Latest in Politics Highlight
Latest in Politics
Telecom Egypt says Q1 2006 net up 44 percent
CAIRO: Telecom Egypt said on Monday growing subscriber numbers, strong internet penetration and stable revenues per user had led to a 44 percent jump in first-quarter net profits. The firm, Egypt s only fixed-line operator, reported net profits of LE 536 million ($93 million), up from LE373 million last year. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation …
Interbank rate falls to 8.10 percent
CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the pound fell to 8.10 percent on Monday from 8.118 on Sunday in a liquid market lacking major auctions to boost demand for funds, traders said. A decision by the central bank to accept fewer bids than expected in an auction last week had increased market liquidity, the …
World leaders prepare for WEF
GENEVA: More than 1,200 government, business and civil society leaders from 46 countries will meet together in pursuit of outcomes to help prepare the way for a more prosperous and peaceful future for the Middle East under the working theme, The Promise of a New Generation. Participants will look at the role of business as …
Forgotten history and the sites left behind
CAIRO: Before the 1952 revolution, the Egyptian flag contained a crescent and three stars, each star representing each one of the country’s main religions; one symbolized Egypt’s 75,000 Jews at the time, while today the number has significantly reduced. “Today, in Israel, many people do not know about the Jewish past in Arab countries, especially …
More Sinai bombings suspects detained
CAIRO: Police have detained four more people suspected of involvement in the triple suicide bombings that killed 20 in the Sinai Peninsula last month, security sources told AFP Monday. The four Sinai residents, who were on a list of 25 suspects wanted in connection with a string of attacks on the peninsula s tourist packed …
Lunch at Abu Sultan
Al Ahly takes home league title
CAIRO: Two goals in the first 10 minutes set Al Ahly up for a 2-0 win over arch rivals Zamalek in the Cairo derby and a 31st Egyptian league title. Al Ahly needed only a draw to retain the championship but goals from international Emad Moteab and Mohamed Aboutrika settled the affair. With two matches …
Violence during judges' protests dominates independent press
CAIRO: The aftermath of protests in support of prosecuted judges is still making headlines in independent and opposition papers. “Egypt trampled by security police, read Al-Fajr’s front page. “The truncheon of the regime will not stop reform . we are beyond disciplining, Al-Osbou’s headline quoted veteran journalist Muhammad Hassanein Heikal as saying. In his weekly …
PETA activist dons sheep suit to praise Australia's suspension of exports to Egypt
CAIRO: The Australian Embassy has a new flower bouquet to display, following yesterday’s present from sheep across the region. Jason Baker, director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for Asia Pacific, donned a sheep suit while presenting the flowers in commemoration of Australia’s temporary ban on live animal exports to the Middle …
Putting paint to canvas
CAIRO: “You imagine this quiet house in this quiet place and you want to be there. I always wanted to live in a house by the sea, says artist Sherine Abdelbaki, currently exhibiting at the El Sawy Culture Wheel. Her landscape paintings take you to those quiet places in nature where you’d like to stay …
Minister addresses investment prospects
CAIRO: With the World Economic Forum only days away, Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieddin is talking about investments. With the support of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, the minister announced yesterday that the government is currently studying the possibility of establishing a development company in Sinai to aid the growth of the tourism and trade industries …
International dignitaries receive Roosevelt awards for defending freedom
MIDDELBURG: Confined Burmese opposite leader Aung San Suu Kyi wasn t there, but nuclear watchdog head Mohamed El Baradei, Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes and Bangladesh economist Muhammad Yunus accepted awards Saturday for promoting freedom in its various forms. Also honored with a Four Freedoms Award was the France-based Taize community, an ecumenical brotherhood that works …
Celebrating media
ŠΘ # # # Magdy Abou Amira and Iman Abou Talib # # Sheikh Khalifa, Hassan Ibn Aly and Ahmed El Khamisy
St. Louis museum refuses to return Egyptian mummy mask
ST. LOUIS: The Saint Louis Art Museum will keep a 3,200-year-old mummy mask unless it gets more proof that it belongs to Egypt. The museum will not meet a May 15 deadline set by Egyptian antiquities authorities to return the mask, Museum Director Brent Benjamin said Friday. He noted that the Supreme Council of Antiquities …
Interbank rate falls to 8.10 percent
CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the pound fell to 8.10 percent on Sunday from 8.118 percent on Thursday as demand dropped in the middle of a period for calculating banks reserves, traders said. Rates dipped because banks were not in need of funds in the middle of the two-week central bank period and …
Authorities say another suspect in Sinai bombings surrenders
