Latest in Politics Highlight
Latest in Politics
Public awareness, streamlined property registration key to growth of mortgage finance
CAIRO: The market mechanism of supply and demand requires certain rules, procedures and institutions to be in place in order to operate properly, and the Egyptian housing market is an exemplary demonstration of the breakdown of this mechanism in the absence of the proper infrastructure. The housing market has an excess of supply; many vacant …
Sawiris sees Weather listing raising 2 billion euros
MILAN: Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris said on Wednesday he aimed to raise about 2 billion euros from the listing of Weather Investments, which controls Italy s second biggest mobile phone operator, Wind. Sawiris, who heads Weather Investments, also said it would likely go to market in Milan by the end of this year at the …
Interbank rate falls to 8.10 percent
CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the pound fell to 8.10 percent on Wednesday from Tuesday s 8.154 percent, with the market experiencing short-term liquidity, bankers said. Four of nine banks contacted by Reuters had dealt overnight, between 8 and 8.15 percent. Rates at banks contacted on Tuesday were at 8.25 percent. We ve …
Fashion scene
Cairo hopes new yellow cabs can provide a cleaner, gentler ride
CAIRO: Riding a Cairo taxi is like being trapped in a pinball machine. These rickety, un-air conditioned crates, their seats caked with grime, careen around corners and charge through red lights. Fare meters are frozen in time at 60 piasters, about 10 cents. A sudden stop can make a loosely hinged door fly open. But …
Saving 1,500-year-old manuscripts
CAIRO: In Wadi Al Natroun lies the Coptic monastery Deir El Surian, whose library houses an estimated 2,000 of the earliest Christian manuscripts and fragments dating back as far as the fifth century. Texts in Syriac, Coptic, Arabic and Ethiopic have accumulated over hundreds of years since the monastery was established in the sixth century. …
Watching houses of worship crumble
CAIRO: As sectarian tension has grown in Egypt over the past few years, Copts have become more vocal about their concerns with the decades-long difficulties facing the building and restoration of churches topping their list of complaints. The government has allegedly tried to ease the process that Copts have to go through in order to …
Opposition call for an all-night protest in support of judges
CAIRO: Activists are expected to take to the streets in protest today, despite an official statement by the government warning of the consequences. In an effort to avoid more violent clashes between police and protestors, organizers have called for an all-night sit-in nearby to where two judges are set to face disciplinary hearings. Hisham El-Bastawisy …
Activists protest violence against Egyptian journalists
CAIRO: More than 200 activists staged a loud demonstration in front of the press syndicate Tuesday evening, vehemently criticizing the use of force against journalists covering last week’s protests. “Down . Down with the Emergency Law, shouted some protestors. “Down . Down with the security police. The activists belonged to several groups: the Kefaya (Enough) …
Analysts view Gamal Mubarak as on a mission to reduce tension
CAIRO: A visit to the White House by the politician son of President Hosni Mubarak indicates that the Egyptian government and the Bush administration both want to reduce tension over recent repression in Egypt. The choice of Gamal Mubarak, 42, as a high-level messenger also adds weight to the theory that Gamal is the most …
EAB Q1 net profit down 27.5 percent
CAIRO: Egyptian American Bank (EAB) on Wednesday posted a 27.5 percent fall in its first quarter net profit to LE 64.36 million ($11.15 million). EAB had a first quarter net profit of LE 88.84 million in the same period last year. The largest shareholders in the bank are France s Credit Agricole SA, with 56.15 …
Gamal Mubarak meets with U.S. National Security Advisor
WASHINGTON: President Hosni Mubarak s son and presumed political heir talked briefly last week with President George W. Bush while at the White House for meetings with top officials. Gamal Mubarak, the Egyptian president s youngest son and a favorite in the United States, was granted a meeting Friday with Bush s national security adviser …
Spain's Cepsa gets exploration permit in Egypt
MADRID: Spanish oil and gas company Cepsa said on Tuesday it has gained a new exploration permit in Egypt s western desert enabling it to boost its exploration activities. After a licensing round organized by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), Cepsa won the permit for the South Alamein block measuring 3,228 square km in …
Dinner in honor of former prime minister
UN expert praises Egypt's bird flu response
WASHINGTON: Egypt s quick response to bird flu shows that even less-developed countries can cope with limited outbreaks if they follow guidelines, the United Nations chief bird flu expert says. Although health experts had worried that Egypt could be hit hard by avian influenza because of its backyard flocks and widespread poverty, the North African …
EFG-Hermes awarded Saudi license
CAIRO: The Capital Market Authority of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) granted EFG-Hermes a license to operate as an Investment Bank in the Saudi Stock Exchange on Monday. The license, which they applied for in January 2006, will allow EFG-Hermes to act as a brokerage house in KSA, to practice asset management activities and …
