Egypt’s public prosecutor on Saturday ordered the arrest of popular satirist Bassem Youssef over alleged insults to Islam and to President Mohamed Mursi, state news agency MENA reported. Judicial sources told AFP that several complaints had been filed against Youssef, whose razor-sharp humor -- delivered on his weekly television program Albernameg (The Show) --
Egypt will receive payment facilities from American and European suppliers of wheat, an Egyptian newspaper on Saturday quoted minister of supplies Bassem Ouda as saying, as the world’s biggest wheat importer struggles to pay for imports. Two years of turmoil since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak has badly hit an economy starved of
Turkey exported almost $120million worth of gold to Iran in February, data showed, suggesting the two countries’ trade of gold for natural gas has resumed despite tighter U.S. sanctions, though at levels below last year’s peaks. U.S. officials have sought to prevent Turkish gold exports from providing a financial lifeline to Tehran, which has
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.
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,
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
