This diary is updated daily. New listings or amendments are marked *. All events/times provisional and in GMT (local time is GMT +3 for Egypt, GMT +3 for Sudan).
TODAY'S EVENTS
*SHARM EL-SHEIKH - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak holds talks with U.S. President George W. Bush.
CAIRO - Court session in lawsuit filed by man against Egyptian academic Saad Eddin Ibrahim for $100 million in damages for "harm to Egyptian national unity".
COMING EVENTS
SUNDAY, MAY 18
SHARM EL-SHEIKH - World Economic Forum meeting starts, through May 20.
CAIRO - Arab League to hold meeting with representatives of satellite broadcasting channels to discuss mechanisms for regulating content, as per the Arab broadcast charter.
MONDAY, MAY 19
CAIRO - A coalition of 24 major Egyptian NGOs hold a press conference to announce the creation of an umbrella organisation to promote and advocate legal measures for the protection and freedom of NGOs, 1000 GMT.
*SHARM EL-SHEIKH - Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan gives a press briefing, from 1130 local/ 0830 GMT.
TUESDAY, MAY 20
CAIRO - Samih Sawiris holds a presentation on the listing of Orascom Development Holding on the Egyptian and Swiss stock exchanges, followed by a Q & A session 1300 GMT
MONDAY, MAY 26
CAIRO - Euromoney conference on Egyptian real estate.
THURSDAY, MAY 29
CAIRO - Egypt to choose international consultants for its planned nuclear power station.
TUESDAY, JUNE 3
*CAIRO - An Islamic Finance forum at the Conrad Hotel from 0845 local.
THURSDAY, JUNE 19
CAIRO - Telecommunications Regulatory Authority deadline for bids for Egypt's second fixed-line telephone licence.
TUESDAY, JUNE 24
SHARM EL-SHEIKH - Two-day meeting of African Union experts to prepare for AU summit.
THURSDAY, JUNE 26
CAIRO - Central bank's monetary policy committee meets.
FRIDAY, JUNE 27
CAIRO - Central bank issues statement on monetary policy.
SHARM EL-SHEIKH - Two-day meeting of African Union Executive Council to prepare for AU summit.
MONDAY, JUNE 30
SHARM EL-SHEIKH - Two-day African Union summit.
THURSDAY, JULY 17
ALEXANDRIA - Wikimania 2008 conference at Alexandria Library, organised by the Wikimedia Foundation, through Saturday.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 7
CAIRO - Central bank's monetary policy committee meets.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 8
CAIRO - Central bank issues statement on monetary policy.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
CAIRO - Central bank's monetary policy committee meets.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
CAIRO - Central bank issues statement on monetary policy.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6
CAIRO - Central bank's monetary policy committee meets.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7
CAIRO - Central bank issues statement on monetary policy.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25
CAIRO - Central bank's monetary policy committee meets.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26
CAIRO - Central bank issues statement on monetary policy.
NOTE-Inclusion of diary items does not necessarily mean that Reuters will file a story on the event.
Key world financial events diary [KEY/DIARY]
International political diary [POL/DIARY]
Full index of available diaries [IND/DIARY] ((Cairo newsroom +202 2 578 3290/1, fax +202 577 1133, cairo.newsroom@reuters.com))
Keywords: EGYPT DIARY
The Times
TESCO URGES WATCHDOG TO SHELVE OCADO'S PRICE CLAIM
Tesco <TSCO.L> has accused Ocado, the grocery home shopping group, of an "underhanded and entirely misleading" advertising campaign in which it claims to offer "Waitrose products at Tesco prices". Ocado boasts it is price-matching the supermarket giant on 3,500 branded products, but Tesco argues that Ocado is regularly more expensive on at least 500 items. It has called on the Advertising Standards Authority to force Ocado to scrap the campaign. Ocado insisted on Thursday that the company checked its prices against Tesco's every week.
