Latest in Politics Highlight
Latest in Politics
Insults, foul language traded at film festival conference
CAIRO: A question about the involvement of businessman Naguib Sawiris in the funding of the Egyptian film Istughomaya (“Hide and Seek ) torpedoed the film’s premiere into a cussing session between producer Hany Gerges and film critic Yehia Zakaria. Screened at The Cairo International Film Festival, the movie is one of three competing for awards …
Cairo International Film Festival: Today's highlights
The Road (China)The ticket controller Li is a little ray of sunshine to the passengers of the rural bus line, for with every ticket she also sells a smile, which outshines some mishaps and shortcomings. Everybody loves her; including the much older bus driver Master Cui in his own silent, reserved way. When it almost …
The pluses of uncovering pornography
A Sydney-based Muslim cleric, Sheikh Hilaly, recently made headlines in Australia when he publicly reflected that immodest women invite rape because they are like “uncovered meat. More unfortunate still was his implication that this was the cause of a series of gang rapes in Sydney in 2000, in which the attackers’ legal defense was that …
Terrorists are criminals, not Muslim activists
CAMBRIDGE, UK: The rise of extremism in the Muslim world has led to the widespread view of Islam as a religion of violence, retribution and war. This is in complete opposition to the truth of our religion and, on behalf of the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Muslims who are ordinary, peace-loving, decent people, …
The EU and Turkey are in a wrestling match, where neither side can afford to let go
The Istanbul professor who is a leading character in “Bliss, a lyrical novel by Zulfu Livaneli, imagines the Turkish intellectual as an acrobat swinging through the air. He lets go of his trapeze, sure in the belief that his European partner and inspiration waits on the other side, ready to catch him. Too late, he …
Smooth cruise
UN's WFP positively impacting Egypt
CAIRO: A delegation of executive board members from the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) headquarters in Rome spent a week in Egypt to evaluate the aid agency’s projects in some of the country’s poorest regions. The delegation, consisting of board members from a wide range of donor countries, including the US, Canada, China, and …
Building expectations at Marrakech film fest
In Egypt, you're better off Jewish than Bahai
CAIRO: At the heart of every bureaucratic function of government in Egypt is the National Identity card. Whether access to education, employment, financial services, health care or assorted government dealings the bitaqa is an absolute necessity. Egyptian law decrees that every citizen should carry the ID on their person at all times. Police are allowed …
Local producers mount fight against consumer protection laws
CAIRO: The Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) called on the government Sunday to rescind the recently ratified Consumer Protection Law, until significant amendments are made, to protect local producers from going out of business. FEI s lobbying comes a week after its Food Industries Division said that, if fully implemented, certain clauses in the law …
Sexual harassment needs to be addressed by authorities
CAIRO: While sexual harassment in Egypt, particularly Cairo, was widely reported in the media in recent weeks, very little on the topic has been heard from the authorities, said participants at the Sexual Harassment Forum organized by the American University in Cairo’s (AUC) Cynthia Nelson Institute for Gender and Women’s Studies on Monday. On Oct. …
Oracle Marks Ten Years of Support for Egypt's IT Economy
Contributions to the eGovernment program and the Egyptian Educational Initiative CAIRO: Sergio Giacoletto is executive vice president of Oracle Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) and recently highlighted a number of milestones marking Oracle’s contribution to enabling Egyptian citizens and organizations to build a competitive and successful digital economy. “Oracle has been committed to delivering …
Conference aims at boosting Egyptian exports to Europe
CAIRO: Global Trade Matters (GTM) is set to launch its 2006-7 Egypt sessions through a string of conferences which will revolve around improving multi-lateral and bi-lateral trade in the region, focusing on how to increase Egyptian exports and promote the country’s attractiveness towards Foreign Direct Investors from different parts of the world. In 2004 bi-lateral …
Now in America, he keeps on pushing his cart
American film revives Italian neo-realism CAIRO: Beyond the polished skyscrapers of Manhattan, the glamour of Broadway and the capitalist empire of Wall Street, stories from other side of the city ? poverty, filth and the broken dreams of marginalized immigrants ? slowly comes into focus. Man Push Cart is one such story about an immigrant’s …
Cairo International Film Festival: Today's highlights
Civic Duty (US) On the surface, Terry Allen (Peter Krause) appears to be a model American citizen. But after he loses his job and his mortgage application falls through, he quickly sinks into a media-fueled obsession with his country s war on terrorism. When a Muslim student named Gabe Hassan unexpectedly moves in next door, …
A last chance to stabilize the broader Middle East
The political and security situation in the vast region between the Indus Valley and the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean is a cause for grave concern. When the US intervened militarily in Iraq in 1991, the intention was to effect fundamental change in the region. Today it is clear that hardly any aspect of this …
Which way will it go in Beirut?
