Latest in Tag: Investment Highlight
Latest in Tag: Investment
Analysis: Mubarak visits US as Obama pushes for Mideast peace deal
CAIRO: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday began his first visit to the United States in five years, to meet his US counterpart Barack Obama for talks that will focus on Middle East peace. His trip comes as the United States pressures Israel to halt settlement construction in the West Bank, while demanding that Arab …
AUC student fights deportation after Israeli detainment
CAIRO: An American University in Cairo (AUC) student has been granted an extension on an Israeli deportation order after being held in an Israeli detention center. AUC English literature undergraduate Sarah Hawas, 21, was in Jerusalem to show solidarity with Palestinians being evicted from their homes Hawas told Daily News Egypt from Jerusalem Friday that …
Reaction to Gamal Mubarak's 'open dialogue' differs according to venue
CAIRO: In an unprecedented move, Gamal Mubarak, head of the National Democratic Party’s policies committee, addressed the internet-savvy youth in an online video forum Wednesday night. During the three-hour interactive discussion, Mubarak answered questions about a range of topics including education, economic reform, inflation, subsidies, social welfare, corruption in the public sector and unemployment. Mubarak …
US shelved concerns on Egypt's internal politics, says report
CAIRO: The new US administration has turned its back on concerns over Egypt’s internal political issues for regional cooperation, a policy report released from Washington stated. “After years of tension resulting from the last administration s focus on human rights and democratic development, the traditional US-Egyptian bilateral ‘bargain’ has been effectively restored, said the report …
Yemeni government counters a Shia rebellion
SANAA: Yemeni government forces used artillery and aircraft to attack Shia rebels near the border with Saudi Arabia in an escalation of the five-year-old conflict, rebels and local officials said Wednesday. The government offensive, which is believed to have started late Tuesday and continued Wednesday, followed reports Tuesday of rebels seizing more control of the …
Israel official in Egypt for Shalit release talks: report
JERUSALEM: Israeli national security advisor Uzi Arad went to Egypt on Monday for talks which could be linked to efforts to free an Israeli soldier held by Palestinian militants, media reported. Israel s commercial Channel 2 television said Arad s visit to Cairo was believed to be linked to talks on the release of Gilad …
Opposition party claims member kidnapped by state security
CAIRO: The opposition Karama party has alleged in a statement that one of their members was “kidnapped and held for eight days by state security forces in Alexandria. The party claims member Bassem Aboul Magd was taken by state security forces near Sidi Bishr in Alexandria on July 30. The reason was that he had …
'My Voice, My Demand' calls for international observers during elections
CAIRO: A new group’s call for international observers to monitor local elections has arguably highlighted a rift within the Kefaya Movement for Change. Kefaya co-founder and assistant coordinator George Ishaq launched a campaign titled “My Voice, My Demand, adopting reformist ideas that call for the presence of international observers during local elections to guarantee a …
Peres commends Egyptian security for Zeitoun cell capture
CAIRO: Israeli President Shimon Peres commended Egyptian security services for the capture of the alleged Zeitoun terrorist cell that, according to reports, was planning to assassinate the Israeli ambassador. In an interview with Israeli radio after it was published that they were planning to assassinate ambassador Shalom Cohen, Peres said the position of ambassador to …
Georgian embassy marks anniversary of war with Russia
CAIRO: As tensions in the caucus run high, the new Georgian Ambassador to Egypt Gocha Japaridze held a press conference to reflect on the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia and to deplore the current situation. “Unfortunately we were defeated [during the August 2008 war], the Russians invaded our country and expelled 60,000 Ossentians, …
New faces elected in historic Palestinian vote
BETHLEHEM: The Palestinian Fatah movement elected a group of younger leaders to its top council on Tuesday, according to preliminary voting results. Fatah’s first conference in two decades, while plagued by the movement’s characteristic wrangling and intrigue, appeared to rejuvenate the pre-eminent Palestinian organization at a critical moment, weeks before President Barack Obama is to …
Gaza: Israeli planes strike in response to mortars
JERUSALEM: Israeli warplanes bombed a smuggling tunnel along the Gaza-Egypt border early Monday in response to Palestinian rocket and mortar fire, in a brief flare-up of violence at a time of relative quiet in the volatile Palestinian territory. Such exchanges of fire, once routine, have become rare in recent months. Rocket fire from Hamas-controlled Gaza …
Egyptian president congratulates Ahmadinejad, says report
TEHRAN: Iran s official news agency says Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has congratulated his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on his disputed re-election. Monday s IRNA report did not provide further details, and news of the message was not carried by Egypt s state press. Relations between Egypt and Iran have been tense for three decades. …
MB pulls out of parliamentary election do-over
CAIRO: Muslim Brotherhood MPs in Qaliubiya’s Qanater district said they will not participate in a redo of the 2005 parliamentary elections set to take place next week. The group will, however, participate in the upcoming 2010 parliamentary elections, according to Hussein Ibrahim, head of the MB’s parliamentary bloc. There has been speculation recently surrounding the …
ANALYSIS: Ezz spat with opposition belies internal, external conflicts
