Crisis in Tahrir
  • US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's son, Sam, faces jail in Egypt.

    American on Egypt “no-fly” list says could face jail time

    | 28 January 2012 | Comments (0)

    CAIRO: The director of the Egypt unit of the International Republican Institute (IRI) in Cairo said he fears he could be jailed for up to five years after being barred from leaving the country earlier this month. Sam LaHood, the son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and a number of other Americans were banned [...]

  • Floating commandos in water.

    US could be preparing for war in Yemen, region

    | 28 January 2012 | Comments (0)

    SANA’A: According to the Washington Post, the White House may have ordered the dispatch of “floating commandos” in the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran and the threat of a more opened armed conflict with al-Qaeda in Yemen. Since the beginning of Yemen’s popular uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime, an offshoot of [...]

  • Egypt’s tourism sector struggles to revive fortunes

    Egypt’s tourism sector struggles to revive fortunes

    Hurghada, Egypt (dpa) – The beaches are almost empty and taxi drivers jockey for customers in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Hurghada, once a bustling city, now desperately struggling to revive its tourism sector a year after the country’s political revolution. “No tourists simply means no money,” said diving instructor Mohamed, standing under a palm [...]

  • Russia against new Syria resolution in UN special session

    Russia against new Syria resolution in UN special session

    | 28 January 2012 | Comments (0)

    New York (dpa) – Compromise continued to elude the UN Security Council in a special session to consider a new draft resolution aimed at ending 11 months of violence in Syria late Friday. Despite a clear majority on the 15-member panel for an European-Arabic draft resolution, Russia continued to oppose the move, according to diplomats. [...]

  • Reporting sexual violence in the Middle East

    Reporting sexual violence in the Middle East

    | 28 January 2012 | Comments (3)

    CAIRO: On January 25, as hundreds of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets to mark the one-year anniversary of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak and his cronies from power in 2011, women were harassed and assaulted in the iconic Tahrir Square. It tainted what had been a show of force against the military [...]

  • Egypt protests military junta in Tahrir and across country

    Egypt protests military junta in Tahrir and across country

    | 27 January 2012 | Comments (0)

    CAIRO: Thousands of Egyptians flooded central Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday to participate in the Friday noon prayer that took place on the Qasr al-Nil bridge at the edge of the square. While Egyptians kept a steady stream throughout the afternoon, the 6th of April Youth Movement and the Youth for Freedom and Justice group [...]

  • US, Egypt fight over American NGO workers travel ban

    US, Egypt fight over American NGO workers travel ban

    | 27 January 2012 | Comments (2)

    CAIRO: Egypt and the United States are battling over the barring of at least 6 American citizens from leaving the country, including Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s son. The White House demanded that Egypt “immediately” lift the travel ban on Americans. US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said top officials including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [...]

  • Tear gas used on Bahrain private homes against protesters, says rights group

    Tear gas used on Bahrain private homes against protesters, says rights group

    | 27 January 2012 | Comments (1)

    DUBAI: Eyewitnesses have said that the rising number of deaths in Bahrain could be the result of security forces throwing the weapon inside private homes, Amnesty International reported on Thursday. The London-based rights organization demanded that Bahrain investigate the more than 12 deaths that have been a direct result of the misuse of tear gas [...]

  • Egypt in anti-military mode Friday

    Egypt in anti-military mode Friday

    | 27 January 2012 | Comments (0)

    CAIRO: The streets were nearly empty Friday morning around the entrance to the Cabinet building. Soldiers could be seen behind the barbed wire moving into positions. Police in full riot gear ready for any incident. Ramy, a 29-year-old garbage collector stood by watching. He wanted to join the protests at the other end of the [...]

  • Egypt authority recommends removing Mubarak name from country

    Egypt authority recommends removing Mubarak name from country

    | 26 January 2012 | Comments (0)

    CAIRO: Egypt’s State Commissioners Authority has issued a report recommending that the Administrative Court issue a ruling to uphold the decision to remove the name of former President Hosni Mubarak and his wife Suzanne from all squares, streets, schools, libraries, associations and all public facilities in all governorates of the country and their images. The [...]

Opinion

Reporting sexual violence in the Middle East

Reporting sexual violence in the Middle East

28 January 2012 | Comments (3)

CAIRO: On January 25, as hundreds of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets to mark the one-year anniversary of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak and his cronies from power in 2011, women were harassed and assaulted in the iconic Tahrir Square. It tainted what had been a show of force against the military [...]

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Cash-strapped Yemen needs money

Cash-strapped Yemen needs money

27 January 2012 | Comments (0)

SANA’A: Now that Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh has left Yemen for Oman and is expected to continue on his journey to the United States where he is set to undergo medical treatment, one would think that Yemenis are breathing a sigh of relief. Quite the contrary, with the departure of the three decades-long autocrat, [...]

