FOREIGN
Back & forth
Egypt's role in igniting the cartoon controversy highlighted by Denmark. Meanwhile, Danish church officials make Egypt contacts...

Still controversial after all these years: New Sadat Museum at Pharaonic Village gets press coverage....

"Bim-bim, leeban, sageer!" -- Wa Post correspondent attends an amusing downtown Cairo screening of King Kong...

Sporty propaganda: CNN finds out why Egypt has been recognized as the best undiscovered golf destination in the world. Plus, Egypt football now ranked 17th in the world by FIFA...

Plus, pressure from Israel not to back Hamas...

MISC
Egyptian technology used in Malysian landfill...

Bird flu update...

First bird flu cases found...The seven cases were the first registered in Egypt and all involved poultry raised at homes and not on farms... As such, the government has advised people who breed poultry at home to get rid of them to prevent the spread of bird flu...

MISC
Despite the opening of the first safe-house for women in Cairo, few are choosing to leave their abusive marriages due to the social stigma and financial insecurity they would face.

A team of experts has located the ferry that sank this month in the Red Sea, killing about 1,000 people... Getting the black box is next... Earlier: Egyptian human rights group says failures within both the private sector and government agencies were to blame for the deaths of some 1,000 people in the 3 February sinking of a passenger ship in the Red Sea... Meanwhile, Kefaya holds a demonstration calling for the ship's owner to be tried...

Archeologists and officials meeting in Cairo deplored the deterioration of the country's ancient sites, which they attributed both to government agencies and to private individuals.... The assault, they said, runs from illegal construction activities to farming... 

Big discovery: the painted 3,000- year-old face of a woman — her eyes lined in black kohl — stared from a funerary mask as authorities revealed the first tomb discovered in eight decades in the Valley of the Kings...

ECONOMY
BBC explores the complications of giving food out to the poor. Plus, Reuters is happy about life in Toshka, while posing questions about how the luscious fruits there will be marketed and exported...

Daily Star columnist is criticial of Egypt's long term oil production plans... Earlier: Oil production up to almost 2 million barrels a day...

UN says "the rich-poor divide in Egypt remains significant, especially in rural areas... blames government for failing to address the gap...

Third mobile bid rules emerge... April 17 is the big day..

Ghanain journalists not happy about Africa Cup organization... Other African media critical of stadium overcrowding and other administrative problems  at the just completed African Nations Cup...

MISC

Plus, Egyptian American doing comedy lectures in the States...

Getting rid of rote... Big exams to count for a smaller overall percentage of total grade... That is one aspect of a nationwide educational reform process that has just begun, reports CS Monitor... Meanwhile, this short item shows how the paper's reporter was given the typical beaurocratic runaround before being allowed to do the story...

FOREIGN
Egyptian officials said Sunday they have released the last of hundreds of Sudanese migrants detained after security forces broke up a protest camp in a Cairo square in December.

Egypt's ambassador to Washington, a veteran observer of ups and downs in Middle East peacemaking, says dismay over the election of Hamas to form a Palestinian government is symptomatic of memory loss... Earlier: Hamas in Cairo: We will rule...

The Egyptian diplomat released pre-dawn Saturday from captivity in Gaza said he was 'well-treated' by his kidnappers... Earlier: a previously unknown Palestinian group calling itself al-Ahrar Brigades released an Egyptian diplomat its members abducted in Gaza on Thursday...

ECONOMY
Another big stock?
Egypt will sell 20 percent of Bank of Alexandria on the stock exchange -- 5 percent to employees and the rest to a strategic investor...

Big five year plan for petroleum industry..

Egypt's outsourcing dreams revealed...

Meanwhile, Kenyan police have arrested five men suspected of plotting a bomb attack on last Friday's final between Egypt and Ivory Coast where Egypt President Hosni Mubarak was in the 74,000 crowd...

Egypt Africa champs...
Egypt coach Hassan Shehata believes justice was done after his side eventually saw off Ivory Coast 4-2 on penalties to lift the African Nations Cup. Meanwhile, Tottenham manager Martin Jol believes Egypt's Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam will emerge a better player after his bust-up with Pharaoh's coach Shehata.

Earlier: BBC describes "wild scenes" in the streets after the victory... Goalkeeper Hadary feted by press...Egypt skipper Ahmed Hasan named the most outstanding player of the 2006 African Nations Cup.. 

MISC
Click here for a high-res satellite image of the dust storm that swept over Egypt a few days ago... More info about the image, which comes from NASA...

Meanwhile, "a 93,000-ton cargo ship drifted at the wrong angle inside the Suez Canal during a sandstorm Wednesday and blocked all transit on the waterway between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea..."

ARCHAEOLOGY
First new tomb uncovered in Valley of the Kings since King Tut's in 1922...

A tale of two piastres: Turns out Mohamed Ali wanted to use stones from the pyramids to build a dam -- this interesting Macedonian story explains why that plan didn't work out...

Plus, Rising water is really threatening the great ancient temples...

Civil society remembers the Sudanese refugees' ordeal...

More details on the third mobile license bidding process from Oxford Business Group... Other telecom news: ramping up broadband and opening up licenses... Earlier: Let the bidding begin: Telecom Egypt stock pumps up in reaction to third mobile license announcement... Other bidders also announce...

Plus, a plea from a Panamanian law firm which says that since "the Ferry ALSALAM BOCACCIO 98, which sadly sank in route to Port Safaga, Egypt, was registered in Panama and being owned by a Panamanian registered company... being Panama the law of the flag and the law of incorporation of the owners, Panama law seems a viable option to be applicable to the claims of the heirs for the wrongful death of the deceased persons. In Panama wrongful death claims are subject to the Panama Civil Code..." 

Meanwhile, Saudi authorities have refused to allow passengers to board an Egyptian ferry deemed unsafe... HINT -- it belongs to the same company... Another ship's captain has said he did not pick up survivors from the Egytian boat which sank in order to protect his own passengers... Government says "the owners of the Red Sea ferry that sank last week, drowning about 1,000 people, did not inform [us] of the disaster for nearly six hours." Details on the owner, who is a member of the the Shura Council... Reuters reports that relatives ransacking company offices were teargassed... Others criticize Mubarak and rescue effrots... Plus, CS Monitor explores safety standards and AFP delves into migrant labor... 

CAIRO LIVE COMMENTARY:
The real safeguard
by Tarek Atia

Reading this BBC account of how the press has taken the government to task for the ferry tragedy, one can't help but notice that all of those quoted are commentators and pundits. 
But where is the balanced, in-depth investigative reporting that would actually try to answer astute questions like the ones posed by the commentators? For instance, Magdi El-Gallad says, "it is time to ask exactly who owns and has shares in the Al-Salam Company, which monopolises maritime transport with its ships and ferries that have killed hundreds in a series of accidents in recent years. Is it a state official, as some say?" 
Basically, if the state-affiliated press -- Al-Ahram, Al-Akhbar, etc... -- isn't helping to expose whatever was behind the tragedy by providing documents, facts, etc, then it is precisely the job of the independent paper El-Gallad is the editor of -- Al-Masri Al-Youm -- and other new Egyptian media entities to move into this direction...
Investigative reporting: that's the way the press has always worked as a safeguard of the public's interest elsewhere in the world, and that's the only way anything is ever going to change here...

SPORTS
Mido is banned from the national team for six months for the tantrum he threw -- live on TV -- after being taken out of the African Nations Cup semifinal with Senegal... The Tottenham star needs time to re-establish respect, the football association says... (That's a lot of time, cairolive.com says...) The Times says Mido's behavior was par for the course, even though it came just a year after a formal apology and serene promises to grow up... And while teammate Hossam Hassan is not happy about the decision, the Telegraph says Tottenham will be...

Meanwhile, BBC reports that "robbers have broken into the hotel rooms of some of Nigeria's players at the African Nations Cup in Egypt. Plus, a blogger describes the completely chaotic mob scene as thousands tried to buy tickets for Friday's final...

SPORTS
One more step
After beating Senegal 2-1, Egypt will now play Ivory Coast in the African Nations Cup final at Cairo Stadium on Friday. Coach Hassan Shehata's late-in-the-game Mido substitution called an "inspired masterstroke" by AFP...Plus, Senegal upset about "lost" penalty... and much more global interest in African football now...Much more on Egypt's win, Mido's tantrum & the African Nations Cup final in HOT TOPICS below...

FOREIGN
Danish cartoon
controversy update
A columnist argues that there should have been street protests against what happened with the sunken ferry, not the Danish cartoon crisis..  Here's a Yahoo news photo of an anti-cartoon protest... Meanwhile, Danish tour operators are cancelling all trips to Egypt...

It was total chaos
On the doomed Red Sea ship, a garage seems to have flooded  from the water being used to put out a fire... Informative new roundup story from AP... A photo that says it all... On their website, the ship's owners -- El-Salam Maritime - deny some of the accusations being made in the media...

MISC
Ferry update
Time examines the confusion at the scene of the downed Red Sea ferry... More stories and survivor accounts from Reuters... Mubarak visits...

Some 900 feared dead.. At least 314 made it to safety... This AFP piece says, "hundreds of relatives of passengers from an Egyptian ferry that sank in the Red Sea broke through police cordons and stormed Safaga port on Saturday amid mounting discontent over the lack of information on the fate of the missing"... BBC provides photos of the angry, grieving relatives... Reuters concentrates on their anguish...

Tragedy at sea
Ferry carrying 1,300 passengers sank in the Red Sea overnight on a trip from Saudi Arabia to Egypt... Dozens of dead bodies in the water... Rescue mission begins... Company that owns ship that sank had troubled past...

Earlier... Families trash ship company's offices... 

Meanwhile, the last ditch effort to find survivors actually finds some...

FOREIGN
What Hamas is really talking about it here in Cairo...

MISC
President apologizes to Galloway... 

Earlier... Strange case: Controversial UK MP George Galloway prevented from entering Egypt, and then later allowed in...

Guess who we want to win?

Egypt vs. Senegal
Africa Nations Cup semifinal, Cairo stadium, 7pm 

Match previews from Goal and the Telegraph, which also explores the rivalry's interesting historic connotations 
On Eurosport, goalkeeper Al-Hadari speaks his mind...

Earlier: Who needs them?
Can Egypt and Senegal do without their premier league stars? A Malaysian site delves into the issue with panache... Another specialized site piece tries too...

Abul Gheit speaks to Kofi Annan on the phone about the cartoon crisis...

Meanwhile, other Egyptian diplomats continue to escalate the issue....

ECONOMY
Egyptian yarn exporters are complaining...

Nazif says job creation is at the top of his agenda... 

Meanwhile, a blog -- Jimmy's Corner -- laments the atmosphere that forces so many of the nation's young talents to either leave, or stay at home and rot...

SPORTS
On to the semi-finals!
Egypt beats Congo 4-1... 
To reach the final, the Pharoahs will have to get past 2002 finalists Senegal...

Rami Lakah's France Soir among European papers that decided to re-publish the offensive Danish cartoons... Lakah ended up firing the editor as a result... Here's the Arabist's take on the matter... 

Egypt and Jordan joined the West in pressuring the militant group Hamas, declaring it must recognize Israel and renounce violence if it wants to lead the Palestinians.

Fourteen tourists from Hong Kong were killed and 30 wounded when their bus spun off the road along Egypt's Red Sea coast in one of the deadliest crashes involving foreign nationals in recent years...

Egyptian dentist in trouble in the States...

The government of southern Sudan will send a team to Egypt to investigate the deaths of 27 Sudanese last month when police dispersed a protest outside United Nations offices... Plus, no deportation for Sudanese detainees, says government... Earlier, it was reported that 14 of the 183 Sudanese detained in Egypt deserve refugee status...

A final report will not give a specific reason for an air crash which killed 148 people off the coast of Egypt in 2004...

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it is about to announce that Egypt is polio-free, for the first time in 5,000 years...

A German archaeological mission stumbled on a mystery with the discovery of three partial pharaonic statues in Luxor...

An American-Italian archaeology team has found the remains of 4,000-year-old ships that used to carry cargo between Pharaonic Egypt and the mysterious, exotic land of Punt... Meanwhile, an important ancient papyrus goes on display in Italy... Photo...

