Latest in Politics Highlight
Latest in Politics
Present and Tense: A blow to justice
I was offered the job of a justice minister in a hurry and almost took it. But Sophie, my therapist in Vienna, advised me against it. “With your design firm in Milan, a pending court case in Palermo and your frequent trips to Mogadishu, do you really think you have the time? I took her …
Opening the North Coast to foreign tourism
CAIRO: Travco Group, an Egyptian travel leisure group, in partnership with TUI AG, the largest integrated German travel and leisure group, announced the inauguration of the Almaza Beach Resort on May 30, the first of five hotels that will be launched as part of Almaza Bay Resort, a mega tourism project developed by the two …
Rio in Cairo
ŠΘ # # # The Brazilian theme, hence the name “Rio,” and it is the latest night spot managed by Nisha, right, seen here with Andre and Nadie # # Nisha also has Absolute, Abou El Sid, Latex and other successful bars and restaurants, above are Detsy, Irma and Johanna
White leads summer colors
CAIRO: In the fashion world colors come and go, but although every season has its hits, some are recycled and some never leave. So which colors do we bring out from the back of the closet? Although runways have seen plenty of colors for the summer, soft faded half tones are the dominant chic for …
Capitals of cash
The petrodollar really does make a difference. Look no further than the international sports calendar to see what a lot of money does and what little of it cannot do. In Qatar, December brings in the Doha Golf Masters. The end of February is reserved for the Qatar Women’s Tennis Open in Doha, followed by …
WWW World
The brainchild of author Robert McCammon, the Horror Writers Association was founded in 1985 and boasts a membership of over 600. Yet it is unable to provide a clear answer to the question: “What is horror fiction? On the face of it, any fiction that elicits feelings of fear, dread and dismay qualifies. This covers …
Six arrested attempting to cross into Israel from Egypt
Associated Press EL ARISH, Egypt: Egyptian police captured six Sudanese, including a one-year-old boy, who were trying to cross into Israel early Friday to seek asylum, a security official said. The six were arrested at dawn as they tried to get over the coil of barbed wire that marks the border in Egypt s northeast …
Poultry industry set to recover says union
CAIRO: As alarm over the avian influenza virus H5N1 has begun to dissipate among the public over recent weeks and with demand for chicken rising, the poultry industry appears set to make a recovery. Demand for poultry products has definitely risen over recent weeks, as have sales, said Mohammed Al-Shafei, director of the General Union …
Warnings for WTO deal as trade talks flounder in Paris
Agence France-Presse PARIS: A senior U.S. official cast doubt Wednesday on chances the WTO will be able to wrap up a global trade deal by December and Egypt warned that negotiations could collapse if the needs of developing countries were ignored. There s an awful lot of work that has to be done and frankly …
Word on the Street
CAIRO: How the government has performed in light of recent events, such as the outbreak of bird flu in the country and the ferry disaster in February, has people talking. The government has been ridiculed, both in local and international press, for its handling of certain situation, with the most notable being its reaction to …
Arab art auction garners impressive results
Associated Press DUBAI: The status-obsessed Gulf emirate of Dubai notched another milestone Wednesday as international auction house Christie s pulled off the Middle East s first major international art auction, selling paintings by Indian artists for more than a half-million dollars apiece, among total sales that reached $8.5 million. A handful of American works changed …
Violence averted during solidarity protests
CAIRO: The much-anticipated “Black Wednesday anniversary went smoothly, as hundreds of Kefaya (Enough) movement and other activists gathered in front of the journalists syndicate. Despite an attempt to march down the road, which was blocked by black clad soldiers, they stayed on the steps and yelled out chants and opposition slogans for hours, Thursday. From …
Press Round-up
CAIRO: With the World Economic Forum on the Middle East making headlines, newspapers covered a variety of topics this week including the stock market crash, subsidiaries, Palestinian links to the Dahab bombings and the latest Amnesty International report. Al-Akhbar said in the paper’s editorial that the “forum has confirmed the world’s trust in our economy. …
Democracy and the ruling elite
CAIRO: Political protests have become a common scene in Cairo in recent weeks. While yesterday s wide-scale demonstrations concluded without violence, previous protests were less benign with plain-clothed and uniformed security forces beating demonstrators. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif described previous protests, which were concerned with free press and an independent and effective judiciary, as dominated …
Stocks fall in early trade, wipe out rebound
CAIRO: Egyptian stocks extended this week s heavy losses in early trade on Thursday in a bout of panic-selling by small investors and Gulf investors, traders said. The benchmark Hermes index was 4.9 percent lower at 12:25 GMT at 44,132.50 points, and the Case 30 was off 5.4 percent at 5,017.14 points. The slump in …
Egypt asks Interpol to arrest owner of sunken ferry
