Some 1.1 million tourists visited Egypt in March 2013, a 20.5 percent increase on March of last year, government statistics agency CAPMAS reported on Tuesday. However, figures are still lower than the March 2010 level of 1.3 million tourists. Tourists came mainly from Western Europe, followed by Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Tourists spent a total of 11.9 million nights in the country in March, 17 percent more than in March of last year. The number of tourists from Arab countries increased by 3.8 percent to 180,000. More»

On Wednesday morning Dr Hesham Kandil, Egypt's Premier, resumed his talks with the Libyan counterpart Ali Zidan at the Heliopolis Palace, during which President Mohamed Morsi will discuss the bilateral relations between Egypt and Libya, especially the Egyptian labor in Libya as well as the joint cooperation in the field of education. The talks with Libyan Premier kicked off yesterday, whereas the two sides agreed on rapidly facilitating the procedures of entering Egyptians to Libya  and codifying the Egyptian workers' states, more and above, assisting the Libyan side in restructuring its institutions and training the caders. On the other hand, the talks yesterday tackled the Libyan demand on intensifying the cooperation between the two sides in the field of education as well as higher education, and making use of the Egyptian experience in this field. More»

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi expressed in a verbal message to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Egypt is trying to restore leading role in reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks along with international efforts, a Palestinian official said Tuesday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Morsi was trying to restore the leading Egyptian role, which has receded after the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Morsi's request that Cairo "must play a role in the peace process" was conveyed to Abbas verbally by the Egyptian ambassador in Ramallah, the official said. The official said that Abbas will study the Egyptian request when he meets Morsi on Thursday, as Abbas plans a three-day visit to Cairo starting Wednesday. The coming meeting between the two leaders is the fifth since Morsi was elected president in June 2012. The meeting will focus on the national Palestinian reconciliation, which Egypt sponsors, and the U.S. efforts to revive the peace talks that have stalled since 2010. More»

Negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure a $4.8 billion loan for Egypt are nearing their end, Prime Minister Hisham Kandil said on Monday. Kandil added that he expects Egypt to obtain the loan with 45 days before the parliamentary elections are held. “The financial gap is big since revenues are less than expenses,” Kandil told al-Arabiya channel. Closing this gap is the core of economic reform, he stated. The government is exerting efforts to increase investments in Egypt, Kandil said, adding that he sensed real interest from countries he recently visited. The prime minister said he will pay a visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia soon. Saudi Arabia has given Egypt billions in loans to support its ailing economy. Egypt is seeking to obtain the IMF loan in an attempt to boost its struggling economy, which suffered after that uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in 2011. More»

Egypt's prosecutors on Tuesday referred a Christian schoolteacher to trial on charges of insulting Islam, judicial sources said. Dimiana Abdel-Nour, who was arrested on Wednesday, was accused by her Muslim students' parents of insulting Islam and comparing it to Christianity by saying that the late Coptic Pope Shenouda was better than the Prophet Mohammad. Alongside the political and economic turmoil Egypt has endured since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February 2011, tensions have risen between Muslims and Christians, especially since the election of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in June. Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's 84 million people and have complained that the authorities have failed to protect them since Mubarak was ousted, giving radical Islamists a free hand. More»

The police used to rule the streets in Egypt with a firm and often frightening hand. But now that they have virtually withdrawn from public view, and the streets are becoming increasingly lawless, people are asking where they are and why they have abandoned them? In her series of reports, Egypt's Challenge, the BBC's Shaimaa Khalil examines the role of the police in the country two years after the revolution. It is early morning assembly at the Police Academy - formerly known as the Mubarak Police Academy - on the outskirts of Cairo. Hundreds of cadets are lined up neatly, each group with different coloured epaulettes, indicating their year of training. It is early morning assembly at the Police Academy - formerly known as the Mubarak Police Academy - on the outskirts of Cairo. Hundreds of cadets are lined up neatly, each group with different coloured epaulettes, indicating their year of training. They are all clean-shaven, very young and trying their best to look as serious as possible. The day starts with a warm-up run. "Let me hear your loud shouts," they chant after their instructor. "I have never feared death." The reputation of the police force in Egypt is one of heavy handedness and oppression. More»

Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Kandil announced a cabinet reshuffle recently that included a number of new ministers from the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood's leadership. This development seems to have confirmed the worst fears of the Egyptian opposition, which has raised concern over the "Brotherhoodization" of the country. Although the increased representation of the Brothers in the government is cause for alarm for Egypt's secularists and liberals, they should be concerned about a quieter, but more worrying process -- the Islamization of Egypt's political institutions -- which is likely to be far more durable than the Brotherhood's grip on political power. This phenomenon is not just underway in Egypt, however. Islamist power and the Islamization of society are what the future holds for Egypt, Tunisia, post-Assad Syria, and likely other countries in the region. Given that the noticeable evidence of the Islamization in the Middle East is few and far between, the idea that Islamization is the trajectory of the region might seem misplaced. Egypt's Muslim Brothers and Tunisia's Ennahda have not declared alcohol forbidden, forced women to don the hijab, or instituted hudud punishments (i.e., specific punishments for specific crimes set forth in the Qur'an or hadiths). It was big news in Egypt several weeks ago when the Le Roi Hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada poured out all its alcohol and established a female-only floor and swimming pool, but only because there have been so few incidents along these lines -- observers tend to forget that what was Cairo's Grand Nile Tower (formerly the Hyatt) went dry well before anyone ever contemplated Hosni Mubarak's ignominious fall. More»

A battle between rival religious power centres over Egypt’s institutions and the nature of its Muslim identity threatens economic and political stability in the Arab world’s most populous country. While Egypt observers have fixated on the battle between secularists and Islamists as the defining fact of political life since the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi won the presidency last year, some analysts say there is an equally intense contest between competing religious groups. This fight has already had economic consequences and political implications as rival groups battle for popular advantage on issues such as a new market for debt securities, a multibillion dollar IMF loan package and the country’s rising birth rate. “I think what we’re seeing is a battle for who represents Islam in Egypt,” said Shadi Hamid, a scholar at the Brookings Doha Centre think-tank. “It’s up for grabs and there are a lot of competitors. Each has a different conception of the role of Islam in public life.” More»

Organisers of a new signature drive aimed at withdrawing confidence from President Mohamed Morsi say their campaign is gaining momentum, despite doubts as to the initiative's efficacy and the recent launch of a counter-campaign. Unhappy with Egypt's Islamist government, young Egyptian activists have recently launched the Tamarod – or 'Rebellion' – campaign, to force Morsi off presidency and "fomenting rebellion against the Muslim Brotherhood," the group from which Morsi hails. The initiative seeks to collect 15 million signatures in support of a vote of no-confidence in Morsi, outnumbering the roughly 13.2 million votes Morsi won in Egypt's first-ever free presidential polls last year, in which he narrowly beat Mubarak-era prime minister Ahmed Shafiq. More»

Members of the Shura Council, Egypt’s upper house of parliament, requested on Monday the removal of the Israeli ambassador from Egypt and the withdrawal of his Egyptian counterpart in Tel Aviv in response to the continuing assaults against Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Shura Council Speaker Ahmed Fahmy pointed out during a meeting that the Council does not have the authority to remove the ambassador. However, he promised he would pass the request on to the cabinet. The demand was supported by several MPs, but was initiated by MP Mohamed El-Sagheer of the Building and Development Party, the political arm of the ultra-conservative Islamist group Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya. The Arab League held a special meeting on Sunday to denounce recent attacks by Jewish settlers on Al-Asqa mosque, and to decide on a definitive stance to take on the issue. More»