Latest in Politics Highlight
Latest in Politics
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 …
Teaching hospitality
CAIRO: The Egypt Tourism Workforce Development Program celebrated the graduation of 119 hotel and restaurant professionals on Tuesday. The program, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development, is in its second phase. The first phase provided training for approximately 10,000 workers in the tourism industry. The second phase started in October …
Egyptian, Libyan leaders meet in Libya to discuss supporting Iraqis and Palestinians
TRIPOLI, Libya: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday discussed the conflicts in Iraq and Sudan, the Iranian nuclear standoff and the situation in the Palestinian territories, an Egyptian envoy said. & Mubarak held talks with Gadhafi in the Libyan Mediterranean port city of Misratah on Tuesday before returning to Egypt later …
Mubarak warns U.S. against hitting Iran
CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak said he had advised the United States against attacking Iran, predicting that Tehran would react through its influence over Shi ite Muslim communities in Arab countries in the Gulf. In remarks to Egyptian newspaper editors published on Wednesday, Mubarak also said an Israeli attack on Iran was most unlikely because Tehran …
Rulers restore grip on power, U.S. distracted
CAIRO: Egypt s government is cracking down on pro-reform activists, calculating that Washington s drive to democratize the Middle East has flagged after Islamist successes in Egyptian and Palestinian elections, analysts say. The prospect of civil war in Iraq has also distracted the United States and dampened its enthusiasm for rapid change in countries ruled …
Mubarak says Egypt won over Rice on democracy
CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak said Egypt had won over U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to its views on democracy in the Arab world and quoted her as saying it would take a generation for democracy to take hold. She was very polite as she was listening to Egyptian opinions and points of view. She …
Mubarak sees Egypt's forex reserves rising
CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak said in remarks published on Wednesday he expected his country s foreign exchange reserves to keep climbing. The Egyptian central bank s foreign reserves grew 33.6 percent in the year to January to $22.13 billion. I want the central bank to have $100 billion, and this hope is not far away …
Quenching the audience's thirst
CAIRO: “I will paint wings on my back. Colorful wings and fly into a painting of Odilon Redon, says Yara Goubran as she enters onto the Howard Theater’s stage. The first play written by Shems Friedlander was in fact designed with this young actress in mind, who managed to take 22 minutes of dialogue and …
Bridge connecting Egypt, Saudi Arabia considered
CAIRO: The Egyptian government is considering building a $3 billion, 9.3-mile-long bridge between Saudi and Egypt in the aftermath of the sinking of the Egyptian ferry Salam Boccaccio 98 in the Red Sea on Feb. 3, 2006. According to a media report referred to by the ministry of investment, the tragic incident that garnered massive …
Government modifies meat-importing standards
CAIRO: With the news of the spread of bird flu throughout the country the demand for chicken has plummeted. Meat prices have gone through the roof. In response, the government has announced its plans to import more frozen meat, to the dismay of local poultry traders. It has issued new modifications on importing laws to …
Beyond the alphabet
CAIRO: New in the country? Troubled by the fact that you still can’t put together an Arabic sentence? Don’t be too frustrated; most Egyptians can’t do it either. “There is no more than one percent of Egyptians who can put together a correct Arabic sentence, says Mohamed El Sawy, founder of the Zamalek-based El Sawy …
Tanker spills fuel after Suez accident
ISMAILIYA, Egypt: A Liberian-flagged tanker lost 3,000 tons of heavy fuel in the Suez Canal on Monday after a collision with a quay caused a leak, an official at the canal authority told AFP. The Grigoroussa 1 which was headed south from the Mediterranean suffered a technical failure and drifted before hitting a quay on …
Trains collide, 20 injured
CAIRO: A train ran into the back of another one in the Nile Delta on Tuesday because of a signal failure and mist, injuring 20 people, officials said. The accident took place near the town of Abu Hummus, which lies on the main line between Cairo and Alexandria and about 150 km (95 miles) northwest …
Egypt to offer 75 to 80 percent of state bank by end of March
CAIRO: The Egyptian government said on Tuesday it would announce an offering of 75 to 80 percent of Bank of Alexandria to a large investor by the end of March and then offer a further 15 to 20 percent of the bank to the public. The government said in a statement in Al-Ahram newspaper that …
Calyon Egypt 2005 net profit rises 63 percent
CAIRO: Calyon Bank Egypt, which is 75 percent owned by French investment bank Calyon, made a net profit of LE 60.5 million ($10.6 million) in 2005, 63 percent up on 2004, the stock exchange said on Tuesday. Calyon is a subsidiary of Credit Agricole. Calyon Egypt s net profit in 2004 was LE 37.1 million. …
Egypt median o/n interbank rate falls to 8.5 percent
CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the Egyptian pound fell to 8.5 percent at a start on Tuesday of a new two-week period for calculating reserves, from 8.842 percent on Monday. Bankers said most dealers had their eyes on an auction of 7-day central bank notes worth LE 4 billion ($670 million), to see …
Alex Iron and Steel helps Egypt stock market up
CAIRO: Alexandria Iron and Steel helped the Egyptian stock exchange up on Tuesday on continuing interest in Ezz Steel Rebar s plan to increase its stake in the company, brokers said. Alexandria Iron and Steel shares rose LE 175.29 ($30.59) or 11.7 percent to last trade at an all-time high of 1,670. Ezz said earlier …
MIBank arranges $254.5 million loan for MOPCO
CAIRO: Misr International Bank (MIBank) has arranged a syndicated loan worth $254.5 million for Misr Oil Processing Company (MOPCO) to build a new fertilizer plant, MIBank officials said on Tuesday. The export-only plant is to be based in Damietta on Egypt s Mediterranean coast, and will have the capacity to produce 635,000 tons of urea …
U.S. settles with Sept. 11 detainees for $300,000, lawyer says
NEW YORK: The U.S. government has agreed to pay $300,000 to an Egyptian man who was detained for nearly a year following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but was never linked to terrorism, his lawyer said. Attorney Haeyoung Yoon, who represents Ehab El Maghraby, said she believed it was the first settlement involving the claims …
British Islamists leave Egyptian jail
CAIRO: Three Britons left an Egyptian jail on Tuesday after serving almost four years of their five-year sentences for spreading propaganda for an Islamist group, the mother of one of Britons said. Officials said they would be deported to Britain within 24 hours. The Britons Reza Pankhurst, Maajid Nawaz and Ian Nisbett, were among a …
Islamist sees Mubarak's son seeking presidency
CAIRO: A top leader of Egypt s largest opposition group said on Sunday he expected President Hosni Mubarak s son, Gamal, to seek the presidency within two years, citing as evidence the postponement of local elections. Muslim Brotherhood deputy leader Mohamed Habib also told Reuters in an interview that he expected a crackdown on freedoms …
Protecting ideas
CAIRO: Protecting intellectual property is an intricate challenge. In the world of copyrights and patents, stealing is not a direct physical action involving an object or an individual; it is a simple, unobtrusive process in which, with the push of a button, zeros and ones are transferred and within moments the culprit has the latest …
For the love a flower
CAIRO: Following frequent visits to a friend’s flower shop, Sally El Torgoman decided to take on this friend’s offer and combined her interest in art and her background in sales and public relations into a partnership in a small scale flower business. El Torgoman, who used to help her friends furnish their houses as a …
Kuwait's Global eyes Egypt, plans $1 billion fund
DUBAI: Kuwait s Global Investment House will increase its investment and advisory work in Egypt, which had one of the world s best performing stock markets last year, a senior company official said. Shailesh Dash, senior vice president and head of strategic investment at Global, told Reuters the firm was looking to open an office …
Influencing art
CAIRO: I splashed some colors from a tumbler. Smeared the drab world with emotion. I charted on a dish of jelly the jutting cheekbones of the ocean. “In the beginning of my life, I have read these versus, written by an unknown English poet, when the impact of war influenced the English artists, says Hassan …
Beyond the alphabet
CAIRO: New in the country? Troubled by the fact that you still can’t put together an Arabic sentence? Don’t be too frustrated; most Egyptians can’t do it either. “There is no more than one percent of Egyptians who can put together a correct Arabic sentence, says Mohamed El Sawy, founder of the Zamalek-based El Sawy …
Press Round-up
CAIRO: As Egypt’s national press is continuously focused on covering President Hosni Mubarak’s diplomatic visit to the Gulf, with updates of his tour dominating headlines, opposition and independent newspapers are offering more stories related to bird flu, as well as freedom of expression, on their front pages. According to national newspapers, the talks being held …
Egypt median o/n interbank rate rises to 8.65 pct
CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the Egyptian pound rose slightly to 8.65 percent on Monday from Sunday s 8.64 percent in active trade on the final day of the central bank reserve period, bankers said. The central bank measures banks reserves over a two-week period ending on Monday. A new period begins on …
All too familiar
CAIRO: The depth of reformers disappointment over Egypt s would-be democratic Spring might be best seen in judge Hesham El-Bastawisi. When the president announced a year ago his drive for greater democracy, the deputy head of the country s top appeals court felt hope. Now he faces possible interrogation by the police for trying to …
Egypt to release three British Islamists from jail
CAIRO: Egypt has agreed to release three Britons sentenced to five years in jail in March 2004 for promoting the aims of the Hizbut Tahrir Al-Islami (Islamic Liberation Party), an Interior Ministry official said on Monday. The Britons; Reza Pankhurst, Maajid Nawaz and Ian Nisbett, were among a group of 26 men jailed for between …