Latest in Politics Highlight
Latest in Politics
Islamists galvanize political scene
CAIRO: Six months after shock electoral gains, the Muslim Brotherhood has injected new life into parliament, but some argue they have failed to propose a program beyond a systematic opposition to the government. On Nov. 9 last year, the Islamist movement electrified a political landscape atrophied by decades of one-party rule by inflicting stinging defeats …
Plunging Gulf markets hit Egyptian stocks
CAIRO: Egyptian stocks fell on Sunday as negative sentiment from plunging Gulf stock markets weighed on Egypt s bourse, hitting stocks popular with small investors and the housing and construction sectors hard, traders said. In the absence of foreign investors during Sunday trading, traders said local retail investors had sold in line with Gulf markets. …
Staalplaat Soundsystem a cure for your ailments?
CAIRO: If you’ve heard that there is nothing to do in Cairo, think again; exhibitions and culture centers are all over the city, offering vast entertainment catering to different tastes. If you are interested in trying one of the more unique ones, go for a Staalplaat Soundsystem treatment. At the Goethe Institute situated in the …
Activists protest pre-trial treatment of detainees
CAIRO: Around 30 rights activists and Kefaya movement (Enough) leaders protested Sunday in support of Kefaya members, political activists and two journalists, temporarily detained at Tora Mazraa Prison near Cairo. The activists, who were encircled and cordoned off by security police in front of the Supreme Court, had initially wanted to attend the detainees’ trial …
Opposition says reform moving in the wrong direction
CAIRO: In this era of Middle Eastern politics, the Egyptian populace has responded in a flurry to last week’s decision to extend the Emergency Law, now in effect for a quarter-century. The move, which comes some eight months after Egypt’s first ever open elections since the dethroning of the monarchy in 1952, has threatened to …
Mubarak welcomes Darfur peace agreement
CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday welcomed the signing of the Darfur peace agreement by Khartoum and the region s main rebel faction but urged the other parties to sign. Egypt welcomes the signing of the peace deal last night by the Khartoum government and the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), and calls on all Darfur …
Hezbollah should disarm: Jumblatt
CAIRO: Prominent Lebanese MP Walid Jumblatt said Sunday there was no justification for Hezbollah fighters to continue bearing arms because Israeli troops have long ago withdrawn from Lebanese territory. That s unacceptable, the anti-Syrian Druze chief told reporters in Cairo after a meeting with President Hosni Mubarak on the situation in Lebanon and ties with …
Egypt seeks methods to provide funding to Palestinian Authority
WASHINGTON: Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan will press Middle East peace brokers to find ways to get funds to the Palestinian Authority despite a U.S.-led ban on aid for Hamas that they say could cause a humanitarian crisis. Diplomats from the three countries said their foreign ministers would push the case at a meeting on …
DNA law on the move
CAIRO: A draft law that would make DNA testing mandatory and applicable in court cases for proving parenthood is now under final revision before parliament members cast their votes on it. The draft law was first introduced a couple of months ago by a number of MPs, including Mohamed Khalil Quoita. Following the approval of …
Police identify one Sinai bomber
ISMAILIA, Egypt: An Egyptian who blew himself up in an attack on a multinational force in the Sinai Peninsula was a 19-year-old student of Islam at a Cairo university, security sources said on Saturday. Eid Salman Mohammed Salim launched his suicide attack on April 26 on vehicles used by the Multinational Force and Observers. There …
Foreign minister calls for setting new dates for Mideast peace plan
CAIRO: Foreign Minister Ahmad Abul-Gheit said Saturday that new dates should be set for the U.S.-backed roadmap peace plan, which envisions a cessation of violence and the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Asked if he would propose amendments to the roadmap during an upcoming meeting of the so-called Quartet, which comprises the European Union, …
Egypt still lags behind in ease of doing business
CAIRO: In 2004, 99 countries, two thirds of those featured in the World Bank’s prominent Doing Business report measuring the relative ease or difficulty of doing business in countries, introduced 185 reforms to make doing business easier and Egypt was one of them. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private arm of the World Bank …
Coptic language undergoing resurgence
CAIRO: Considering the recent upheaval in Egypt between Muslim and Coptic communities it is not surprising that the Coptic language is experiencing a resurgence throughout the globe. In the United States and Europe, people of Egyptian origin are beginning to move toward implementing a strategy to reclaim their native tongue. Sally Bishai, editor-in-chief at X …
In the wake of the Dahab blasts, North Sinai residents fear arrest campaign
CAIRO: While media attention after last week’s bombings in the North Sinai resort town of Dahab focused on fears of future attacks and the inevitable impact on local tourism, residents of the nearby city of Al-Arish were afraid of something else: Egyptian security forces. The April 24 bombing, which killed 19 and injured 90, occurred …
The best is yet to come
Lance Armstrong s recent announcement that he is planning to compete in the New York City Marathon on Nov. 5 has got people talking again about whether he is the greatest athlete of all time. There is no doubt that before his retirement, the 34-year-old Armstrong booked an indelible place in the record books by …
