Egypt economic growth slows amid soaring inflation
CAIRO: Egypt's growth rate contracted to 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2007/08, down from 7.3 percent in the first nine months of the year, hit by…
UN calls for 'rational' monetary policy in developing world
CAIRO: Spillover from recession in developed nations in tandem with a set of overly restrictive monetary policies imposed by developing-world central banks grappling with roaring food and energy-related inflation could…
Oriental Weavers' stock tumbles on legal fears
CAIRO: Carpet-maker Oriental Weavers tumbled 7.87 percent to LE 33.70 after sources at the Egyptian prosecutor s office said that the prosecutor general had requested that the Shoura Council (Upper…
'Contemporaries Views' from Egypt's finest artists
Featuring some of the best works showcased in Cairo in months, Masar's current show "Contemporary Views created a niche for itself and the gallery hosting it among the repetitive theme…
Are Ramadan serials cashing in on censorship?
It has become a sort of Ramadan tradition to hear of scriptwriters, actors and directors clashing with censorship authorities over editing decisions allegedly made without their consent. But how much…
A tale of two bookstores
On Shagaret El-Dorr Street stand two of the oldest and most prominent multilingual bookstores in Zamalek, not more than a minute's walk apart.Owner Ramzy Nashed Salama remembers the exact date…
From Hollywood to Egypt, a new face is changing the landscape of film casting
Passionate and energetic, Mohammed Hassan is thinking big. Mo Nassah, as he is known in the Hollywood film industry, is preparing for the shooting of "Pharaoh Akhnaton, the first American…
The guns and gold of August
CAMBRIDGE: China and Russia have just provided the world with sharp contrasts in the use of power. As the French analyst Dominique Moisi recently put it, "whereas China intends to…
Libya Calling
The recent signing in Tripoli of "a comprehensive claims settlement between the United States and Libya marks a new beginning not only in US-Libya relations, but between Libya and the…
In search of 'true' Islam
Last week I had a debate with the editor-in-chief of a Christian daily newspaper in Denmark, which had refused to publish the controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohamed in 2006,…