Escalating protests in Egypt jarred world financial markets on Friday. Stocks fell while the dollar, Treasuries and gold rose as investors sought to reduce their exposure to risk.

The Egyptian government's response to widespread street protests unnerved investors. The military was deployed in an effort to quell the protests and the headquarters of the ruling party was on fire. Thousands of people defied a curfew, and Internet and cell phone service has been cut off.

Dubai's leading property develop, Emaar, said Thursday it has raised $500 million through an offering international bonds aimed mainly at refinancing debt, raising hopes for eased finance for Dubai firms.

The company behind the building of the world's tallest tower, Burj Khalifa, said its first international fixed-income offering, in the form of sukuks, or Islamic bonds, was "very well received."

Oil prices hovered below $86 a barrel Friday in Asia, dragged lower by weak economic and earnings news.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was down 7 cents at $85.57 a barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Caretaker Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud has urged Arab and western tourists to visit Lebanon after the tourism sector was directly affected by the political crisis which led several countries to raise concerns over stability in Beirut.

Calls by some countries on their citizens “to refrain from visiting Lebanon during this period are surprising, particularly since this request came after protests ended and security was restored,” Abboud said in a statement on Thursday.

MTV Lebanon, a leading independent media station in Lebanon and the MENA region, has selected Eurisko Mobility to develop various mobile applications for all major platforms (iPhone / iPad, BlackBerry, Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile).

Eurisko Mobility, (www.euriskomobility.com), will combine a wide range of advanced mobile techniques to develop a unique concept to be introduced by MTV for the first time in the Middle East and the world. The exact details of the application are being kept under a shroud of secrecy.

The head of the Arab League said Wednesday that Arabs were angry and frustrated and "the name of the game is reform" — a call lent urgency by turmoil of recent days, when a corrupt regime was overthrown in Tunisia and several people died in anti-government riots in Egypt.

Arab League's Secretary-General Amr Moussa, who is Egyptian, spoke to reporters at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where a panel of Mideast economic experts convened separately to tackle the same question — and generally agreed the region needs better education, more transparent regimes, and cleverer business strategies.

The BBC World Service said Wednesday it would close five of its language services and cut 650 jobs as it seeks to make deep savings.

The Albanian, Macedonian, Portuguese for Africa and Serbian languages services as well as the English for the Caribbean regional service will all be shut down.

Oil prices hovered near $86 a barrel Wednesday in Asia, consolidating losses after falling more than 4 percent in less than a week on mixed economic news and the possibility of increased OPEC production.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 26 cents at $86.45 a barrel at early afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost $1.68 to settle at $86.19 on Tuesday.

DP World said Tuesday business rose 14 percent last year, reflecting the expansion of the Dubai port operator's global network and a resurgence in trade as the world economy picks up steam.

The world's third-largest seaport operator said its ports handled the equivalent of 49.6 million standard 20-foot cargo containers, up from 43.4 million in 2009.

It floats on a sea of oil in a country that has the largest ecological footprint, yet Abu Dhabi aims to convince the world of its environmental credentials through its futuristic Masdar initiative.

On the ground, there are few signs of the will to combat climate change in Abu Dhabi, where even simple solar heaters are seldom spotted on the rooftops of the parched emirate.