Latest in Politics Highlight
Latest in Politics
Ghana apologizes to Arab diplomats over Israel flag
ACCRA: Ghana s foreign minister has apologized to ambassadors from Arab nations after a Ghanaian soccer player triggered a diplomatic bust-up by raising the Israeli flag to celebrate a World Cup victory. Defender John Paintsil, who plays his club football in Israel with Hapoel Tel Aviv, waved a small blue and white Israeli flag after …
Following another closure, Egypt-Gaza border opens
GAZA CITY: The Gaza Strip s sole gateway to the world that evades Israel, where it borders Egypt, was reopened on Friday after an ongoing Israeli security alert was lifted, officials said. EU monitors who oversee the Rafah terminal had been unable to get to work earlier Friday, and the Rafah liaison office had been …
The perfect summer party
Plan ahead and get experts’ advice before sending out the invitations CAIRO: The sun is shining and the beach is beckoning. Summer is here and there is no better way to celebrate the season than by throwing a party. For first-time party hosts, hosting can be a stressful and terrifying experience. Is anyone going to …
FASHION FOCUS: The right to shoes
Buy more flats but don t toss your stilettos CAIRO: “I ve spent $40,000 on shoes and I have no place to live? I will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes! wines Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and the City. If shoes are that crucial, maybe we should scan the fashion world …
Present and Tense: Truth hats
CAIRO: I worked hard all last spring, putting together an orphanage in Namibia, arming insurgents in Somalia and arranging arrests in Cairo. It was a work of love and it paid off. You should hear what the critics said about my Santa Fe fashion collection. “The combat gear evokes rugged sensuality while the business casual …
Poll finds considerable divide between Westerners and Muslims
Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON: Westerners view Muslims as fanatical, violent and intolerant while Muslims in the Middle East and Asia generally view Westerners as immoral, selfish and greedy, according to a new poll released Thursday. After a year marked by riots over cartoon portrayals of Mohammed, a major terrorist attack in London, and continuing wars in …
Games and Lebanese snacks
The Katameya Heights Clubhouse Salon joins the World Cup fever CAIRO: On June 9, the Katameya Heights Clubhouse Salon caught on to World Cup fever, changing seating arrangements and upgrading their audio-visual set-up for for football fans. Besides the already installed plasma screen, a projector was added for better viewing. As a match starts, rows …
Arbian Nights and Days in English
ŠΘ # # # Journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heykal attended the event along with many of Mahfouz’s fans, here, Mohamed Hassanein Heykal, with Mohamed El Salmawy and Nazly Madkour # # Nani Salem, Nazly Madkour, Nermine Barrada and Esmat Zedan
Bahais' struggle for recognition reveals a less tolerant face of Egypt
Associated Press CAIRO: Tucked away in Labib Iskandar s pocket is a neatly folded slip of paper with fraying edges that tells the story of a community fighting for recognition. It s a receipt Iskandar got when he applied for the computer-based identification card Egypt had just then begun issuing, more than five years ago. …
Award-winning blogger released from prison
CAIRO: On Thursday, award-winning blogger Alaa Seif Al Islam was released from his detention. Al Islam was arrested on May 7, during a sit-in downtown. According to a friend, Al Islam was in good spirits following his release, joking that he would see him at the next demonstration. However, reports before his release suggested that …
Analysis: The power of the blog
CAIRO: The government and mainstream media have recognised one of the most immediate impacts the Internet has had on commentary, as blogs continue to grow in popularity. Blogs have turned many political pundits and subjugated individuals into successful online journalists, providing a variety of perspectives on current affairs that were often inaccessible in the mainstream …
Fair trade an essential human right
Annual event stresses the importance of giving producers their share CAIRO: The second annual Fair Trade Egypt event, which is slated to last until the end of the month, opened Wednesday at the Al Sawy Cultural Center, and will host a number of conferences that aim at spreading awareness among Egyptians as to what fair …
Word on the Street: Serious health concerns
CAIRO: Earlier this month, people were shocked to hear of a fire in the newborn, incubator unit in the Al Shatby hospital in Alexandria. Four died as a result of the fire, along with some 50 children exposed to the disaster. The tragedy raised the issue of the efficiency of the Egyptian health care sector …
Mubarak promises reforms in 2007
CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak promised in an interview published Thursday that the year 2007 would witness unprecedented constitutional reforms. The year 2007 will witness a surge in constitutional reforms which coincide with political progress in Egypt, Mubarak told the state-owned Al Ahram daily s evening edition. He added that, for the time being, he was …
World Cup Round 1 as of June 23 morning
ŠΘ # # # # # Germany (A) Vs Sweden(B) on June 24 at 6pm CLT. Argentina (C) Vs Mexico (D) on June 24 at 10pm CLT. England (B) Vs Ecuador (A) on June 25 at 6pm CLT. Portugal (D) Vs Holland (C) on June 25 at 10pm CLT. Italy (E) Vs Australia (F) …
Syria says too early for diplomatic ties with Lebanon
