Heba Fahmy

72 Articles

Advertising Area



Latest by Heba Fahmy


El-Adly trial adjourned to Sept. 5, defense lashes out

CAIRO: The trial of ex-interior minister Habib El-Adly and six of his aides in the case of killing protesters was adjourned Sunday to Sept. 5 before the outraged defense team had a chance to speak. “This session was a farce in front of the whole world, caused by the lawyers of the civil rights claimants …

Heba Fahmy

Five Abbasiya protesters released, residents deny starting clashes

CAIRO: Five protesters detained by military and civilian police during the Abbasiya clashes Saturday night, were released on Sunday without any charges filed against them. Ahmed Ragheb director of the Hisham Mubarak Law Center said that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and the government were responsible for securing the people and preventing …

Heba Fahmy

Amendments to parliament law ‘difficult to comprehend,’ says elections expert

CAIRO: The amendments to the People’s Assembly and Shoura Council laws, announced on Wednesday are “complicated and difficult for any ordinary Egyptian to comprehend and implement,” a professor of electoral systems said. The amendments, announced by the ruling military council, combine the closed party lists and individual candidates’ formats, with 50 percent allocated to each …

Heba Fahmy

Copts continue open sit-in at Maspero

CAIRO: Hundreds of Coptic protesters said on Thursday that they would continue their open sit in in-front of the state TV building until the Virgin and Bishop Abram Church in Ain Shams district is re-opened and the Maghagha Diocese in Minya is rebuilt. Bishop Mitias Nasr told protesters that according to the priests at the …

Heba Fahmy

Responsibilities of Qena governor frozen, protesters open railway lines

CAIRO: The executive secretary of Qena governorate, Maged Abdel Kerim, was asked to handle the duties of Governor Emad Shehata Mikhael, whose executive powers were frozen for three months in a move meant to defuse residents’ rejection of the newly appointed governor. The decision was announced by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf in a statement aired …

Heba Fahmy

Political powers move to suspend Friday protests

CAIRO: A number of political powers decided to halt all mass protests on Friday and called on Egypt’s opposition groups and youth to do the same, following the arrest of ousted president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons on Wednesday. Egypt’s Prosecutor General announced Wednesday the 15-day detention of the country’s former president and his …

Heba Fahmy

The people’s republic of Tahrir Square

  Yasser Salama   Yasser Salama, a baker by trade, was born in 1973 and is a resident of Zawya El-Hamra. He has been in Tahrir Square since Jan. 28. “I saw people being shot and thought I’d come and die with dignity here.” He relates with other protesters, especially those who have problems caused …

Heba Fahmy

Officer sentenced to 5 months in prison for beating and insulting professor

CAIRO: The Zagazig Misdemeanors Court on Tuesday sentenced officer Ahmed Abdel Latif to five months in prison and ordered him to pay LE 5000 in compensation for insulting and beating a university professor. Abdel Latif had attended a lecture with his fiancé in the Faculty of Arts in Zagazig University in December, when students complained …

Heba Fahmy

Brotherhood supporters in Alexandria say beaten by police

CAIRO: Five supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) were attacked by security forces in Alexandria late Monday while hanging posters of MB-affiliated independent candidate Mahmoud Attia, the group said. “A low ranking police officer in uniform held a sword in his right hand and a stick in his left hand and attacked the supporters [alongside] …

Heba Fahmy

Al-Dostor journalists fired for missing work, says Edward

CAIRO: Several Al-Dostor journalists were fired on Thursday, which the independent daily’s owner says was due to missing work for a number of days surpassing that which is legally permitted. Al-Dostor owner Reda Edward told Daily News Egypt that six staff journalists were fired along with four freelancers. “I fired them because they didn’t come …

Heba Fahmy

Security forces detain five MB members in Alexandria

CAIRO: Security forces arrested five Muslim Brotherhood (MB) “leaders” from their homes in Alexandria at 12 pm Wednesday in an escalation of the government’s crackdown on the group before the upcoming parliamentary elections. “This is an attempt to terrorize the Brotherhood before the elections,” spokesman of the group’s parliamentary bloc and candidate, Hamdy Hassan, told …

Heba Fahmy

67 pct of Egyptians trust gov’t statistics, says report

CAIRO: Sixty-seven percent of Egyptians aged 18 and above believe, either completely or somewhat, in the statistics and information presented by the government, while 21 percent do not trust it, according to a report issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). The report was issued to coincide with the first World …

Heba Fahmy

April 6 Movement may hold parallel PA elections

CAIRO: The April 6 Youth Movement called for holding independent elections parallel to the upcoming parliamentary elections in November, should the government fail to guarantee the latter’s integrity. According to its founder Ahmed Maher, the April 6 Youth Movement along with other opposition groups would hold independent elections — supervised by civil society organizations — …

Heba Fahmy

Al-Wafd Party approves 176 candidates for PA elections

CAIRO: Al-Wafd Party approved the first list of candidates for the coming Parliamentary elections in November comprising 176 candidates to run in 27 governorates, according to the party’s official newspaper. Seventeen candidates will be competing for the 64 seats allocated for women in the Peoples’ Assemble (lower house). “The second list will be announced next …

Heba Fahmy

Viva Palestina’s Lifeline 5 aid convoy arrives in Gaza

CAIRO: The Viva Palestina aid convoy, Lifeline 5, arrived in Gaza through the Rafah border, the only gateway to Gaza that bypasses the Israeli siege, on Thursday to a “warm reception.” “Everyone has been walking around hugging each other. We’re at a loss for words,” Asif Bhayat, a volunteer pilot in the aid convoy who …

