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CAIRO: The top US military general asked Egyptian authorities during a visit to Cairo this month to allow American democracy activists facing trial to fly home with him, an Egyptian state newspaper reported on Saturday. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, met Egypt’s military rulers amid an acrid row between …
ALEXANDRIA: An unofficial delegation of 16 parliamentarians on a visit to the Alexandria village that saw the forced eviction of eight Coptic families, criticized the absence of the rule of law while also praising the efforts by residents to end the crisis. Rumors of an affair between a Coptic man and a Muslim woman, reportedly …
CAIRO: Three members of parliament announced that they will form a ‘revolutionary council’ to execute the demands of the January uprising, which include subjecting those responsible for killing protesters during the 18-day revolt to revolutionary trials and writing a new constitution to represent all Egypt’s factions. Free Egyptians Party’s MP Mohamed Abu Hamed, the Egyptian …
CAIRO: Hundreds of Egyptians gathered in front of the Syrian Embassy in Cairo calling for the immediate discharge of the Syrian ambassador from Egypt. A march began at Omar Makram Mosque in Tahrir Square after Friday prayers and headed to the Syrian Embassy in Garden City. The protesters at the embassy mainly belonged to the …
CAIRO: Armed clashes erupted on Thursday and Friday once more following a days-long calm between members of two leading tribes in the Upper Egyptian province of Qena. "The two tribes continued to fire shots in the air in the morning, but the clashes have calmed down a bit since last night," Ahmed Kamal, member of …
NEW YORK: New York Times correspondent Anthony Shadid, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner whose dispatches captured untold stories from Baghdad under "shock and awe" bombing to Libya wracked by civil war, died Thursday of an asthma attack in Syria while reporting on the uprising against its president. Shadid, 43, who survived a gunshot wound in …
DAMASCUS: Syrian forces unleashed their heaviest pounding of Homs in two weeks on Friday, activists said after the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly backed an Arab initiative calling on President Bashar Al-Assad to stand down. Rockets crashed into Khaldiyeh and Bayyada, strongholds of resistance in the central protest hub, at the rate of four a minute, …
BENGHAZI: Libyans on Friday celebrated the first anniversary of the uprising against Moamer Qaddafi with fireworks and slogans, even as its new leader vowed to act firmly against further instability. The former rebels who toppled Qaddafi last year with NATO backing set up fresh checkpoints in the capital Tripoli, in Benghazi, the eastern birthplace of …
ISLAMABAD: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday lashed out against foreign interference in the region at a summit in Pakistan designed to help chart a political solution in Afghanistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai called for action rather than words after the three-way summit hosted by President Asif Ali Zardari, as Kabul seeks to enlist Islamabad’s assistance …
CAIRO: Thousands of Egyptians are rallying in the Mediterranean city of Port Said, saying that its residents were not behind a deadly soccer riot earlier this month that killed 71 people. Some of the protesters traveled from Cairo to Port Said on Friday to express their solidarity with the city. Supporters of the Cairo-based Al-Ahly …
WASHINGTON: The US government is worried that Iran will consider a terror attack on American soil, but it has no specific or credible threat about such a plot. Police from Los Angeles to New York City said they were anxious about the risks, even as a senior US intelligence official reassured Congress that it was …
German drama "Barbara" is the critics’ favorite to take away the Golden Bear for best picture at this year’s Berlin film festival, in what would be the first home win since 2004. The 10-day cinema showcase, which attracts thousands of journalists, critics and movie industry executives from around the world, ends Saturday with an awards …
For Bishop T.D. Jakes, watching Whitney Houston sing a classic gospel hymn two months ago made him sure the long-struggling singer was poised for a comeback. Instead, her soulful rendition of "His Eye is on the Sparrow" will be the last chance for audiences to see Houston perform new music. Her performance was filmed for …
I’ve been on a bad food binge. Throughout years of conscientious Asian-influenced eating in Kuala Lumpur, I missed the grease that many Egyptian dishes brought to the many mouths I’ve shared meals with. “Bring it on, Cairo!” I squealed as my big feet clumsily trampled onto the Egyptian soil that they so sorely missed, warm …
JAKARTA: Many people would argue that football is as much a spiritual experience as it is a physical activity. As the World Cup and other regional league and club games have shown, it has the ability to move people — both in positive and negative ways. It can be seen as positive in that it …
