Egypt

Egyptian shoe-wielding MP barred from attending remaining sessions this year

Ahram Online, by Gamal Essam El-Din

Independent Nasserist MP Kamal Ahmed will be banned from attending parliament’s remaining sessions this year for hitting a fellow MP with his shoe

Egypt's MP Kamal Ahmed (Photo: Al Ahram)

A special Egyptian parliamentary committee has recommended that independent Nasserist MP Kamal Ahmed be barred from attending parliament’s remaining sessions this year for assaulting a fellow MP.

A report prepared by the committee said that Ahmed violated parliamentary ethics and rules when he hit his colleague Tawfik Okasha with his shoe during a plenary session on 28 February.

In a plenary session held on 28 February, Ahmed took all by surprise when he hit Okasha with his shoe in protest against the latter holding a dinner meeting with the Israeli ambassador in Egypt Haim Koren on 24 February.

The committee, formed by parliament on 28 February, was entrusted with questioning Ahmed and Okasha.

It recommended on 3 March that Okasha be banned from attending one legislative season – nine months – for meeting with the Israeli ambassador in Cairo without parliament’s prior approval, though MPs later voted in favour of stripping Okasha of his parliamentary membership entirely.

Ahmed, who was questioned by the committee for two hours on Sunday, told reporters that he did not regret hitting Okasha with his shoe.

“I told the committee that it was a great point of pride for me to take this action against a man who directed an insult to all Egyptians, and I am ready to do it again and again,” Kamal said.

Ahmed told the committee that he was deeply angered by Okasha’s meeting with the Israeli ambassador and his tarnishing of the image of late president Gamal Abdel-Nasser.

“I decided to act unilaterally and on my own,” said Ahmed. “I saw that the best way to punish Okasha was to hit him with my shoe, and I believe that my reaction was highly regarded by the Egyptian public.”

The committee said that although it fully understands Ahmed’s angry reaction, it believes that he behaved improperly.

“The punishment of Okasha should have been left to parliament,” said the committee report, adding that “for this reason, it recommends that Ahmed be banned from attending parliament’s remaining plenary sessions – which will end in July or August.”

A lot of MPs, however, told reporters that they will vote down the committee’s recommendation “because they believe that Ahmed did nothing wrong when he hit Okasha with his shoe.”

Kamal Ahmed is an old-time Nasserist MP representing El-Atarin district in Alexandria.

In 1977, Ahmed interrupted late president Anwar El-Sadat while he was delivering a speech in parliament, accusing Sadat of launching a media campaign against late president Nasser.

via english.ahram.org.eg

Egypt To Export 60 Double-Decker Buses To United Kingdom For First Time

Egyptian Streets

Egypt’s vehicle manufacturer MCV will manufacture and export 60 double-decker buses to the United Kingdom, Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil announced on Sunday.

According to Kabil, the new line of vehicle manufacturing “shows trust in the Egyptian industry” from foreign markets.

MCV’s factories produce 8,000 to 10,000 double-decker buses annually, of which 5,000 to 8,000 are exported to a number of countries, including the Netherlands and Hong Kong.

Kabil’s comments came during a tour of industrial complexes in New Salahia and El-Obour cities, which also saw the minister launching a number of new factories in the area.

The new deal, which marks the first time for Egypt to export the buses London tourism is famous for, is a shift from Egypt’s prior dealings with public transportation manufacturing. In 2014, the Transport Authority announced that 600 buses would be supplied by the United Arab Emirates, with half of the fleet manufactured in the UAE and the other half in Egypt.

via egyptianstreets.com

Egypt officially nominates Ahmed Aboul-Gheit to head Arab League

Ahram Online

Egypt has officially nominated its former foreign minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit as chair of the Arab League, state news agency MENA reported on Monday.

Foreign ministers from the 22 countries constituting the league will vote on Aboul-Gheit's appointment on Thursday at a Cairo summit.

No other country has nominated a secretary-general, with Egyptians traditionally voted to head the league.

Aboul-Gheit, 73, served as foreign minister from July 2004 until March 2011 following the overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak.

