Tarek Hoteit Notebook

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A thread forum posted on the internet discusses Julia Boutros song of Sayed Nasrallah's reply speech to the resistance forces, titled "Ahibaii" (My Loved Ones) Click here to listen to the song. (arabic)

Proceeds of the song, when it is officially released in the market, will go to the families of the martyrs.

Labels: middle east

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 7:56 AM | Permalink | Comments

UN's International Monetary Fund release its annual World Economic Outlook (download here),
where it predicts that real GDP in Middle East will surpass global economy by 14% in 2006 and 10% in 2007. Middle East's GDP will be 5.8% in 2006 and 5.4% in 2006 compared to global economy's GDP 5.1% in 2006 and 4.9% in 2007. This is mainly due to the oil in those Arab countries. Consumer Pricing Index (good indicator to major inflation) will be at 7.1 - 7.9% with Iran showing highest inflation rate of 15% and Saudi Arabia at its lowest 1%. IMF believes inflation is "generally well contained".

More info is summarized in The Daily Star or one can read the full World Economic Outlook report at the IMF site.

Labels: middle east

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 12:23 AM | Permalink | Comments

Naguib Mahfouz, one of the greatest writers of the Arab world and winner of the 1988 Nobel Peace prize passed away.
The Economist has a nice article on him which I quote: "What exemplified Islam for him, he [Mahfouz] said, was the decision by one early Muslim ruler to ransom Christian prisoners in exchange for works of Greek philosophy, medicine and mathematics.
Naguib Mahfouz Economist.com:

Labels: middle east

Posted by Tarek Hoteit at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments