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Acting Muslim Brotherhood leader sentenced to life in prison

Acting Muslim Brotherhood leader sentenced to life in prison

AN Egyptian court sentenced Mahmoud Ezzat, the former acting leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, to life in prison yesterday, months after he was detained in a Cairo apartment. Security forces arrested Ezzat last August in a raid in Cairo's Fifth Settlement district, the latest blow to a movement that has been the target of a crackdown since it was forced from power in 2013. Ezzat was sentenced on charges of inciting violence and supplying firearms during clashes outside the Brotherhood's headquarters between its supporters and opponents in 2013, a judicial source said. Other senior Brotherhood members have been sentenced to…
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Egypt prepares to start move to new capital, away from the chaos of Cairo

Egypt prepares to start move to new capital, away from the chaos of Cairo

AIDAN LEWIS ad MOHAMED ABDELLAH EGYPT is racing to prepare a grandiose new capital city in the desert east of Cairo before the first civil servants move in this summer and ahead of the delayed official opening of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's flagship project. At the heart of the city, workers are putting finishing touches to an avenue of ministries that echo the architecture of pharaonic temples and adjoin a raised Islamic complex, two domed parliament buildings and a sprawling presidential compound. There will be a monorail passing through a business district where a 385-metre central tower is close to…
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French minister, in Cairo, affirms respect for Islam in dispute over cartoons

French minister, in Cairo, affirms respect for Islam in dispute over cartoons

AIDAN LEWIS and MAHOUD MOURAD THE French foreign minister asserted his country's "profound respect for Islam" during a visit to Cairo on Sunday in a dispute with the Muslim world over France's defence of the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian's visit comes in the wake of several attacks in France apparently provoked by anger over the defence of the caricatures, considered blasphemous by Muslims, as freedom of expression. After meeting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Le Drian said an "anti-French" campaign in the Muslim world had often been…
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Satellite data provides fresh insights into the amount of water in the Nile basin

Satellite data provides fresh insights into the amount of water in the Nile basin

FLOWING through 11 African countries, the Nile River plays an important role in the lives of more than 24% of Africa’s population. To both upstream and downstream countries, the Nile waters are crucial in development planning, food and energy production. EMAD HASAN, Postdoctoral Researcher in Remote Sensing Hydrology, Binghamton University, State University of New York AONDOVER TARHULE, Professor, Vice president for Academic Affairs and Provost, at Illinois State University, Illinois State University As countries vie for these resources, there has been immense tension. Most notably, Egypt and Sudan have challenged Ethiopia’s decision to construct and fill the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance…
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Sudan and Ethiopia pledge to push for deal on Blue Nile dam

Sudan and Ethiopia pledge to push for deal on Blue Nile dam

ETHIOPIA’S prime minister and Sudan's leadership have said they would make every effort to reach a deal on a giant hydropower dam on the Blue Nile that has caused a bitter dispute between Addis Ababa and Cairo over water supplies. Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan failed to strike an agreement on the operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) before the reservoir behind the dam began being filled in July. But the three countries have returned to talks under African Union mediation. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited Khartoum on Tuesday with a high-level delegation to meet Sudanese officials, who…
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After losing jobs, many Sudanese struggle to make ends meet in Egypt

After losing jobs, many Sudanese struggle to make ends meet in Egypt

ULF LAESSING AFTER  losing his job as house cleaner in Cairo, Sudanese refugee Abdel-Nasser Khamis has been struggling to pay his bills. It's a fate shared by tens of thousands of migrants in Egypt, where the fallout from the coronavirus has hit the economy hard, U.N. officials and aid workers say. Coronavirus lockdowns also cost many Egyptians their jobs. More than a quarter of those who had a job have not been working since the government brought in measures to fight the pandemic, while more than half have been put on shorter hours, the statistics office says. In turn Egyptians…
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Sisi says Egypt won’t stand idle in Libya if security is threatened

Sisi says Egypt won’t stand idle in Libya if security is threatened

MAHMOUD MOURAD and OMAR FAHMY EGYPT will not stand idle in the face of any direct threat to Egyptian and Libyan security, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has said after lawmakers allied to commander Khalifa Haftar urged Cairo to intervene militarily in Libya's civil war. Tribal leaders who flew in from Haftar's Benghazi stronghold told Sisi at a meeting in Cairo that they authorized him and the Egyptian army to intervene in their country to counter what they described as the "Turkish invasion and terrorism". The meeting, broadcast on state TV, illustrates the growing regional stakes in Libya, divided since 2014 between…
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