SHOWBIZ
Hend El-Henawy loses paternity suit against Ahmed El-Fishawy...

TRAVEL
A very kid-friendly tour of Egypt...

SPORTS
All eyes on the game
"Congo is not easy by any means," said Egypt coach Hassan Shehata... Other pre-game coach quotes... More... Pre match jitters -- tough talk, big crowd, no Mido, what to do? Congo coach uses psychology to predict win over Egypt on Friday...

Plus, Tottenham have signed Feyenoord's Egyptian midfielder Hossam Ghaly on a four-and-a-half-year contract; Egyptian player a "bargain". Barakat, meanwhile, picks up the prestigious BBC African Footballer of the Year award...

Lots of big deals
Banque Audi Saradar became the second Lebanese bank to establish a foothold in Egypt after winning a contest to buy Cairo Far East Bank for $94.4 million.

Emirates telecom Etisalat plans to bid for Egypt’s third mobile licence...

Kenyan businessman wants Egypt out of COMESA... pressure Kenya into invoking anti-dumping rule... 

More Egypt oil/gas finds for Shell...

In 2005, bilateral trade between China and Egypt reached $2.145 billion, up 36 percent...

Abul-Gheit urges Europe to keep giving aid to Palestine despite Haams win. Nazif tells Hamas to support peace plan with Israel...

Head of Egyptian general intelligence Omar Suleiman will arrive in Damascus on Tuesday to continue Egyptian-Saudi efforts to mediate the crisis between Syria and Lebanon....

Authorities have arrested 22 Muslims suspected of murder, arson and vandalism during sectarian violence which killed a Christian in Luxor...

Egypt to offer 200 scholarships to Africa youth...

Egyptian deported after 911 back in US to sue...

3-1 win over Ivory Coast puts Egypt at top of group. Next match -- Friday quarterfinal against Congo... 

Fifa's security adviser in Egypt has warned that a "tragedy" could happen if stadium safety is not improved. Meanwhile, without $50,000, Nigerian supporters may end up stranded in Egypt... On a lighter note, BBC looks at all the different hairstyles being worn by the players... They even have a photo gallery...

$2,816,000: Sky-high prices for Egyptian antiquities... Plus, a statue of Queen Ti, one of the most important women in ancient Egypt and wife of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, has been unearthed...

MISC
A farmer abandoned 10,000 newly hatched chicks on a desert road east of  Cairo, afraid they might have bird flu... Plus, more ever-increasing fears... Meanwhile, how is Egypt doing in its fight against polio? 

Going for it... Italian explorer in Siwa for historic crossing of Great Sand Sea...

The Independent goes a little deeper into the debate over Naguib Mahfouz asking Al-Azhar's permission to print Children of the Alley...

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said Egypt respects the results of the Palestinian parliamentary elections... More reactions from Cairo here... Plus, Lebanon welcomes Egypt mediation in its dispute with Syria... 

Police clashed with young men who tried to stop Christians from work on a new church in southern Egypt... 12 people were wounded in the clashes in the Luxor village el-Udaysaat...

Egypt allows French ship to cross Canal... 

Latest Africa Cup news
CAF slap with Egypt and Libya $5,000 and $7,000 fines for crowd trouble during Morocco-Egypt game. Preview of tonight's Egypt-Ivory Coast matchup...

Egypt, Morocco and the rest of the group results summed up here... More details here... Camerooni paper says journalists are more excited about the tourney than the fans... BBC's good tourney venues guide... Plus their results page... Meanwhile, one paper predicts record goal scoring, while another says we're in for a drought...

World's second-biggest importer of wheat Egypt seeking to import the grain from Australia in exchange for goods...

AP looks at how the QIZ agreement is doing one year later...  "at least 15,000 jobs have been created since the QIZ and 30,000 jobs will be created this year."

Lots of fronts...
Reuters roundup of the Cheney- Mubarak talks... Village Voice places the Cheney visit in the context of the US trying to turn Egypt against Iran... Iran media quotes presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad: "But we cannot ignore Egyptian and Arab world public opinion (that refuses) to ... make all this fuss about the Iranian nuclear program while turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the Israeli nuclear program and arsenal."

Egypt will send a delegation to the Gaza Strip and West Bank to supervise the Palestinian legislative elections

MISC
Mubarak, with cold, doesn't attend African summit...
More summit on shrinkingglobe.com...

Egypt says Hamas recognises existence of Israel...

Upset at Switzerland fax leak...

Were there Egyptian fighters amongst the dead in the Pakistan CIA drone attack?

ECONOMY
Is US FTA on or off
Politics delay trade talks with US...Meanwhile Oman gets an FTA.... US defers decision on free trade talks with Egypt... NY Times thinks it has to do with Ayman Nour.. Plus: Did Egypt ignore a request from U.S. congressman Frank Wolf to meet opposition leader Nour in prison? Egypt could lose its chance of a trade deal with Washington if it cannot persuade the Bush administration to launch talks within the next few weeks, a congressional staffer told Egyptian businessmen on Wednesday.

Central bank interest rate cut...

Why Egypt beating Libya was good for the Cup... UK betting on the tourney going strong...

Nice start: Egypt beats Libya in African Nations Cup opener... Coverage from China, Britain's Telegraph, and FOX sports. ... Telegraph's home team prediction makes for an interesting read, as does BBC's mood piece about the tournament... Security too tight for one soccer official... Plus, funny pic: "Cameroon soccer team supporters sing as an Egyptian riot police officer looks on"...

UPDATE... The Egyptian cabinet decided to set up a commission to perform a final inspection on a decommissioned asbestos-clad French warship which has been waiting to cross the Suez canal for a week.... The decision was made during a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif hastily convened after parliament demanded the right to review the case. Earlier, parliament tries to stop ship... India says Egypt decided to allow the asbestos-laden French warship, the Clemenceau, transit through the Suez Canal without consulting India. Greenpeace says the documents France submitted to Egypt to obtain passage for its ship misrepresented facts....
More on zahma.com

Egypt has released 164 Sudanese migrants who were detained last month when police evicted them from a city park... 

New agreement governing the use of the Nile river's waters on the way...

Will enlightenment prevail?
Naguib Mahfouz wants to re-release the controversial Children of Gabalawi -- but with Al-Azhar's permission this time. 

SHOWBIZ
An interesting look at how Arabs are beginning to be re-portrayed in Hollywood...

Cool: Hollywood actress always wanted to be an archaeologist in Egypt...

SPORTS
Getting ready for the big tourney
A closer look at Egypt's African Cup group... Photo of FIFA prez press conference...

Tough words from a former Egyptian international player.... The tournament features top strikers ... Egypt's opponents for the opener -- Libya. Some players worried about the fans.... Togo team having trouble making it to town...

The schedule: The results, fixtures and tables from the 25th African nations Cup in Egypt. "I think Egypt will play Ivory Coast in the final," Mido told the Egyptian weekly Al-Fajr. Kenya TV can't afford to show African Nations Cup... 250 Nigerians coming to watch... The 25th African Nations Cup finals will kick off in Cairo on Friday, with the Pharaohs of Egypt locking horns with Libya at Cairo International Stadium. The Telegraph mulls over the significance of the upcoming tourneyment, for which final preparations are underway... Meanwhile, Egypt loses pre tourney friendly to South Africa...

ECONOMY
Meanwhile, Egypt stock exchange getting help from Borsa Italiano...

Egypt stock market does well for global risk takers, says IHT...

$2 billion in privatization earnings in 6 months... Wishful thinking? Finance minister says 6 per cent growth expected...

Wheat prices fell in Chicago for the first time in four sessions after Egypt, the world's second- biggest importer of the grain, agreed to purchase supplies from Russia and Australia rather than the U.S... Inexpensive Egyptian strawberries make it to Ukraine...

Independent news radio station goes online...

Very strange story about a drug dealer who was arrested while sleeping...

Bibliotheca Alexandrina to build copycat ancient lighthouse...

All about a not-so-secret leaked fax...

FOREIGN
What US Vice president Dick Cheney and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak might talk about... MENA claims it's all regional

Meanwhile, Egypt wants more dialogue in Iran nukes case... and is working hard to soothe Syria...

Egyptian comments about Sharon...

Calm restored at the Gaza border... 

The U.N. refugee agency said it had been given another week to interview more than 600 Sudanese people who the Egyptian government says are illegal immigrants it intends to deport.

French ship Clemenceau will be allowed to go through Suez Canal after all... BBC's take... Heading for India next... Wafd claims India wont allow: 

(Earlier: French asbestos ship's passage through Suez Canal still being debated... It may have to return to France... Scary substances... Confusion over French ship crossing Suez Canal with toxic material on board... Meanwhile, Cairo International Airport has stepped up surveillance on passengers coming from Asian countries, concerned about bird flu...)

Investigating
the crash...
Australian crash survivor tells the tale... The driver of the bus that crashed killing six Australians in Egypt has told police he lost control of the vehicle when he swerved to avoid a patch of water on the road.... Probe going on into why the bus crashed... Photo... Plus, one of the victims desperately wanted to see the pyramids... Earlier: Tour bus crash kills six Australians... Australian paper looks at Egypt's poor road accident history...)

Eid winner...
Muslim Barbie is proving very popular gift...

DPA says "Cairo filled with smells of feast of sacrifice"

Complicated holiday season?
Bashar in Cairo... Egypt leak complicates US terror war techniques debate... 

Is Egypt still planning to restructure its government-run audio-visual services into a network resembling the British Broadcasting Corp...

Earlier, the UN refugee agency said it would again appeal to Egyptian authorities to abandon plans to deport more than 600 Sudanese... Earlier, from AP: "More than half the Sudanese migrants who were violently removed from a Cairo protest camp will be deported by ship to their homeland, Egyptian authorities said..."

The ramifications.. CS Monitor says "Cairo's deadly clashes highlight growing tensions between refugees and host governments." Sudanese death toll rises to 25...  Human rights activists are seeking an independent inquiry... UN shocked... BBC gets an eye witness account... AFP says Egypt press laments... (Earlier: A three-month standoff between Sudanese refugees and Egyptian authorities climaxed in bloodshed early Friday when club-wielding police invaded a refugee squatter camp, setting off a melee in which as many as 23 Sudanese were killed. ... UN’s Annan says saddened by the death of Sudanese refugees...

IHT fetes Egypt's stock exchange at a heady year's end...

Building the world's biggest oil refinery.

..

Earlier there was chaos as "Hundreds of angry Palestinians streamed into Egypt on Wednesday after militants with stolen bulldozers broke through a border wall, and two Egyptian troops were killed and 30 were wounded by gunfire in the rampage."

FOREIGN

MISC
Another year
of Egyptomania?
Of course: Details on the new Great Egyptian Museum to be built in the shadows of the pyramids by 2010... Plus, Egypt aims for 9.5 million tourists in 2006... And, the ancient Egyptians looked on dwarfs as magical figures...

Odd idea? Zahi Hawass nixes Malaysian plan to send a 35-member team to drape the Great Pyramid at Giza with the flags of the world’s 57 Muslim countries... More..

SHOWBIZ
Controversial short film about kissing in buses...

Big deal being made of new political film The Night Baghdad Fell...

An actor's politics: Amr Waked goes Hollywood -- the young  Egyptian actor talks to Reuters about why he agreed to play a terrorist in George Clooney's Syriana... Plus a photo...

SPORTS
Hossam Hassan on national team for African Cup... Plus, Egyptian player wins BBC's Africa Player of the Year award...Mido will play a couple of games for Tottenham despite Africa cup commitment...

RAW NEWS ROUNDUP...

MISC
Egypt and Turkey free trade agreement a step towards a Mediterranean free trade zone by 2010..

Nortel wants to help bring the $100 laptop to Egypt...

What the... ? AFP reports that "ten mutilated bodies were found in a southern Egyptian village, some of them missing their vital organs and laying in pools of blood." ... 

Far-fetched claims about Islamists in US Embassy vehemently denied... More from NY Times...

MISC
Ambassador's wife gives Koreans a culinary lesson..

