Latest in Politics Highlight
Latest in Politics
Do you know the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite?
For the past several months, I’ve been wrapping up lengthy interviews with Washington counterterrorism officials with a fundamental question: “Do you know the difference between a Sunni and a Shiite? A “gotcha question? Perhaps. But if knowing your enemy is the most basic rule of war, I don’t think it’s out of bounds. And as …
Why Israel should grab Hamas' truce offer
One of the endlessly fascinating and frustrating aspects of the convergence of American politics with Middle Eastern realities is evident again this season: the application of special rules of conduct to Israel that are not applied to the United States itself. One of the most common themes heard in discussions of US policy in the …
Dar El-Shorouk iftar
Muslims should use foreign media to engage west, say scholars
CAIRO: Islamic scholars have said they support President Hosni Mubarak’s appeal to Muslims to counter the ferocious attack on Islam. And goes even further to say it is the responsibility of every Muslim to educate others about their religion. The Muslim world is facing a ferocious attack, describing Islam wrongly and offending Muslims sacred [symbols …
Fatah, Hamas agree to defuse internal violence
GAZA: Fatah and Hamas officials agreed on Friday to take steps to end violence between the two rival Palestinian movements which has raised fears of civil war. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said an Egyptian security delegation had brokered the talks, which took place in the coastal strip. These efforts have been crowned …
Judge quashes parts of Canada's secrecy law in suspected terror case
OTTAWA: A Canadian judge on Thursday quashed key parts of Canada s secrecy law used by federal police to obtain a search warrant to scour a reporter s home in 2004 for evidence of an unauthorized leak in a suspected terror case. Ontario Superior Court Justice Lynn Ratushny said in her ruling that three sections …
Oh, you dirty hairy
SYDNEY: An airline baggage courier pleaded guilty in Australia on Friday to stealing samples of women s hair from their lost bags and keeping them on file. Rodney Petersen, 30, had faced 110 charges of theft and stalking after taking strands of both head and pubic hair from the luggage of female passengers whose lost …
Egyptian police: 200 crates of weapons intercepted en route to Gaza
EL ARISH: Three Bedouins were arrested early Friday trying to smuggle nearly 200 crates of automatic weapons and ammunition from Egypt into Gaza, police said.Police seized the weapons on a truck in the village of Ballouza, some 100 km east of the Egypt-Gaza border. The smugglers were heading north to the village of Sheik Zuwayed, …
Adopting Egypt's heritage sites
Euromed Heritage Program earmarks seven national landmarks for renovation CAIRO: Seven heritage sites in Egypt have been selected for restoration through “Adopt a Mediterranean Heritage, a new and innovative initiative from the Euromed Heritage Program. Twenty-five historical sites in the Mediterranean partner countries have been selected for restoration through the program. Chief among its aims …
Experts Criticize Government Initiative to Extract Oil from Tafla
CAIRO: Egyptian mining and petroleum industry officials have criticized a project sponsored by the Ministry of Petroleum to extract crude oil from petroleum clay (tafla) citing it as too costly. They also said Egypt’s reserves of petroleum clay are insufficient for the initiative. Fawzy Al-Mahallawy, professor of mining at the Egyptian Faculty of Engineering, Cairo …
Give the Egyptians more tea
KOLKATA: Indian tea exports to Egypt have surged after Egypt slashed import duties, a senior Tea Board official said on Friday. India, the world s largest producer and consumer of tea, exported just 70,000 kg of the commodity to Egypt last year, but in the first six months of 2006 sales zoomed to 1 million …
Export Promotion Bank to Launch New Mutual Fund at End of October
CAIRO: The Egyptian Export Promotion Bank will launch a new E£100 million cash mutual fund with accumulative daily return to invest in low risk securities, such as treasury bonds and bills and the Central Bank of Egypt’s Sukuk. The fund, which will be launched by the end of this month, will also invest in companies’ …
Tough competition for Egyptian bank
CARIO: There was a fierce bidding war before victory went to Italy’s Sanpaolo IMI for $1.6 billion in what had been Egypt’s biggest ever auction of state assets. It gave birth to its largest private banking group and signaled continuing foreign interest in the privatization program. That saw 190 state-run companies and facilities sold off …
Business Highlights
Kuwaitis lead establishment of LE 1 billion north Africa private equity firm CAIRO: Kuwait-based KIPCO Asset Management Company (KAMCO) announced Monday the launch of a KD 50 million (LE 992.4 million) private equity company to invest in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. The company, North African Holdings (NAH), brings together strategic investors including KAMCO, …
Al Jazeera tops Forbes list of Arab brands
Forbes CEO forum comes to the Middle East for the first time DUBAI: Television news channel Al Jazeera won the top spot in a list of the best-known Arab brands compiled by Forbes magazine s Arabic edition, besting Dubai-based Emirates airlines. Qatar-based Al Jazeera, which has been criticized by Washington for airing messages from al …
