Latest in Politics Highlight
Latest in Politics
A protest against worldly pleasures
It’s mind-boggling that “Al Shabakah (The Gang), a play based on a work by controversial of German playwrights Bertolt Brecht, was chosen to be one of this theater season’s highlights. One wonders why veteran actors like Samiha Ayoub, Mahmoud Hemeida and director Saad Ardash didn’t opt for a more relevant work than a 1930s Brecht …
Under Putin, Russia is no longer ready to be pushed around
Vladimir Putin made headlines last weekend when he blasted the Bush administration for its “almost uncontained hyper-use of force that has created a world where “no one feels safe. If he had been a Democratic presidential candidate, it would have been a standard stump speech. But coming from a Russian president, his remarks had pundits …
The outlines of a new policy in declining Afghanistan
There is growing concern among the Western coalition forces about the worsening situation in Afghanistan. The insurgency has recently shown its bloodiest face since the Taliban’s ouster in 2001 and represents a ticking time bomb for the collapse of US policies in the country. The fallout of American policies in Iraq has been felt across …
Dual Debates: Israel, Palestine and Polite Conversation
Sitting in a hotel bar in East Jerusalem, an Israeli peace activist named Nimrod casually remarked to me, “I wish that American Jews would take a more moderate approach to the conflict. Sometimes they are so nationalist, it just makes things harder. The comment elicited tired, knowing nods from the other Israeli journalists and human …
Omar Sharif to undergo anger management after car-park bust-up
LOS ANGELES: Actor Omar Sharif was on Tuesday was ordered to undergo anger-management classes after pleading no contest to hitting a car park attendant in Beverly Hills. Superior Court Judge Richard A. Stone placed Sharif on two years probation and ordered a 15-hour anger management program, which he can take in Egypt. Sharif is currently …
A fair and optimistic outlook despite complications
CAIRO: Just a few weeks before the current confrontation between the Arabs and Israelis over Israel’s excavations near Al-Aqsa mosque, former US president Jimmy Carter had released his poignant book “Palestine, Peace Not Apartheid. That such escalations have coincided with the release is not a big surprise. Carter, in this book and elsewhere, has predicted …
Nepad launches e-Learning schools in Egypt
BEHEIRA: A small village school in Kom Hamada, Beheira on Sunday recently became the first school in North Africa to be fully equipped with wireless Internet access, Smart boards (interactive whiteboards), and fully equipped computer labs. The official launch of the program was held at El Haddeen Secondary School. Five other Egyptian schools outside Cairo …
Egyptian woman tests positive for bird flu
WHO dismisses virus mutation concerns Reuters CAIRO: A 37-year-old woman has tested positive for the deadly bird flu virus, bringing the number of confirmed cases in Egypt to 21, a World Health Organization official said on Wednesday. There is a case, 37-years old, from Fayoum. She has been transferred to Abbasiya (hospital) in good condition, …
Birthday girl
Workers in Shibin Al-Kom still worry about wages, factory sale
SHIBIN AL-KOM: Although strikes ended last week at the textile factory in Shibin Al-Kom, workers there on Tuesday continued to express concern over their working conditions and looming changes as a private, foreign-financed company is set to take over today. The new owner, Andorama, which runs factories in India, bought a majority stake in the …
Petrojet starts construction of Egypt-Israel gas pipeline in March
CAIRO: Egyptian Petrojet Company will start extending natural gas pipelines to Israel in March 2007 at a total cost of $20 million (LE 114.1 million) said a senior official at Petrojet on Tuesday. The official told reporters on condition of anonymity that Petrojet has already completed technical assessments on the principal pipeline for the East …
Love rumour sparks Muslim-Christian clash in Egypt
CAIRO: Groups of Egyptian Muslims set fire to Christian-owned shops in southern Egypt after hearing rumors of a love affair between a Muslim woman and a Coptic Christian man, security sources and a witness said on Tuesday. Eight Muslim men were arrested in the town of Armant, around 600 km south of Cairo, on suspicion …
General Electric signs $120 million locomotives deal with government
CAIRO: Minister of Transportation Mohamed Mansour announced the ministry has secured the first order for 40 railway locomotives from General Electric (GE) in a deal worth $120 million (LE 680 million). Despite the relatively small size of the order, Mansour said delivery will begin in September 2008, and continue at a rate of 10 locomotives …
Imam wants to sue Berlusconi over CIA "kidnap"
Reuters CAIRO/ROME: A Muslim cleric freed from a prison in Egypt four years after being grabbed in Milan in a suspected CIA kidnapping wants to sue former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi for damages, his lawyer said on Monday. Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, has alleged that Egyptian guards tortured him with …
New positive factors favor progress on the Middle East peace, but challenges remain, says UN
New York: A convergence of positive factors, including a new Palestinian unity Government and the first political talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in six years, have the potential to help restore calm and re-energize efforts to achieve a two-State solution, but many immediate and longer-term challenges need to be overcome, a senior United Nations …