There is something at once both historic and frightening about the open-ended mass street protest that was launched in Beirut Friday by Hezbollah and its allies, aiming to topple the government headed by Prime Minister Fouad Seniora. The historic element is that this is a rare instance of mass political action that is declared to …
In Iraq, there is no graceful exit for the US
“This business about graceful exit just simply has no realism to it at all, President George W. Bush said Thursday after meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki. And that’s probably the right headline as the administration reviews its options for Iraq: No graceful exit. That doesn’t mean there won’t be significant changes ahead in …
Education with art
Tourists flock to Egypt in record numbers in October
But will recent instability in Sinai mark a downturn? CAIRO: Thanks to a period of relative stability and an aggressive, multi-million dollar marketing campaign, Egypt attracted a record number of international tourists in October, The Daily Star Egypt has learned. More than 850,000 tourists flocked to Egypt – a 20 percent increase from September. The …
THE REEL ESTATE: When Jackie met Cairo
CAIRO: Her eyes brought cinema s greatest filmmakers to their knees, her films are among the most popular in cinematic history; and, yes, ladies and gentlemen, she was the one who inspired the wet T-shirt contest with her film The Deep. She s Jacqueline Bisset and she s in Cairo talking about movies, movies and …
Egypt's involvement in Iraq has been costly
CAIRO: The Arab League convened a special meeting on Iraq Tuesday including its neighbors in an attempt to map out a strategy to end the violence in the war-torn country and prevent the conflict from spreading. The Egyptian government has in recent years been active in trying to bring sectarian strife in the oil-rich country …
French movie falls short
Alain-Fournier s adaptation doesn t translate on big screen CAIRO: With more than 10 films participating in this year s festival, France has delivered some of the most enjoyable films so far including Le Passager De L été (Passenger of Winter) and L anniversaire (The anniversary). It s disappointing that the only one in the …
INTERVIEW: Egypt eyes $5.25 bln from privatization in 2 years
DUBAI: Egypt expects to earn at least LE 30 billion ($5.25 billion) in the next two fiscal years from the sale of state assets, about 50 percent more than in the last two years, the investment minister said on Monday. Egypt should conclude up to 30 privatization transactions by July 2007, including the sale of …
Iraqi FM: Egypt, Arabs must deal with Iraqi government
CAIRO: Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari called on Egypt and the Arab nations to maintain an effective political role with the incumbent Iraqi government in a press conference held Sunday with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit prior to the December 5th meeting of ministers from Iraq’s neighboring countries. He added that the Arab initiative …
Egypt inflation spike to last a few months
CAIRO: The spike in Egyptian inflation, will last a few months and the rate could rise above the current 11.8 percent as the economy absorbs the impact of supply shocks, the finance minister said on Monday. Egyptian inflation rose to 11.8 percent in October from 9.6 percent in September. This is temporary phenomenon and will …
EU Agriculture Commissioner urges Egyptian exporters to focus on quality
Mariann Boel: asymmetry in trade liberalization not a permanent EU policy CAIRO: European Union (EU) Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Mariann Boel urged Egypt and other Mediterranean Saturday to take more initiative to improve the quality of their export-oriented products in order to meet EU sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) standards. Speaking at the sixth meeting …
Egypt PM sees summer referendum on constitution
CAIRO: Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said on Monday Egypt would hold a referendum next summer on constitutional changes that should pave the way for ending a quarter century of emergency law within 18 months. Nazif said work was under way to amend the constitution to change the power system, encourage political parties and replace an …
It's a musical but they keep the solos to a minimum, thankfully
Nothing But That reintroduces the forgotten genre in festival s main competition Mafeesh Gheir Keda (Nothing But That)Director: Khaled El Haggar: Script: Kawthar Mostafa and Azza ShalabyActors: Nabila Ebeid, Khaled Abol Naga, Sawsan Badr, Ahmed Azmi, Arwa and Rola MahmoudBy Sarah El Sirgany Daily Star Egypt staff CAIRO: I was preparing myself for the worst; …
G8 members recognize Arab efforts for reform
Foreign Minister states regional troubles a concern for all CAIRO: The members of G8 have been won over by the seriousness of Arab efforts in the areas of political, economic and social reform according to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit. Abul Gheit was commenting on the results of the G8-led Forum of the Future …