Prisoner swap: Short-lived ramifications
By Shlomo Brom The exchange of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, after years of campaigning and negotiating is a dramatic event that deeply affects Israeli public opinion…
The thin blue line
By Philip Whitfield CAIRO: Between anarchy and order stand the police. Their power is derived from trust and respect. Not brutality. Remember Steve Biko, the South African anti-apartheid activist? He was…
Military detains activist for 15 days pending investigations, releases another
CAIRO: Egypt’s Military Prosecutor decided Sunday to detain activist Alaa Abdel Fattah for 15 days pending investigations on charges of inciting violence during the Oct. 9 Maspero clashes. Activist Bahaa…
Misr Cement Qena 9-month net falls 16 pct
CAIRO: Egypt's Misr Cement Qena said on Sunday its nine-month net profit fell 16 percent from a year earlier. Net profit fell to LE 263.7 million ($44.2 million) from LE…
Egypt sells LE 5 bln in T-bills, yields rise
CAIRO: Egypt's central bank sold LE 5 billion ($837.55 million) in domestic treasury bills on Sunday, the same amount it had offered, the Finance Ministry said. The central bank sold…
Alcotexa sells 3,167 T cotton in past week
CAIRO: Egypt's Alexandria Cotton Exporters' Association (Alcotexa) committed to sell 3,167 tons of cotton in the week that ended on Oct. 29, an Alcotexa official told Reuters on Sunday. The…
GASC buys 120,000 T Ukrainian wheat
CAIRO: Egypt, the world's largest wheat importer, has bought 120,000 tons of Ukrainian wheat for January 11-20 shipment, the main government wheat buyer said on Saturday. Nomani Nomani, vice chairman…
Arab FMs tell Assad to stop killing civilians
CAIRO: An Arab foreign ministers taskforce on Syria sent President Bashar Al-Assad an urgent message on Friday denouncing "the continued killings of civilians" and called on him to protect them.…
US Apache plans $1.5 bln Egypt investments in 2012
CAIRO: American oil and gas company Apache Corp plans to increase investments in its Egypt operations by $1.5 billion starting in 2012, Egypt's General Authority for Free-zones and Investments (GAFI)…
Muslim Brotherhood makes first visit to Hamas-led Gaza
GAZA: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood visited the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for the first time on Saturday, signaling a shift in Cairo's posture toward the Palestinian Islamists since the fall of President…