CAIRO: Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Thursday it was too early to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon, despite a UN Security Council call for the countries fraught relations to be improved. Any step of this nature requires the appropriate atmosphere to be prevailing between the two countries, Muallem told reporters after meeting Syrian President …
Isis Schabana: German fame with an Egyptian look
Up-and-coming actress enjoys success in German cinema CAIRO: Isis Schabana successfully combines all-Egyptian looks with all-German fame. The actress, who has an Egyptian father and a German mother, grew up in Germany, where she is now growing in popularity. With her big brown eyes, petite figure and long black hair, Schabana naturally attracts people, and …
Egypt-Gaza border reopens after two days
GAZA CITY: The Gaza Strip border with Egypt was reopened on Thursday after a two-day closure owing to an Israeli security alert, officials said. EU monitors who oversee the Rafah terminal, Gaza s sole gateway to the world bypassing Israel, had been unable to get to work for two days and a liaison office closed …
Dr Mohamed Hefzy: Film Clinic's Mastermind
There is no doubt that Egyptian cinema today has taken a new trendy look with high quality films and more gripping storylines due to the numerous extremely talented actors and directors. The unknown soldiers of the film industry are the screenwriters who usually do not receive a share of the glamour that actors get, although …
The solution is in salt
National campaign steps up efforts to combat iodine deficiency disorder CAIRO: Efforts in a national campaign against iodine deficiency disorder (IDD), the single most important preventable cause of brain damage and retardation among children, have been stepped up following a training workshop held by UNICEF Egypt and USAID for the Ministry of Health and Population …
Reflections of society
CAIRO: The largest budget movie, and arguably one of the most anticipated, in the history of Egyptian cinema may provoke audiences, but will certainly not disappoint them. The bravado of the filmmakers was apparent in preserving the realism of the bestselling novel “The Yacoubian Building in their provocative adaptation. The story follows the residents of …
Egypt to build new power lines to Gaza
CAIRO: Egypt is to build new power lines to supply Palestinians in the impoverished Gaza Strip with electricity by next year, officials said Wednesday. The announcement came after two days of talks between a visiting Palestinian delegation and Egyptian officials in Cairo. The project includes a 200-kilowatt line running the 50 km from Al-Arish in …
Campus wedding
ŠΘ # # # The wedding was a blast as the guest’s danced until 4:00am, here, friends of the couple # # Mona Afifi and Nermine Barrada
Short-selling system to be introduced in September
CAIRO: The testing of a computer system for short-selling stocks will begin on June 2 and is expected to be completed by September, after which investors will be able to sell stocks they do not own. Regulations to allow the short-selling of certain stocks were introduced earlier this year, and the implementation of the new …
Press round-up: Parliamentary issues dominate headlines
Anti-rumors law hotly debated; “The Da Vinci Code ban criticized CAIRO: The number one news story throughout the week was the parliamentary discussion of and voting over the new judiciary law. The gap in interpreting events continued to exist between state-run and opposition papers, albeit to a lesser degree compared to previous weeks. The coverage …
Egypt to conduct talks with Jordan on abrogation of furniture export tariffs
The Egyptian government started communications with the Jordanians to abrogate the imposition of 13 percent tariffs on Egyptian exports of furniture to Jordan, according to Sayed Abul Qomsan, first undersecretary of the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry. Abul Qomsan stressed in a statement at the beginning of the week that we should figure out …
Sudanese government and Arab League greet Somali delegates for peace talks
KHARTOUM: The head of the Arab League greeted the Somalian president and representatives of Islamic militias that control most of the warn-torn country for talks in Khartoum on Wednesday. Representatives from Egypt, Libya, Djibouti and several other Arab nations gathered in Khartoum for the peace talks mediated by Sudan, the current chair of the Arab …
British Gas to resume talks with Israel on Gaza gas
Company’s preference remains selling the gas to Egypt CAIRO: British Gas was to resume talks with Israel Thursday on the country s possible purchase of Palestinian gas discovered off the shores of the troubled Gaza Strip, a company official told AFP. BG Managing Director for the Mediterranean Basin and Africa Stuart Fysh was expected in …
Brotherhood members face official obstacles
Crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood results in arrests and harassment CAIRO: In what was probably a first, according to Muslim Brotherhood sources, Qena and Assiut’s education departments banned five teachers affiliated with the banned group from correcting thanawiyya amma (secondary school) final examinations. “It is an odd behavior that only speaks of the mentality of those …
Radical British Muslim cleric's extradition hearing postponed
LONDON: Attempts to extradite the radical Muslim preacher Abu Hamza Al-Masri to the United States on terrorism charges were postponed Wednesday because of his appeal against a British conviction. The hook-handed, one-eyed former imam of Finsbury Park Mosque in north London is currently serving a seven-year jail term, imposed after being convicted of inciting racial …