Latest in Politics Highlight
Latest in Politics
QIZ past and future discussed at conference
CAIRO: Some 240 participants from Israel and Egypt gathered yesterday at the second conference on Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) at the Semiramis InterContinental Hotel. The QIZ concept was established a year ago under a trilateral agreement between the United States,Egypt and Israel. The agreement grants Egyptian products from pre-approved zones tariff-free entry to the U.S. …
Recycling careers
CAIRO: A month after she closed her first business, a 10-year endeavor, Shereen Allam began preparing her next one. Although she had her start in the private business realm as a designer and manufacturer of children’s clothing (she had to close due to the then-new unaccommodating tax laws and falling victim to theft), Allam decided …
Raya provides contact center services for Coca Cola Egypt
CAIRO: Recognizing the excellence of its contact center services, Coca Cola Egypt has contracted Raya Contact Center to manage its customer care program as part of its ongoing efforts to serve its clients. Raya Contact Center offers Coca Cola Egypt a wide array of services including order taking, complaints handling, service requests handling, general and …
Making waves
CAIRO: As evidenced by the recent success of the Cairo International Film Festival, Arab filmmakers and directors are nothing to be scoffed at. Young Egyptian filmmaker Karim Fanous makes his directorial debut with his short film ‘Alla Fein (Where To?),which is scheduled to hit international film festivals in January 2006. “I think the cinema gives …
Kefaya looks ahead at the long road to change
CAIRO: Kefaya demonstrators carried a makeshift coffin, draped in black, with an image of the Maglis El Shaab (People’s Assembly) building on one side and a picture of President Hosni Mubarak on the other, as part of their march commemorating one year of active protesting. The demonstration kicked off with roughly 100 people on the …
Judge storms out as Nour trial heats up
CAIRO: The judge in the trial of Ayman Nour, runner-up in this year’s presidential elections, stormed out of Monday’s court session after lawyers of both Nour and other co-defendants exchanged insults and shouted at each other. Judge Abdel Salam Gomaa stood up from his chair saying “I am leaving while security and police tried to …
Egypt's Brotherhood open to dialogue with U.S. Congress
CAIRO: Newly elected Islamist members of the Egyptian parliament are open to dialogue with members of the U.S. Congress without involving the Cairo government, leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood said on Sunday. But contacts with officials of the U.S. administration would require the approval of the Egyptian foreign ministry, the Brotherhood’s deputy leader Mohamed …
Calyon, HSBC bid for Egypt's EAB, says executive
CAIRO: France’s Calyon and Britain’s HSBC have submitted bids for Egyptian American Bank (EAB), which has been put up for sale by its main shareholders, an EAB executive said on Sunday. An earlier statement from EAB had said it received two international bids for the purchase of up 100 percent of EAB, but did not …
Egyptian market boosted by Telecom Egypt IPO
CAIRO: Money left over from an IPO of Telecom Egypt shares pushed up stocks popular with retail investors Sunday, but big-cap declines pulled down the benchmark Hermes index, brokers said. Arab Cotton Ginning and investment bank EFG-Hermes benefited from the returning cash, which investors had set aside for the heavily oversubscribed IPO, which ended Wednesday. …
Black gold
CAIRO: With oil prices skyrocketing across the world, and with the Middle East region hosting an abundance of the product, many are growing interested in learning more about the oil business. “Going on a rig and seeing how things are, how they extract oil from the ground, got me really excited, so I decided this …
Untold stories
CAIRO: The intense tension felt in advance of a meeting with Morgan Freeman, one of Hollywood’s most prominent personalities, turned out to be for naught. The academy award-winning actor is anything but intimidating. Freeman is easy to talk to; he is funny and his familiar deep voice, mixed with his side jokes, gives off a …
Many honored at film festival
CAIRO: While at work in London, Finnish producer Ilkaa Y. L. Matila received a call from the Cairo International Film Festival saying “he wouldn’t be disappointed if he attended the closing ceremony. Since his film, Mother of Mine,was competing with 14 other movies in the festival, he boarded the first plane to Cairo. He wasn’t …
Court extends detention of Nour – lawyer
An Egyptian court extended the detention of liberal politician and former presidential candidate Ayman Nour on Saturday until today, when his trial on forgery charges resumes, Nour’s lawyer said.