FOREIGN
At the center of things: Arab parliament inaugurated in Cairo

Still there in the cold: "United Nations refugee agency says talks to persuade up to 3,000 Sudanese protesters to end a sit-in outside its offices in Cairo have failed." Is the protest over? This web site says no...

Was Indonesian parliamentarians' Egypt trip meant to study gambling legislation? It's being questioned back home...

Sudden interest in mourning over UK Sharm victims continues... Inquests to begin in London into deaths of Britons in last summer's blasts... Earlier, mother whose daughter died accused British Foreign Office of "cold and impersonal" treatment. More from the Guardian...

Meanwhile, British PM Tony Blair back in Sharm El-Sheikh for the holidays... Visit seen in political security context by UPI...

Churches in Egypt will be able to carry out long-awaited repairs...

Boutros Boutros Ghali leads efforts to step up Egypt landmine removal...

Toot-toot... Police to begin cracking down on those annoying wedding convoys that jam the streets....

Egypt is the best place to see next spring's massive eclipse... Plus, an interesting photo of Lake Nasser from space...

A team of Egyptian & French doctors has successfully carried out the country's first lung transplant. More, with pics..

This time in Florida: More quarreling over King Tut's skin color...

Egypt continues to advise Syria on how to deal with international pressure over the Hariri assassination... Plus, Mubarak joins Bush in advising Sharon about his health...

Cheney calls off the Egypt leg of his tour... Egypt has repeatedly offered to train tens of thousands of Iraqi forces but Washington ignored this offer and chose instead to criticize Cairo for not doing enough, Egypt's envoy to the United States said.

An international conference on democracy and human rights takes place in Egypt...

Egyptians economists welcomed an agreement by the 149 members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), to end state export subsidies to cotton farmers in developed countries.

Financial notes... 2005 saw quite a bit of economic change...  Here are a few figures, courtesy of Amcham: Remittances from Egyptians working abroad, direct foreign investment, tourism and privatization numbers were all up... There were approximately 66,000 ADSL subscribers and 112,000 sales in the "computer for every home" scheme... Also this year, the National Bank of Egypt said it was looking to sell the 24.3 million shares, or 18.7% stake, it holds in Commercial International Bank SAE... Meanwhile, here are some interesting details from Oxford Group about the new program helping small and medium enterprises...

Striker Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam is seeking to delay his call-up for the  African Nations Cup in Egypt.

Diving develops: "The Red Sea’s first purpose-sunk wreck off Hurghada is now open to divers...."

MISC

Mido is finally happy...Plus, his predictions make waves in Tottenham...

Egypt places second in world team squash tourney...

Powerboat championship slated for Alexandria 2006...

Sporty renaissance?
Egyptian takes home world squash crown... and Ahly may end up with African club Footballer of the Year, Coach of the Year and Club of the Year awards... Profile of top Ahly player Emad Motab... plus, Ahly-Zamalek match being postponed...

SHOWBIZ
Why ban her now?
This odd India-based news item claims Fifi Abdu has just been banned from appearing on TV...

The strange world of Dunia: Hanan Turk and a Lebanese director's Egyptian film create lots of controversy...

Raving over Omar Sharif's audio accompaniment to a US King Tut tour...

Cooperative art: A US-Egyptian drumming connection is made...

More on the inflammatory Iranian film about Sadat's assassination... Iran-Egypt ties probably not getting any better soon: An extremist Iranian Islamist group announced it was working on a film about the 1981 assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat entitled "34 Bullets for the Pharoah"

Exports in the spotlight... Egyptian fruit exports being feted by specialized site... Plus, an intense VOA look at Egypt's textile export market...

In other economic news, the 5 per cent tourism growth rate is still below target...

Look out for the 3 per cent increase in Suez Canal ship fees for 2006...

The Egyptian industry minister speaks up at Hong Kong WTO meet...

Is Orascom expanding its global reach again... and aiming for Spain this time?

Still sharming: Sharm El-Sheikh is the number 3 Christmas destination for UK travellers...

Local lights can't compete: Are Vietnam and other Asian countries dumping too-cheap light bulbs into the Egyptian market? Meanwhile, Vietnam is not that worried about Egypt light bulb dumping charges...

British American Tobacco denies interest in Egypt's Eastern Tobacco  company... Earlier, it looked like there would be major competition between BAT and some of its international rivals in the auction for a controlling stake in Egypt’s state-owned cigarettes firm...

A small nail bomb exploded in Cairo on Monday, damaging a car but not injuring anyone...

Cheney is coming to town...

Details on the results of the Telecom Egypt IPO... In other economic news, Egypt attempts to become a call center hub...

FOREIGN
Egypt has started intensive contacts with the Iraqi authorities to retrieve the body of an Egyptian hostage who was shot dead by his kidnappers and whose body was found yesterday...

New Israel threats over Gaza border...

Egypt raised security along the Suez Canal on Friday after receiving information about the possibility of attacks by al Qaeda on ships in the strategic waterway...

Israel issues Sinai travel warning...

MISC
Egypt among countries making good progress in saving children who die each year from preventable causes...

MEDIA
Having separate TV stations for Muslims and Christians is part of the problem...

Islamist web editor arrested...

Catching up to reality... Video Cairo boss writes on media, peace, and advertising revenue... "The time has come for a new localized voice in media, committed to the production and support of sustained peace in the region" 

MISC
A dangerous asteroid has been named after the ancient Egyptian myth of Apophis, "the ancient spirit of evil and destruction, a demon that was determined to plunge the world into eternal darkness."

Climbing into pyramid sarcophagus is now part of some semi-standard tours...

Clear skies again
The skies are clear over Cairo again, after several days of strange winter heat partially caused by a heavily polluted sky. In fact, the weather was so bad at one point that thick fog halted traffic at Cairo International Airport, diverting and delaying flights...

Murder... revenge.... set-up?
The much-awaited Mamdouh Hamza trial in London gets saucy.  The British press is full of lurid stories detailing the world renowned Egyptian architect's meetings with undercover officers, and the court's allegations that he tried to hire a hit man to kill very important officials in Cairo.... Similar but interesting tales from the Times, BBC, and Independent...

The architect-dreamer...
A really good piece by Anthony Shadid in the Post chronicles the rise and fall of the Sayeda Zeinab cultural park and its prize winning architect.... it's a story that serves as a perfect reminder of what can go wrong when you set out to do something good for the community...

How to buy in...
 Telecom Egypt stock offering details released... Share prices, company stats, and more from FT.. Even more from Reuters...

BBC reports that "African champions Ahly have the best unbeaten run in world club football after their 3-1 league win over Arab Contractors on Sunday..."

Mubarak bows out of Barcelona Euro-med summit...

Palestinian border at Rafah with Egypt opens up....

Egyptians still love Amitabh...

Authorities arrest 76 Pakistani migrants allegedly attempting to reach Europe from Egypt's north coast..

Ashraf Ghorbal, a member of the Egyptian negotiating team that worked out the first Arab peace deal with Israel and a longtime ambassador to the United States, has died. He was 80.

Conjoined twins return home makes it to the big time... (Earlier stories:  Home at last! More details on the Dallas twins departure... Conjoined Egyptian twins in Texas set to go home... Plus, a beautiful photo...)

Human rights groups have questioned the way the Egyptian government is handling operations to capture suspected terrorists following a shootout on Sunday in North Sinai...

MISC
Egyptian in the States starts his own Christian satellite station...

Why 83?
Egypt, Britain decide to celebrate the discovery of King Tut's tomb...

Third-grade teacher Stalena Snyder is using ancient Egypt to communicate math concepts to her students. Plus, Scooby Doo getting in on the act too -- with a mummy-themed Thanksgiving special ... "We get mummies, crocodiles, lost cities, greedy villains, and not one, not two, but three Cleopatras!" (Plus Casey Kassem as the voice of Shaggy!)... 

Egypt is to recover from the United States, Canada and Germany more than 100 stolen antiquities that had been smuggled out by a massive trafficking ring...

Opera Aida theater removed from Pyramids' plateau...

Italian researchers have found a pig-related disease in a mummy, squashing a common belief that Ancient Egyptians had a dietary ban on pork .

An in-depth look at Cairo's runaway street children..

ECONOMY
EU offers €15m to support Egypt’s banking reform...

Telecom Egypt sale makes it to specialized telecom site...Plus, details on upcoming privatizations...

Bare-bones version of Microsoft XP heading for Egyptian market...

A major shift in telephony takes place...
You are here, the moment is now: "For the first time, total cellular subscribers at the third quarter of 2005 exceeded the fixed-line subscriber base, despite the relatively strong uptake of fixed line subscription in Egypt. By the end of September 2005, Egypt had 12 million mobile and 10.3 million fixed line subscribers" Read more in this press release... Plus, big interest in Vodafone from foreign buyers...& new Mobinil CEO announced...

Egyptian weblog "Manal and Alaa’s Bit Bucket" wins Special Award from Reporters Without Borders...  

Bibliotheca Alexandrina to launch development portal...

MISC
Ceremony to open Gaza-Egypt border at Rafah...

Update on Sudan refugee situation...

Talabani willing to talk to insurgents... Iraqi conference ongoing in Cairo with usual theatrics...

MISC
Security forces Monday killed a key suspect and two other militants accused in deadly bombings of tourist resorts in Egypt's Sinai peninsula in the past year, the Interior Ministry said.

Egyptian restaurateur in Florida manages to escape terror suspect rap....

FOREIGN
Diplomacy, diplomacy everywhere...
The Arab League has invited about 100 Iraqi leaders to a weekend meeting in Cairo to prepare for an Iraqi reconciliation conference... Gaza border deal sealed... AP photo of luggage control at the border...

Closer to home: Egypt said it was leading a diplomatic campaign against a Danish newspaper which published cartoons of Islam's Prophet Mohammad... (Earlier reports: Is Egypt trying to avoid Danish pressure on human rights issues? The cartoon crisis continues... A Danish newspaper's decision to print cartoons of the Muslim prophet are wreaking diplomatic havoc between Denmark and Egypt...)

Plus, NGOs react to Egypt's role in the derailing of the Bahrain freedom forum : The UK says "it would be a disaster if this region thought democracy was an American idea." (Earlier reports: "In a surprise move, Egypt, which accounts for more than half the Arab world's population and is the second-largest recipient of U.S. aid, derailed the Forum for the Future by demanding language that would have given Arab governments significant control over which pro-democracy groups would receive aid from a new fund.")

The first Christian satellite television channel in Egypt began broadcasting on Monday. Aghapy Television was established by the Coptic Christian church... With neo-cons' publicist Eleana Benador getting heavily involved in Coptic expatriate issues... (See more here and here...), simmering tensions are sure to heat up even more. (Does Benador's client list provide clues to her politics? You bet it does.) Plus, Coptic satellite channel set to launch in mid-November, could also enflame already tense Muslim-Christian ties...Most Christian -Muslim clash protestors released... More insight on the need for tolerance from Mona El-Tahawy...President Hosni Mubarak urges more interfaith understanding... Meanwhile, VOA reports that "U.S. lawmakers are warning Egypt that their support for foreign aid to that country will depend on the Egyptian government doing more to protect the rights of Christian Copts." Plus, El-Tahawy adapts an earlier piece on Muslim-Christian tension, making it more personal for the IHT...

SPORTS
Ahly African champs
3-0 win over Tunisian Stars makes entire nation proud...

An Egyptian policeman was wounded when clashes with gunmen erupted during a hunt in the northern Sinai for individuals suspected of involvement in a spate of bombings...

Two Islamic militants jailed in the 1981 killing of President Anwar Sadat have been released after more than two decades behind bars... They are among 150 Islamists released...

About 750 Sudanese exiles went on hunger strike outside U.N. offices in Cairo on Saturday to back demands to receive assistance, rather than be repatriated

Meanwhile, the news agencies are all agog about Condi Rice's search for a Gaza-Egypt border monitoring deal... 

A few more details on the arrested Egyptian blogger... Egyptian police have detained a blogger for his anti-Islamic and anti-government writings and confiscated his books and copies of his articles, his family and other bloggers said...

Death, then and now...
Road accidents are the second leading cause of death in Egypt after heart disease, costing hundreds of million of dollars a year.. Plus, an Alexandria building collapses... Meanwhile, excavations in Egypt have unearthed a grisly massacre at an ancient royal city...

