Latest in Politics Highlight
Latest in Politics
Press Round-up: Cease-fire in Lebanon still dominating local headlines
CAIRO: The latest news of the Israeli-Lebanese war continues to find its way into front page headlines. Newspapers report on what some of them have described as “the disorder during the deployment of the United Nations international peacekeeping forces and Lebanese army in the south. Even as part of its forces withdraws, Israel insists that …
Egypt's Orascom Hotels H1 net soars 178 pct
CAIRO: Orascom Hotels and Development posted a 178 percent rise in net profit for the first half of 2006 to LE 127 million ($22 million), the stock exchange said on Wednesday. The firm reported a net profit of 46 million pounds in the same period of 2005. Orascom Hotels shares ended the day 3 percent …
Word on the Street: Do demonstrations achieve any tangible results?
CAIRO: Over the past two years there has been a noticeable increase in the number of demonstrations taking place on Cairo’s streets – whether concerning the Qualified Industrial Zones agreement, constitutional reform, presidential elections, parliamentary elections or the violence in Lebanon, many people have had their say. Some demonstrations were conducted with incident, while others …
In Egypt, heavy-metal music is making a quiet comeback
Associated Press CAIRO: The music was loud and the tattooed fans were wild, dancing and swaying in flashing strobe lights to the crashing sounds of heavy-metal songs. Suddenly, the music stopped. The band leader grasped the mike and announced: It s prayer time. No one left to pray. Everyone stood by the stage and waited, …
Marina Rayih Gey documents what the young and fashionable are up to this summer
CAIRO: The summer heat of the city drives most people out of the city to the Mediterranean beaches, turning the otherwise quiet area into the liveliest place in Egypt. It’s not only private citizens that head for the beach, as even the media tends to join the migration, providing summer entertainment. Marina, an immensely popular …
Rowdy audiences result in heavy metal ban
El-Sawy Cultural Center takes a break from hard rock CAIRO: Much to the dismay of Cairo rock enthusiasts, El-Sawy Cultural Center decided this week to severely limit, and in some cases ban, rock music on its premises. The decision came after overly rowdy members of the audience at the Aug. 1 “Rock Mania heavy metal …
The Cairo Tower is both hated and loved, by foreigners and Egyptians alike
CAIRO: It was built in order to shame and later on it was shamed upon. Some couples who visit are too ashamed to be seen together elsewhere. They would rather commit their “shameful acts 15 floors above ground. With the urban legends surrounding it, the Cairo Tower seems more like a testimony of shame rather …
Designer nights
ŠΘ # # # Many of Egypt’s socialites and celebrities attended the event, here are Hafez, Jack, Mrs. Hany Aziz, Lucy Artin, Hany Aziz and Mohamed Abdel Aziz # # Photoography by Hassan IbrahimHafez, Mr. and Mrs. Ayman Shahyn, Nouran, Nadia Aziz and Mrs. Mohammed Abdel Aziz
EFG-Hermes H1 net income soars 289 percent
CAIRO: Investment bank EFG-Hermes said on Tuesday its net income for the first half of 2006 soared 289 percent to LE 358 million, but the results were at the low end of analyst expectations. Three analysts had forecast net income for the period at between LE 358 and LE 408 million. Some traders had expressed …
Tanker rams into quay at Alexandria port
CAIRO: A Turkish tanker rammed into a quay at the port of Alexandria Tuesday, destroying part of the structure and causing $12 million (LE 68.9 million) worth of damage, authorities said. Initial investigations indicated the empty tanker Massen Acar may have been traveling too fast when it entered the Mediterranean port to dock, they said. …
Peace holds in Lebanon as international force prepares to take control of border zone
Arab foreign ministers to meet in Egypt on Sunday BEIRUT: Foreign ministers arrived in Beirut on Wednesday to help plan the assembly of a 15,000-strong international force to oversee peacekeeping efforts in Lebanon. An explosive left over from the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah killed a man. The international force would work with an equal …
Golf tourism: the wave of the future?