GRADE SAYS SORRY TO ITV STARS FOR TELEPHONE LINE SCANDAL
ITV's <ITV.L> executive chairman Michael Grade has apologised to stars such as Ant & Dec over the phone-in scandal that landed the broadcaster with a 5.7 million pound fine. Speaking at ITV's annual general meeting, Grade said: "This is an historic series of mistakes. The way we handled the mess has been open and transparent. Our job is to make sure it does not happen again and apologise to the public and artists involved."
BALFOUR NETS 186 MILLION POUNDS WITH UNEXPECTED PLACING
Construction and engineering group Balfour Beatty <BALF.L> made a surprise placing of shares this week designed to give it more financial headroom in the current economic climate. The placing of 43.3 million shares at 430 pence, which raised 186 million pounds, was to support growth after its acquisitions, the company said. The shares closed down three percent at 438.5 pence.
HONG KONG, May 16 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
APPLE DAILY
-- There is speculation that two banks in the race for the Wing Lung Bank <0096.HK> stake have dropped out China Merchants Bank <600036.SS> is the only interested party on the shortlist after the departure of ANZ <ANZ.AX> and ICBC <1398.HK> <601398.SS>.
MING PAO DAILY NEWS
-- Cheung Kong Infrastructure's <0001.HK> chairman is not disappointed that his company has being displaced from the Hang Seng Index constituent stock list. Victor Li said the company's future development would not be affected and the reason for losing the blue-chip status was its lower circulation of shares.
HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES
-- Asian Aerospace International Expo and Congress will return to Hong Kong with events scheduled for Sept. 2009. Exhibitors will rise to more than 900 from 575 last year.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
-- Shareholder activist David Webb resigned as director of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing <0388.HK>, according to an announcement by the exchange last night. He said the six government-appointed board directors had reversed their positions on several company decisions based on political considerations.
THE STANDARD
-- Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam- kuen said three Hong Kong volunteer teams had been sent to help quake victims, two from the government and one from the Hospital Authority.
-- Total losses to insured and uninsured property from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in China will likely exceed 140 billion yuan ($20 billion), catastrophe risk modelling firm AIR Worldwide estimates.
SING PAO
-- Chief Executive Donald Tsang promised the legislature there would be overall policy to combat the rise in consumer prices in the formation of his Policy Speech this year to help bring relief to the grassroots.
WEN WEI PO
-- Standard Chartered <STAN.L> <2888.HK> believes the worst of the subprime crisis is not yet over. Its regional economist says there is still room for further U.S. interest rate cuts.
TA KUNG PAO
-- Six mainland China mutual fund companies have inquired about opening offices in Hong Kong, according to market watchdog SFC. They emerged after a relaxation of regulations and some formal applications are expected to come shortly.
For Chinese newspapers, see...............[PRESS/CN]
For Taiwan newspapers, see............[PRESS/TW] ($1=6.994 Yuan) Keywords: HONGKONG PRESS
. Keywords: HONGKONG PRESS
KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 (Reuters) - Malaysian stocks are
expected to stay flat on Friday, while construction firms with
business in the Middle East, such as WCT Engineering <WCTE.KL>,
may attract investors.
"The market is likely to be flat to slightly higher," said
one dealer.
"We should see some interest in the construction firms with
exposure in the Middle East and a better-than-expected result by
WCT yesterday should also help," he said.
WCT on Thursday reported a 78 percent rise in first-quarter
profit on the back of its Middle East construction activities.
The plantation sector, which includes blue chips such as IOI
Corp <IOIB.KL>, Kuala Lumpur Kepong <KLKK.KL> and Sime Darby
<SIME.KL>, was the main focus of the market on Thursday, and is
also likely to see more interest.
Crude palm-oil futures fell 1 percent on Thursday after
disappointing export data, but they are still up on the week.
IOI Corp reported a 53 percent rise in third-quarter profit,
propelled by the boom in palm oil demand and prices.