Antiquities struggle: The demands of the living versus the demands of the dead... Plus, the treasure downstairs: NY Times explores the Egyptian museum's basement...

More interesting figures from LA Tut exhibit... Nearly a million visit Tut show in LA... Plus, discovering King Tut's love for red wine...

SHOWBIZ
Omar Sharif death threat for playing St Peter... The latest news from Omar Sharif -- better roles, continued controversy, and great quotes.... Meanwhile, he's being sued by a Los Angeles valet...

Kofi Annan's busy Tuesday in Cairo... Kofi Annan in town today...

An innocent Egyptian finds himself harassed in Iraq...

SPORTS
BBC previews Saturday's Etoile-Ahly soccer showdown...More from BBC... and  More from Reuters

Big games...
Still unbeaten: BBC covers Ahli's goalless draw against Tunisia... Meanwhile, the Egyptian Football Federation has announced that they will play four friendly matches ahead of next year's African Cup of Nations, which they are hosting. Plus, pressure amounts as big tourney nears and preparations not complete...

Spain may help with Gaza-Egypt border monitoring... Egyptian security forces shot dead two Egyptians they said were trying to smuggle tobacco into Israel from Egypt.... Israel and Egypt have reached a deal that will allow key border crossings to the Gaza Strip to be re-opened...

US considering helping Egypt with landmine removal...

Egypt reacts to Iran's Israel threat...

Egyptian company named in Iraqi oil for food probe...

News from the ongoing Sudanese refugee protest in Mohandiseen...

Mubarak's interview with Ahram covered by Yahoo... More on the interview from Gulf News...

ECONOMY
Crunching  the numbers: Interesting figures on the amount spent on Ramadan omras and yamish... Plus, news agencies have fun with a eid boost in viagra sales...

Egypt-Russia free trade deal on the way? Plus, Egypt-Israel QIZ deal expands... Will it lead to an FTA with the US?

Call center success...
Oracle shifts support services from Europe to Egypt... Plus, in other econ/tech related news, Dubai real estate giant to build large part of Egypt Smart Village.. Skype-blocking technology used to prevent VOIP in Egypt?

Interesting export improvement program being developed by GM... 

Balance of payments surplus...

A micro project to help improve the income of women slum dwellers in Cairo has achieved excellent results and is set to be replicated elsewhere in city...

Big young learners project announced...

International PR conference for Cairo...

The plane facts...
An Iraqi Airways plane landed in Cairo on Thursday, making the first regular flight between Iraq and Egypt in 15 years. Plus, Egyptair heading directly back to Beijing... Meanwhile, Egyptair to join Arab airline alliance...and form partnership with Austrian airlines... Also, Egypt to make Chinese aircraft, and US aviation giant Boeing Co. wins firm order from EgyptAir for six medium-range 737-800 passenger planes with an option for six more...

Unbelievable
In an article about the Arabized Simpsons, the Wall Street Journal calls Mohamed Heneidi -- who does the voice of Homer -- "the Robert de Niro of the Middle East"... The Guardian's review is also scant, but a bit better, noticing that the cartoon was dubbed into Egyptian colloquial rather than classical, even though it's targeted at a regional audience...

MISC
Demotion for the pyramids?
 They place eighth in list of global marvels... Plus, valuable Egypt papyrus makes "Odyssy" to Berkley... and a look at an interesting college course -- Sex, drugs and rock and roll in ancient Egypt... 

Egyptian shopkeeper in Baltimore finds himself questioned in tunnel threat... Plus, Egyptian doctor in trouble in the States... Meanwhile, U.S. authorities have deported to Cairo an Egyptian who was jailed in the United States for eight years for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing... Abouhalima questioned upon arrival.... Meanwhile, AUC Wahabi tome banned by Al-Azhar...

More from the high profile Ain Sokhna Anglican meeting... Tough stances at Egypt Anglican meet...

A Pittsburgh paper looks at Egyptian-American relations, from several perspectives...

Tough comments on last  week's sectarian dispute in Alexandria:
"Why is that Muslims always seem to react violently to real and imagined offense? Is Islam so fragile that it needs Muslims to demonstrate and riot in Alexandria to protect it? Muslims in Egypt are the majority so why are they acting as if Islam is on the verge of collapse?" Meanwhile, Al-Azhar's Tantawi says decisive action is needed to stop sectarian tension... Alexandria
calm for now...
AFP says church incident increases resentment amongst Copts... 100 rioters under arrest...  Investigation into Alexandria incident begins... Sectarian war of words after deadly riots... Thousands of police manned barricades around Christian churches in Egypt's second largest city Saturday, a day after Muslim rioters attacked churches and shops, leaving four people dead in the country's worst religious violence in five years. Christians in the Egyptian city of Alexandria stayed at home and kept their shops shut on Saturday, scared from going outside... More from NY Times, elsewhere...

SPORTS
Ahly versus Zamalek -- in court instead of the on the field...

Host Egypt will play Libya at Cairo in the opening match of the 2006 African Cup in January... Bold predictions... 

Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam says hiring Marco Tardelli was one of the "mistakes" that led to Egypt's World Cup failure.

Heading for the finals...
"Egypt's Ahly booked their place in the Champions League final for the first time in four years when beating Cairo rivals Zamalek 2-0 in Sunday's return-leg semi-final. The victory takes the Egyptian side through 4-1 on aggregate, and sets up a mouth-watering clash with Tunisia's Etoile Sahel later this month..."

MISC
Too many fatwas...
Egypt's chief Muslim cleric wants tighter controls on who may issue religious edicts, or fatwas. "The Grand Mufti says more fatwas have been issued in past 10 years than in previous 1400 years."

Egypt has told airlines not to import live birds or bird products, whether carried by passengers or in cargo, to prevent the deadly virus bird flu entering the country... Plus, Cairo International Airport authorities destroyed 2.5 tons of duckling import from France as part of efforts to keep out the flu... Meanwhile, Concern about bird flu among ordinary people in Giza, rest of Egypt and the Middle East... 

Anti-terror fence goes up around Sharm El-Sheikh... More from BBC... Fence will be twelve miles long, this article says...

Probe into boat collision launched.... Earlier, "two people died and at least 40 were injured after an Egyptian passenger ship carrying more than 1,300 Muslim pilgrims collided with a cargo ship and sank in the Gulf of Suez..."

FOREIGN
Egypt's ambassador to Israel talks about current goings-on... 

Plus, a profile of former Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, with lots of his views on current events... 

An Egyptian security official denied claims by Israel’s military intelligence chief that the Al Qaeda network had established a base in the Sinai peninsula...

More than 2,000 refugees from all over Sudan staged a sit-in in a Cairo park Monday, and criticized the United Nations not helping resettle them in the West or listening to their cases...

ECONOMY
A buyer for Bank of Alexandria...More banks being bought and sold...

Sawiris saves money, makes plans for OT and Wind...Mobinil CEO quits...

Positive signs...
Egypt to help Lebanon in oil-and-gas exploration... Focus on rising China-Egypt trade...

Egypt to host World Economic Forum in 2006...

Unnecessary tension
One Muslim protestor was killed and dozens more wounded in violent clashes with police in Alexandria amid mounting tensions in the Egyptian Mediterranean city over a Christian video, reports AFP.. More from AP, Reuters, BBC... Plus, Iran media picks up the Grand Mufti's remarks on the CD that sparked the riots... Earlier, a  young man tried to stab a nun in an Alexandria church... The original problem began with a play that defamed Islam

SPORTS
Ismailia stadium open for business again after rough fan behavior ban...

Veteran striker Hossam Hassan could play for Egypt again, according to the Pharaoh's assistant coach Shawky Ghareeb...

Egypt-Cameroon 1-1 tie... Earlier, Cameroon soccer coach promises hell... Muscle tear pulls Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam out of Egypt's squad... Big game with Cameroon on 8 October...

Egypt youth loses 1-0 to US

EGYPTOMANIA ABROAD
Great Hatshepsut exhibit in San Fran... Plus, lots of Egypt-inspired motifs in the US...

Former Guantanamo detainee talks...

Egypt says no pressure on Syria...

MISC
For once, a happy ending to an international child custody suit...

Robot to probe pyramid mysteries...

An Egyptian family adjusts to fasting in the States...

HEALTH
Pre-emptive strike?
"Egypt has set up 27 observation posts along its borders to collect statistics about migratory birds potentially infected with the deadly bird flu virus..."... Egypt's health ministry has reportedly put in place contingency measures to prevent an outbreak of bird flu as the world raced to produce a vaccine against the disease.. These include banning the import of live birds and tightening up quarantine controls at airports to keep out bird flu...

Plus, stepping up efforts to promote consumption of iodised salt to prevent children's brain damage as a result of iodine deficiency.

Greenpeace in town for peaceful energy.

Being more careful this time... Precautionary measures against any possible attack by swarms of locusts...

Egypt bans shark fishing...

Great news?
Egyptians amongst world's happiest people!

FOREIGN
Tragic race complicates...
Two very brief foreign news reports about one of the biggest stories being talked about in town these days -- the Qatari prince who, during an illegal road race near the airport, killed bystanders and then was whisked out of the country... Here are notes from Khaleej Times and China view... 

Plus much more in Arabic on zahma

MISC
Nobel winner!
Mohamed ElBaradei wins Egypt's second Nobel in 7 years... AFP reports that "Egypt press says IAEA Nobel prize a message to US, Israel".. Times of London also critical, says prize is "a slap in the face for the United States".. Brief bio... The official info from Nobel... White House congratulates... Vindication for agency... and a more cynical take from MWU...

Kull sanna wintum tayibeen!
Egypt's grand mufti, Ali Gomaa, confirmed the Tuesday start of Ramadan during a traditional ceremony aired on state television... 

Meanwhile, IHT looks at the rising ad bonanza during Ramadan...

FOREIGN
Gaza changes...
Egypt has started constructing a new tri-border crossing that will link the three sides of Egypt, Gaza and Israel... Plus, Egypt warns Hamas about weapons...

More on PR mission
CS Monitor attends Hughes meeting with AUC scholarship students... 

Earlier, Hughes and Nazeef talk about Mubarak's promise to end emergency rule... More views on a bland trip from CBS and IHT.

Words not policies... Bush's PR guru comes to town: Karen Hughes meets Tantawi and others on her first day in Cairo...

HEALTH
Egypt has quarantined some 13,000 turkey chicks from Germany because of a suspected outbreak of bird flu...

MISC
Huge USAID contract for McLean-based firm...

Globally speaking, workers in Egypt will get the largest pay rises, ranging from 7.3 to 4.9 percentage points.

FTA with USA on the way? Meanwhile big bank EAB looks to be bought... More big bank mergers...

Massive new funds for Siwa development projects... Mobinil partners with the new Virgin store...Plus, Sawiris reveals his plan for Wind...

Washington Post believes an optimistic promise -- that the Mogamma is to be dismantled by next June...

More post Sharm attack kills... And more...

Worries over how Egyptian detainee from Guantanamo might be treated... Meanwhile, US says Egypt vows to treat him well...

SPORTS
Ahly victory...

Pharoah's Rally set to begin...

Sports Minister Dr Mamdouh El-Beltagy has ordered the firm refurbishing the Cairo Stadium for the 2006 African Cup of Nations to complete work by 1 November. Egypt to self-assess 2006 Nation's Cup preparedness...A number of Egyptian clubs are up in arms after being made homeless by ongoing preparations for next year's African Cup of Nations finals.

EGYPTOMANIA
More African Americans angry about white Tut...

TECHNOLOGY
LA Times report on how technology is being used by Arab dissidents features quite a bit about Cairo

CINEMA
A little late? IHT looks at the Adel Imam hit The Embassy in the Building...

My real life visit to the Israeli embassy building...

MISC
Interesting tidbits...
Egypt to make Suez canal deeper...

In Egypt, people are more likely to define themselves by religion than anywhere else in the world...

Egyptian police have foiled an attempt to smuggle an ancient statue of Pharaoh Ramses II out of Egypt for sale to a foreign museum or private collector...

"Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni offered his resignation on Wednesday after a week of criticism over a fire which killed 46 people in a provincial theatre..."

