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,…
PRESS ROUND UP: Tamim murder dubbed 'crime of the year' by local press
CAIRO: Hisham Talaat Moustafa, Egyptian billionaire and real estate tycoon, charged with hiring a hitman to murder Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim, is making headlines in the local press. Some papers…
Endowments ministry denies banning Ramadan retreats
CAIRO: The Ministry of Endowments has not banned Muslims from practicing customary Ramadan mosque retreats (e'tekaf) during the final days of Ramadan, Sheikh Baher Darwish, chairman of the government mosques…
Victims' families and defense committee clash on ferry appeal hearing
CAIRO: On the first appeal hearing against the verdict of the doomed Al Salam 98 ferry case, families of the victims clashed with Al Salam company's defense committee when the…
100 pct of Egypt's honey infected, says study
CAIRO: A recent study conducted by the National Institute for Medical Surveillance and Research revealed that 100 percent of the honey produced in Egypt is infected with "Cloramfenicol, which causes…