Sudan denies abuse of Egyptian workers
CAIRO: The Sudanese Ambassador to Egypt Abdel-Moneim Mohammed Mabrouk has refuted press reports alleging that 28 Egyptian workers were beaten and tortured in a Sudanese police station. Mabrouk denied completely that any abuse had taken place, stating there was a quarrel between workers at a construction site which was contained by the Sudanese police. Some …
Merrill Lynch holds face-to-face investor forum in El Gouna
CAIRO: Merrill Lynch Middle East and North Africa (Mena) held a one-on-one Investor Forum from Feb. 10-13, 2007, in the Red Sea resort town of El Gouna, Red Sea, Egypt. This conference was designed to bring together senior portfolio managers of Merrill Lynch’s top institutional clients and CEOs/CFOs of important corporations in the Mena region. …
General manager of Allianz-AGF discusses investment opportunities and development potential in Egypt
CAIRO: Hugues de Roquette-Buisson, general manager for the Middle East, of AGF-Allianz Group, visited Egypt last week to discuss investment opportunities in Egypt and the recent reforms undertaken by the Government to encourage development. De Roquette-Buisson, as a member of the French Business Investors Association (Medef), met with Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, ministers of finance, …
Feeding Chaos: A New Middle East Cold War
Bush administration efforts to forge a US-Arab alliance against Iran are threatening to produce a new Middle East Cold War, with dangerous implications for regional stability, US interests and American lives. When Condoleezza Rice was in the region to lay the foundations for a united front with key Arab states based on the perception of …
Somalia's Illusive Peace Camouflages Brewing Political Instability
Time has never been better for Somalia’s leaders to take the opportunity given to them by recent turn of events to establish and hold onto a lasting peace that they have been searching for in the past 16 years. Following the crushing defeat of forces loyal to the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) by the …
Lebanese leaders need to shore up their increasingly fragile state
Officials from Riyadh to Khartoum have been working overtime to find a solution to Lebanon s latest political crisis. This week, Speaker Nabih Berri became the most recent leader to enter the fray with a plan of his own. The speaker has proposed an initiative aimed at resolving two of the more contentious issues that …
February, voila Valentine's Day, oh la la
Here comes another February with a new Valentine s Day on the horizon, bringing to the fore fantasies and memories with scented candles and red flowers. When it comes to Valentine s it s all about expressing love and affection to our husbands or wives and fiancées. Early preparations for surprising gifts, romantic candlelight dinners …
In Syria, like Egypt, Iraqi refugees fear the future
NEW YORK: More than 5,000 Iraqis, fearful of being deported under Syrian immigration regulations, queued up outside the United Nations refugee agency office in Damascus today to register. We hadn t expected a crowd quite that big, so all staff – including our drivers – dropped what they were doing and became involved in distributing …
What drives a psychiatric patient to commit a brutal murder?
CAIRO: Dreams can be a dangerous thing if, that is, they lead to murder. The December 2006 crime reported in Al Gomhuria daily, where a married man from Giza stabbed his wife four times in the neck after he dreamt it, shocked the nation. The man suffered from depression. After suddenly realizing that his wife …
Happy Birthday Georgina
Al-Jazeera producer: Alleged abuse documentary to be aired soon
CAIRO: On Jan. 8, Cairo International Airport security prevented Doha-based documentary film producer Howayda Taha from boarding a plane for Qatar and confiscated 50 videotapes in her possession, her laptop and some books. After two days of questioning by state security the reported mock torture footage and re-enactments of alleged police abuse in her possession, …
Football: Shock exits for former African club champions
CAIRO: Former winners Canon Yaounde of Cameroon and Asante Kotoko of Ghana made shock African Champions League first-round exits at the weekend. Canon found a one-goal first-leg lead insufficient as they lost 2-0 to Etoile of Congo in Brazzaville with Eder Lebaly scoring twice within five minutes during the opening half. Victory rewarded ambitious Etoile …
Iraqi refugees still await UNHCR assistance
CAIRO: Iraqi refugees in Cairo continue to wait outside the United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ (UNHCR) office in Mohandiseen to register their refugee status. Among them is Salwan Jumeil Awda. He moved to Cairo four months ago after a series of attacks on his communications company in Baghdad. In May 2006 we were attacked …
Historian angers fellow Jews by exploring medieval accusations of ritual murder of Christians
Associated Press ROME: An Italian-Israeli historian has angered fellow Jews by taking on a subject that has long haunted his people: alleged anti-Christian hatred he says fueled medieval accusations that Jews killed Christians in ritual murders. Ariel Toaff s book, just released in Italy, shocked the country s small Jewish community – in part because …
OCI says Algeria steel plant set to start
CAIRO: Orascom Construction Industries said on Monday its new steel fabrication plant in Algeria with capacity of 12,000 tons annually would start production this month. The new plant, which cost $18 million, will raise OCI s overall annual steel fabrication capacity to 67,000 tons, the company said. OCI said in a statement the new plant …