Egypt has proposed creating a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East and blasted Israel for standing in the way... Israel reacts...

Egypt says Arabs want protection guarantees before diplomats go to Iraq... Another Egyptian kidnapped in Iraq?

Israelis warned of alleged Sinai kidnapping risks... Post focuses on massive security operation in Sinai Plus, Egypt frets over high cost of doing business in Gaza...

How one wrong turn changed a man's life...Guantanamo detainee released to Egypt...

Still uncertain... Europeans to help out at Gaza border... Gaza sealed... Newsweek tries to summarize the Gaza issue... Plus, an AFP color story -- "Palestinians shop till they drop in Egyptian border town"... And, Hamas militants have destroyed a section of a concrete barrier erected along the Gaza-Egypt border. Earlier, Egyptian border guards destroyed a tunnel to the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip after finding guns and grenades in it... Meanwhile, Egyptian troops allowed elated Palestinians to flood across the border from Gaza...

Egyptian living in the US gets massive compensation for false post 911 terror accusations...Plus, more info on student in strange 911-type circumstances...More on the Egyptian student in Tennessee in strange circumstances...

A brief look at Bright Star... Meanwhile, a U.S. Air Force officer taking part in a military exercise was killed in a road accident in northern Egypt...

MISC
Aref wins... 

Aref and Hegazi to run off for Journalist's Syndicate head post...  Meanwhile, Khaleej Times tries to do an overview of the downfall of the daily papers...

FOREIGN
Deployment of Egyptian troops at Gaza border begins...

Will Mubarak visit Israel soon?

The United States and Britain proposed measures against money laundering and terror financing in an international forum in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh

Egyptian who photographed Bin Laden sues ABC

MISC
Daily Star reports on a pesky beetle pest that might eat up Egypt's precious palms...

Tragdey -- Beni Suef Culture Palace fire kills dozens...

Veiled woman tries to smuggle lots of phones...

MEDIA
Ibrahim Nafie corruption scandal...

MISC
Sinai bombers identified.. again but police still insist on no outside link...

Nazif continues to get good press for his "clean" honest approach in the NY TImes...

SPORTS
Egypt striker Ahmed Bilal has signed for Turkish club Konyaspor from Egyptian champions Ahly...

World judo Championship in Cairo slated for September 8-11...

ECONOMY
Sawiris's partners in the big Wind deal...

Egypt's economy is growing at its fastest pace in years, exports are surging and the bourse is booming, but there is little sign yet of an economic revival in the poor suburbs and crowded slums of the capital...

MEDIA
CS Monitor takes a look at Egypt's blogger community. AFP does same...

MISC
Muslim Brotherhood members released.

SOCIETY
Woman journalist heavily promoting the idea of polygamy...

FLASHBACK:What do Hajj Metwalli's wives signify?

FOREIGN
Israeli cabinet approved an agreement to deploy Egyptian border police along the southern frontier of Gaza... 

Meanwhile, Egypt has linked a decision on ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to an Israeli decision to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

MISC
Stepping up the search for militants in Sinai

MISC
New Dodi and Di statue at Harrod's...

A Briton is being held in Egypt after trying to smuggle 66 manuscripts out of the country...

Egypt expats in the news
Egyptian American done well in the States, becomes coffee king... Egyptians in trouble in the US... Honest Egyptian cabbie in NY makes the news... Interesting story about how an Egyptian in the US reacted to a Koran insulting neighbor... Plus, Egyptians among NYPD cyber sleuths hunting extremists...

FOREIGN
Local US paper profiles the new US ambassador to Cairo...

SPORTS
Another Egyptian soccer star goes pro in Europe

NEW DEVELOPMENTS
Cairo Heights to soon be the capital's most luxurious address? In Mokattem, huge Dubai builder plans massive suburb...

MISC
Russian media claims to have found oldest man on Earth -- 130 years old -- in Egypt...

Ahram cartoon opens LA Times Cairo-based story on Arab reactions to Gaza withdrawal... Plus, Mubarak says Sharon is capable of making peace, as Egyptian troops to deploy on Gaza border...

Media blackout on Sharm probe... Hunt for terror suspects in Sinai is ongoing -- some 2,100 members of Egypt's security forces swept through the rugged desert of the Sinai Peninsula on Sunday, arresting 300 people as they searched for terrorists involved in a series of recent bombings, security officials said. Latest says 500 held for questioning...

The Suez Canal Authority tightened security along the banks of the vital waterway on Friday after rockets were fired at two U.S. warships in the Jordanian port of Aqaba...

Bad accident kills seven Cypriots...

MISC
Complex peninsula?
Canadians in Egypt won't take drastic measures after bomb attack... Egyptian police have detained a suspected mastermind behind last month's deadly Sharm el-Sheikh attacks ...Strange incident injures two Candian MFOs in Sinai... Group called Egypt's "mujahideen" claim responsibility...

Meanwhile, an emergency court heard testimony from three witnesses in the case of two Egyptians on trial for their alleged involvement in last year's Taba bombings. Prosecutors reject torture claims... And police say they have identified all of the Sharm blast perpetrators... Earlier, gun battle related to Sharm blast ends with police injured, two arrests... NY Times meets the Bedouin family whose son was killed by police as part of the Sharm bombing investigations... story indicates that extremism is growing amongst Bedouin youth...

Second-half goals by Helder Postiga and Fernando Meira gave Portugal a 2-0 win over Egypt in a friendly international. Famous Portuguese player to miss friendly...

FOREIGN
Libya to host summit trying to make up between Egypt and Algeria...

Egypt has refused to bury debris from the destruction of settlements after Israel's withdrawal from Gaza...

More on Egypt and Gaza...

Egyptian chemist Magdi El-Nashar -- cleared of released, admits to knowing some of those accused of the London bombings... El-Nashar to stay in Egypt, wants name cleared...

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa Wednesday ruled out the possibility of convening an Arab summit in the near future.

Rescheduled Arab summit looks to be cancelled...

Egypt Israel Gaza security breakthrough reached, Chinese media report...

ECONOMY
Telecom Egypt for sale -- details on the huge upcoming stock offering from Bloomberg...

Greek company signs an agreement with Egypt's Post Office for the development of a national lottery and gaming services network in the country.

ENVIRONMENT
World's smallest butterfly -- located in Egypt -- in danger....

Global environmental concerns for West Bank of Nile at Luxor...

SPORTS
Egypt seeks Argentinean extravaganza -- including a Maradona appearance -- for stadium reopening...

Unable to defend world squash title...

MISC
Real life "Sefara fil Emara"
Living in the same building as the Israeli Embassy makes for an uncomfortable neighbourhood. Tarek Atia talks to residents of Ibn Malek Street in Dokki...

Interesting series...
BBC chats with young Egyptians about their political views...  and views on intimacy and tight clothes...

"Muhammad Ali has settled a lawsuit against several sports collectibles dealers to block the sale of artwork and other memorabilia relating to the former heavyweight champion, including a Koran given to him by the former president of Egypt."

SHARM STILL IN THE NEWS...
"Egyptian security forces killed a fugitive suspect in last October's deadly Sinai bombings, attacks that the authorities here have said could be linked to last month's carnage in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Wife dies as well..."

Anti terror protest in El-Arish.. Dive site doesn't have too nice a prognosis for Sharm... More negativity from Voice of America... International hotel chain, meanwhile, continues Red Sea expansion...

"Meanwhile, Egypt's stock exchange, one of the world's best performing emerging markets, has largely shrugged off the country's worst terror attack in a sign that investors are becoming inured to terrorism..."

Nazif on CNN: Egypt to stay the course in Iraq, thinks rogue Bedouins are behind Sharm blasts...

Sharm Investigation details
"The dragnet in the Sharm el-Sheik terror attacks widened Thursday as police detained at least 25 people in the desert mountains around the Red Sea resort and searched for a green pickup truck that may have been the getaway vehicle for some attackers..." Plus, "Egyptian police have taken DNA samples from four Sinai families as they search for the bombers..."

Looking for links between London and Sharm... All three were suicide blasts... plus latest death tolls put figures lower...

Security officials also said Egyptian authorities received information about an imminent terrorist attack in Sharm el-Sheik days ahead of the devastating bombings. However, authorities believed the attack would target casinos, so security was increased around those sites...

Identifying the bomber's body... Ruling out a Pakistani connection... More on this here and here... Pakistan press has a field day... Yet another group claims responsibility. Examining a possible Bedouin role.

Human rights fears raised about arbitrary arrests...

Facts on the ground
AP looks at self criticism in the wake of Sharm El Sheikh. AFP also does story on unprecedented soul searching... Daily Star analyzes tourism's chances of survival... Plus, interesting Guardian report indicates that while Egypt may recover, London tourism is dropping...Sharm tries to keep party spirit... Tourists taking it in stride?

Global-focused comment from BBC... CS Monitor probes opinions in Sharm...

Desperate hunt for 10 Britons missing since the blasts... Addullah Azzam's son not happy about father's name being used for terror against civilians...

Brian Whitaker in the Guardian picks up on the bloggers' attempts to protest terrorism....

Guardian reports on President Bush visiting Egyptian embassy in DC, signing condolence book... 

Protesting against terror
Large 1000 person protest march against terror in Sharm. Chinese site says 5000 were there, and features pics...

Plus, bloggers in Cairo put together a smaller, but valiant, protest effort...

Sharm roundup
The investigation:
Probe to sweep Sinai bedouins. 90 arrested so far, Jazeera says. Guardian says at least 70...

How it happened:
Were bombs hidden under vegetables in trucks? Searching for 6 Pakistanis... US thinks it's al-Qaeda... Second web responsibility claim appears...

The aftermath:
Different treatment for hurt Egyptians and foreigners at Sharm hospital?

Tourism ramifications:
Sharm dream wrecked for tour workers... Tour minister predicts blow, then quick recovery for sector... Tourists speak... Telegraph says 9000 Brits were in area... Russians coming to Sharm despite bombings.... Belgians too...

Plus, list of attacks since 1992.

The search
for the Sharm bombers begins... 
AP and AFP's versions

First-hand tales...
Depressing, moving account by Anthony Shadid in the Washington Post...

Very interesting first hand accounts by lots of different people on BBC...

A potential American investor in Sharm recounts his story...

Different nationalities...
Brits missing, Malaysians OK. New Zealanders help...

Different ramifications...
Bloomberg reports that stock market will fall... 

Time story ends with defiant tourist who says he's staying in Sharm... BBC's says people want to leave... Another BBC piece looks at overall effect on tourism...

Death toll rises...
Latest AP story says 83 dead... (This site says 88).

Mubarak vows to hunt terrorists down...

Annan, White House condemn...

Plus, gruesome pics...

Tragedy in Sharm
Bombs kill dozens, wound hundreds... Here are reports from AP, BBC, AFP...

Plus, Khaleej Times reports British among victims...

MISC
Was it a bomb? Strange incident in Giza. More details from AFP...

Taba trial postponed...

FOREIGN
Sharm Arab summit postponed for a few days...

Arab summit to be held in Sharm...

Egypt accused Nigeria of abandoning African interests to increase its own chances of obtaining a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council...

SHOWBIZ
Middle East Online looks at El-Sefara fil Emara...

ECONOMY
Exports of goods and services have been a motor for the current economic recovery of Egypt, says a WTO report...

Press still  in love
FT fetes Egypt's stock showings....

Plus, Suez Canal does well, and Daily Star's in depth look at natural gas...

SPORTS
Egypt's sumo wrestlers.... 
Jazeera breaks the story, says there are 5000 of them...

Ticket prices announced for next year's African Cup

FOREIGN
Revisiting Iraq...
Sawiris, Abul-Gheit both hint that slain Egyptian envoy Ihab El-Sherif may still be alive.... More from Reuters

Nashar update
Egyptian chemist cleared of terror links.. More details from a local paper in Leeds, UK... Confusion over whether or not he's actually been released...

Earlier, "Egypt's interior minister, Habib al-Adli, has criticised the British police for coming to "hasty conclusions" about an Egyptian biochemist who was living in Leeds and who returned to Cairo several days before the London attacks. Nashar admits to knowing one of the alleged bombers... Plus, Egypt not ready to extradite... Washington Post continues to follow the case of the Egyptian who was abducted by the CIA in Italy and brought to Cairo...

