Egypt - Page 4

Traffic through the vital Suez Canal was blocked Wednesday when the MV Ever Given, one of the largest container ships in operation, turned sideways and ran aground.

An Egyptian judge on Friday overturned an acquittal verdict of two “debauched” young women who were jailed last year for posting “indecent” videos of themselves laughing, smiling and belly dancing on the social media video app TikTok.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, told reporters at a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Tuesday that his country and its allies will “fully set our differences aside” with Qatar, ending a virtual blockade that has endured for over three years.

The Turkish parliament approved a plan Tuesday that would keep Turkish forces deployed in Libya for another 18 months.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has never made a secret of his ambition to become a historic regional leader. His nostalgia for the Ottoman Empire long ago became a source of concern for observers who think he might seriously attempt to bring it back. His detractors mock him as “Sultan Erdogan,” but he might not find that name insulting. Erdogan flexed his military muscle in several recent conflicts. He might be warming up for something bigger, or he may have already overtaxed Turkey’s military strength.

The “Arab Spring” approaches its tenth anniversary – more specifically, the tenth anniversary of the event that triggered those uprisings across the Middle East, the death of Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi on December 17, 2010.

Ethiopian Army Chief of Staff Berhanu Jula gave a televised address on Wednesday in which he denounced Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a longtime member of the Ethiopian government but currently head of the World Health Organization (WHO), as a “criminal” for supporting the Tigray separatists who are fighting against the government in Addis Ababa. Berhanu called on Tedros to step down from his position at WHO, which did not immediately respond to his allegations.

The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement Wednesday condemning “personal attacks” against French President Emmanuel Macron for taking measures to curb radical Islamic violence in the face of the beheading of a schoolteacher this month.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said on Wednesday that worldwide freedom of expression “stops” when Muslims are offended by material they regard as blasphemous, such as the images recently displayed in France.

Egyptian police academy cadets stripped off their shirts and posed topless during a graduation ceremony last week outside of Cairo; video of the ceremony began circulating this week.

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian said on Wednesday that the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Caucasus mountains could become “another Syria” if the international community does not take action.

Egypt’s president on Sunday warned against outside forces trying to foment unrest in the country following a recent string of anti-government protests urged by an exiled opposition leader.

CAIRO — An announcement last month that Egypt’s top prosecutor would investigate an alleged 2014 gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at a luxury Cairo hotel marked a rare moment of triumph for human rights activists.

Egypt’s electoral commission said on Wednesday it would prosecute roughly 54 million people for not voting in a parliament election this month, Abu Dhabi’s the National reported on Thursday.

Mahmoud Ezzat, acting leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, was arrested in Cairo on Friday on charges of terrorism and financial crimes. 

The Lebanese military released a statement on Monday that said teams of its investigators, assisted by French experts, have discovered 25 containers of hydrochloric acid and 54 containers of other dangerous materials at the Port of Beirut, which was devastated on August 4 by a massive explosion blamed on an improperly stored stockpile of ammonium nitrate.

CAIRO — The woman accosted Yasmeen Samir as she swam with her family at a pool in a resort on the North Coast, a stretch of Mediterranean beaches reserved for Egypt’s upper echelons. The reason: Samir was wearing a burkini, a swimsuit worn by conservative Muslims to cover the entire body.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greece’s prime minister is to convene the government’s national security council after Turkey announced its research vessel would be conducting exploratory drilling in the eastern Mediterranean in an area between Cyprus and Greece.

A senior Egyptian official has refuted the claim by Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk that the pyramids were built by aliens, and invited him to visit the country to inspect the historic sites for himself. 

Several Libyan officials told the Associated Press (AP) on Thursday that Turkey pressured Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) into accepting military assistance from Syrian extremist militias and repaying Turkey with lucrative offshore energy deals.

A court in Egypt recently sentenced five female social media influencers to two years in jail each on charges of “violating public morals,” Al Jazeera reported on Monday.

CAIRO — An Egyptian court sentenced several young women to two years in prison Monday for posting “indecent” dance videos on TikTok in a fraught case that critics describe as a further crackdown on self-expression in the conservative society.

A director and trustee of Islamic Relief, Britain’s biggest Muslim charity, shared posts praising Hamas and branding Jews “the grandchildren of monkeys and pigs”.

Greece put its armed forces on alert on Tuesday after Turkey announced it would be engaging in a seismic survey in disputed waters and launched 15 Turkish naval vessels.

The Egyptian parliament on Monday authorized President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to deploy troops in Libya to halt the advance of Turkish-backed militia allied with the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has revealed that an Egyptian spy worked in the offices of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert for years, possibly collecting information on Egyptian opposition groups.

TEL AVIV — Egypt, France, Germany and Jordan warned Israel on Tuesday against its plan to annex parts of the West Bank, saying that doing so could damage bilateral relations.

Libya’s al-Watiya airbase was hit by airstrikes on Saturday night, drawing condemnation and a promise of retaliation from the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) headquartered in Tripoli.

A delegation of Turkish business leaders is scheduled to visit Libya within the next two weeks to evaluate Turkish business opportunities as the civil war that began with former U.S. President Barack Obama’s invasion of Libya winds down.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi said this week that his government desires peace and stability in neighboring Libya, but might be prepared to intervene with military force to protect Egypt’s western border and thwart the ambitions of Turkey and its militia allies.

An Egyptian gay rights activist arrested in Cairo for raising the LGBT rainbow flag at a concert in 2017 and subsequently imprisoned and tortured has taken her own life, the Times of Israel reported on Tuesday.

Jacob Rees-Mogg has proposed the flattening of Stonehenge because of its ugly associations with human sacrifice.

The Ministry of the Interior of Saudi Arabia on Friday announced a 24-hour coronavirus lockdown and nationwide curfew for the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which is scheduled for May 23 to 27 in the kingdom.

CAIRO — Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday condemned a new Egyptian TV drama set in the year 2120 that predicts Israel’s destruction as well as the breakup of the United States.

BAHTIM, Egypt — Every year during Ramadan, the Light of Muhammad Mosque sets up long tables on the street and dishes up free meals at sunset for the poor to break their daily fast. It’s a charity that many rely on in this impoverished district on the edge of the Egyptian capital.

Cairo — Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox church has decided to suspend prayers preceding Easter celebrations later this month as part of efforts to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.