The nomination comes following current Secretary-General Nabil El-Arabi’s announcement that he would not pursue a second term.

El-Araby, 80, took over as league chief from fellow Egyptian diplomat Amr Moussa in 2011.

El-Arabi's term will end on 30 June.  

via english.ahram.org.eg

Hamas played major role in assassinating Egypt's prosecutor general: Interior Minister

File Photo: Security forces and emergency personnel inspect damages after a bomb attack has targeted Egypt's prosecutor general in the Heliopolis district of Cairo, Egypt, Monday, June 29, 2015 (AP)

The Egyptian interior minister said on Sunday that leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Turkey and the group's Palestinian offshoot Hamas were behind the assassination of  top prosecutor Hisham Barakat in June 2015.

Barakat died from injuries sustained in a Cairo bomb attack; the first successful assassination attempt against a state official since an upswing in militant violence following the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghafar said that Turkish-based leaders of the Brotherhood, from which Egypt's former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi hails, masterminded the assassination, while Hamas "provided training for militants to execute it and also took part in planning it."

"We intercepted electronic communications in a way that had never been done in the history of the Egyptian security apparatus," Abdel-Ghafar told a news conference.

"There is a major conspiracy targeting the Egyptian state… It began a long while ago and included a number of militant attacks, including the assassination of prosecutor-general Hisham Barakat."

Abdel-Ghafar said that Hamas was not involved in the operation within Egypt, but planned and provided training for militants in Gaza.

Though Islamic State group affiliate Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis claimed responsibility for a large number of militant attacks in Egypt over the past two years, no one has claimed responsibility for Barakat's assassination.

Abdel-Ghafar added that police had identified a number of apartments across the country where militants were manufacturing explosives.

"All of those arrested were referred to the prosecution... they all admitted to being Brotherhood members," Abdel-Ghafar said.

During the conference, a video was played showing testimonies of a group of people admitting to being involved in terror activities.

 

via english.ahram.org.eg

Egypt Billionaire Sawiris to Acquire CI Capital by Month-End

Bloomberg Business by Ahmed A Namatalla Tarek El-Tablawy

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris will complete the acquisition of CI Capital Holding this month to create Egypt’s second-biggest investment bank.

The 924 million Egyptian-pound deal ($118 million) is in "execution mode" after the share-purchase agreement was signed, Sawiris said in an interview in Cairo on Sunday. He sees no regulatory objections to the deal. Shares of Orascom Telecom Media & Technology, Sawiris’ investment arm, advanced the most in six weeks.

The acquisition comes about four months after Orascom Telecom Media & Technology, majority owned by Sawiris, paid more than 600 million pounds for Beltone Financial Holding SAE, another investment bank. The billionaire is betting on an eventual recovery in the battered economy of the most populous Arab country, even as a foreign currency shortage hampers growth. Combining Beltone and CI Capital would create a company that controls about 25 percent of brokerage business in Egypt, Sawiris said.

"There’s a major crisis in the economy," Sawiris said. "If you believe that when things get really bad, that’s when they start to get better, it’s the right time to" invest, he said. "The end game is definitely to create the largest player in Egypt."

Market Opportunity

The acquisition of CI Capital is “purely a market opportunity because the investment, brokerage and asset management scene in Egypt was divided into one big player and lots of small and medium-sized fraction players," he added, referring to investment bank EFG-Hermes. The nation’s benchmark stock index has tumbled more than 35 percent over the past 12 months, the world’s worst performer after Ukraine’s gauge.

In North Korea, where OTMT owns a controlling stake in mobile phone company Koryolink, Sawiris is in talks with the government to repatriate $120 million and solve a dispute with a state-owned peer over “unfair competition,” he said. New economic sanctions that

via www.bloomberg.com

Egypt: The failure of the Brotherhood revolution

Al Arabiya English, by Abdulrahman al-Rashed

Abdulrahman al-Rashed

In the last five years, Egypt has had two revolutions. The first overthrew President Hosni Mubarak, the second toppled his successor Mohamed Mursi and got the Muslim Brotherhood out of politics. Attempts at a third revolution to oust the current government and return the Brotherhood to power have failed.