CAIRO: Over the last decade, the sport of golf has blossomed from a niche pastime into a full-fledged sport, increasing the demand for golf courses, golf tournaments and more golf related mediums throughout the country and consequently opened a new industry of golf tourism. Golf has a historic relationship with Egypt, dating back to the …
Israeli missile strike kills two in south Gaza
GAZA: An Israeli aircraft fired a missile into a house in the southern Gaza Strip early on Wednesday, killing a Palestinian militant and his father, witnesses and medics said. The Israeli army said it had targeted a weapons storage facility and warned everyone inside to leave before the attack. The air strike destroyed a two-storey …
Court reverses move to free senior Islamists
CAIRO: A Cairo court on Wednesday ordered two senior Egyptian Islamists, arrested during anti-government protests in May, to stay in jail for 15 more days, reversing a lower court ruling to free them, court sources said. Essam Al-Arian and Mohamed Mursi, both leading members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, were detained in May during protests …
Arabs predict guns won't be silent long in Lebanon
Reuters BEIRUT: Arab commentators welcomed the fragile calm between Israel and Hezbollah militants on Tuesday but said they feared a UN-brokered truce would not keep the guns silent for long. The war in Lebanon may stop, but I doubt it, for never in history has Israel respected a single resolution issued by the Security Council, …
Lebanese blast Arab rulers, praise Iran, Syria
Reuters NABATIYEH, Lebanon: There is little but contempt for Arab rulers among Lebanese Shiites whose homes were destroyed in the war between Hezbollah and Israel, but support for Iran and Syria is stronger than ever. Washington had hoped that Israel s war with Hezbollah would deal a blow to the influence of Damascus and Tehran …
Sulaf Fawakhergy on a hike to local stardom
While commercial billboards feature her picture, the actress is looking for “quality roles CAIRO: Everyone who has watched Halim comments on the actress that plays Jihan: the title character s true love. She is stunningly beautiful and now the role of the real life woman who was arguably Abdel Halim Hafez s only love has …
Future history: A glimpse of what U.S. Lebanon policy could spawn
It is very likely that the world will look back at the summer of 2006 as a seminal moment in Middle East history. We may well be seeing, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice put it, “the birth pangs of a new Middle East. But it is also quite possible a monster will be born. …
Derias summer party
Mobinil in dispute over EDGE technology
CAIRO: Egyptian telecoms regulators have told mobile operator Mobinil it must either stop using EDGE technology that allows users to see streaming video or apply for a 3G license, Mobinil said on Tuesday. Mobinil, which has deferred a decision to apply for a license for higher-bandwidth 3G technology for a year citing unattractive terms, said …
Last of 11 missing Egyptian students rounded up
CHICAGO: A nationwide search for 11 Egyptian students who failed to show up for an academic program in Montana has ended with the last two caught outside their rented apartment in Virginia, U.S. authorities said on Monday. Several of the missing Egyptian students apprehended around the United States over the past week told immigration authorities …
Fragile Lebanon truce holds as refugees stream home
Egypt reiterates decision not to send troops to Lebanon-Israel border BEIRUT: A fragile ceasefire in the Lebanon war was holding Tuesday despite sporadic violence as Hezbollah claimed a historic victory, but Israeli leaders faced recriminations at home over the conflict. Thousands of exhausted Lebanese displaced by the massive month-long Israeli onslaught jammed bombed-out roads across …
Medical equipment industry undergoing major growth
Egypt hopes to help world meet need for medical equipment CAIRO: The medical equipment production industry is in the throes of major growth if recent economic indicators are anything to go by. According to Dr. Sherif Ezzat, president of the non-pharmaceutical medical industry division at the Chamber of Engineering Industries, part of the Egyptian Federation …
Taking a closer look at the everyday life of orphans in Egypt
CAIRO: Egyptian civil society has developed new awareness over the last couple of years that has helped change the stereotypes surrounding orphans. While most of us have a vague idea of how an orphan spends his day, The Daily Star Egypt delved into the details. Surprisingly, children at Dar Al-Orman, the Orman Orphanages, attend the …
Celebrated writer Naguib Mahfouz in intensive care
CAIRO: World renowned Egyptian writer and Nobel literature prize winner Nagib Mahfouz has been moved to the intensive care unit of a hospital where he was admitted last week, an official there said Tuesday. Mahfouz, 94, was said to be in critical but stable condition at Cairo s Police Hospital, where he is being treated …
Censorship tops Reporters Without Borders worries for the region
Self CAIRO: Harassment of a Coptic blogger highlights dismal state of freedom of expression CAIRO: A Coptic blogger forced to censor herself is the center of the latest report issued by Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières RSF) pinpointing violations of freedom of expression. Reporters Without Borders today condemned the months of harassment by the …
Learning to appreciate Egypt all over again
CAIRO: If the oppressive heat and maddening crowds are leaving Cairo’s image a little worse for wear in your eyes, take a look through the lenses that made “For Love of Photography. This photo exhibition, open now at the Mualana Azad Centre for Indian Culture, could just have easily been named “For Love of Egypt. …
Telecom Egypt H1 results show continued modest growth
Company must seek regional expansion, stay competitive at home to improve results, says analyst CAIRO: Telecom Egypt s (TE) subscriber base grew by 8.5 percent and net profits reached LE 1.1 billion ($191 million), up 7.3 percent, from H1 2005 results, the company announced yesterday in its first H1 2006 report since a 20 percent …
Star of the beach
Median interbank rate rises to 8.35 percent
CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on Egypt s pound rose on Tuesday to 8.35 percent from Monday s 8.072 percent after an auction for higher-yielding certificates of deposit drained market liquidity, traders said. Due to the central bank auction liquidity is lower, one banker said. Central bank instruments typically give greater returns than the …