Latest in Politics Highlight
Latest in Politics
Egypt seeks to showcase furniture industry
CAIRO: The Egyptian furniture industry will take part in The Hotel Show 2006 for the first time this year as part of a government plan to get the industry to showcase its ability to take part in the increasingly profitable regional market. As the regional hospitality industry s meeting place, The Hotel Show will take …
Ancient temple discovered beneath Cairo flea market
CAIRO: An ancient solar temple has been discovered beneath a flea market in a Cairo suburb, the Supreme Council of Antiquities announced Sunday. The temple was found on Thursday embedded in green shist rock beneath the market, said Zahi Hawass, the council s secretary general. Royal statues in pink-colored granite, probably from the time of …
Australia suspends cattle exports to Egypt over mistreatment charges
SYDNEY: Australia on Sunday announced a temporary ban on the export of live cattle to Egypt while claims of mistreatment in abattoirs there are investigated. The suspension came ahead of the broadcast later Sunday by commercial television of footage said to show cattle suffering serious mistreatment. Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran said he had suspended the …
We're better than Germany
CAIRO: Did you know that Egypt is now the 17th best country in the world in football? Out of 205 officially registered teams, this is not a bad situation to be in. New FIFA standings show that Egypt jumped 15 places thanks to its winning of the African Cup of Nations. So we are now …
Opposition figure Ayman Nour questioned for battery
CAIRO: Opposition figure Ayman Nour, sentenced in December to five years in prison for falsifying official documents, was questioned on Thursday for allegedly beating a member of the ruling party. Nour appeared before a court in southern Cairo to respond to charges of hitting and wounding a member of the National Democratic Party (NDP) with …
Bird flu spreads to areas in west, south
CAIRO: Bird flu has spread to birds in provinces in the south and west of Egypt, which has launched a campaign that will include mosque sermons to raise awareness about the virus, the government said on Thursday. The government said cases of the deadly virus had now been found in birds in Beheira, on the …
Point of View
CAIRO: There are many names for it depending on where you are in the world, but the objective is the same. Whether you call it niqab, burga, purdah or abaya; the face veil, to those who believe in it, represents the ultimate act of superficial modesty as written in the Quran. My interest first began …
BLOM unveils its strategy for Egypt
CAIRO: Having recently acquired Misr Romanian Bank, executives from Lebanon s BLOM Bank visited Cairo this week and outlined their strategy for Egypt. BLOM is Lebanon s largest bank with total assets of $11.2 billion. It has branches in Jordan, Cyprus and Syria and and with its acquisition of Misr Romanian Bank, also in Egypt …
Present and Tense: Up in heaven
Birds have never accepted humans as equals. They have been monitoring our progress over the centuries with diligence. Their north-south seasonal flights are not for feeding and breeding as we assume, but for surveillance and research. Now their leaders have concluded that we’re a vicious race with a hidden agenda. We don’t know yet their …
Health
CAIRO: The rich, smooth taste that melts in your mouth and the feeling of euphoria that comes after a couple of bites. This makes chocolate an indulgence that many enjoy and crave time and again. The guilt however, will usually set in. Now there’s good news for chocoholics. There have been reports that chocolate may …
Health activists censure government's bird flu response
CAIRO: Government measures to prevent the spread of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus are insufficient, according to independent Egyptian health experts. Action in Egypt to tackle the problem has been confused and chaotic, said Raouf Hamed of the National Organization for Drug Control and Research. Moataz Billah Osman, researcher at the Arab Organization for …
Egypt asks a U.S. museum to return a mummy mask disappeared 45 years ago
CAIRO: Egypt has asked the St. Louis Art Museum to return a 3,000-year-old funerary mask of a mummy depicting a young lady, which it said disappeared from the Egyptian Museum decades ago, antiquities officials said Thursday. The Supreme Council of Antiquities said it formally requested the return of the piece, known as the mask of …
Career
CAIRO: In the midst of the current sad state the local music scene seems to be mired in, due to new, unskilled singers and composers – there are few that can be labeled as true artists. Wagih Aziz, a 44-year-old singer and musician, is one of those few who prioritize music over fame. Aziz, whose …
Invasion of the body snatchers
CAIRO: It has become a fashion item. Their capabilities are forever being expanded and technology convergence has never been better exploited. Their modulation has seen them demonstrate intelligence, intuitiveness and some would say emotional tendencies too. The smart phone can now browse the internet and organize your day. It can play games, music or video …
Champions Egypt get soft African Nations Cup qualifying draw
CAIRO: The 2008 African Nations Cup qualifying draw treated newly crowned champions Egypt and runners-up Ivory Coast generously. Egypt are in Group 2 with minnows Botswana, Burundi and Mauritania and the Pharaohs should finish first by a wide margin and secure a berth at the 16-nation tournament in Ghana. Ivory Coast, losers after a penalty …