To carry out a third revolution, the organization conducted the largest media and political campaign in its history. Internationally, the Brotherhood worked hard to marshal human rights organizations, research centers and Western government institutions. It succeeded in raising media attention and sympathy from some international NGOs.

Western governments tried to pressure Cairo to cancel the ban on the Brotherhood’s political activities, but in vain. The party was unable to mobilize the Egyptian street against the government, or convince the international community to place sanctions on Cairo.

New TV channels were launched to mobilize the street. Many large channels, newspapers and websites teamed up with new ones to conduct social media campaigns urging the youth to rise up. Agreements were made with Western public relations companies for solidarity with the Brotherhood against the government, but all this failed.

The party even failed in exploiting violence, which was carried out by extremist groups in the Sinai and elsewhere, and which the Brotherhood rushed to justify, claiming that the only solution would be its return to power so terrorism would not engulf Egypt. I believe that the Brotherhood knows it is unable to bring about rapid change. It believes in grassroots change via education, media, culture, mosques, syndicates and charities. However, this time it rushed into battle.

Naivety

It was naive to think the Brotherhood could confront the Egyptian army and authorities. It believed that what happened to Mubarak could happen to any president, disregarding the fact that his regime was weak and old. The Brotherhood did not understand that had the army not supported the uprising against Mubarak, it would have failed.

 

There is no place for it in Arab politics unless it embraces new ideas. Fundamentally, there needs to be a revolution within the organization itself

Abdulrahman al-Rashed

The party might justify its failure by saying security forces prevented people from taking to the streets. However, they tried to do so five years ago, yet people still went out and toppled Mubarak. Egyptians are tired of the Brotherhood and of regional chaos. They want to give the current government the chance to work and succeed.

I believe that the Brotherhood’s failure will delay its chances for another decade at least. There is no place for it in Arab politics unless it embraces new ideas, such as the abolition of the concept of itself as an international organization.

This concept goes against nationalism - to be Jordanian, Kuwaiti, Saudi or Yemeni is a main requirement to belong to the modern state. There is also a need to enlighten the Brotherhood about many social issues. Fundamentally, there needs to be a revolution within the organization itself.

This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on Mar. 05, 2016.
_______________________
Abdulrahman al-Rashed is the former General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel. A veteran and internat

via english.alarabiya.net

Exclusive: Letter By ISIS Fighter To Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Reveals ISIS-Sinai's Ties To Hamas

This is a long excerpt. Read on here. 
Memri

On February 24, 2016, a letter from an Islamic State (ISIS) fighter to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was posted on social media. In it, the fighter strongly protests the close ties and cooperation between ISIS's Sinai province and Hamas, particularly Hamas's military wing.

This letter is the first confirmation of ties between the two organizations that comes from ISIS itself, and a unique firsthand account of the nature of these ties. It appears that the document was not meant for circulation outside ISIS, and to have been leaked by Al-Qaeda supporters.[1]

The letter is by ISIS fighter Abu 'Abdallah Al-Muhajir, who presents himself as a Gazan who joined ISIS in Syria. He writes that he decided to appeal to Al-Baghdadi in order to fulfill his duty as a Muslim to give loyal advice to the leader of the Muslims. His letter is based on his own personal knowledge from his time in Gaza, as well as on information provided to him by other fighters who came to Syria from the Gaza Strip.

With regard to the ties between Hamas and ISIS's Sinai Province, Abu 'Abdallah explains the areas in which the groups collaborate: ISIS fighters in Sinai are smuggling weapons into Gaza for Hamas; Hamas is producing weapons and explosive devices for ISIS Sinai; Hamas is providing logistical assistance to ISIS Sinai, including communications systems and hospitalization for its wounded fighters in Gaza; and ISIS Sinai officials are visiting Gaza and dining at the homes of Hamas government and military wing officials.