CAIRO: Egypt issued an arrest warrant Wednesday which it transferred to Interpol against a businessman who fled to London after one of his ferries sank in the Red Sea, killing more than 1,000 people. Prosecutor Maher Abdel Wahed is seeking the arrest of Mamduh Ismail and his son Amr who left Egypt in the aftermath …
Median interbank rate falls to 8.15 percent
CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the pound dipped to 8.15 percent on Thursday from Wednesday s 8.27 percent, with the cancellation of a T-bill auction boosting liquidity in the market, bankers said. The Finance Ministry had offered 364-day T-bills worth LE 1.5 billion ($260 million) for auction on Thursday and issue on May …
King Tut comes to Chicago
Agence France-Presse CHICAGO: The blockbuster King Tut exhibit opens in Chicago today with eerily displayed artifacts offering a window into the world of the pharaohs. Glittering gold statues stand guard in rooms designed to look like tombs and the voice of film star Omar El-Sharif narrates an audio guide that gruesomely describes the mummification process. …
IFC signs on to support oil and gas projects
CAIRO: The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, announced that it has signed a $25 million financing package for Rally Energy Corporation, a Calgary-based oil and gas firm, to support upstream oil and gas projects in Egypt and Pakistan to help strengthen energy production in order to meet …
Rio in Cairo
ŠΘ # # # The Brazilian theme, hence the name “Rio,” and it is the latest night spot managed by Nisha, right, seen here with Andre and Nadie # # Nisha also has Absolute, Abou El Sid, Latex and other successful bars and restaurants, above are Detsy, Irma and Johanna
Authorities free 41 students detained during street protests
CAIRO: Authorities have released 41 students detained during street protests last week in support of two pro-reform judges, a security official said Thursday. The students included members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group and the opposition movement Kefaya, (Enough) said the official on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the …
Journalists face trial for denouncing vote-rigging
CAIRO: Three Egyptian journalists and a lawyer were charged by a criminal court Wednesday for denouncing state-sponsored fraud in last year s parliamentary elections, judicial sources told AFP. Wael Al-Ibrashi and Hoda Abu Bakr, both journalists with the independent Sawt Al-Umma weekly, were charged with slandering a local electoral commission chief and publishing the names …
Sinai Bedouins aid police in terror hunt
CAIRO: Sinai Bedouins have pledged their assistance to Egyptian security forces in their search for people suspected of involvement in deadly attacks on Red Sea tourist resorts in the last two years, the official news agency MENA reported Saturday. There is an agreement between all the tribe leaders of central Sinai to help the security …
German university to return Egyptian wall fragments from ancient pharaoh's tomb
CAIRO: A German university has agreed to return to Egypt pieces of artifacts that decorated the walls of an ancient pharaoh s tomb, Egypt s culture minister said Thursday. Next month, the University of Tuebingen will hand over fragments from relief’s which once adorned the Tomb of Seti I outside Luxor, Culture Minister Farouk Hosni …
Egypt calls Israeli West Bank raid provocative
CAIRO: Egypt described an Israeli raid into the West Bank town of Ramallah on Wednesday as provocative and incompatible with peace efforts. We demand an immediate end to the use of disproportionate violent measures which are likely to deepen the chasm between the sides, said Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit. He was reacting to a raid …
Another postmortem
CAIRO: Speaking earlier at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, William Rhodes, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Citicorp Holdings and Citibank, said that the ongoing volatility of stock markets in the region is the result of too much money chasing too few projects. Rising oil prices have caused a substantial increase …
EU outlines farm moves
Reuters PARIS: The European Union outlined to the United States on Tuesday how it might improve on its agricultural offer in a long-delayed global trade round and said the next move must come from Washington, an EU official said. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and Susan Schwab, who is expected to be confirmed as U.S. …
Wide-scale protests expected today
CAIRO: After weeks of violent demonstrations and the anniversary of “Black Wednesday looming today, activist groups are expected to continue to put pressure on the Egyptian government. Last week, violence erupted for the second straight week as demonstrators showing their solidarity with judges Mahmoud Mekki and Hisham El-Bastawisy. Plainclothes police grabbed protesters from the procession, …
National Bank of Bahrain looking at Egyptian bank
CAIRO: The Central Bank of Egypt has given National Bank of Bahrain clearance to do a due diligence study on Egypt s Delta International Bank, the Egyptian stock exchange said in a statement. Similar statements in the past have been the prelude to takeover bids in the banking sector, which the government is trying to …
Zahar says Palestinian extremists collaborating with Sinai bombers are not from Hamas or Jihad
CAIRO: Palestinian extremists who Egypt alleges helped militants carry out terror attacks on Sinai tourist resorts are not connected to the Palestinian groups Hamas or Islamic Jihad, the foreign minister of the Hamas-led Palestinian government said Wednesday. The Egyptian Interior Ministry announced the accusations a day earlier, directly linking Palestinian and Egyptian militants for the …