Latest in Politics Highlight
Latest in Politics
Samir Sarhan, writer, critic, Cairo book fair organizer, dies
CAIRO: Samir Sarhan, a writer and literary critic who organized the Cairo International Book Fair for years died Saturday of heart failure. He was 65 years old. Sarhan died three days after he was discharged from Dar Al Fouad Hospital in Cairo, the Middle East News Agency said. Sarhan graduated from Indiana University in 1968 …
Art from shards of glass
Nanci El Sahafi introduces a new look at mosaic CAIRO: For those looking for a fresh alternative to the humdrum art scene in Egypt, head to El Sakia Gallery, where an exhibit of Nansi El Sahafi’s glass-mosaic art is on display starting today. This first-time exhibitionist is part of a new wave of Egyptian artists …
Head: U.S. offers cash for information on Al-Qaeda's Masri
WASHINGTON: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday authorized a reward of up to $5 million to anyone providing information leading to Abu Ayyub Al-Masri, a senior Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq. The Egyptian-born Masri is believed to be the successor to Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, the Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq who was killed in a …
More than 4,000 Palestinians stuck at Egypt-Gaza border
Associated Press RAFAH: More than 4,000 Palestinians are stuck in two towns near Egypt s border with Gaza, unable to return home amid an Israeli assault on the coastal strip, an Egyptian security official said Saturday. Brigadier Khairi Awwad, head of the Rafah city council, said more than 4,000 Palestinians were in staying in Rafah, …
Freedom of the press under fire
Press syndicate rejects amendments to press law, government sends draft to parliament for review CAIRO: Following lengthy negotiations and protests, the press syndicate has announced its rejection of government-proposed article amendments to Egypt’s press law; the syndicate sent an official letter Sunday to the president of the state expressing their “discontent and refusal of the …
Egypt struggling to defuse Mideast crisis
Agence France-Presse CAIRO: Egypt is trying to defuse a rapidly escalating crisis over the capture of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants but has so far little to show for its efforts despite the involvement of President Hosni Mubarak. President Hosni Mubarak is in overall command and the head of the intelligence service, Omar Suleiman, …
Switzerland seeks to expel Islamist for anti-Swiss hate campaign
BERN: Switzerland is seeking to expel an Egyptian Islamist accused of publishing race hate material hostile to the country, a federal police spokesman said on Sunday. The Swiss foreign ministry is looking for a country to receive Mohammed Al-Ghanam, a former Cairo police colonel living in Switzerland as a political refugee, spokesman Guido Balmer said, …
Activists call for an end to imprisonments
CAIRO: Activists have continued to call for the release of their fellow activists who remain in prison. Egypt’s most famous blogger, Alaa Seif Al Islam, is spearheading the current move to support pro-reform activists still imprisoned. Al Islam has been instrumental in galvanizing activists in calls for the release of Mohamed El Sharkawy and Karim …
Central bank merges three banks into United Bank
CAIRO: Egypt s Central Bank has merged three banks into a new bank called the United Bank, to which it has granted a LE 3 billion ($520 million) loan, the central bank and an Egyptian newspaper said. In a statement posted on the Cairo stock exchange Web site, the central bank said it had merged …
Arab states keep Israel in UN human rights dock, Egypt one of the resolution's sponsors
Reuters GENEVA: Arab and Muslim states on Friday put the occupied Palestinian territories on the permanent agenda of the UN Human Rights Council, overcoming Israeli and Western objections to singling out alleged abuses by the Jewish state. A resolution to re-examine the issue at future sessions brought by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) …
It's his moment to shine
Men s involvement in planning their weddings could be helpful or just a hassle CAIRO: It s time to plan a wedding but the groom is getting involved. His interest is not just in the suit he will be wearing but in the other details as well. But what might sound at first as an …
Stocks fluctuate within narrow band
Egyptian stocks failed to break out of their recession over the past week trading, moving up and down within a narrow band with sluggish trading volume as investors showed little desire to sell off their holdings at extremely low prices. Shares of the Egyptian American Bank, however, were among the short list of best performers, …
Protestors express support for Palestinians, Hamas
Boycott of American products called for at demonstration CAIRO: Thousands rallied at Al Azhar Mosque following Friday prayers in protest of the recent Israeli incursion into Gaza. The Muslim Brotherhood organized event proceeded peacefully, with leading Islamic figures speaking to the approximately 5,000 supporters. Mohamed Habib, deputy of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, called for a …
Get creative with wedding invitations
Creativity and experimenting are on the rise in the invitation business CAIRO: A few weeks ago I received a large, colorful lollypop that looked straight out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. At first I was confused, but when I took a closer look I realized that the cartoon at the front was of a …
Mubarak reverses exam result of student who criticized U.S.
