millions of Egyptians who passionately fought for the ouster of Hosni Mubarak's oppressive regime.

Egypt’s former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, has been charged by a court of contributing to the killing of protesters who demonstrated against the regime of the toppled President, Hosni Mubarak, state media MENA reported.

In spite of the crippling sanctions and an arms embargo approved by the international community, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi continued to show resistance and the possible reason for such confidence could 144 tons of gold that he still controls.

As many as six people were killed by Syrian forces in a mosque in the city of Deraa, a flash point in the unfolding struggle against the Baath party despotism, media reports said on Wednesday.

Oil steadied on Wednesday due to concerns that unrest in Yemen may spill over into neighboring countries in the oil rich Middle East Gulf region, while an expected increase in U.S. crude inventories capped gains prices.

The president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, has written a lengthy a column in The New Vision newspaper of Uganda in which he condemned the western alliance’s military strikes on Libya. He also proposes a resolution to the Libyan crisis through the auspices of the African Union.

The World Bank is rethinking its role in the Middle East and North Africa to tackle economic and social problems that sparked political unrest, the bank's President Robert Zoellick said on Monday.

The head of the Arab League said on Monday that the group respected the U.N. resolution authorizing military action in Libya, a day after criticizing the coalition of nations which has been bombing Iraq since Saturday.

Gold prices jumped vs. a falling Dollar at the start of Asian trade on Monday, hitting near-two-week highs for US investors as crude oil also leapt following the weekend's joint UN air strikes on Libya.

Egyptian voters have passed a raft of constitutional amendments by an overwhelming majority, according to official results

The Pentagon expects to hand over control of allied military operations in Libya in a matter of days, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.