Global and local takes on gold demand at odds
CAIRO: The price of gold recovered modestly on Monday to nearly $800 per ounce following a long tumble from the heights it reached last March, when it hovered above $1,000…
Fitch cuts Egypt's outlook to stable on inflation
LONDON: Ratings agency Fitch lowered Egypt s ratings outlook to stable from positive and cut the country s local currency debt rating to BBB- from BBB on Monday, citing the…
Diab's Marina gig too crowded, say fans
It usually takes 15 minutes to drive from Marina to Golf Porto Marina on the North Coast, but on the day of pop star Amr Diab's concert, we were lucky…
Civil war in Gaza isn't in Israel's interests
WASHINGTON: When a bomb exploded in the Shaja'iyyah district of Gaza last month, killing four Hamas operatives and a 5-year-old girl, Hamas blamed Fatah, and moved violently against its remaining…
The climate of security
CAMBRIDGE: While George W. Bush has begun to acknowledge the risks of global climate change, his administration failed to lead on the issue for eight years. That may change after…
The power of a Jewish-Muslim narrative
LUND, Sweden: Crises in the Middle East are seen and interpreted differently depending on whom you ask. For example, Israel s perception of and reaction to Hamas and Hezbollah is…
Hard Talk: An Unrealistic State
Whenever Ramadan approaches government agencies suddenly become concerned with markets, goods and services. This is a feature of the patriarchal state which the Egyptian regime is unwilling to admit has…
The trials and tribulations of Egypt's Third Culture Kids
CAIRO: 'Cross culture children', 'natty nomads', 'cultural chameleons' are all around us. But away from what may sound like derogatory names, sociologists call them Third Culture Kids (TCK) - a…
Syndicate chief refutes religious discrimination in organ transplant draft law
CAIRO: Head of the Doctors' Syndicate Hamdy El Sayed refuted claims made by human rights activists that the proposed organ transplant law discriminates between Muslims and Christians. The draft law…
Ministry qualification tests leave teachers disgruntled
CAIRO: Teachers, unhappy with the Ministry of Education's decision to peg their salary increase to standardized tests, are trying to build a bloc within their syndicate that would be strong…