Easy on the furniture, braver in the colors
CAIRO: Redecoration is always a burden, whether financially or the amount of time involved. Summer homes are even worse; once people have spent a winter of frequent traveling overlooking the decoration of their beachside house and spending a fortune in the process they don t even want to think about renovations. But giving the house …
Intel's education manager discusses the state of education in Egypt
CAIRO: The multitude of initiatives to reform Egypt s educational system gives some indication of its present state. While over half the country is illiterate, those young people who have the fortune of a complete primary, secondary and university education still face significant challenges upon entry to the workforce. Yasser Abdel Wahab, Intel s education …
Hamas not interested in "secret ways" to transfer funds, it says in Cairo
CAIRO: The Palestinian Authority will boycott banks that balk at transferring money to its government because Hamas is in charge, Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar said. Speaking after meeting Arab League officials in Cairo on Thursday, Zahar said a delegation from the Palestinian Finance Ministry was discussing with League officials suggestions and alternatives for transferring …
Spring trends take center stage
CAIRO: With spring in full swing, it is the ideal time to focus on the most popular trends on the fashion runways that can be incorporated into your wardrobe in Egypt. With few changes this season, or no changes in some cases, both men and women have a lot to choose from to quench their …
Orascom Telecom seeks arbitration in Tunisia telecom row
CAIRO: Egypt-based multinational Orascom Telecom (OT) said on Thursday it was asking the International Chamber of Commerce to arbitrate in its dispute with Kuwait s Wataniya Telecom over their joint venture mobile operation in Tunisia. OT said it wanted the chamber s International Court of Arbitration to enforce what it called OT s contractual right …
Eleven candidates vie for third mobile license
CAIRO: Eleven candidates have presented bids for Egypt s third mobile telephone network license, Telecommunications Minister Tarek Kamel said Thursday. Eleven European, African, Arab and Asian groups, along with domestic companies, participated in the bidding, Kamel was quoted by the official MENA news agency as saying. Telecom Egypt and Telecom Italia presented a joint bid, …
U.S. body criticizes religious freedom in allies
WASHINGTON: A U.S. government commission warned on Wednesday of rising religious persecution in Iraq and Afghanistan, two countries invaded by the United States in the past five years to free their people from tyranny and abuse. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, in its annual report to Congress and President George W. Bush …
Present and Tense: Mixed messages
“Orabi had to secure the train connections near Zagazig. He dug a sequence of trenches and waited for the Highland Brigade advancing from the north. Intelligence had told him the Black Watch Battalion would arrive at dawn . I was dictating a biased account of the 1882 British campaign to a young man who was …
ACG cushions Gulf blow to stock market
CAIRO: Egyptian stocks slipped slightly on Thursday as negative sentiment from falling Gulf stock markets weighed on Egypt s bourse, but positive news from Arabia Cotton Ginning helped minimize the fall, traders said. They said the firm had set up a holding company with a paid-in capital of $1 billion with a United Arab Emirates …
WWW World
Give Peace a Chance http://www.amnesty.org/ British historian Lord Acton observed over a century ago that “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is still true today, especially in the so-called “Third World, where free elections are a mirage and where the ruling elites are hampered by very few restraints in their pursuit …
State to appeal ruling that favors Egypt's Baha'is
CAIRO: The government will appeal against a court ruling in favor of the rights of the country s small Baha i minority, a minister said on Wednesday. Religious Endowments Minister Mahmoud Hamdi Zakzouk told parliament the government would base its appeal on the opinion of the country s leading Muslim cleric, the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, …
Reacting to the renewal
CAIRO: Last Sunday, Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif asked parliament to extend the highly controversial Emergency Law for another two years. For approval, it needs two thirds of parliament to back it and, with the National Democratic Party providing more than enough candidates, it was soon passed. The extension was expected in spite of the campaign …
Extension of Emergency Law heads week's news
CAIRO: A variety of news items have vied for headlines this week. Reoccurring themes in this week’s local and international papers have been the extension of the Emergency Law, the death of the policeman in the hunt for the Dahab bombers, in addition to Egypt and Jordan’s collaboration to end terrorism and promote peace in …
Gamal Mubarak believes extension of Emergency Law not counter to reforms
CAIRO: Under criticism for the renewal of the Emergency Law, Gamal Mubarak stated that the renewal does not indicate a setback in the reform polices of the National Democratic Party (NDP) at a press conference held at the party’s headquarters yesterday. “I disagree with those saying that reform has stopped, he says. “We are committed …
Fifth death from bird flu reported
GENEVA: An Egyptian woman died Thursday of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, the fifth fatal case in the country, the official MENA news agency reported. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed on Thursday a 13th human case of bird flu in Egypt, a woman who remains hospitalized in Cairo. The Egyptian health ministry …