CAIRO: Amid scant security presence at Cairo International Airport’s Terminal 3, approximately 800 people thronged to welcome the former Secretary General of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Nobel Peace Laureate Mohamed ElBaradei upon his arrival in Cairo Friday afternoon. Wild crowds drove ElBaradei back into the airport as soon as he attempted to leave, …

CAIRO: Striking workers from the Tanta Flax and Oils Company will be paid a sum the equivalent of two months wages, but not until they break up the sit-in outside the cabinet office they started almost two weeks ago, said Egypt’s labor minister. Manpower Minister Aisha Abdel-Hady was quoted as saying by state newspaper Al-Ahram …

CAIRO: The Ministry of Health announced Tuesday the death of three cases of A(H1N1) flu, raising the death toll to 265. The ministry said that the latest victims were all females between 50-61, two from Daqahlia and the third from Sixth of October. Despite the new deaths, a ministry report on the HIN1 virus, or …

CAIRO: The Egyptian Court of Cassation upheld on Monday the death sentence meted out to the murderer of the head of Banque Misr’s credit department. Sameh Mohamed Naguib Mohamed, a cook, will be executed, while his wife and accomplice Neamat Ahmed Marzouk, the victim’s domestic servant, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the …

CAIRO: A two-floor building in Alexandria collapsed Sunday morning, killing three people and leaving four others injured, according to Al-Masry Al-Youm. Initial investigations revealed that a decision to demolish the property earlier in 2006 has been taken, but residents refused to evacuate on their own risks. The top floor’s ceiling initially caved in, leading to …

CAIRO: The Qena Appeals Court upheld the prosecution’s decision to detain 29 people accused of inciting riots in Nagaa Hammadi for 15 days pending investigations. The group appealed to the Qena Court against their detention, but to no avail. No one understands the reasons behind the court s decision, said Ishaq Ibrahim from the Egyptian …

CAIRO: Former housing minister Mohamed Ibrahim Soliman will return LE 340,000 he had received during his tenure as the head of the Petroleum Marine Services Company since July 2009. According to a statement to Al-Shorouk newspaper by his lawyer Gamil Said, the ex-minister has already signed two checks, one worth LE 317,000 which he received …

CAIRO: Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif has overturned a ban on allowing certain groups from observing Umrah and Hajj pilgrimage, a measure taken in early 2009 to combat the spread of swine flu. Individuals under 25 or over 65, pregnant women as well as people suffering from chronic illness, were not allowed to perform the Islamic …

CAIRO: In an interview with London-based Asharq Alawsat newspaper, an Egyptian cleric has issued a fatwa forbidding the use of the popular social networking site Facebook. Muslims using such sites must be considered sinners said the religious edict s author, Sheikh Abdel Hamid Al-Atrash, claiming that statistics show that divorce rates have risen since the …

CAIRO: In a telephone interview with terrestrial TV show “Sabah El-Kheir ya Masr (Good Morning Egypt) Sunday, President Hosni Mubarak’s older son Alaa said that Egyptians will continue to back the national football team to take home the African Cup to claim a historic third consecutive title. Alaa and younger brother Gamal Mubarak flew to …