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International media complicit in legitimization of Israeli settlements

International media complicit in legitimization of Israeli settlements

27 January 2012 | Comments (0)

Unbelievable, but true: over 70 journalists from international mainstream media took part in a tour through Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank last Thursday January 19. Israel national news source Arutz Sheva reported the news the next day, referring to a tour in Samaria joined by the foreign media, guests of the Head of [...]

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Business

Egypt’s tourism sector struggles to revive fortunes

Egypt’s tourism sector struggles to revive fortunes

28 January 2012 | Comments (0)

Hurghada, Egypt (dpa) – The beaches are almost empty and taxi drivers jockey for customers in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Hurghada, once a bustling city, now desperately struggling to revive its tourism sector a year after the country’s political revolution. “No tourists simply means no money,” said diving instructor Mohamed, standing under a palm [...]

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Egypt wants additional $1 billion for budget

Egypt wants additional $1 billion for budget

27 January 2012 | Comments (0)

CAIRO: Egypt’s government said on Thursday that it was to ask the World Bank for a $500 million loan and the same amount from the African Development Bank as it attempts to overcome the budget pitfalls that have left the country’s economy struggling since the popular uprising ousted the former regime in February 2011. Planning [...]

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New ways of making money in Middle East.

Revolutionary Business: Rethinking entrepreneurship in the Middle East

27 January 2012 | Comments (0)

The Arab uprisings have unleashed a new entrepreneurial spirit in the region, particularly among younger entrepreneurs who feel emboldened to launch new small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The international donor community has long supported SMEs as they create jobs, greater domestic income (especially among lower-income groups), economic growth, and social stability in emerging markets. Yet, [...]

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Women

Timeline of sexual violence in Egypt; action to fight against

Timeline of sexual violence in Egypt; action to fight against

28 January 2012 | Comments (0)

TIMELINE: October 2006 Shocking sexual attacks during Muslim feast of Eid National and international public awareness about sexual attacks in Egypt more or less started October 24, 2006, during the Muslim feast of Eid, when online activists posted videos of gangs of men rampaged through downtown Cairo, assaulting any woman who came near them, whether [...]

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Reporting sexual violence in the Middle East

Reporting sexual violence in the Middle East

28 January 2012 | Comments (3)

CAIRO: On January 25, as hundreds of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets to mark the one-year anniversary of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak and his cronies from power in 2011, women were harassed and assaulted in the iconic Tahrir Square. It tainted what had been a show of force against the military [...]

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Video: Woman assaulted in Egypt’s Tahrir Square

Video: Woman assaulted in Egypt’s Tahrir Square

28 January 2012 | Comments (0)

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Culture

Protesting against Tunisian repression. -archive

Attitudes changing in Tunisia toward LGBT community

27 January 2012 | Comments (0)

Attitudes in Tunisia are changing toward the lesbian and gay communities in the country and the rise of fear over a backlash against homosexuals in the North Africa are growing. Hend, a 22-year-old veiled university student and lesbian, recently told Bikyamasr.com via email that she is “scared of the future” for her friends and family. [...]

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A bracelet from Egyptian designer

Nermine Ayesh on business, design and her new jewelry line in Egypt

25 January 2012 | Comments (0)

CAIRO: Day after day, fashion consumers in Egypt have more choices than ever before. Yet, young designers in Egypt have struggled to gain a foothold in local and international markets. This week, Bikyamasr.com had the opportunity to talk to Nermine Ayesh, the creative designer and businessperson behind the Cairo-based jewelry line 3een Silver Jewelry. The [...]

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German publisher backs down on publishing Hitler extracts

German publisher backs down on publishing Hitler extracts

25 January 2012 | Comments (1)

Munich (dpa) – A history-magazine publisher who planned to publish extracts from Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf in Germany this week backed down Wednesday in the face of government pressure. Germany has banned publication of Mein Kampf, a key Nazi tract, since 1945. Peter McGee said the extracts would be greyed out, and only an accompanying [...]

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Religion

Bhikkhu Kittikhun Thongnam on temple roof.

Thai monk seeks nirvana on temple roof

28 January 2012 | Comments (0)

Bangkok (dpa) – A Thai monk spent a night sitting on top of a Buddhist temple in an attempt to attain nirvana, news reports said Saturday. Bhikkhu Kittikhun Thongnam, 34, scaled the roof of Prathum Thong temple in Surin province, 400 kilometers north-east of Bangkok, and spent Thursday night atop the building in what he [...]

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Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb delivered a speech for protesters, marking the anniversary of Egypt's January 25 Revolution.