Detained Egypt, Saudi suspects lynched in Iraq second city
BASRA, Iraq: Eleven suspected foreign fighters from Egypt and Saudi Arabia were seized by gunmen from a prison in Iraq s largely Shiite second city of Basra Wednesday and all but one of them lynched, police said. A total of 20 gunmen forced their way into the city s Mina prison and disarmed the guards …
Egypt offered in vain to help Denmark avoid cartoon crisis: FM
COPENHAGEN: The Danish government ignored several offers from Egypt to help it avoid a full-blown crisis over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed first published in Denmark, media here quoted Egypt s foreign minister as saying on Thursday. “I said that we were approaching something that was very dangerous. The contents of this case risked causing …
Mubarak urged to make good on press law pledge
CAIRO: A media watchdog on Thursday urged President Hosni Mubarak to fulfill a two-year-old pledge to amend a law which lays down jail terms for journalists convicted in libel cases. “The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urges you to fulfill the commitment you made two years ago today to initiate legislation to eliminate prison sentences …
Nour says reform issue goes beyond his case
CAIRO: Jailed opposition leader Ayman Nour said Wednesday that his case represented only one of the many problems confronting the political reform movement in Egypt. “I believe that political reform should not be reduced to only my case, he said in a statement released through his office to coincide with the visit to Egypt of …
Press Round-up
CAIRO: Ending the week featuring almost identical front pages, with the same news, pictures and layout: Al Ahram and Al-Akhbar reported the same dominating news of bird flu and Condoleezza Rice’s visit to the country. The many demonstrations, however, were only reported in the independent newspapers. “Because the government has always been a liar, people …
Health officials look to assuage bird flu fears
CAIRO: Restaurants across much of the country have stopped serving chicken. Supermarkets are selling out of mineral water following word that the Nile-source drinking water may be contaminated. Multiple theories have emerged regarding bird flu: how it got here, where it came from, who s in danger and how to protect yourself. In an effort …
Centurion Energy buys oil and gas sites
LONDON: Canadian-based Centurion Energy International Inc. said on Wednesday it had bought a private U.S. firm with oil and gas operations in Egypt and Texas for $225 million. Centurion, which is listed in Toronto and on London s junior Alternative Investment Market (AIM), said the acquisition would add 8,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day …
Orascom to eye acquisitions after IPO
ALGIERS: Orascom Telecom (OT) will eye more acquisitions including a bid for Greek firm TIM Hellas after the initial public offering of its Weather Investment later this year, its chairman said on Wednesday. Naguib Sawiris told Reuters in an interview the firm had won a $2 billion loan to consolidate existing debt and finance its …
Poultry producers suffer as government's actions questioned
CAIRO: A leading poultry producer says that it has not sold a single baby chick since the outbreak of avian flu in the country 11 days ago. Wadi Holdings breeds and sells day-old chicks to farmers. It also sells chicken feed and poultry-related products make up the majority of its revenues. The company controls 45 …
Median o/n interbank rate rises to 8.6125 pct
CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the Egyptian pound rose to 8.6125 percent on Thursday from 8.55 percent on Wednesday after central bank auctions drained liquidity from the market, traders said. “Most of the banks are bidding aggressively in the central bank auctions so it s a little bit short, one trader said. The …
Egypt to offer 20 percent of EgyptAir
CAIRO: Egypt is preparing to offer 20 percent of state-owned airline EgyptAir to the public, in the latest big-ticket privatization in the government s drive to sell off state assets. “The shares will be offered as soon as the study is complete, Civil Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq said, in comments reported by the official Middle …
Word on the Street
CAIRO: Taxis are a way of life in Egypt. From the quick hop down the street to the longer drives across town. They are readily available . Should they agree to drive you. There are more than 50,000 taxis on Cairo’s streets, and the number seems to be growing daily, with the majority of them …
Thirty-two held after sectarian clashes
CAIRO: Egypt s attorney general ordered 32 suspects remanded in custody Wednesday in connection with sectarian clashes south of Cairo that left eight people wounded. They included both Christians and Muslims arrested after Monday s violence in the village of Al-Ayat, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Cairo, judicial sources said. The violence came …
Egypt offers to buy farm chickens due to bird flu
CAIRO: Egypt s government will buy all healthy chickens offered for sale by farmers until late March in a bid to support farms hard hit by the outbreak of bird flu, Agriculture Minister Amin Abaza said on Wednesday. Demand for chicken has collapsed since the deadly H5N1 virus was first identified in chickens in Egypt …
Egypt sets up gas shipping firm
CAIRO: Egypt has set up a joint venture shipping company to transport gas and is ordering a new ship that is planned to enter operation by the end of 2007, a senior Egyptian official said on Tuesday. “We are in the process to acquire the ship … We will be having the ship operated, God …