Abu 'Abdallah says that he considers these Hamas-ISIS Sinai ties a violation of the principle of loyalty to the Muslims and rejection of non-Muslims (Al-Walaa Wal-Baraa), stating ISIS considers Hamas a movement that has betrayed Islam and that as such there is no justification, even on the pretext of tactical, operational, and logistical necessity, for maintaining ties with it.

ISIS Sinai province displaying weapons training. Source: Telegram.me/HaiAlaElJehad5, February 6, 2016.

Noting that what motivated him to take the unusual step of writing directly to Al-Baghdadi was the rising rage and frustration among ISIS supporters in Gaza who feel abandoned by the ISIS leadership and by ISIS Sinai, Abu 'Abdallah expresses harsh criticism of ISIS Sinai for its warm relationship with Hamas. Hamas, he says, is persecuting and torturing ISIS loyalists, and adds that the disconnect between ISIS supporters in Gaza and ISIS Sinai itself is so great that the Gaza jihadis are now questioning the sincerity of ISIS Sinai's loyalty to ISIS itself and are hesitant to join with it.

Abu 'Abdallah's letter caused a stir among ISIS supporters, particularly in Gaza, both because of its content and because such a direct appeal to ISIS leader Al-Baghdadi had been posted online. A group of pro-ISIS media activists in Gaza, Al-Nusra Al-Maqdisiya, which publishes and disseminates pro-ISIS materials on social media. responded to the letter's publication; however, it denied neither Abu 'Abdallah's claims in the letter, nor the details he gave about the Hamas-ISIS Sinai relationship. It was merely enraged because he mentioned the group his the letter.

Following are excerpts from the letter:

Abu 'Abdallah: If ISIS Sinai Maintains Its Ties With Hamas "We Will All Regret The Disaster That Will Befall Us In Sinai"

