CAIRO: In a visit to Cairo, Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for the Middle East Philip Gordon reaffirmed the importance of bilateral relations and U.S. support for Egypt’s transition to democracy. The top US official highlighted Egypt’s role in “promoting regional peace and security”, in his meeting with Egyptian government representatives, businessmen and political party and ...

CAIRO: Egypt's top prosecutor ordered on Tuesday the release of a Coptic schoolteacher accused of contempt of Islam on a bail of EGP 20,000, pending investigations. Demyana Emad, a 23-year-old social studies teacher, was arrested last week for complaints filed against her by her students and their parents, accusing her of insulting Islam and spreading Christian teachings. The Upper Egypt Luxor prosecution h ...

CAIRO: Naguib Gabriel, head of the Egyptian Federation of Human Rights, filed a memorandum to the Egyptian prosecutor-general on Sunday, asking for the immediate release of Coptic schoolteacher Demyana Emad and other Copts who are currently imprisoned as a result of a rash of case with sectarian elements. "Copts are fed up with being prosecuted on charges of evangelism and contempt of Islamic religion, espe ...

CAIRO: A statement from a member of Parliament of the ultra-conservative Salafist Nour Party has argued that Shia are "more dangerous than naked women" in comments that have brought on an onslaught of sardonic comments as well as anger from Egypt's activist community, who have urged the government to make it clear that discrimination will not be tolerated. According to a report in al-Ahram - a government-ru ...

CAIRO: Egyptian Finance Minister Fayyad Abdel Moneim said on Sunday that Egypt expects to receive additional aid from Qatar worth three billion dollars. The Finance Minister confirmed the additional aid to Aswat Masriya but declined to give further information, saying that the details can be acquired from the Central Bank. The Qatari government has pledged three billion dollars in additional assistance to t ...

CAIRO: The second hearing of Ahmed Douma’s trial for insulting the Egyptian president and spreading false information will be held on Monday. Douma, who has pleaded not guilty, was transferred from Damanhour to Cairo on Sunday evening upon an order by the Justice Minister. A prosecutor has ordered that Douma be detained pending investigations over allegations of spreading false information likely to harm th ...

The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) expresses its solidarity with citizen Demiana Abdelnour, who was accused of defamation of religion and whose imprisonment was extended to a further 15 days pending investigation in case no. 810/2013 Luxor/administrative. The association calls upon the prosecution to release her and discard the complaint filed against her in that regard as well as ...

DUBAI: There won't be a ban on bikinis or alcohol in Egypt just yet. According to the country's Tourism Minsiter Hisham Zaazou, the government has no intention of cracking down on women who wear bikinis or foreigners coming to the country and want to have a drink of alcohol. It comes as tension between the conservative Salafists and the Muslim Brotherhood government has increased, especially concerning the ...

CAIRO: A Coptic Christian man who was accused of attempting to kill his wife for converting to Islam died on Sunday upon jumping off the fourth floor of an Assiut court before his trial. The defendant's wife had publicly announced her decision to convert, marrying a Muslim and asking for the custody of her son. She was stabbed in the neck and admitted to a hospital yesterday evening. Muslim-Christian tensio ...

CAIRO: A lawyer for former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak denied that the aging former dictator had spoken to el-Watan newspaper, claiming the reporter and publication fabricated an interview that claimed Mubarak said it was "too early" to judge current President Mohamed Morsi and his performance in the top job. According to Sunday's edition of El-Watan, it reported that one of its journalists had broken ...