Latest in Politics Highlight
Latest in Politics
A walk-in kaleidoscope
CAIRO: What is a Kaleidoscope? According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, it is an instrument containing loose bits of colored material, perhaps glass or plastic, between two flat plates and two plane mirrors. So placed that changes of orientation of the bits inside are reflected in an endless variety of patterns. Now imagine that this …
Quiet surrounding voter registration angers opposition
CAIRO: Egyptians have until March 9 to register tand receive a voting card, which allows the holder to vote in any future presidential elections or national referendums. The lack of publicity of the registration process has come under pressure from opposition groups. Many, including the Kefaya movement, believe that this is due to the National …
Arab League decides to open office in Baghdad
CAIRO: The Arab League decided on Saturday to open an office in Baghdad as part of its preparations for a reconciliation meeting of Iraqi politicians to be held in Iraq in June, Egypt s foreign minister said. Abul-Gheit made his comments after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the 22-member Arab League s Cairo …
Paradise Now sparks anger on Oscar night
CAIRO: For the Arab world, the stakes were high at this year’s Academy Awards. Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad’s controversial film, Paradise Now, has already won Hollywood’s second highest honor, the Golden Globe, last month and so many predicted it would walk away with the Oscar last night as well. The Arabic-language film documents 27-hours in …
Reporters and housing minister reconcile
CAIRO: In an unexpected change of heart, former Housing Minister Ibrahim Suleiman agreed to reconcile with the press, reportedly withdrawing more than 30 libel cases and petitions that he had brought against journalists in the past few years. The official withdrawal annuls a one-year sentence issued last week against Al-Masry Al-Youm journalist Abdel Nasser Al-Zoheiry, …
Morning cravings
CAIRO: It’s customary to go out for lunch or dinner; those favoring late night meals also have their preferred locales. The breakfast market, meanwhile, has long been cornered by the numerous fuul and taamiya outlets available on almost every street in the city. That, however, seems to no longer be the case, as many restaurants …
CAREER
CAIRO: So, you’re fresh out of university. You’ve got a lifetime of excitement ahead of you; paying bills, buying a house or apartment, starting a family with expenses, expenses and expenses. The first step is to find a job, not a job in daddy’s company, a job that you earned and genuinely want to do. …
Present and Tense
Time was that birds were at the top of the food chain. The entire planet was their hunting ground with seeds and shrimps and succulent primordial worms. Then we appeared with our arrows and slings and the bird population had to assess the situation. As carcasses, I am told we’re quiet delicious. Alive, we litter, …
Britain's Prince Charles to tour Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India
LONDON: Britain s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, will visit Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India during a two-week official tour later this month, Charles office said Thursday. The trip will be the second the he and his second wife have made since their marriage in April 2005, having visited the …
Today we are not united
CAIRO: Good news for people in a hurry. This evening, sometime between 6-9 p.m, you ll get where you want to go in no time because of the unusual emptiness of the city s perpetually bustling streets. Ahli and Zamalek will be at it again and only those coming from Mars will not be watching …
Young Muslims, eager to display religious identity, find a role model in a pop star
ALEXANDRIA: The audience, mostly young Muslim women in veils, clapped, swayed and sang along as Sami Yusuf belted out a love song. The object of his adoration? Mohammed the prophet of Islam. With a British accent, Islamic lyrics and trendy video clips, 25-year-old Yusuf has become a music idol to a young generation of Muslims …
Switzerland investigating two Egyptians for suspected oil-for-food corruption
BERN, Switzerland: Switzerland is investigating two Egyptians in connection with money laundering and bribery in connection with the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq, according to court documents and U.N. records. The Swiss Federal Court in Bellinzona did not name those under investigation in a judgment published on its Web site this week, but the details …
Artifacts from ancient Egypt show influence of pioneering archaeologist
ALBANY, New York: The 27-year-old British archaeologist was making his first trip to Egypt, on a mission to uncover the truth about the Great Pyramid. When he moved into an abandoned tomb at Giza and slept on a hammock, everyone noticed the unconventional William Matthew Flinders Petrie. Petrie became even harder to ignore after his …
Egypt to study second landline operator mid 2008
CAIRO: Egypt will not begin studies on a second fixed-line telephone operator until mid-2008, Communications Minister Tarek Kamel said on Thursday. Kamel said prices for local calls should be reviewed before a second operator is considered. The study of the existence of a second land line operator will not happen until mid-2008, the state news …
Analysis
CAIRO: With the demise of an immediate free trade agreement between Egypt and the United States, the time has come to shed light on other priorities of the trade and industrial development agenda. Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ), which were expected to be eventually made redundant by comprehensive free trade with the U.S., have now become …