GENEVA: Subsidiaries of Libya’s sovereign wealth fund are no longer subject to a freeze on their assets abroad under an informal easing of UN sanctions targeting the regime of late leader Muammar Gaddafi, a UN panel of experts said on Thursday. The UN Security Council’s financial sanctions had frozen $170 billion in Libyan assets, but …
BERLIN: A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she, together with the leaders Italy and Greece, are "optimistic" that a second massive bailout for Greece can be agreed next week. The statement from Steffen Seibert comes after Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and Greece’s Premier Lucas Papademos held a conference call earlier Friday. …
BRUSSELS: European Union lawmakers approved a new trade deal with Morocco on Thursday that will significantly extend duty-free sales of agricultural, food and fisheries products between the North African kingdom and the 27-nation bloc. The EU’s agriculture chief, Dacian Ciolos, described the deal as both economically and politically significant. "It is a balanced agreement, which …
LONDON: Oil steadied near $120 a barrel on Friday, supported by tension between Iran and the West and hopes for a long-awaited Greek bailout deal. "As long as there are serious concerns about supply shortfalls and while optimism continues on the financial markets, the oil price is likely to continue to rise, especially since even …
WASHINGTON: The US Treasury reiterated Thursday that Washington has no plans to provide more money to the International Monetary Fund as the eurozone crisis drives the Fund to raise more emergency resources. Treasury undersecretary for international affairs Lael Brainard told a congressional hearing that the US economy could be damaged by a further deterioration of …
BEIJING: China said Thursday it hoped the next head of the World Bank would be selected on "merit", amid calls for an end to US dominance at the global lender after Robert Zoellick steps down. Zoellick, 58, said he would leave in June at the end of his five-year term, and his departure has set …
WASHINGTON: US pro-democracy groups on Thursday blamed an Egyptian minister who was a holdover from the era of ousted President Hosni Mubarak for starting a campaign against American democracy activists that has strained US-Cairo ties. Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Aboul Naga resented a reduction in US aid that had been channeled through her ministry …
NEW YORK: New York Times reporter Anthony Shadid, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist whose richly crafted dispatches surveyed two decades of Middle East turmoil, has died in Syria of an asthma attack. Shadid, 43, had snuck into the country to report on Syria’s increasingly bloody crackdown on a pro-democracy revolt, and the asthma attack Thursday was …
WASHINGTON: The top US military officer forcefully argued against a cut-off in aid to Egypt on Thursday but acknowledged there needed to be "consequences" after a crackdown on US pro-democracy activists that has strained ties between Cairo and Washington. Washington has said $1.3 billion in US military aid is at risk due to an Egyptian …
CAIRO: The Egyptian Football Association says the domestic league could resume in empty stadiums after the mourning period ends on March 15 for the 71 people killed in the country’s worst football violence. Association spokesman Azmy Megahed said on Wednesday that the final decision lies with the prime minister and security officials. But Megahed said …
CAIRO: Thousands of Al-Ahly football fans (Ultras) marched Wednesday to the Prosecutor General’s office to demand retribution and swift justice for the 71 that were killed in Port Said. Investigations, they said, are yet to yield results. "We came to prod the authorities to bring the rights of those who died. We want a verdict …
ALEXANDRIA: Presidential hopeful Abdel Moneim Abol Fotoh criticized Tuesday calls to draft the constitution and hold the presidential elections parallelly, suggesting that the constitution be drafted after the elections since choosing the constituent assembly will take time. Abol Fotoh said in a lecture titled "What next a year after the revolution?" at the Faculty Club …
CAIRO: Municipal council elections will be held in July or August at the latest, following the presidential elections, the Cabinet of Ministers said in a statement. A Supreme Administrative Court ruling dissolved last July municipal councils across the country, one of the demands of the January 25 Revolution that toppled Egypt’s strongman Hosni Mubarak. Municipal …
CAIRO: Eighty-eight percent of Egyptians think the upcoming presidential election will be fair and honest, with only 6 percent disagreeing, according to a poll released Thursday. The survey was taken in mid-December, after the first rounds of parliament elections by the highly respected Gallup group. The sample group consisted of 1,077 Egyptians, aged 15 and …
CAIRO: Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed El-Tayeb gave a nod to an initiative launched by Salafi preacher Mohamed Hassan to forgo US military aid and replace it with a local campaign to raise the same amount from the Egyptian people. Hassan had proposed the "Egyptian Aid" initiative in the wake of a fierce face-off between …