Abu 'Abdallah begins his letter by explaining that what ISIS Sinai is doing in its ties with Hamas is serious and could lead to disaster: "A complaint by a soldier in the [Islamic] State to the Caliph of the Muslims, against the actions of the brothers in Sinai Province. An urgent letter from Abu 'Abdallah Al-Muhajir to our commander and Caliph of the Muslims Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, may Allah protect him.
"The Prophet said: 'The religion is sincere advice'... which is why I seek Allah's aid in writing and disseminating this urgent and highly important letter, which has in it serious matters that must be addressed, and ended, by Sheikh Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and the Islamic State leaders. For by Allah, if these things continue and persist, we will all regret the disaster [that will befall] us in the beloved land of Sinai, which is the most important and powerful [Islamic] State province outside Iraq and Syria.
"This is a letter from your son Abu 'Abdallah Al-Muhajir, and in it are matters that I have experienced during my presence on Gaza soil, as well as matters about which the brothers [in Gaza] wrote to me after I joined [the fight] in Syria, and matters that I learned from brothers who emigrated to Syria and Iraq before I did. I recoiled from writing [the letter], and consulted with my immigrant brothers, and we agreed to publicize what we know, while the brothers in Gaza advised me to say these things secretly and not write publicly for fear of the response of the brothers in Sinai province. But matters have reached a point where it is no longer possible to remain silent, and providing advice in secret would not have helped. Silence in the face of what is happening would have made us the devils of silence, and silence is betrayal of Allah, His messenger, and the Caliph of the Muslims.
"Oh, Caliph of the Muslims, I wish to speak to you about an issue related to the foundations of the religion and the tenets of the faith – Al-Walaa Wal-Baraa [loyalty to Muslims and rejection of non-Muslims], for which the blood of thousands of Islamic State jihad fighters has been spilled. For the sake of this principle, we are hostile towards the entire world, we are withstanding a war waged against us by the whole world, and even by some who claim to be jihad fighters.
"[But] even after all these great sacrifices, some brothers come along and destroy [the principle of] Al-Walaa Wal-Baraa, on weak pretexts and for reasons unbecoming of any jihad fighter who belongs to this mighty state.
"I speak to you today about the suspect and illegitimate ties between Sinai province and Hamas, which are hidden from no one. What I will write about now is based on two main things:
"1. After a period of being in Syria, I have learned that the Islamic State considers Hamas, with all its branches and wings, to be an apostate movement, and that it treats it as an apostate cult, including [the 'Izz Al-Din] Al-Qassam [Brigades, Hamas's military wing]. This is known to all the brothers here in Syria and Iraq.
"2. The second thing is the internal memos coming from the [Islamic] State leadership ruling that many factions in Syria are apostates, including for collaborating with apostates and for transferring weapons to them or maintaining a relationship with them."
ISIS Sinai province fighters undergoing military training. Source: Telegram.me/HaiAlaElJehad5, February 6, 2016.
"Sinai Province Is Smuggling Weapons For Hamas In Gaza"
Abu 'Abdallah then explains the ties between ISIS Sinai and Hamas, and tells why he thinks they are a violation of the tenets of loyalty:
"Allow me, Caliph of Muslims, to inform you of some aspects of the suspect ties between Sinai province and Hamas:
"1. Sinai province is smuggling weapons for Hamas in Gaza, because of the province's fighters' expert knowledge of the [smuggling] routes from Libya, Sudan, and Egypt.
"2. Sinai province depends very much on Hamas and Al-Qassam for weapons and for explosives and ammunition. There are direct and continuous supply routes from Hamas to Sinai province. The Al-Qassam factories operate assembly lines for manufacturing explosive devices and bombs for the Sinai province, but do not stamp the Al-Qassam logo on them, as they usually do.
"3. Sinai province leaders are regularly visiting the Gaza Strip, and holding cordial meetings with Hamas and Al-Qassam leaders, even [Hamas] government [representatives]. Animals are slaughtered for them, feasts are held, and they are embraced in Gaza.
"4. Hamas and Al-Qassam are accepting all wounded Sinai province [fighters], and they are treated in Gaza Strip hospitals under Al-Qassam's direct protection.
"5. Hamas is providing wireless communication hubs for Sinai province, because of the difficulty of operating them in Sinai and because they are vulnerable to swift destruction by the Egyptian army.
"[Hypothetically,] if we disregard the religious dimension, and Al-Walaa Wal-Baraa, we would be able to say that Sinai province benefits greatly from these ties, and that the province is being clever and devious in order to attain power and ammo from Hamas, for fighting the infidel [Egyptian President] Al-Sisi. However, in truth, and viewing things on a shari'a level, the province is committing several religious transgressions... among them:
"1. Violating the principle of loyalty to jihad fighters in Gaza and Islamic State supporters [there], and abandoning them and handing them over to their apostate enemy (Hamas)...
"2. Violating the principle of rejecting Hamas, which has replaced the laws of Allah and rules Gaza with laws of unbelief, and of [rejecting] the Al-Qassam Brigades, [which is] this government's violent aggressive force. I was shocked when I discovered here in Syria that the Islamic State treats the Hamas government and movement, and the Al-Qassam Brigades, as apostates. Where, then, does Sinai province stand on this?
"3. Strengthening the apostates and making it easier for weapons to reach them by smuggling weapons to Hamas via Sinai province land, even using the province's men and vehicles. One of the brothers told me, by means of his brother who is in the [Gaza] Strip, that Israel bombed one of these convoys, killing province jihad fighters as they were transporting weapons to Hamas.
"4. Maintaining friendly ties with the leadership of Hamas and Al-Qassam, which the [Islamic] State considers apostates. [These ties include] exchanging visits with them, welcoming them, and treating them in a manner displeasing to Allah...
"5. Relying on Hamas and Al-Qassam – which the [Islamic] State consider apostates – for its supply of ammunition and weapons. This is no different than taking weapons from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, or Qatar in order to fight [Syrian President] Bashar Al-Assad, as the apostate factions do here in Syria, or as Hamas does when it takes money from Iran. [This action by Hamas] is a crime for which we have condemned Hamas for decades, and have ruled that it is apostate, for this and other reasons. 

via www.memri.org

Egypt, optimistically

The Hill, by Hannah Burns

I recently attended a panel discussion at The Atlantic Council in Washington on Economic Recovery and Revitalization in the Middle East. I was immediately struck by the fact that three of the four panelists were Egyptian, one of whom co-authored the report on which the panel was based. Each one of the three panelists has made enormous strides in helping to transform the Egyptian economy by creating and supporting sustainable, high impact businesses, as well as to transform education. A few days later, I read in the local media a summary of the Sisi administration’s economic and social accomplishments and goals over the past year. And just recently I saw the statistics of the private sector’s continued contribution to the country’s economic recovery, despite the severe drop in tourism and the currency crisis.