Mubarak to visit Germany
BERLIN: President Hosni Mubarak will visit Germany later this month for talks expected to address the situation in the Palestinian areas and moves toward democracy in the Middle East, the German government said Friday. Mubarak will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel on March 11, spokesman Thomas Steg said. He also is expected to meet Germany s …
Head: Former minister drops cases against press
CAIRO: Former Housing Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Suleiman dropped all his lawsuits against the press on Friday, clearing the way for an end to a confrontation between the press and the government over prison sentences. President Hosni Mubarak promised two years ago to work to abolish custodial sentences for publishing offences but the law has not …
A taste of M1NT
CAIRO: “The atmosphere is of a very feminine club … It’s very seductive, says Tahir Sultan, as he explains the essence of London’s high-end club M1NT. “You walk in and you see eclectic turner prize artworks on the lush purple walls, suede couches with velvet cushions, fish tanks and the lights get dimmer and dimmer …
Beyond free trade
CAIRO: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sealed the fate of free trade with Egypt after her visit last week. Negotiations on any agreement on the matter are now unlikely to commence before 2009. Despite attempts to pass off the postponement of free trade talks to internal political conditions within the U.S. Congress, the topic …
Britons freed from Egypt claim torture
LONDON: Three Britons who spent nearly four years in prison in Egypt for membership of a banned Islamic group said Wednesday they had been repeatedly tortured for their political beliefs. The allegations came after Reza Pankhurst, Ian Nisbet and Maajid Nawaz were freed by the Egyptian authorities and returned to London s main Heathrow Airport …
Playing the waiting game at the Rafah border
RAFAH: It is hard to imagine that a gravel road is all that leads to one of the most difficult border crossings on the planet, but that is the reality of the Gaza-Egypt crossing at Rafah. Although construction is underway to pave the road, gravel is all that stands between hundreds of Palestinians and home. …
Cooperation between private sector and ministry vital
CAIRO: The Egyptian ministry of communication and information technology (MCIT) has praised the partnership between the government and private sector, stating that it has proven to be a successful formula for the implementation of a number of communication information technology (CIT) projects. We are always concerned to strengthen our relations with the business community and …
Armed robbery investigation underway
CAIRO: A massive investigation is underway after an armed robbery that took place last Friday at Aramex International Egypt’s Maghrabi offices ended in the murder of a security guard and a loss of approximately LE 1.5 million in stolen cash. According to a highly placed executive at the company, the robbery took place at around …
Poultry reparations insufficient say rights groups
CAIRO: Rights groups in Egypt criticized a government strategy to compensate poultry farmers and sellers, hard hit by the H5N1 avian virus two weeks ago, for fowl destroyed in a recent prevention drive. Cases of the virus have emerged among birds in 14 of 26 Egyptian governorates, although there have been no-incidences reported among humans …
Word on the Street
CAIRO: Although the parliamentary elections concluded months ago, their effect is still being felt today. The Supreme Judiciary Council has withdrawn the immunity of four senior judges: Mahmoud El-Khodeiri, Hesham Bastawisi, Mahmoud Mekki and Ahmed Mekki. The four now face charges of damaging the image of the judiciary by accusing fellow judges of involvement in …
Press round up
CAIRO: The economic repercussions of bird flu still dominate the news. President Hosni Mubarak’s visit to the Arabian Gulf and Libya has also received a considerable share of coverage, especially since some of the president’s announcements during the tour struck many chords at home. While Al-Masry Al-Youm reported on Tuesday that the ban on selling …
Human rights lawyers hail U.S. detainee settlement
NEW YORK: Human rights lawyers on Wednesday took heart from the U.S. government s $300,000 settlement with an Egyptian man rounded up after Sept. 11, saying it boded well for hundreds of other former detainees. The government on Monday agreed to pay $300,000 to Ehab El Maghraby, its first settlement out of hundreds of claims, …
Islamist trio, freed in Egypt, due back home in Britain
LONDON: Egypt deported to London three Britons released from jail where they had served almost four years of their five-year sentences for spreading propaganda for an Islamist group, officials said on Wednesday. The Britons were among a group of 26 men jailed for between one and five years for spreading propaganda of the Hizbut Al-Tahrir …
Journalists rally for freedom of the press
CAIRO: Journalists and political activists gathered at Cairo s Journalists Syndicate to discuss the detainment of Al-Masry Al-Youm reporters one year ago for what the government called irresponsible, false attacks against a public figure. Abdel-Nasser Al-Zoheiry was sentenced earlier this week to one year imprisonment for allegedly slandering Egypt s former housing minister, Ibrahim Suleiman. …
Egypt median o/n interbank rate steady at 8.5 percent
CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the Egyptian pound was 8.5 percent on Wednesday, little changed from Tuesday s 8.534 percent, as bankers awaited the result of a central bank note auction. The central bank was auctioning LE 7 billion ($1.2 billion) of 42-day notes. We don t see a lot of action (in …