Kuwait

*Sudan hopes to offset loss of oil to South Sudan. NEAR SOFIYA, Sudan, May 22- In a hangar-shaped factory hall in central Sudan a dozen workers rush to pack refined white sugar gushing from a funnel into paper bags to be loaded on three trucks parked outside.

NEW YORK, May 21- Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged a New York art dealer with tax fraud in connection with the sale of paintings she claimed to be the works of celebrated abstract expressionists, but some of which the government said were fakes.

NEW YORK, May 21- Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged a New York art dealer with tax fraud in connection with the sale of paintings she claimed to be the works of celebrated abstract expressionists, but some of which the government said were fakes.

NEW YORK, May 21- Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged a New York art dealer with tax fraud in connection with the sale of paintings she claimed to be the works of celebrated abstract expressionists, but some of which the government said were fakes.

KUWAIT, May 21- Around 80 percent of workers at Kuwait's main, state-run oil services company are on strike calling for better pay, a union official said on Tuesday, the latest sign of wage pressures in the Gulf Arab country.

"I've had enough of Sudan and will go to Saudi Arabia," said Taha. " Taha, who has been working in an office accounts department for two years because he could not find a professional post, has just been hired as an engineer by a construction firm in Saudi Arabia- a move that will increase his salary sevenfold to 2,500 Saudi riyals a month.

KUWAIT, May 15- A ruling by Kuwait's top court next month could end a period of relative political stability, jeopardising government plans to push ahead with long-delayed economic projects.

KUWAIT, May 15- Kuwait's state-owned Kuwait Airways has picked Airbus to provide new jets because its proposal was the best value for money, the country's transport minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

The proposal calls for state-owned Kuwait Airways to buy 25 new Airbus jets and to lease a further 13 to upgrade its fleet but needs government approval, the source said. In August 2007, Kuwait Airways cancelled an order for 19 passenger planes worth $3 billion from local lessor Alafco after failing to get government approval.

TORONTO, May 8- Tim Hortons Inc named a long-time Nestle executive as its new chief on Wednesday, a job that will be no easy task given drooping demand at the Canadian coffee and doughnut chain and a push by a U.S. hedge fund for better returns.

NEW YORK, May 8- This is not your parents' bull market. You can argue all you like about how corporate profits are vulnerable and the market is hung from the clouds on slender threads spun by Ben Bernanke, but what you can't say is that we are in classic broad-based stock market mania.

TORONTO, May 8- Tim Hortons Inc named a long-time Nestle executive as its new chief executive on Wednesday, a job that comes with tall tasks given drooping demand at the Canadian coffee and donut chain and a U.S. hedge fund pushing for better returns.

May 7- Dow Chemical Co has received $2.2 billion in damages from Kuwait's state chemicals company, bringing an end to a more than four-year dispute over a scrapped plastics joint venture. Last year the International Chamber of Commerce's International Court ruled that PIC had violated its agreement with Dow Chemical.

*Little sign of pull-back in Dubai, Abu Dhabi. DUBAI, May 7- Egypt's bourse rose to an eight-week high on Tuesday as corporate news lifted sentiment, while Saudi Arabia's bourse slipped for a third straight session in an otherwise positive regional picture.

May 7- Dow Chemical Co said it has received $2.2 billion as damages from Kuwait's state-run chemicals company, a year after an arbitrator told Petrochemical Industries Co to pay up for cancelling a planned plastics joint venture in 2008.. The cash payment includes damages as well as recovery of its costs, Dow Chemical said.

*Iran reliant on shipping for many imports. Feeder services, which transport ship containers to Iran especially from larger ports in the United Arab Emirates, are also used.

WASHINGTON, May 7- President Barack Obama's choice as the next U.S. ambassador to Libya promised on Tuesday to ensure the security of staff in the country, eight months after an attack in Benghazi killed four Americans, including the last ambassador.

INTERNATIONAL/REGIONAL* GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares steady on higher Wall Street* Oil rises to over $105 per barrel on Mideast tensions* MIDEAST STOCKS-Dubai, Kuwait rally pauses; Gulf mkts mixed* Turkish markets mixed as lira rise signals more rate cuts* Gold ticks lower as equities gain, ETFs plunge* Israel says' no winds of war' despite Syria air strikes* Bombs, mosque attack kill 17 in Iraqi capital- police* Kerry to' make another stab' at Syria deal with Russia* UN distances self from report Syrian rebels used nerve gas* Influential U.S. senator offers bill to arm Syria rebels* Iran presidency candidates to step forward, finally.

SYDNEY, May 6- Kuwait- based Asiya Investments. "We engage those companies that are already banked but whose credit lines are limited- we are complementing their financing," said Sulaiman Alireza, executive director of Asiya's investment management arm in Hong Kong.