Serb mobile phone firm attracts 10 suitors
BELGRADE: Serbia s privatization agency said 10 firms had expressed interest in the purchase of Mobtel, its first mobile phone company now renamed Mobi 63, at a starting price of 800 million euros ($1 billion). Bids came from Norway s Telenor, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, Mobilkom Austria, the mobile unit of Telekom Austria, Sweden s …
Calyon Egypt Jan-March net up 481 percent
Head: CAIRO: Calyon Bank Egypt reported a net profit of LE 22.1 million ($3.8 million) in the three months to the end of March, the stock exchange said in a statement on Tuesday. The figure represents a 481 percent increase compared with same period last year. The bank is 75 percent owned by French investment …
Painting a portrait of rebirth
CAIRO: When thinking of Algeria, most people remember the wars, the terror, the French invasion and unsettlement. The country has seen occupations by the Phoenicians, Romans, Moors, Jews, Ottomans and finally the French, which lasted until 1962, and marked the beginning of a brutal civil war that ended only a few years ago. American photojournalist …
Bahai's still banned after appeals court upholds government's claims
CAIRO: The court of appeals on Monday upheld the government’s ban on recognizing the rights of Bahais to have their religion listed on identification cards and passports. “I am disappointed that they haven’t given us the rights due to us as Egyptian citizens, a Bahai in Cairo tells The Daily Star Egypt. “I had just …
Interbank rate rises to 8.25 percent
CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the pound rose to 8.25 percent on Tuesday from Monday s 8.123 percent with market conditions largely unchanged, bankers said. Four of seven banks contacted by Reuters had dealt overnight, all of them at 8.25 percent. Rates at banks contacted on Monday were between 8 and 8.1875 percent. …
European Union expresses concern over renewal of Emergency Law
VIENNA: The European Union expressed concern Tuesday about the arrests and jailing of demonstrators in Egypt and the country s recent decision to extend the Emergency Law it had promised to lift. In a statement from officials in Austria, which holds the EU s rotating presidency, the 25-nation bloc called the police operation disproportionate and …
EU set to finance 200 new "girl-friendly" schools in Egypt
CAIRO: The European Union has pledged to fund 200 new girl-friendly schools countrywide, in a joint bid with the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) to work towards a greater inclusion of females in education. The schools will target girls in the most marginalized areas, said Dalia Hassan, executive director of the NCCM girls …
Ayman Nour heading back to court
CAIRO: As citizens of Cairo brace themselves for what is likely to be yet another round of solidarity protests for judges Mahmoud Mekki and Hesham El-Bastawisy tomorrow, another familiar face of the opposition heads back to court. Nearly five months after the Cairo’s Court of Cassation handed down his sentence, El-Ghad party leader and presidential …
Interior Ministry warns against unauthorized street protests
CAIRO: The Interior Ministry warned Monday that any unauthorized street protests would be dealt with as breaking the law, suggesting that police were likely to arrest political activists if they take to the streets again later this week in support of two pro-reform judges facing disciplinary procedures. The warning, which came in a ministry statement, …
Seabed between Egypt and Cyprus shows signs of containing oil deposits
NICOSIA: Cyprus is pressing ahead with a search for oil and gas amid encouraging signs that deposits could lie beneath the seabed between the island and Egypt, Commerce Minister George Lillikas said Monday. The chances are quite high in light of results from searches carried out by Egypt in an area not far from the …
FM calls for peaceful resolution to Iran nuclear row
TOKYO: Iran, as a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), has the right to peaceful use of atomic energy but should not be allowed to have nuclear arms, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said on Tuesday. Iran made a rare call to Egypt last month over the nuclear issue. The two nations have not had …
Feelings of "Pride and Prejudice"
CAIRO: While I was thrilled to learn of the release of “Pride and Prejudice in Egypt, none of my acquaintances seemed to share my enthusiasm for the latest adaptation of Jane Austen s beloved novel. They were divided into two camps: Fans of the novel who were discouraged to see an adaptation with a young, …
Industrial Modernization Program comes to an end
CAIRO: With the official end of the Industrial Modernization Program in two weeks, the European Union asserted its continued support for the program s implementing body, the Industrial Modernization Center (IMC), through technical cooperation. Klaus Ebermann, the head of delegation of the European Commission in Egypt and the European Union s ambassador to Egypt, says …
Moving toward an electronic government
CAIRO: Raya Holding, one of the biggest information technology and telecom solutions providers in Egypt, held a series of presentations and seminars yesterday as part of their three-day annual Raya World 2006 Conference and Exhibition. Among the topics discussed were E-Government solutions. Since the appointment of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and his new cabinet, the …