On Thursday, the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index
<.KLSE> rose 0.5 percent to close at 1,294.15 points.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2315 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 <.SPX> 1423.57 1.06% 14.910
USD/JPY <JPY=> 104.83 0.13% 0.140
10-YR US TSY YLD <US10YT=RR> 3.82 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD <XAU=> 881.55 0.12% 1.100
US CRUDE <CLc1> 124.3 0.15% 0.180
DOW JONES <.DJI> 12992.66 0.73% 94.28
ASIA ADRS <.BKAS> 168.61 2.31% 3.80
-------------------------------------------------------------
>US STOCKS-Oil's fall, techs' gain drive stocks higher [.N]
>Oil slips on natural gas stockbuild, profit taking [O/R]
>FOREX-Yen rises broadly amid waning risk demand [USD/]
>TREASURIES-Bonds gain on soft manufacturing, jobs data [US/]
>Gold jumps 2 pct on surging oil, firm euro [GOL/]
>SE Asian Stocks-Mostly up on commodity stocks [.SO]
>Palm slips on disappointing export data [ID:nKLR193428]
>S&P revises Petronas, Telekom outlook to stable [ID:nWLB1697]
>Thailand to buy rice from farmers at $432/tonne [ID:nBKK24924]
>Malaysia Coastal says order book at $369bln [ID:nKLA007524]
>Malaysia Boustead to take property arm private [ID:nKLR182542]
>Malaysia's RAM downgrades Rubberex ratings [ID:nKLA007522]
>Malaysian ringgit slips on S&P ratings news [ID:nSP190287]
>Malaysia to sign broadband pact with Telekom [ID:nKLR35431]
>S&P cuts Malaysia outlook on political uncertainty[ID:nL1552657]
>Maybank to announce capital raising plan in June [ID:nKLR233423]
>Malaysia '08 rice imports to rise 30 pct [ID:nKLR133170]
>Palm oil profits soar for Malaysian planter IOI [ID:nKLR158694]
>US Says yuan undervalued, China not manipulator [ID:nN15326335]
(Reporting by Faisal Aziz, editing by Mark Bendeich)
((faisal.aziz@thomsonreuters.com; +603 2333 8040; Reuters
Messaging: faisal.aziz.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: MALAYSIA MARKETS STOCKS
SEOUL, May 16 (Reuters) - The following is a summary of major South Korean newspapers on Friday prepared by Reuters in Seoul. Reuters has not checked the stories and does not guarantee their accuracy.
CHOSUN ILBO
South Korea and the European Union (EU) have agreed to conclude free trade talks before the end of this year, the top South Korean trade negotiator said.
DONG-A ILBO
Prosecutors raided four state-run companies, including Korea Asset Management Corp (KAMCO) and Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC), as part of an investigation looking into alleged financial corruption in state-run bodies.
South Korea is willing to negotiate directly with North Korea in providing food aid to Pyongyang, given the opportunity, the South's foreign minister said to reporters Thursday.
KOREA ECONOMIC DAILY
Samsung Electronics Co <005930.KS> and LG Electronics Inc. <066570.KS> have agreed to the cross-buying of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, according to the Knowledge Economy Ministry.
JOONGANG ILBO
Seven out of 10 elected legislators, who will take office at the end of this month, oppose increasing taxes, according to a poll conducted by the Joongang Ilbo.
HANKYOREH
An official from the farm ministry has acknowledged the recent beef deal between South Korea and the U.S., which will increase the types of American beef allowed into the country, includes imports of parts designated by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to be of high-risk of mad cow disease.
MAEIL BUSINESS NEWSPAPER
STX Shipbuilding <067250.KS> is to build a ship parts-making plant in Masan, a city on the southern coast of the peninsula, on condition that it wins support from all citizens in the city, according an official from the company.
((Writing by Lee Jiyeon, editing by Keiron Henderson))
((seoul.newsroom@reuters.com; +82 2 3704 5677)) Keywords: KOREA PRESS/
Next: PRESS DIGEST - Malaysia - May 16