Monthly Archives: March 2013

Mar312013

Egypt policemen strike shuts Alexandria airport

A strike by airport policemen on Sunday forced Egyptian authorities to shut down an airport in the Mediterranean port of Alexandria and divert flights elsewhere, airport officials said.

The policemen at the Borg El-Arab airport in Egypt’s second city were protesting against low salaries and demanding better working conditions, the officials said.

An airport employee told AFP that the policemen sat on the runway, preventing regional flights from taking off or landing.

The interior ministry has been plagued in recent weeks by a wave of industrial action by police which boiled over earlier this month into several nationwide strikes.

Media coverage of Port Said’s prison violence banned

A media ban was imposed Saturday by Judge Abdel-Aziz Shahin on covering ongoing investigations into violence that took place in January in Egypt’s city of Port Said. The decision was taken to ensure the integrity of the investigations, according to … read more

March 31, 2013 EditorNews

Bassem Youssef arrives at Egypt’s high court for questioning

Renowned TV satirist Bassem Youssef arrived at Egypt’s High Court on Sunday morning in response to an arrest warrant submitted by the country’s top prosecutor. In evident mockery, Youssef appeared outside the court wearing an outsized version of the hat … read more

March 31, 2013 EditorNews

Talaat Abdallah calls ruling nullifying his appointment ‘unconstitutional’

Hesham al-Qarmouty, attorney general of the supreme state security prosecution, said on behalf of Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah that a recent Cairo Court of Appeals ruling stripping him of the post is unenforceable and unconstitutional. Qarmouty visited Abdallah in his … read more

March 31, 2013 EditorNews

Former minister pays back LE204,000 in gifts case

Mubarak-era Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid, paid back LE 204,000 for the value of gifts he received from Al-Akhbar, according to Mostafa al-Husseini, attorney general for the Public Funds Supreme Prosecution. Judicial sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm Saturday that … read more

March 31, 2013 EditorNews

Human Rights Watch is interfering in Egypt’s affairs: Shura Council

Human Rights Committee Secretary Ezzeddin El-Komy of the Shura Council condemned on Friday a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on Egypt’s proposed Law on the Protection of the Right to Peacefully Demonstrate in Public Places. The HRW report published … read more

March 30, 2013 EditorNews

BREAKING: Egypt top prosecutor orders arrest of political satirist Bassem Youssef

Egypt’s prosecutor-general has ordered the arrest of famous political satirist Bassem Youssef to look into complaints accusing him of insulting President Mohamed Morsi, denigrating Islam and spreading false news with the aim of disrupting public order, reported state news agency … read more

March 30, 2013 EditorNews

A Guide to Egypt’s Challenges: Subsidies & the Budget

Subsidies remain one of the most unique national problems, one that harks back to the Sadat years and even before. It has been widely known for some years that subsidies constitute a pressing burden that Egypt could not sustain indefinitely. … read more

March 30, 2013 EditorFeatured

A Guide to Egypt’s Challenges: Fuel & Electricity Shortages

Power cuts in the summer have been slightly increasing in Egypt over the past few years, yet were most profoundly felt this year, affecting homes and businesses adversely. Areas around Cairo and major cities have rotating power outages lasting often … read more

March 30, 2013 EditorFeatured

2 tourists, Egyptian driver killed in accident

An Egyptian security official says two Argentinian tourists and their Egyptian driver have been killed in a road accident near the ancient city of Aswan in southern Egypt. The official says two other tourists were injured in the accident Friday … read more

March 30, 2013 EditorNews