MISC
Oddities from here & there
In Cairo, Mohamed Atta's father makes dangerous comments to CNN about wanting more terror attacks...

New Zealander's death a mystery....

Australia's new chief spy has been accused of compromising an undercover agent's identity with loose talk in Egypt 20 years ago but the government on Monday ruled out an inquiry into the claims.

HISTORY
Now Egypt really wants Rosetta Stone back...

In LA, even the very expensive VIP Tut tickets are going strong...

ECONOMY
Novel idea: Private sector public services on the way?

FOREIGN
Qaeda denies that Egypt envoy kidnapper was captured... Killer of Iraq envoy captured?

Still trying
Egyptian mediation between Palestinian factions continues...US Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East affairs David Welch was also in town for talks on Egypt's security role after Israel pulls out from the Gaza Strip...

Ahly gets Flavio

Zamalek does well in African championship... 

MISC
A fossil-strewn Egyptian desert is set to join UN heritage site protection list...

Strange circumstances... "The manager of a Middle Eastern restaurant, who was taken into custody because his name turned up on terrorist watch list, is now facing deportation to his native Egypt because he bought a small amount of marijuana in 1999..."

EGYPTOMANIA
Japanese emperor takes a look at Egyptian antiquities.. 

Plus, 45 foot sand sculpture pyramids in Brighton...

MEDIA
Daily Star makes a strong case for the change in top editors to be a transition to privatization of the national press... 

Even more loyal?
BBC sums up the changes in the state owned press... Much more from News 24. AP talks to analysts who predict that the changes in state-owned media bosses will only make these papers even more pro-government... 

TV news
The European Union has awarded Egypt's official television grants of $31 million to boost freedom of expression... 

Plus, three women TV presenters have won a landmark ruling that allows them to wear Muslim headscarves on air.

A look at Egyptian TV, radio and internet penetration numbers.

The Guardian's Brian Whitaker slams the state-owned press...

Still deciding...
A roundup of the latest news on the Egyptian suspect in the London blasts

Doubts about Nashar's involvement... Egypt not prepared to hand him over to UK... Says he has no link to al Qaeda... Called a very serious student by friends and relatives... NY Times explores his neighborhood... Plus, FT highlights Egypt's long history of connections to militant Islam...

Egyptian suspect in London blasts part of multinational investigation... More on the Egyptian scientist captured in Cairo...

FOREIGN
Reactions to diplomat's murder...
Getting more complicated
Egypt trying to recover body of slain envoy...

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Sunday that no evidence showed Ihab el-Sherif, slain head of Egypt's diplomatic mission in Iraq, was in contact with Iraqi militants. AP calls the denials "an apparent bid to contain Cairo’s anger at Baghdad over remarks made by Iraq’s government spokesman that envoy Ihab El Sherif may have been holding talks with insurgent groups before his July 2 abduction." 

Daily Star also reports that "Iraq's prime minister has promised to increase security at diplomatic missions and praised Egypt's "brave and courageous move" to boost relations with his government during a news conference to assuage Cairo's anger over remarks in wake of the reported slaying of Egypt's top envoy."

In a San Francisco Chronicle story, an analyst suggests that "This latest event (reduction of embassy staff) suggests a contraction of this role... almost as if it is an admission that it has all been a mistake." Another interesting quote: "people are using the death of the diplomat to score political points for their own positions. "Like many events, " he said, "it gets internalized into the Egyptian internal debate." 

Time also tries to speculate on why El-Sherif was killed... More reactions on the web log...

Sympathy for London...
"During a telephone call with British Ambassador in Cairo Derek Plumbly, Abul Gheit asked the ambassador to convey Egypt's condolences to British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Egypt's sympathy with the British people."

MISC
Clear cut terror condemnation from Egypt Foreign Relations Council...

Tarek el-Zomor, an Islamic militant convicted in connection with the 1981 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was ordered released from prison Tuesday after a court ruled he had completed his sentence.

Foreign Hizb u-Tahrir prisoners go on hunger strike... 

"About 200 relatives of 1,200 detained Muslim Brotherhood members, some held since April, staged a peaceful sit-in outside the state prosecutor’s office in Cairo..."

MISC
Tourism and antiquities
Egypt earned the equivalent of $32.2 million from exhibiting its antiquities abroad during the past three years... 

For the next ten years, Egypt plans to "attract an extra one million tourists."

New dynamic?
Foreign companies are assessing the state of human rights in Egypt before making decisions to invest...

Praise and criticism for new NGO law from rights groups...

FOREIGN
More reactions
to diplomat's murder...
"Egypt has asked the Iraqi embassy in Cairo to explain claims that murdered Egyptian ambassador Ihab el-Sherif was in touch with Iraqi insurgents... In a statement, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Ghait did not deny that such contacts took place but asked whether the purpose of Iraqi remarks was to "justify a tragedy"." Earlier, Baghdad had called on Egypt to clarify how far it had gone in reaching out to insurgents, after its head of mission was killed by militants who had seized him on a Baghdad street...

Vatican condemns "atrocious murder..."

White House statement...

Newsweek uses killing to look at intelligence challenges in Iraq...

Earlier... Egypt will close its mission in Baghdad and withdraw its staff after al-Qaida's wing in Iraq said it had killed an abducted top Egyptian envoy... Shock and grief in Cairo... Egypt's U.N. ambassador asked the U.N. Security Council to "urgently" address the killing of its envoy in Iraq... "The crisis may have sown the seeds of distrust between Iraq's Shiite-led government and Egypt an Arab powerhouse whose goodwill Iraq needs."

Gruesome end?
Al-Qaeda claims to have killed the top Egyptian diplomat in Iraq... The group threatened to kill Egypt's envoy, who was kidnapped in Baghdad four days ago. Pictures of his ID cards have also surfaced on an Islamic Web site...

No word from kidnappers of Egypt envoy in Baghdad...

More details on the abduction from Times Online. Here's BBC's story...  

The Prime Minister's views on terror renditions...Interesting Chicago Tribune story about the man who was abducted by the CIA in Italy and handed over to Egypt...

FOREIGN
"An Egyptian military contingent will soon be deployed in southern Sudan to help enforce the Naivasha agreement between Khartoum and the various factions of the Sudanese rebel movements..."

"The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday rejected an effort to slash U.S. military assistance to Egypt by lawmakers upset by the Arab state's human rights record and pace of democratic reform." The Bush administration, meanwhile, has authorized the sale of 25 Avenger anti-aircraft missile launchers to Egypt

ECONOMY
Egypt is joining the ranks of nations where scientists conduct stem-cell research... CS Monitor takes a deep look...

Egypt ranks second to Turkey in Mediterranean tourism...

Egypt said Saturday it discovered three new oil fields near the Gulf of Suez with a total reserve of 70 million barrels of crude...

Egypt and Israel have signed a much-delayed deal for Egypt to supply natural gas to the Jewish state... first delivery should be by 2007.

MISC
Tech watch
CBS correspondent hails the wonders of free international calling while in Egypt...

Plan to recycle old mobile phone batteries in Egypt...

"The world's oldest monastery plans to use hi-tech cameras to shed new light on ancient Christian texts preserved for centuries within its fortress walls in the Sinai Desert..."

Fighting a smoking ban... A look at Washington DC's Egypt-inspired sheesha cafes...

HISTORY
CNN highlights the new Egypt's Other Pasts cultural fest in DC...

LA Times highlights very positive Egypt travel experience...

MISC
Edible oil factory fire in Egypt kills 3...

SPORTS
Too late?
Former coach Mahmoud el Gohary says he is not interested in the technical director's post offered to him by the Egypt Football Association...

SOCIETY
"In a symbolic attack on the widespread practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Egypt, religious leaders and gender activists have signed a public declaration calling for an end to FGM in the hamlet of Abou Shawareb near Aswan."

HEALTH
Egyptian conjoined twins separated by Saudi doctors after surgery lasting nearly 12 hours were reported to be in stable condition...

Thanawiyya blues... "An algebra question on the year-end exam for Egyptian secondary students proved so difficult for one Cairo student that his father submitted to police a complaint against the minister of education..."

DOMESTIC 
Millions of Egyptians could be forced to migrate as climate change makes their livelihoods untenable, warns a report published last month by Egypt's environment ministry.

ARCHAEOLOGY
More details emerge on new plan to build a museum at the foot of the Pyramids which will house "King Tut's mummy and treasures along with tens of thousands of artifacts. The museum is situated at the juncture where the fertile valley meets the desert, which for the ancient Egyptians was the land of life after death." Egypt, meanwhile, hopes King Tut tour will promote US tourism to Egypt. 

First to send
Egypt is the first Arab nation to announce that it will send an ambassador to Iraq.

ARCHAEOLOGY
More details emerge on new plan to build a museum at the foot of the Pyramids which will house "King Tut's mummy and treasures along with tens of thousands of artifacts. The museum is situated at the juncture where the fertile valley meets the desert, which for the ancient Egyptians was the land of life after death." Egypt, meanwhile, hopes King Tut tour will promote US tourism to Egypt. 

Plus, this interesting tibit is from an LA Times commentary: "In Cairo, when I was organizing the first Tut show in 1975 (as director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art), I was allowed into the Egyptian Museum after hours — all alone — and was given permission to open any case and to fondle the incomparable pieces. The first one was Tut's great gold mask, which I hefted from its pedestal and promptly kissed, full on the lips."

King of Egyptology? NY Times profiles Zahi Hawass to go with the opening of the new Tut exhibit... Malaysian journalist impressed, writes  that "Dr Zahi Hawass rocks!" And, at the end of yet another fawning Asian piece, Hawass says he wants to put all the mummies back in their tombs...

Boy millionaire... Newsweek looks at how the new King Tut tour may be changing the way US museums do business...More on the upcoming Tut II tour from USA Today...

Meanwhile, African American activists in LA upset that Tut is portrayed as white...

FOREIGN
Egypt is leading behind-the-scenes efforts to curb further ballotbox successes by the militant Palestinian group Hamas in planned parliamentary elections in Gaza and the West Bank. (more details in Arabic on zahma.com...) Now Egypt says it will monitor Gaza security... Condi coming to town... Egypt praises-criticizes Israel peace moves...

US reversal... Details on why Egyptian diplomat Mohamed El-Baradie will continue to run the UN's nuclear watchdog...

ECONOMY
Congress still debating the details of USAID...

More good news? IMF upbeat about Egypt...Raw data: Read IMF's Egypt report...

Details on Arab tourism numbers to Egypt...

OT has over 20 million mobile subscribers.

Replacing India's outsourcing muscle... NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman promotes Egyptian call centers...

Industries in transition...
AP looks at the changing fortunes of Egypt's state owned press... and BBC looks at the changing fortunes of Cairo's zabaleen...

MISC
BBC  looks at ancient Egyptian glassmaking...

SPORTS
Disappointments...Egypt youth soccer loses third match.... And the big boys are eliminated from the 2006 World Cup qualifiers after 2-0 loss to Ivory Coast...

MISC
More detailed look at how academic freedoms are curbed in Egypt... Human Rights Watch slams Egypt for lack of academic freedoms...

Just the first... Akhbar Al-Youm editor in chief resigns to save face... AFP says "the heads of the two other major press groups in Egypt — Al-Ahram and Al-Gomhurriya — are also expected to be replaced in the coming days." Meanwhile, a new reform group -- Journalists for Change -- emerges...

"Two people were killed and two injured in gunbattles in the Sinai peninsula on Friday between Egyptian police and outlaws including suspected accomplices in bombings at Red Sea resorts last October, police sources said."

ECONOMY
Egypt likely to get billions from World Bank...

US inspects Cairo airport for security...

Spanish fashion chain Mango to open big store in Cairo...

Scuba diver dies in Sharm after trying to come to the surface too fast..

"South African Nuno Gomes now world's deepest scuba diver"-- his amazing feat took place in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Dahab

ANTIQUITIES
Another important ancient statue discovered. More interesting details...

Japanese man carefully explores statue of ancient Egyptian foot.