Egypt bars public from budget process
Economist say obscurities in budget handling could overburden tax payers CAIRO: Egypt is one of six countries that keep their constituents in the dark about the state of their budgets until they are adopted, according to a new study released on Wednesday. The International Budget Project, formed with the private Center on Budget and Policy …
Veiled Prejudice
Britain’s ex-foreign secretary’s recent commentary on the Muslim niqab, or full veil, as a “visible statement of separation and of difference that “makes it more difficult for people “to acknowledge each other signifies the latest in Europe’s embarrassing blunders. Following the Pope’s political impropriety, Jack Straw’s cavalier declaration on what constitutes effective deliberation was inappropriate …
Al-Ahly eases past helpless Mahalla
Team moves into sixth spot on league table CAIRO: Two goals from Flavio Amado and Mohamed Abu Treika gave Al-Ahly an easy 2-0 home win over Ghazl Mahalla in the Egyptian League on Thursday. Angolan international Flavio broke the deadlock early in the first half before Abu Treika sealed the victory in the 33rd minute. …
SPORTS TALK: Cover girls
Sports and religion can coexist For millions of people, sport is very nearly a religion, yet few, save neglected wives and girlfriends, complain. Why, then, is there dispute when we want to make room for religion in sport? Dressing modestly, while a visual expression of faith, creates a challenge for Muslim girls wanting to play …
Pope Shenouda iftar
Sa'deya wants to try
Tale of peasant woman turned prostitute delves into the forbidden CAIRO: Hussein Abdel Alim’s “Sa’deya wa Abdel Hakam wa Akhroun (Sa’adeya, Abdel Hakim and Others) reads like a short film, a very coherent and informative rendition of a country woman, her brother and a police officer and how their paths converge in Cairo in the …
Head north or east this Eid
North Coast and Red Sea resorts this year s top Eid vacation destinations CAIRO: The short Eid vacation has led many to opt for local holiday destinations, with Porto Marina in the North Coast and El-Gouna on the Red Sea proving to be the top favorites. Local destinations are not just attracting Egyptian travelers; this …
The extensive cooking sessions aren't over yet
Recipes to delight family and friends during the Eid CAIRO: If you think the continuous cooking that is the trademark of Ramadan is about to end, think again. The Eid is also about invitations and exchanging visits between families. While a dish of khak and other traditional Egyptian cookies might work for some visitors, others …
Sci-Tech Scene: Sepia at the touch of a button
What counts and what doesn’t in the local digital camera market CAIRO: Being analogue, film records everything. It records all the gray shades between the 256 computer grayscales and all the colors between your computer’s 32 million-strong palette. People still use film cameras and there might always be a place for them. In order to …
Make your own destiny
Surprisingly conservative Cairo is full of opportunities to meet your soul mate CAIRO: While Cairo may not be the Paris of the Middle East, fashionable Beirut seems to have won that title, it is a city obsessed with love. Lately it seems a large number of single Cairenes are complaining about where to meet that …
INTERVIEW: Talking you home through rush hour
Rob Kay: A closer look at the newest Nile FM DJ CAIRO: Nile FM, Egypt’s only English music station, disappeared from our radio sets for a few days to everyone’s distress. After fixing their technical problem it was back on air, minus what many consider the original voice of the station, Simon Ramsden. After decades …
Present and Tense: Immortal no more
This week, Nabil Shawkat is a know-it-all arms dealer with a fiendish, yet meticulous, interest in the world of fashion. The scene of the crash looked almost idyllic. A nearly intact fuselage, the twisted metal of the passenger cabin, and pieces of luggage were strewn across a 200-yard radius in the fields just north of …
Poor Egyptian women also bank on Grameen Nobel prize
CAIRO: Thousands of poor Egyptian women are benefiting from a partnership between the Nobel peace prize-winning Grameen Bank of Bangladeshi Muhammad Yunus and a local credit organization. I got my first loan of 250 pounds [$43] six years ago, and it meant I could expand my vegetable stall and earn more money, says Hanem Shaban …
Author surprised by book banning
Mohamed Fattouh’s collection of published articles hit a nerve CAIRO: The recent confiscation and banning of Mohamed Fattouh’s Al-Sheyoukh Al-Modern Wa Sena at Al-Tatarof Al-Deeni (Modern Sheikhs and the Making of Religious Extremism) has caused a stir in Egypt’s literary circles. Last week, the arts censorship division of Cairo police raided a number of bookshops …
WORD ON THE STREET: Outings and innings for the Eid holiday
CAIRO: With only a few days left until the end of Ramadan, it is common to see families scurrying through the shops purchasing holiday sweets ahead of the Eid Al-Fitr festivities. Age-old traditions persist as families buy their children new clothes to wear during the three-day holiday and pass out the ediya – money given …