Toddler latest to die in Sudanese protest
CAIRO: Alongside the grassy park which lies in front of the Moustafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandaseen, children ages five through 10 stood shoulder to shoulder, each holding up a photo of a dead toddler – underneath the photos were messages calling him a martyr. Deng Kual, 4, is the latest person to die as the …
Remarkable films, no awards
CAIRO: Two films featuring Baghdad as their main topic of choice received no awards during the Cairo International Film Festival: The Night Baghdad Felland Ahlam.The first is a black comedy fantasy, while the latter is a stark look at life in the Iraqi capital. Not to be outdone, India presented a controversial independent production, In …
Authorities mull recommendations on airline deregulation
CAIRO: With the government aiming to increase the annual number of tourists from 8 million to 15 million by 2011,Minister of Tourism Ahmed El- Maghrabi met with experts and EgyptAir officials to consider what changes to the government’s aviation policy are necessary to cope with the anticipated increase in travelers. Speaking at the Egyptian Center …
Direct link to Asia
CAIRO: Raya Telecom signed an agreement, Saturday, with Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) to launch a new service, AsiaConnect. With the outsourced International Virtual Private Network (VPN) using the latest telecommunications technology, Multi Protocol Labels Switching (MPLS),companies operating in Egypt will be able to directly exchange data securely with their offices in Asia for the first …
Egypt: 26 percent turnout in elections
CAIRO: Just one quarter of registered voters cast ballots in the month-long parliamentary elections that ended this week,Egypt’s justice minister said Saturday. The three-stage elections were among Egypt’s most violent, resulting in at least 10 deaths and scores of injures since polling opened Nov.9 and ended Wednesday. Rights groups said the violence was triggered by …
Web editor's arrest raises concern for civil liberties
CAIRO: The arrest of the editor of a local news website this week has raised fresh concerns among defenders of freedom of expression. “Such practices reflect the government’s lack of tolerance for freedom of expression and opinion, said Mahmoud Aly of the Egyptian Association for the Support of Democracy. Ahmed Mohammed Mahmoud, the editor of …
Coptic language's last survivors
CAIRO: Considered an extinct language, the Coptic language is believed to exist only in the liturgical language of the Coptic Church in Egypt. The ancient language that lost in prominence thanks largely to the Arab incursion into Egypt over 1300 years ago remains the spoken language of the church and only two families in Egypt. …
Opposition cries foul in final voting day
CAIRO: In a highly charged conclusion to an already dramatic month of parliamentary elections, the run-offs for the third and final round of voting were marked by violent clashes between voters and security forces, charges of widespread election fraud and the arrest of an opposition party chief. “The actions of all those who partook in …
Bread and knives
My wife has just bought me two suits, three ties, one shirt and a brand new bread knife. It was Xmas and Eid all thrown in together. I dressed from head to toe in new clothes. The last time I looked that good was right before the 1967 war,when schools issued us military fatigues and …
Bloodshed casts doubt on government
CAIRO: The violence that marred Egypt’s parliamentary election has called into question the sincerity of President Hosni Mubarak’s vow, under U.S. pressure, to open up the country’s political system. Police crackdowns on voters not only brought sharp criticism from Washington, they also failed to blunt gains by the banned Muslim Brotherhood, which won at …
'Twas the night before Christmas
CAIRO: One of the great things about living in Egypt is that, if you want to, you can celebrate Christmas twice: twice the presents,twice the calories,twice the number of in-laws (or the same number of in-laws twice over), twice the number of family feuds-basically twice the fun. It’s the early Christmas, however, the December 25th …
Squashing the enemy
In the World Open in Hong Kong, the 26-year-old from Cairo was in devastating form this week in the final against David Palmer, brushing the Australian aside 11-6, 11-7, 11-8. Shabana had might as well been using a fly swatter instead of a squash racquet, so imperious was he in dispatching Palmer, the 2002 champion, …
Authorities release 40 suspects in deadly bombings against Sinai tourist resorts
EL-ARISH, Egypt: Security authoritieson Thursday released40 Egyptians who had been detainedseveral months ago inthe investigation into deadlybombings at tourist resorts inthe Sinai Peninsula. Hundreds of cheering family members greeted the freed detainees, while others stood by disappointed that their sons were not among those freed. The detainees were brought from prison to the State Security …
Oracle Global Support Center in Egypt now open for business
CAIRO: Oracle, the world’s largest enterprise software company, has officially opened its Global Product Support center based within Egypt’s Xceed contact center, the largest of its kind in the southern Mediterranean region. The facility, one of only eight Global Product Support centers across the world, will provide support services to Oracle customers around the globe …
Expert says new check law has benefits despite flaws
CAIRO: Speaking at the second of a series of bank-related meetings this week organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, Cairo University Professor and former Dean of its Faculty of Law, Samir El Sharkawy, said that the new check law will have benefits for banks and businesses despite a critical flaw in the …
Prominent engineer accused of murder plot
CAIRO: An Egyptian engineer on trial in London was brought to court again on allegations of plotting to kill a minister in the current cabinet, as well as top political leaders in Egypt in a bid to rebuild his career at home. Mamdouh Hamza, 58, a renowned Egyptian engineer and the man behind important national …
Cinema bridging cultural divide
CAIRO: During his first visit to Egypt,Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman addressed journalists during a press conference organized by the Cairo International Film Festival on Wednesday, in what turned out to be one of the best organized events of the festival. Although this is Freeman’s first visit to Egypt, it is not his first to …