SPORTS
Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam has been recalled to Egypt's squad for Sunday's crucial FIFA World Cup™ qualifier against group leaders Ivory Coast...

Close to out... With second loss, Egypt is on the verge of elimination from the World Youth Championship...

Egypt loses first youth World Cup match 2-0. Egyptian youth soccer highlighted by FIFA...

Plus, Egyptian Osman Elabasi has been elected president of the African Kung-Fu Federation...

Egypt crushed Sudan 6-1 in an African zone World Cup Group Three qualifier. More from BBC...

FOREIGN
Indonesian gets death sentence for murdering Malaysian family in Cairo

Death toll in Alexandria building collapse rises to 16.

300 prisoners on hunger strike...

Taba attack trial to start July 2...

Abul Gheit in parliament condemns Quran mishandling...

The new superstars...
Nancy Ajram talks to the Washington Post, which explores the changing synergies between Western and Eastern music... Amr Diab recording a bilingual duet with Jennifer Lopez... that little bit of info leads a longish piece about the rising political influence of Arab entertainers...

SPORTS
Now Mido wants to go to Zamalek!

CAF impressed with inspection...

FOREIGN
Negotiating Gaza...
"Israel will turn the Gaza-Egypt border over to the Egyptians if they stop Palestinian arms smuggling, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Monday during a trip to the United States."

"Egypt plans to deploy 1,500 to 2,000 troops along its border with Israel to ensure "orderly" Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Egypt's foreign minister told Reuters on Sunday."

Egyptian diplomat quits to protest corruption...

Miss Egypt's chances of victory at Miss Universe rated 70-1...

SOCIETY
Baby Manar out of hospital.

Alex demo against Quran desecration.

Somewhat rambling Washington Times' commentary on Egyptian society that ends in an interesting way...

Arab women's conference begins...

Korean drama becoming popular in Egypt and rest of Middle East...

CRIME
Fugitive from the law in the States goes to Egypt to get his degree, than heads back to a Jersey court...

FOREIGN
"Don't expect Egypt to be your policeman in Gaza," Egypt's new ambassador to Tel Aviv tells Israel...

ARCHEOLOGY
NY Times book review: "the workers who built Egypt's pyramids were paid in beer"... Plus, ancient Egypt makes audio book big time... and the fallout from the translation of an ancient text that was found in Egypt...

MISC...
Reuters reports that "Egyptian air traffic controllers ended a go-slow after the aviation minister promised to look into their demands for better pay and conditions... Meanwhile, "around the world" pilot had tense moments in Egypt... Plus, Emirates now flies to Alex...

SHOWBIZ
King Tut meets Hermes
Very interesting story about a lucky garage sale find...

CAF inspection of stadiums begins...

FOREIGN
Egypt tries to break Palestinian feud...

Sweden deep into terror rendition investigation...

Rights group wants investigation into the violent death of a jailed suspected terrorist.... (Suspect in Cairo attacks dies in custody... More from Khaleej Times)...

Meanwhile, "East Kentwood High School graduate Erik Mirandette, still recovering from injuries suffered in a terrorist bombing that killed his younger brother, Alex, received words of comfort from President Bush on Saturday."

ECONOMY
Good work... Egypt best global emerging market performer...and Newsweek positive about Egypt's dream team.

Egyptian investments abroad now estimated at $120 billion. Plus, an indepth commentary on subsidies from the Daily Star, and news of a global call center setting up major operations...

Investments getting press attention:
Magnesium International: TKM To Invest In Smelter Project, and Tata Chemicals has made an open offer of $450 million  to acquire Egyptian Fertilisers Company

Meanwhile, the big European telecom buy by Sawiris gets stellar, in depth Bloomberg treatment...

Bank privatization on Cairo forum agenda... Earlier, there was news of HSBC eyeing Bank of Alexandria...

After holding its annual meeting in Jordan for the past three years, the Middle East version of the World Economic Forum (WEF) is to move to Egypt next year...

Copycat pizza?
Newsday reports that "Sbarro, the Melville-based pizza chain, has sued two high-ranking ex-employees, alleging they stole the company's trade secrets and were operating two Sbarro "knockoff" restaurants in Egypt...
"Sbarro sued Emad Karykous and Said Kirieakes, two brothers who served as the company's senior vice president of international operations and director of international operations, respectively. The company is seeking $10 million and an order that would force the two men to shut down their Cairo restaurants, which go by the name Mercato Italiano, or change the concept enough to avoid confusion..."

Tourism minister still confident despite attacks, cites intensive consultations...

8.7 million: Latest Egyptian mobile subscriber numbers...

Egypt expects 9 million tourists in 2005 against 8.1 million tourists in 2004...

Sawiris tells press he'll be signing on the giant Italian telecom deal later this month...

Air Arabia soon to fly to Sharm El Sheikh and Luxor...

Tax break for tantalum explorers make Brits happy... Plus, gold drilling at Sukari mine recommences...

Russian trucks to be made in Egypt...

China trying to sell Egypt airplanes...

More Arab investment this year

Arab News looks into a wheat shortage.

Cement filled cargo ship sinks...

FT celebrates the irony of the QIZ...

Oxford has the details on natural gas.

Rice deals big deal in Korean press...

Wanna buy a taxi?
Here are some sample prices of several used models, courtesy of the new Cairo magazine...

Good news... foreign currency reserves increase...

BG said it delivered the first gas from offshore Simian Sienna and Rosetta II fields in Egypt.

"UK Tour operators are reporting that there has been no drop in bookings to Egypt following the recent bombing in Cairo..."

About time?
Egypt supposedly wants to learn from Dubai's tourism prowess...
(I visited Dubai for the second time a couple of months ago and was rather impressed with what I saw... Here are the features I did during that trip for Al-Ahram Weekly -- one about the Emirate's amazing shopping festival, and another about their unique Global Village concept...

Nissan starts to make pick-ups in Egypt... Plus, another new Chinese model to be made here as well...

IT powerhouse Raya finally goes for a $68.9 million IPO...
(So that's why all those Raya ads were on the big satellite channels recently...)

Sawiris's big bid for Italian telco giant looking good...

Called "Europe's largest ever leveraged buyout", the story is covered heavily by NY Times, Forbes, etc...

Egypt pledges $10 million for Sudan's reconstruction.

Moussa critical of some parts of newest UNDP human development report...

Christo style art project for the pyramids in 2010? "The plan is to complete 12 themes in 12 miles of murals that will be exhibited around the Great Pyramids of Egypt."
(Kind of reminds me of that great trash men at the pyramids exhibit that took place a couple of years ago...)

SOCIETY
Pulled from all sides
AP looks at dating on the Nile... and the trauma caused by growing up caught between two cultures...

First of a kind honors for Chinese scholars...

Jordan denies harassing Egyptian workers...

Khaleej Times claims Anas El-Fiqi is worried about Emad Adib...

ARCHITECTURE
911 Ground zero cultural center to be designed by same group that did Bibliotheca...

ARCHAEOLOGY
Ancient beer, wine jars found...

SHOW BIZ
Miss Egypt preparing for the Miss Universe contest  in Thailand...

BREAKING!
CRIME
Complex situation: "The Swedish government has described allegations it violated an international anti-torture accord for deporting an Egyptian back to his home country, where it was of concern he might be tortured, as "serious" and says it would "study them carefully".

HEALTH
New Zealand worried about Egypt imports after foot and mouth scare

Hospital blamed for deaths in gas bottle explosion... More from Reuters...

Latest baby Manar update...

ECONOMY
Problems
at the airport 
Reports on the air controllers strike by AFP, CNN and Jazeera.

ARCHAEOLOGY
Imagining Tutankhamun's face
BBC has all three images... "It's a revolution, a new era for Egyptology," Zahi Hawas told a press conference. "We will now learn more about other pharaohs such as Ramses II, they way they lived, died and they way they looked..." Details on King Tut's curse from National Geographic... Plus, major details on Hawass and the new National Geo show from Gulf News.

SOCIETY
Analyzing Shubra
Suspect in last week's Cairo bombing caught in Libya... Meanwhile, AP goes in depth and on the scene in Shubra El-Kheima, the slum where the bombers came from. Pittsburgh Tribune does an interesting delve into the poverty at the root of terror, quoting analysts extensively...

FOREIGN
Darfur summit moves from Egypt to Libya...

Huge fire destroys shops in Gamaliya...

Mubarak labor day speech highlighted.

FOREIGN
Putin reactions
The Arabic press painted Putin's Mideast tour as a quest to reassert Russian influence in the region. On the English side, AP says Egypt is firmly allied with the US, while noting how Putin agreed that democracy cant be exported... VOA says the White House is doubtful about the Russian peace summit idea... Meanwhile, Russia is selling Egypt a defense system, and also says Egypt deserves to be a member of the new UN Security Council.

More thaw
Egypt Israel natural gas deal -- so long in the works -- will finally come through next week...

Israel wants Egypt's help, not just on the Palestinian track, but in helping it improve its relations with the rest of the Arab world. That's how AP portrays the Israeli foreign minister's trip to Cairo. IPS does a deeper analysis, including a final missed handshake photo op scene that reveals a lot.

Copts defy papal ban on pilgrimage to Israel...

Knesset speaker tries to delay Egyptian troop monitoring at Gaza border...

The answer is no
Egypt says it wont help Israel make peace with other Arab states...

Lots of political posturing in Sharm El-Sheikh... Hammering out Darfur details with Sudan... Discussing Nile Basin projects with Ethiopia... VOA provides a roundup of the Sharm  African NEPAD summit, AFP a strange photo and caption...

Transparent Africa?
More on the summit, which features a new African country to country peer review program aiming to promote good governance across the continent as a catalyst to investment.

Mubarak-Putin meet...

Egypt to double its Darfur monitors...

SPORTS
BBC looks at Egypt's upcoming World Cup qualifier with Sudan...

Hossam and Ibrahim Hassan in trouble for rowdy behavior again!

Pressure
from all sides
Egyptian football is having trouble dealing with its growing FIFA problem...

More details on FIFA's problem with the Egyptian Football league from All Africa... FIFA rejects Egypt's football league decision...

Ahli completes perfect season.

ARCHAEOLOGY
"New" ancient temple to open in Sinai soon...

Should
the title be...
Great timing, or How Ironic? ... Conspiracy theorists will be pondering the significance of this for years... A rare mummy -- supposedly the most beautiful ever -- is suddenly found in Saqara... More from CBS...

Painting the
pyramids red
Archaeologists find ancient pharoanic seals used to paint pyramids red...

All about artifacts
A stolen artifact coming back from Brussels... Child abuse allegations in California for American man who also had pilfered antiquities at home... Plus, Discovery Channel plans week long Egypt extravaganza, and National Geographic looks at the deciphering of ancient papyri...  Largest ancient Egyptian funerary complex of its kind found. Plus, another US team finds ancient ship in Sinai...

SHOWBIZ
Nefertiti on stage in Florida...

EDUCATION
Higher choices?
New Chinese university to open in Egypt...
Plus, even more new universities in the pipeline...

EGYPTIANS ABROAD
Egypt helps Dubai expat who lost husband to medical malpractice...

Costly abduction?
The Boston-based news media is all agog about "a Topsfield mother [who] has been awarded a $27 million judgment against a charter jet company that flew her children to Egypt after they were taken by her former husband"...

SOCIETY
BBC goes in  depth on mosque microphone noise and the unified azan proposal...

Health hazards
Hoping to eliminate polio by end of 2005.

Plus, asbestos problems at the factory.

MISCELLANEOUS
Notes from Egyptians abroad..
Final reconstructive surgeries for formerly conjoined twins in Texas... Egyptian American scientist in homeland security brouhaha... Egyptian elected to public office in Sweden...

SHOWBIZ
Khaled El-Nabawi defends new film about crusades in which he has a part... "It's time for the West to know more about us," he told Reuters in Cairo. The Ridley Scot crusader movie in which the Egyptian actor has a part gets a positive review from the NY Times, which also says the movie should inspire tolerance, rather than intolerance... contrary to previous links featured here...

More on Shaaban's new pro-Mubarak song from AFP.. Shaaban's latest supports Mubarak...

