CAIRO: The People’s Assembly (PA) said it will start discussing the draft organ transplant law next week. This comes just a few weeks before the end of the current parliamentary session. According to Dr Ahmed Diab, PA member in the health committee, the PA’s constitutional and legislative committee will start discussing the draft law next …

BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel praised on Thursday the special historical significance of US President Barack Obama s trip this week to Europe, just ahead of his arrival in Germany. Obama was due to arrive at around 1900 GMT in the eastern German city of Dresden, where Allied bombing in the closing months of World War …

CAIRO: US President Barack Obama made his long-awaited address to the Muslim world from the podium of Cairo University Thursday, triggering a standing ovation and chants of his name as he exited the grand hall. The historic event was attended by an array of guests, including head of the Policies Secretariat of the ruling National …

JERUSALEM: Israel says it hopes that President Barack Obama s historic speech in Cairo will lead to a new era of reconciliation with the Arab world. In its first reaction to the speech, the Israeli government said it shares Obama s hope that his outreach to the Muslim world will be the beginning of the …

Cairo: The list of invitees to attend US President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo University today covers the gamut of the Egyptian political arena, but the invitation extended to the Israeli ambassador has led some to decide not to attend. Chief amongst those who have been extended an invitation to attend the speech is former …

CAIRO: The Kefaya movement for change announced that they are boycotting US President Barack Obama’s speech today at Cairo University, describing the US president’s visit as a “dose of artificial oxygen for Mubarak’s “regime in crisis. Kefaya leader Abdel Halim Qandil told a press conference yesterday that Kefaya planned to stage a protest on the …

CAIRO: US President Barack Obama will give a speech from Cairo University today in which he intends to address the Muslim world and offer a sort of rapprochement after years of tension under his predecessor George W. Bush. During his presidential campaign, Obama promised to give this speech “from a Muslim capital and much speculation …

RIYADH: President Barack Obama launched a landmark Middle East trip on Wednesday to reach out to the world s Muslims, but earned a swift rebuke from Osama bin Laden in a stinging new audiotape. Obama arrived in Riyadh to a red-carpet welcome and a kiss on both cheeks from Saudi King Abdullah, a key regional …

CAIRO: President Barack Obama outlined his vision for US relations with the Middle East in an interview with BBC s North America editor, on the eve of his upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia and Cairo. Obama told BBC s Justin Webb that he sought for the United States to become a role model, but cautioned …

CAIRO: A report released by the Congress Research Service (CRS) has postulated that both the US and Egypt are seeking to end the annual aid that has been in place since 1979 and replace it with an endowment. The CRS is the research arm of Congress, and develops reports which are submitted to Congress for …

CAIRO: The National Democratic Party’s (NDP) policies committee proposed a new law increasing the number of seats occupied by women in the People’s Assembly (PA) to at least 56 seats. The seats will not be assigned but are to be contested by female candidates in elections. The NDP proposed that in some selected areas only …

RAFAH: Egyptian border police shot dead an African migrant and wounded another on Tuesday as they tried to enter Israel illegally, a security official told AFP. The two men were trying to reach Israel from the Sinai peninsula and ignored police warnings to stop, the official said. The dead man had no identity papers, and …

CAIRO: Egypt has set up a vast security plan for US President Barack Obama s visit to Cairo this week, posting police on every corner of his route and rounding up hundreds of students for questioning. It s a massive security operation, the biggest we have seen yet, a security official said ahead of Obama …

RAFAH: UN investigators arrived in the Gaza Strip on Monday to probe alleged violations of international law during Israel s massive offensive against the Palestinian enclave. The 15-strong team entered the small coastal strip through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and were met by UN officials in Gaza and a representative of the Islamist …

CAIRO: This Thursday US President Barack Obama will address the Muslim World from Cairo University. But whether Muslims in Pakistan, Senegal and Germany will relate to his words as much as their counterparts in the Arab world, is yet to be determined. It isn’t clear whether Obama will address the Muslim world or just the …

CAIRO: Egypt does not agree with Israel s point of view that Iran s nuclear ambitions are a higher priority for the region than Mideast peace, the presidential spokesman said Sunday. Israel is looking to rally moderate Arab nations around the idea that Iran is the common danger to the whole region. The comments from …

CAIRO: Cairo University will be the venue for US President Barack Obama’s speech when he visits Egypt this Thursday, the US embassy confirmed in a press advisory. The statement said that Obama will be giving his speech – in which he intends to address the Muslim world – from Cairo University and that it was …

KHARTOUM: Sudan on Sunday buried former president Gaafar Al-Nimeiry, the man who imposed Islamic rule on Africa’s largest nation, at a funeral attended by ordinary Sudanese, politicians and military officials. President Omar Al-Beshir led the funeral procession as Nimeiry’s body, wrapped in a Sudanese flag, was carried by military officials to his burial site in …

CAIRO: The American Code Pink delegation entered Gaza through the Rafah border crossing Saturday but two Egyptians traveling with them were denied entry. Sixty-eight American members of the delegation traveling with the Code Pink peace organization went through upon arrival at the crossing, but the two Egyptians were sent back. Unlike the fate of many …

CAIRO: Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Cairo on Friday on a two-day visit for talks with Egypt s President Hosni Mubarak, the official MENA news agency reported. Abbas is scheduled to brief Mubarak on the outcome of his talks with US President Barack Obama and the proposals for activating the roadmap to peace in …

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama is challenging Israelis and Palestinians to be fair brokers in the quest for Mideast peace. The plan for peace faces new trouble, but Obama says he will do everything I can. We can t continue with the drift, with the increased fear and resentment on both sides, the sense of hopelessness …

RAFAH: An Egyptian security official says police opened fire on two vehicles that shot at a major security checkpoint in northern Sinai, killing one of the attackers. The official says the dead man was from a major Bedouin tribe, a group of disaffected nomads who often protest against government neglect and security crackdowns following terrorist …

CAIRO: American delegations will attempt to enter Gaza from Egypt and Israel throughout the week to coincide with US President Barack Obama’s visit to Cairo next Wednesday. The members of the five delegations number 150 in all (three delegations have already managed to get into Gaza), and are travelling under the umbrella of the Code …

CAIRO: It is in Egypt’s interest to push for democracy and respect human rights said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday as she met with Egyptian democracy activists in Washington. “It is in Egypt s interest to move more toward democracy and to exhibit more respect for human rights, Clinton said a day after …

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has drawn a line on Israeli settlement expansion before he met Thursday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as part of his urgent quest to revive peace talks. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Obama made it clear, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited here last week, that he wants …

WASHINGTON: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit met US national security advisor James Jones Tuesday, for talks arranged after President Hosni Mubarak cancelled a US visit over a family tragedy. Jones also welcomed Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman to the meeting, which took place just over a week before President Barack Obama heads to Egypt …

CAIRO: The Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm published Monday a detailed schedule of US President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to Egypt June 4. Obama is due to address the Muslim world from Egypt, though the US had not given any details on where Obama will be making his speech. A US Embassy official told Daily News …

CAIRO: The People’s Assembly (PA) approved Sunday an increase in lawsuit fees, a move which stirred much controversy when proposed earlier this year. Under the new law, the fees for filing lawsuits and issuing legal documents will increase by 1-5 percent. The fees for financial compensation lawsuits were also raised, but will be paid only …

CAIRO: A judge overturned Monday the conviction and two-year prison sentence of an exiled Egyptian-American academic and outspoken critic of the regime, paving the way for his return home. Saad Eddin Ibrahim was among the first Egyptians to publicly criticize a possible scenario of inheritance of power, resulting in his imprisonment in 2000. The former …