EL-ARISH: A second fugitive wanted in the bombings last month at a Sinai beach resort has turned himself in, security officials said Saturday. Saleh Emera Saleh El-Deeb surrendered to authorities in El-Arish on Friday, according to Brig. Gen. Adel Fawzi, an official in North Sinai s criminal investigations unit. Negotiations are still underway with local …
Report cites concerns surrounding U.S. military aid to Egypt
CAIRO: As Egypt s western allies begin to express displeasure over hindrances toward democratic advancements, the effectiveness of U.S. military aid to Egypt has been questioned in a congressional report released last week The Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress s watchdog agency, cited the challenges of monitoring precisely how the military aid is being used. …
Palestinian health minister looks to Arab League and international community to fill funding gap
CAIRO: The Palestinian health minister on Saturday urged the Arab League and international community to provide $4.3 million for health care in the Palestinian territories to prevent a humanitarian and health disaster. Health Minister Bassem Naim also told reporters following a meeting with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa that his government was ready to …
Judges receive worldwide support
CAIRO: Last week, protesters raised their voices in the United States; now the wave of protests in support of Egypt’s prosecuted judges has reached the British capital. More than 50 Egyptians, English and European civil society members and activists assembled in Mayfair, London to protest what they deemed a blow to the independent judicial system. …
Summit of large Muslim countries skirts Iran's nuclear issue
NUSA DUA: A summit of eight large Muslim countries largely skirted a diplomatic nuclear crisis engulfing participant Iran Saturday but agreed that members should cooperate to develop atomic energy. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was asked at the end of the one-day Developing 8 (D-8) summit that he hosted whether international reaction to Iran s …
Mubarak, Moroccan king urge renewal of Middle East peace process
MARRAKESH, Morocco: President Hosni Mubarak and Morocco s King Mohammed VI called on the so-called quartet of Middle East negotiators to renew efforts for peace in the region, in a joint declaration released Saturday. The statement, issued at the close of a three-day visit by Mubarak, said the leaders call on the international community and …
New Arabic search engine for Arabic content
To the intellect, it is a Semitic language that dates back to the 6th century, defining history and our understanding of humankind. We hear the melody, intonation and variety across the Arab world, and to the eyes it can be a calligrapher’s work of art. The Arabic language is used by over 250 million people, …
Present and Tense: King of puppies
The Americans have been trying to redraw the map of the Middle East, a tedious and costly process as it turned out. One of my close friends is part of that endeavor. You may remember him, Dan, the three-star general who couldn’t find Saddam’s cache of weapons of mass destruction. It wasn’t his fault, we …
Egypt shifts away from using IPO's to privatize
BEIRUT: The Egyptian government is moving away from using stock listings for privatization because of stock-price declines in the Middle East, Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieddin said on Thursday. Egypt will instead move toward seeking principal investors for some of the major companies on the government s privatization agenda, the minister told Dubai-based Al Arabiya television …
Greek night
ŠΘ # # # Joclein Abdel Misieh, Maisa El Gamal and Mrs Gargour # # Mr and Mrs Magdy Diryas
Mubarak in Morocco to boost trade
MARRAKESH, Morocco: President Hosni Mubarak arrived in Morocco Thursday on an official visit aimed at boosting trade between the two north African countries and reducing Morocco s marked trade deficit with Egypt. Mubarak was greeted in the city of Marrakesh by Morocco s King Mohammed VI, with whom he was set Friday to chair a …
Egypt holding more than 200 pro-reform protesters
CAIRO: Police detained more than 200 protestors during rallies in support of two judges who accused colleagues of helping rig parliamentary elections last year, opposition parties said Friday. Wafa Al-Masri, a lawyer with the secular Kefaya (Enough) movement, said some 210 people were arrested during Thursday s demonstrations in central Cairo. The main opposition Muslim …
Four wanted for Dahab blasts surrender to police
EL-ARISH, Egypt: Four men wanted in connection with bombings that killed 20 people in the Sinai resort of Dahab last month have turned themselves in, security sources said on Friday. The surrenders came shortly after police killed Nasr Khamis El-Milahi, a man the Interior Ministry named as the leader of a group it blames for …
U.S. Senate proposes $47 million cut to aid to Egypt
CAIRO: The United States Senate quietly added a $47 million cut to aid to Egypt in its latest legislation for war and disaster-recovery funding. The bill allocates some $109 billion toward military expenditure in Iraq and Afghanistan and domestic hurricane recovery efforts. Senators added the provision reducing aid to Egypt at the last minute prior …
Fashion Focus
CAIRO: The change of seasons is always the perfect excuse to buy new handbags, and this season, men are expected to join this shopping craze. While men should be looking for the non-glittering, practical man-bag, a sparkle is recommended in women s purses. Following latest trends, the Swarovski clutch handbag by Miu Miu, a fancy …