Kull sanna wintum tayibeen
Thursday was national holiday Mulid Al-Nabi, as Egypt celebrates Prophet Mohamed's birthday... For a peek at the kinds of sweets people will be eating to commemorate the day, click here...

Sect leader jailed for claiming divinity...

Ancient whale bones found in desert.. More details about the exceptional find.

Bodies of Brits from 1798 battle found in Egypt... BBC provides details on their planned reburial... AP a photo.

A useful Islamic satellite -- first proposed by Egypt -- will soon see the light, says Mufti Ali Gomma... More details on the Islamic satellite from Arab news...

SPORTS
BBC reports on chaos at the Football Association...

Egyptian swordsmen out dueled Iran 45-44 in the first Islamic States' Solidarity Games... Egypt also does great in ping pong... and end up with silver in volleyball.

The politics of ironing
Shaabola's new ode to Hariri is big news for AFP. Daily Star too... Plus, here's a flashback to cairolive's coverage of the big guy way back when!

EGYPTIANS ABROAD
Egyptian who went to London to try to get free health care now has to repay bill...

Egyptian Guantanamo translator profiled extensively by Boston Globe...

Mido called King of Cairo in highly flattering This is London story...

More Russian import and assembled vehicles expected to appear on Egypt's streets this year...

Big Egyptian delegation goes to China.

Huge natural gas find in Egypt for Houston based oil giant Apache...

In depth report on Egypt's delve into genetically modified crops...

Haaretz criticizes Israeli airport security treatment of an Egyptian writer.

Darfur summit postponed.

SHOWBIZ
Problems with an upcoming Ridley Scott film about the crusades starring Egyptian actor Khaled El-Nabawy...
(NOTE: The article does not mention El-Nabawy, and I'm not sure what his role is in the film, but there was a lot of publicity in the press recently about him having a part in a big Ridley Scott " global" production.)

Plus, new age religious film about Nefertiti and Moses to be filmed in Egypt.

HEALTH
Egypt one of only 6 countries where polio persists. More on Egypt's commitment to eradicate the disease.

SPORTS
Malawi soccer team slept on floor of Malawi embassy in Cairo...

Egypt solidified its position as the leading table tennis country in Africa...

Artificial turf to be used in next year's African Nations Cup...

FOREIGN
Sudanese Catholics in Cairo mourn the pope...

Renewed bid for UN Security Council seat...

Cairo to host another mini summit on Darfur later this month...

Discussing the Arab competitiveness report...

Egypt astonished by Israel's decision to honor the perpetrators of the Lavon affair...

Sinai blast charges for three...

Controversial scholar Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid visits Amina Wadud, the woman who led the Friday prayer in the US...

POPE
Lots of Arabic coverage of Pope John Paul II, including Akhbar's item about the Taliban expressing their sorrow at his death. Plus, Cairo-based Arab League expresses sorrow...

FROM THE ARCHIVES
Coverage of the Pope's visit to Egypt 5 years ago, in March 2000, and his meeting with Al-Azhar's grand sheikh: A first-hand account of the major media hype surrounding the event, and another, interview-based piece about its interfaith dialogue aspect.

ECONOMY
Oxford has the details on where subsidies may be heading...

Big Egypt deal with Intel... More on the Intel deal from AME Info...

ENTERTAINMENT
NPR looks into The Yacoubian building -- the latest blockbuster film, with an interesting angle -- How undemocratic is a society that tolerates such scathing criticism?

ODD
Strange guy from Cleveland calls himself the king of Egypt...

ECONOMY
Orascom to invest in Emirates building boom...

Canada to help Egypt monitor housing conditions...

SOCIETY
Latest figures on the number of computers in Egypt...

Baby Manar is out of intensive care...

Will Ahmed Zaki's funeral be used for the movie Halim?
AFP covers the funeral, with a slideshow as well... 
Gulf News notes that "Zaki [was] best known for his roles in documentaries"

A strange BBC piece, extensively quoting Liza Laziza and Nagwa Fouad, claims belly dancing is in decline...

ECONOMY
Telegraph reports that "Over a one-year period, the top-performing equity fund, according to Standard & Poor's, is the Egypt Investment Company fund in the Equity Egypt sector. This fund would have turned £1,000 invested a year ago into £1,916 today."

An asbestos factory controversy is highlighted by AFP...

FOREIGN 
Iran not happy about spy case sentencing... Iranian foreign minister calls verdict "ridiculous".

Russian leader Putin coming to Cairo...

MUSKI ATTACK
Investigating the nail bomb

BREAKING!
Bashandi linked to three others and more details emerge from Interior Ministry on Muski nail bomb case...

Survivors of Muski blast,  back home in the US, tell their story to local TV... Plus, the Michigan lad who died in the blast is honored by his community back home in States...

An 18 year old from Shoubra has been named by police as the perpetrator of last week's Muski bomb.... Initial police conclusions show a transformation from well-liked neighborhood kid to extremist loner.

Plus, alleged bombers' relatives amongst 30 detained...

BBC's take, and a far more comprehensive analysis by Reuters.

Oxford looks at how it might or might not affect tourism. 

Details on one of those who died, a young man from Michigan.

Egypt downplaying attack, trying to keep tourism normal.

Opposition condemns attack, fears it could result in government crackdown on their activities.

Previous roundup story here...

MISCELLANEOUS
"The 137 refugees rounded up by the Egyptian Coast Guard authorities at their Red Sea border approximately 500 km away from Cairo last Friday, have all been confirmed as Sri Lankans..."

IHT says Arab summit accomplished very little -- but did support Egypt's bid to become a permanent UN security council member...
Elsewhere, Oxford looks closer at Egypt's bid...

AP photo of the new Egyptian ambassador to Israel raising a toast with the Israeli president.

DOMESTIC POLITICS
Iranian spy case ends in conviction...

AP reports on a strange case of voter registration confusion...

Interesting note -- Parliament's discussion of unemployment made the top billing on Ahram's web edition on Tuesday, with the paper highlighting parliament's tough grilling of officials about the issue, which they said was affecting national security. One of the headlines said the government would even be trying to help Egyptians find jobs abroad... Read Wafd's reaction on zahma.com.

Meanwhile, with more protests -- this time by Kefaya -- planned, the press is wondering what the government's reaction will be.

Activists say the government is telling mosque preachers to call them traitors...

Another Arish-based protest against mass arrests...

An annual reminder from the three Britons in jail for promoting Hizb u-Tahrir...

Al-Destour newspaper reappears on the newsstands, with editor Ibrahim Eissa as controversial as ever...

Plus, another attempt to found a moderate religious party...

MISCELLANEOUS
Gamal Banna's religious writings make it to the Washington Post...

Azerbaijani media reports on Pharoanic music festival...

SPORTS
Egypt beats Libya 4-1 in World Cup qualifier. Check out BBC's list of all the Sunday qualifiers.

Egypt youth lose to US in world soccer... Plus, FIFA clears another Egyptian pro's international move...

ECONOMY
Russian jets to Egypt?

Meridien to open new hotel in Dahab...

SHOWBIZ
Ahmed Zaki -- who played both Abdel-Nasser and Sadat, last played a corrupt minister, was working on an Abdel-Halim Hafez biopic, and had even discussed doing a film on Mubarak -- has died after a long struggle with cancer.
The Morocco Times mourns him, and here's CNN's report. 
On zahma.com, see what the Arabic press has to say. Plus, here's a cairolive.com review of one of his recent films -- Days of Sadat.

DOMESTIC POLITICS
As reported by Reuters and AP, there was an intense protest scene in several downtown Cairo neighborhoods as the Muslim Brotherhood and anti-riot police play hide and seek...

Ayman Nour's Ghad party membership forgery trial will take place June 28... Earlier, Nour plays the press well, getting good play in this AP piece about anti-Nour, pro-Mubarak posters...
Ayman Nour officially charged with forging membership applications for the Ghad party. A few more details from CNN. Surprise, surprise, the most comprehensive take comes from the Washington Post, which has gotten quite close to this issue in the past few weeks... Nour tells the paper the formal charges will not affect his presidential campaign. Reporting from Washington, AFP says the US is staying low key about the charges...

"I'm not a candidate" says Gamal Mubarak, the president's son, attempting to eliminate rumors that he is being groomed for the presidency...

The Muslim Brotherhood says they will support any competent presidential candidate.

Telegraph calls Sunday's Tahrir double demos a curious exercise in democracy... There were two rival demonstrations... one against the US occupation in Iraq that turned anti-Mubarak, and another against the US presence in Iraq that was mainly pro-Mubarak. Meanwhile, anti war demos also take place in Alexandria...

Elsewhere, a Nile Delta landowner dispute inspires protest -- which turns violent -- in Cairo.. More details from Reuters.

REGION
Assiut university students ask Arab summit to declare war...

ECONOMY
USDA happy about Egypt importing US beef again... More beef details...

Egypt set to buy Brazilian jets?

Giant Bin Laden construction group to help build World Bank funded airport improvements... More...

Orascom and the Sawiris family (whose net worth was recently reported by Forbes to be $5.2 billion) looking to buy Italian telco giant...

EGYPTIANS ABROAD
When it comes to improving the US's image in the Arab world, lots of hope is being placed on Egyptian American Dina Powell's shoulders. IHT does a tribute.

SPORTS
2006 Nations Cup logo unveiled -- meet the CrocoNile!

UPDATED!
MISCELLANEOUS
Reuters clarifies Mufti Ali Gomaa's disapproval of women leading Friday prayer... Reaction in Cairo to Muslim woman leading prayer in New York -- one paper says she is deranged...

REGION
Egyptian embassy in Doha condemns the Qatar blast, says it doesn't know if it was done by a madman or al-Qaeda... Earlier, it was reported that an Egyptian was being blamed for the blast...

2 more Egyptian engineers kidnapped in Iraq...

HUMOR
Coffee built the pyramids?
Dave Barry does it again -- the comic writer's latest column -- on coffee -- includes the following irresistible quote: "Like any drug, caffeine can have serious side effects if we ingest too much. This fact was first noticed in ancient Egypt when a group of workers, who were supposed to be making a birdbath, began drinking Egyptian coffee, which is very strong, and wound up constructing the pyramids."

SPORTS
Egypt names its team for the 26 March World Cup qualifier against Libya... According to Akhbar, former bad boy Mido is the first European pro star to arrive for training...

REGION
Officials in Jordan said the kingdom and Egypt have agreed to supply western Iraq with electric power upon the request of the Iraqi authorities...

DOMESTIC POLITICS
Ayman Nour officially launches his candidacy -- this AP article sums up the scene in Bab El-Shaariya...

SPORTS
Gohary rejects offer to coach Bahrain.

Meanwhile, other coaches punished for poor conduct...

MISCELLANEOUS
Mustard originated in Egypt, says this specialized article...

Egyptian threading hair removal technique making waves in California...

Egypt providing the UK with some of its butter free vivaldi potatoes...

PEACE PROCESS
New Egyptian ambassador to Israel arrives...

Palestinian groups meeting in Cairo agree to extend truce till end of year. Earlier, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman gives a televised speech before the Palestinian factions meeting in Egypt, fueling political speculations. Plus, comprehensive coverage of the meetings with lots of pics from China Daily.

UPDATED!
REGION
Saudi Arabia says Egypt helped avoid media war, but there was no real mediation... That goes against what was reported earlier about Egyptian mediation leading to a breakthrough in ties between Libya and Saudi Arabia. Get all the latest links on the lead up to the Arab summit in Arabic on zahma.com

AP reports from the Alexandria reform conference about the advice being given to Egypt to ensure this year's elections run smoothly.

EGYPTIANS ABROAD
Dina Powell -- the Egyptian-American who has been working in the White House personnel office -- is now set to become an undersecretary of state specializing in public diplomacy, working on improving the US's image abroad. More on the Dina Powell appointment from ABC and a pic from Epoch.

MISCELLANEOUS
Major interfaith meeting taking place in Cairo...

SPORTS
Egypt, hosts of the 2006 African Cup of Nations, insist they will be ready to welcome the continent's top athletes in ten month's time.

Big senior's golf tourny to take place in Sharm El-Sheikh.

SOCIETY
FT looks at sexy Arab music videos...

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