Heba Fahmy

Gov’t suspends 12 more satellite channels for religious, medical violations

CAIRO: Egypt’s government-owned satellite television operator NileSat temporarily suspended the licenses of 12 satellite channels and issued warnings to 20 others on Tuesday for inciting religious hatred and violence, for providing medical advice by unqualified individuals, and for promoting unlicensed pharmaceutical products. The most staggering violations included calls by extremist presenters for the excommunication, banishment …

Heba Fahmy

Opposition cautiously welcomes decision to allow Egyptian expats to vote

CAIRO: The decision to allow Egyptians living abroad to vote in presidential elections in 2011 can only be judged when it’s implemented, opposition members said, adding that without a set of other reforms the decision would be meaningless. Minister of Manpower and Migration Aisha Abdel Hady announced Sunday that Egypt will permit citizens living abroad …

Heba Fahmy

Brotherhood member takes internal conflict to prosecutor general

CAIRO: Muslim Brotherhood member Khaled Dawood filed a complaint to the prosecutor general against the spokesman of the group’s parliamentary bloc, Hamdy Hassan, accusing him of libel and slander, in an unprecedented escalation of an internal conflict. Hassan had accused Dawood of financial violations without giving details and stated that this was the reason Dawood …

Heba Fahmy

Muslim Brotherhood won’t replicate its 2005 electoral gains, says minister

CAIRO: Minister of Legal Affairs & Parliamentary Councils Moufid Shehab stated that the Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t exist according to Egyptian laws, saying the “banned” group won’t replicate its successful run in the 2005 elections this year. “That’s absurd,” Muslim Brotherhood MP Mohamed El Beltagi told Daily News Egypt. “The reality proves [Shehab] wrong.” Al-Wafd MP …

Heba Fahmy

Van Gogh trial adjourned to Oct 12

CAIRO: The Dokki Misdemeanor Court on Tuesday adjourned the Van Gogh theft trial to Oct. 12. The court listened to the testimonies of the head of financial and administrative affairs, Olfat Al-Gindi, and tourism police Brigadier Ahmed Abdel Zaher, head of the museums’ investigation department. Abdel Zaher testified to his findings during the investigation of …

Heba Fahmy

Electricity ministry doesn’t rule out an increase in electric bills

CAIRO: Officials at the Ministry of Electricity could neither confirm nor deny reports of an expected 7.5 increase in electricity prices in December. “The Cabinet of Ministers is the one responsible for deciding when and how much the increase in the price of electricity will be, not the Ministry of Electricity. So I can’t deny …

Heba Fahmy

Democratic Front pulls out of Quartet Bloc over PA elections

CAIRO: The Democratic Front Party has withdrawn from the Quartet Bloc after other parties decided to participate in the parliamentary elections scheduled to take place in November. The Quartet Bloc comprised of four opposition parties including Al-Wafd, Tagammu and Nasserist parties as well as the Democratic Front, which has now dropped out. “We at Al-Wafd …

Heba Fahmy

New judge to oversee Van Gogh theft trial; resumes Oct. 5

CAIRO: The trial of the Van Gogh painting theft was on Tuesday adjourned to Oct. 5, when witnesses will testify before a new judge that will be assigned at the start of the new judicial year. “According to the Egyptian judiciary system, a new judicial department (including a new judge) will be handling this case …

Heba Fahmy

Health ministry pulls 14 diabetes drugs off market over heart complications concerns

CAIRO: The Ministry of Health decided to take 14 anti-diabetic drugs off the market to prevent possible health risks. The ministry stipulated in a statement issued on Saturday, that all drugs that contain rosiglitazone will be pulled from pharmacies throughout Egypt following a statement by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) that the drugs’ side effects …

Heba Fahmy

April 6 Movement launches campaign to raise students’ awareness

CAIRO: Students from the April 6 Youth Movement kick started the “You are the Solution” campaign to raise political awareness of their colleagues. The student activists distributed flyers in Cairo and Ain Shams Universities urging their colleagues to take a more active and positive role in political life. “We want to solve the students’ problems …

Heba Fahmy

Muslim Brotherhood critique Ramadan series

CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc held a political salon on Monday evening titled “The Group…Between History and Drama,” to critique the TV series, “Al-Gama’a,” which was broadcast during Ramadan sparking wide controversy. “Al-Gama’a” was meant to narrate the history of the Brotherhood and their founder, Hassan El-Banna. The panelists included a variety of history …

Heba Fahmy

Police clamp down on anti-Gamal Mubarak protesters

CAIRO: Egyptian security bodies cracked down on hundreds of demonstrators protesting against the succession of Gamal Mubarak to his father, incumbent President Hosni Mubarak, on Tuesday. The demonstration was scheduled to take place in front of Abdeen Palace, the former residence of Egypt’s King Farouk, in downtown Cairo, but hundreds of riot police surrounded the …

Heba Fahmy

Egypt, Saudi Arabia establish first women’s security center in Mideast

  CAIRO: Egypt and Saudi Arabia are joining forces to launch the first women’s security center in the region, offering training for female security guards.   Princess Basma Bint Saud Al Saud, head of the Sada Al-Hayah International Saudi Center, signed an agreement with Sherif Khaled, head of Falcon group companies, last week to establish …

Heba Fahmy