CAIRO: An Egyptian student who initially failed her secondary school exams for criticizing the United States and her own government was given a helping hand by the president, newspapers reported Friday. President Hosni Mubarak yesterday ordered the re-marking of an answer sheet of the 16-year-old student who harshly criticized the U.S. president and the Egyptian …
Belle of the ball
The bridal gown, though central, is only part of the overall look CAIRO: For all members of the wedding party, what to wear for the “big day preys heavily on their mind. The bride, however, is under an unfair amount of the pressure; she needs her groom and bridesmaids to compliment her look for maximum …
Israeli planes strike Gaza as offensive grows
Mubarak: Islamist group gives “conditional approval for release GAZA: Israeli warplanes pounded Gaza on Friday, setting ablaze the Interior Ministry offices of the Hamas-led Palestinian government in a widening military effort to secure the release of a captured soldier. President Hosni Mubarak said in a newspaper interview that the Hamas Islamist group had given conditional …
Muslim Brotherhood denounces Israeli incursion in Gaza
CAIRO: Egypt’s largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, condemned the ongoing Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip. “We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people who fight for their nation’s honor and pride, said the Muslim Brotherhood statement, “These peoples that are now suffering from a barbaric and an outrageous incursion from the Zionist enemy. …
San Stefano cinema opening
ŠΘ # # # Talaat Zakaria, Karim Abdel Aziz, Khaled Saleh and Ramy Imam
Wedding wonders
Present and Tense: Holy water
It isn’t everyday that a former criminal is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and I am grateful to have lived long enough for my day to come. I wish I could be with you today, to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this unexpected honor, but my doctors don’t think that I …
The unpopular detail
Pre-marital medical tests are only seen as useful when the couple is related by blood CAIRO: The wedding ring, the ceremony, the flowers and the honeymoon are counted as essential wedding prerequisites. But many couples still ignore the most critical detail: The pre-marital check-ups. “Although I heard about these pre-marital examinations, I and my fiancée …
Most foreign fighters in Iraq come from Egypt: U.S. military
BAGHDAD: The U.S. military said on Thursday that it has several hundred foreign fighters in custody in Iraq and that most of them come from Egypt, followed by Syria, Sudan and Saudi Arabia. We have several hundred foreign fighters in captivity at this point of time and the greatest number come out of Egypt, spokesman …
Poor nations set high bar on industry goods at WTO
GENEVA: A group of big developing countries said on Thursday they would only cut their tariffs for industrial imports by a lot less than reductions sought by the European Union and the United States. The move underlined how deep differences remained between leading players at the World Trade Organization who are meeting in Geneva this …
U.S. accuses Egyptian couple of human trafficking
Couple residing in California pleads guilty to holding a girl in involuntary servitude CAIRO: A former husband and wife, Egyptian nationals residing in Southern California in the U.S., pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal charges of holding an Egyptian girl as a “slave in their home. She arrived in the U.S. in August of 2000 …
It's not just us
Four days and eight games into the 2006 World Cup, all was quiet on the middle front. Not a single refereeing gaffe of note had been recorded. But, then the first big boo-boo of the games – one made in Egypt. Referee Essam Abdel-Fatah had been minding his own business when suddenly Australian goalkeeper Mark …
Church attack suspect sent to mental hospital
CAIRO: Egypt has committed to a mental hospital a man accused of killing a Christian worshipper in a knife attack on churchgoers in Alexandria that sparked sectarian clashes in April, a judicial source said on Thursday. Egypt s prosecutor-general ordered Mahmoud Hussein, 25, committed after a medical evaluation and without trial, the source said. The …
Israel offensive stirs anger in Egypt
Agence France-Presse CAIRO: Israel s offensive in the Palestinian territories is drawing fierce accusations in neighboring Egypt that the Jewish state is seeking to destabilize the region. Cairo newspapers as well as ruling party and opposition politicians are lashing out at Israel. Israel should not think that the peace reached with an Arab country can …
Second Round Wrap-up Part Two
Football super powers dominate the World Cup CAIRO: Italy was fortunate to walk away with a last-minute victory against an impressive Australian team. From the start, the Italians resorted to a defensive mode of play, with few counter-attacks that resulted in hardly any problems for the Australian side; the Australians had the better percentage of …
Word on the Street
Third mobile license receives mixed reactions CAIRO: Egyptian authorities have received more than 11 bids for the third mobile license since it was first announced. The winner will compete with Vodafone Egypt and Mobinil in the Egyptian mobile phone market, both of which have dominated the market. The bid will start at LE. 2.5 billion. …