Power cuts in Egypt are due to a lack of funds to buy fuel for power stations, the oil ministry said on Thursday, another sign that a government funding crunch is disrupting the wider economy. Egypt has endured two years of political instability since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak and is trying to
An Iraqi official says Baghdad has rejected a request from Egypt for a $4 billion bond to be deposited in Egypt’s central bank to bolster its faltering economy. The official said on Friday that it’s "too risky" to deposit such a large sum in Egypt but that talks are continuing for a smaller amount.
During the last hours of their agony in 1453, the Christian faithful took refuge within the hallowed walls of the Hagia Sophia. The Muslims killed the weak and the elderly and reduced the others to slavery. When the carnage came to an end, Sultan Mehmed II ordered an Islamic scholar to declare that there was
While the European Union drags its feet on the issue, the Bahraini parliament voted Tuesday to label the Lebanon-based Hizbullah group a terrorist organization. Hizbullah was accused by Bahrain of seeking to overthrow its government in 2011. In a report submitted to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the ruling Khalifa family maintained Hizbullah trained
Bulgaria has more evidence that Hizbullah was behind the terror attack at Burgas last year, and it will soon present that evidence to the world, Bulgarian Prime Minister Marin Raikov said Wednesday. A report by Reuters quoted Raikov as saying that Bulgaria “will continue the investigation. We will continue to work on this very seriously,
Across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Islam is on the march again and Christians are marked for annihilation. In lands once known as the heartland of Christianity, where the Apostles and early missionaries spread their faith, Christianity is a faith under fire and Christians themselves are a dwindling presence. Nowhere is
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has appealed to the Arab League to pressure the United Nations over the construction of new homes for Israelis in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. Abbas repeated claims that the building of new homes for Israelis would prevent the establishment of a new Arab state in the area. The UN
A prominent Egyptian dissident against the ruling Islamists will stand trial for allegedly participating in a May attack on a presidential candidate’s headquarters, he told AFP on Thursday. Alaa Abdel Fattah, who was jailed during the previous regime of Hosni Mubarak, said he had received a letter telling him he and 12 others, were to
The ruling regime in Syria had harsh words Monday for a decision by the Arab League to hand over Syria's seat in the League to representatives of rebel groups in the country. In an editorial, the state newspaper Tishrin said that the move was “an attempt by Qatar and the rest of the traitorous Arab
After two years of political upheaval and weakness in the economy, companies in Egypt are struggling with a sinking currency and a shortage of foreign exchange, forcing some to make painful changes to their business plans. The central bank’s foreign currency reserves have tumbled to $13.5 billion, covering little more than two months’ imports,