Egypt: Sheikh of Al-Azhar outlines 12 steps to achieve the demands of the revolution

25 January 2012 | Comments (1)

CAIRO: The Grand Imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar Sunni authority, Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, delivered a speech marking the anniversary of Egypt’s January 25 Revoltuion, calling upon people to preserve unity and integrity as they observe the day. The speech, which was delivered by Dr. Hassan El Shafei, advisor to the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, stated that the [...]

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Egypt protesters have spat with Islamists over uprising revolution

Egypt protesters have spat with Islamists over uprising revolution

25 January 2012 | Comments (0)

CAIRO: Egypt protesters demanding an end to the military junta’s rule over the country became embroiled briefly with members of the Muslim Brotherhood over how the anniversary of the January 25, 2011 uprising should be spent. The Brotherhood members wanted to see the protests celebratory in marking the first year since 18 days of street [...]

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Environment

Biodiesel partnership to reduce transport emissions in UAE.

Biodiesel buses on the move in UAE

26 January 2012 | Comments (0)

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates is to launch a new bus system with a little biodiesel blend in an effort to reduce the country’s massive carbon footprint of the School Transport Services (STS). Lootah Biofuels is partnering with the state to enable the new petrol blend to be introduced into the transport of students to [...]

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UN stresses need for green investments to protect world’s oceans

UN stresses need for green investments to protect world’s oceans

25 January 2012 | Comments (0)

Manila (dpa) – Investments in sustainable and green initiatives are needed to ensure the health and productivity of the world’s oceans, which are strained by overexploitation, pollution and climate change, according to a UN report released on Wednesday. The report, Green Economy in a Blue World, warned that the ecological health and economic productivity of [...]

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Sumatra’s elephants moving closer to extinction

Sumatra’s elephants moving closer to extinction

24 January 2012 | Comments (0)

JAKARTA: Sumatra’s elephant population could be extinct within 30 years if action is not immediately taken to end the destruction fo their habitant, the WWF said on Tuesday. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN, has downgraded the status of the Sumatran elephant from “endangered” to “critically endangered,” WWF said. “The Sumatran elephant joins [...]

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Egypt in Crisis

Other Recent Articles

Yemeni American Coalition for Change seeks justice for Saleh

Yemeni American Coalition for Change seeks justice for Saleh

| 28 January 2012 | Comments (0)

SANA’A: A group called the Yemeni American Coalition for Change (YACC) announced on Wednesday that it was moving against President Ali Abdullah Saleh as it sought the freezing of his assets and his indictment in a court of law for crimes against humanity. YACC, which has been campaigning for Yemenis’ rights to democracy and freedom [...]

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Syrian rebels hold seven Iranians, says senior defector

Syrian rebels hold seven Iranians, says senior defector

| 28 January 2012 | Comments (0)

Cairo (dpa) – Syrian rebels are holding seven Iranians, including five military experts, the deputy chief of the dissident Syrian Free Army Colonel Malek al-Kurdi said in remarks published on Saturday. The Iranians were arrested in the restive Syrian city of Homs, al-Kurdi told the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al Awsat. According to him, five of [...]

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Novak Djokovic struggles to dramatic win over Andy Murray in Melbourne

Novak Djokovic struggles to dramatic win over Andy Murray in Melbourne

| 27 January 2012 | Comments (0)

Melbourne (dpa) – Novak Djokovic struggled for nearly five hours into Saturday morning to defeat Andy Murray 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 7-5 for a place in his third final at the Australian Open. The 2008 and 2011 tournament champion struggled with breathing against sometimes-inspired play from Murray before finally prevailing in a demanding physical [...]

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An animal mummified.

In death, ancient Egyptians fed their animals

| 27 January 2012 | Comments (3)

CAIRO: It has recently been discovered that ancient Egyptians placed food in the mouths or stomachs of animal mummies, signifying that animals were treated equally to humans in death, and perhaps also in life. In a study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the mummies of the sacred ibis birds are the first known [...]

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French police

French police abuse power with black and Arab men, says report

| 27 January 2012 | Comments (0)

A new report published by New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that French police are party to abusing their power when dealing with black and Arab men and boys. The rights group said that police “conduct unwarranted and abusive identity checks” against the minorities. The 55-page report, “The Root of Humiliation: Abusive Identity Checks [...]

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Tanks storm Syria’s restive Hama city, killing 4

Tanks storm Syria’s restive Hama city, killing 4

| 27 January 2012 | Comments (0)

Beirut (dpa) – Syrian army tanks on Friday stormed the city of Hama, a hub for opposition protests against the government, killing at least 44 people, among them women and children, activists said. “Tanks are attacking the city from four directions. They are firing their heavy machine guns randomly,” activist Abu Omar told dpa by [...]

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