One on one with Finance Minister Ghali
The G-20 financial experts and ministers say it is essential to support vulnerable developing economies. Youssef Boutros Ghali is Egypt s finance minister. He chairs the IMF s international monetary…
Austin film fans get early look at 'Bruno'
Some of the wildest scenes in the upcoming Sacha Baron Cohen comedy "Bruno were shot in Texas, so it seems only fitting that he would choose to unleash some early…
Warhol's Pop Art 60s and 70s revived in Paris
Days before the opening of the world's first major show of portraits by Andy Warhol, wacky designer and onetime Warhol associate Jean-Charles de Castelbajac paid his own tribute to the…
Local comedians stand-up on their own two feet
A burning spotlight shined at auditioners, one by one as they attempted to make a panel of professional comedians laugh.With an eye for talent and an ambition of unearthing stand-up…
Egyptian Youssef Ziedan takes home the 2009 Arabic Booker
CAIRO: Historian and novelist Youssef Ziedan won the second International Prize for Arabic Fiction - the Arabic Booker prize - on Monday for his best-selling novel "Azazeel (Beelzebub). Ziedan is…
Iran's muddled presidential politics
WASHINGTON, DC: The decision of former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami not to seek the presidency again has revealed how muddled Iranian presidential politics now is. In trying to sort out…
Water wars and water woes
WASHINGTON, DC: Water privatization is often portrayed as morally wrong but if we look beyond ideology and sentimentality this doesn't add up. Poor countries, where lack of water and sanitation…
The fatal myth of a drug-free world
VIENNA: Negotiations at the United Nations High Level Summit on drugs in Vienna last week fell flat. Although 25 countries officially stated their support for proven methods such as needle…
Ayman Nour disbarred
CAIRO: Former Ghad party leader Ayman Nour revealed that his name has been struck off by the Lawyers Syndicate on Monday.Nour was speaking at a seminar held at Cairo s…
Doctors protest 'paltry' salaries
CAIRO: Doctors protested on the steps of their Doctors' Syndicate Tuesday against a government pay scheme introduced last year.Wearing white coats and holding up placards with slogans reading "a doctor's…