CAIRO: The spat that has ensued between Ahmed Ezz and political opposition after he criticized them indicates the level of political discourse in Egypt and the frustrations the opposition feels form the security enforced hegemony of the ruling party. “There is an absence of proper, political discussion in Egypt grounded in policy. There is a …
Gamal Mubarak reaches out to online world
CAIRO: The president’s son and head of the ruling National Democratic Party’s policies secretariat, Gamal Mubarak, will address the views and challenges of Egyptian youth on Aug. 12 in a speech that will be broadcast live online. He will address young students from Egyptian universities and research centers at the party’s headquarters in Cairo and …
Abbas's party keeps 'right to resist,' angering Israel
BETHLEHEM: Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement renewed its charter for the first time since the launch of the Middle East peace process in 1991 but Israel reacted angrily on Sunday to its insistence on the right to resist. At its first congress in 20 years and the first ever on occupied Palestinian soil, Fatah …
Palestinian Fatah party to renew leadership in 20-year first
BETHLEHEM: Fatah members were preparing on Friday to elect a new leadership for the first time in 20 years, hoping to breathe new life into the secular Palestinian party weakened by infighting, mismanagement and its trouncing by the Islamist Hamas movement. Delegates to the party s congress in the West Bank city of Bethlehem were …
Rafah crossing remains open for five days
CAIRO: The Rafah border crossing remained open Friday for Gazans, which meant the scheduled opening was extended to five days instead of the initially planned three. The decision to extend the opening was made due to the large number of Palestinians needing to be processed. However, Friday was the last day for the opening of …
Police: 37 die in Iraq as bombs target Shias
BAGHDAD: A series of bomb attacks targeting Shia pilgrims and worshippers struck Iraq on Friday, killing at least 37 people and seriously damaging a mosque, police and medical officials said. The incidents are the latest in a series that have targeted Shias, raising concerns that insurgents are stepping up attacks, hoping to re-ignite sectarian violence …
US wants year-long Israeli settlement freeze, says report
JERUSALEM: The United States wants Israel to sign up to a one-year freeze on settlement activity, arguing it would pave the way for Arab concessions in the peace process, the Haaretz daily reported on Thursday. The proposal was made by US Middle East envoy George Mitchell in talks last week with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, …
Zawahri blasts Obama, says Israel a 'crime'
DUBAI: Osama bin Laden s right-hand man Ayman Al-Zawahri took aim at US President Barack Obama in a new video, accusing him of continuing to spill the blood of Muslims and saying Israel was a crime that must be wiped out, according to a US monitoring group. He also dismissed Obama s Middle East peace …
Obama to announce new Mideast peace plan, say US reports
CAIRO: Reports from Washington indicate that US President Barack Obama will announce a more comprehensive Middle East peace settlement later this month. Reports indicate that Obama will call for a peace summit in the fall, which will include Syria, to seek a comprehensive solution to the Middle East peace process that does not only deal …
Aboul Gheit to meet European embassies over visa restrictions
CAIRO: Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit called for urgent meetings with representatives of European embassies over perceived draconian restrictions on Egyptians seeking legitimate visas. A statement from the foreign ministry said, “during the past period the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received increasing complaints from Egyptian citizens regarding the rigidity of a number of European embassies …
1 dies after collapse of Gaza smuggling tunnel
GAZA CITY: Hamas security says a smuggling tunnel running under the Gaza-Egypt border has collapsed, killing one person and injuring two. Hamas says three other people are missing. Israel and Egypt have blockaded Gaza since the Hamas seized power there in June 2007. Israel, the EU and US, label Hamas a terrorist group. Gaza residents …
Smugglers shoot Egyptian guard near Israel border
AL-ARISH: An Egyptian border guard was killed and another was wounded on Monday during an exchange of fire with smugglers trying to help migrants enter Israel illegally, security official said. The 20-year-old conscript died after he was shot in the throat by armed smugglers when his unit spotted African migrants trying to sneak into Israel …
Mubarak to visit US Aug 18 after five-year hiatus
CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak will visit the US Aug. 18 to meet with President Barack Obama in lieu of the visit he was due to make last May, it was announced. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement Monday that Mubarak and Obama “will discuss the full range of issues of common concern …
South Sudan ethnic clashes kill 185, says local official
JUBA: Fierce clashes between rival ethnic groups in south Sudan have killed at least 185 people, most of them women and children, a regional official said on Monday. The clashes between the Murele ethnic group and their Lo Nuer rivals occurred Sunday in the Akobo region of Jonglei state, regional commissioner Goi Jooyul Yol told …
Hardline judge to preside over Hezbollah cell case
CAIRO: The trial of the Hezbollah cell case will begin Aug. 23 at the State Security Emergency Criminal Court in the Fifth Settlement on the outskirts of Cairo, though it is attributed to the Abdeen circuit of the court. Lawyer Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud said that the Hezbollah cell case had been referred by the State Security …
Iran supreme leader endorses Ahmadinejad but rivals absent
TEHRAN: Iran s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday formally endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president for a new four-year term amid intense political turmoil in the Islamic republic. But in a sign of the escalating feud between rival political factions over Ahmadinejad s hotly disputed re-election, opposition leaders were absent from the ceremony, state-owned …