Why is Egypt viewed by the world only through the pessimistic prism of negative events? To be sure, Egypt has had to bear the devastating effects from terrorism, political unrest and economic instability.  Its behavior on human rights efforts is far from exemplary, and the international media is raising the possibility of increased social unrest that could lead to an uprising at some point.  The government has been slow to embrace education reform with a holistic focus on critical thinking, math and science and other skills relevant to this century and essential to economic sustainability. Yet, the world is unaware of the positive, transformative developments occurring across the private, not-for-profit and government sectors, ones that are destined to provide the framework and opportunity for Egypt to flourish. These developments are fueling another kind of uprising.

Entrepreneurs are not new to Egypt; nor are small businesses. However, today’s massive youth population with access to technology, combined with a favorable regulatory environment and a relevant education system that feeds entrepreneurship, job creation and addresses market needs, can and will accelerate small business growth and the growth of the national economy. As Sherif Kamel, vice president for Information Management and former dean of the Business School at The American University of Cairo, noted aptly in the Economic Recovery and Revitalization report he co-authored with American venture capitalist Christopher Schroeder, “by creating the environment where an entrepreneur will thrive, you create the economic conditions for all to thrive.”
Ahmed El Alfi, chairman of Sawari Ventures, an Egypt-based venture capital firm he founded just six years ago, and a panelist at the Atlantic Council event, is an important example of how the private sector is leading the drive to promote sustainable businesses. In the past three years his firm, through its start-up accelerator, Flat6 Labs, has launched 45 companies. CIB, Egypt’s largest private sector bank, launched its Business Banking group two years ago to address the needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Not only does the bank provide financing to these businesses, but also provides customized services to help them grow. Most recently, CIB introduced Smart Wallet to afford small customers with the same quality of services as its larger ones. This digital banking effort has tremendous positive implications for financial inclusion in Egypt.

Not-for-profit organizations are equally important contributors to the movement. The American Chamber of Commerce Egypt has a vibrant, dedicated effort to support small businesses. In fact, they were a sponsor of the Rise Up Summit last December, the Middle East and Africa’s leading entrepreneurship event that attracted 5,000 entrepreneurs and innovators to Egypt. Education for Employment’s (EFE) innovative high-impact youth employment solutions are influencing how governments, educators and businesses prepare youth to enter the workforce across the Middle East and North Africa. With an impressive 85% placement rate, EFE’s Egypt affiliate has trained over 1,300 graduates as future change-makers and leaders in their companies, families, and communities. El Alfi’s online platform, Nafham (“We Understand” in Arabic) launched only two years ago, where parents and students can upload supplemental education videos, garners over 105,000 views per day. Over 36.5 million videos have been viewed, and the site averages 500,000 distinct monthly users. Established in 2013, The American University of Cairo’s Venture Lab incubates, connects and supports talented youth, giving them access to experienced mentors and facilitating their success. Over 5,000 Egyptian and regional entrepreneurs have benefited from Venture Lab.

For its part, the government has begun the process to facilitate the success of small businesses. While education reform is critical, and the regulatory and legal framework needs to be relaxed to give enterprises the freedom to succeed, important first steps have been made. In a recent address to Parliament, President Sisi is looking to create jobs for young people by earmarking financing for SMEs, in addition to creating more investor-friendly regulations. And the Central Bank of Egypt has mandated all banks to allocate a percentage of their lending activities to SMEs.

By harnessing the efforts of these sectors to leverage the economic potential of a young population empowered by technology, there is every reason to view Egypt through an optimistic prism. The entities and individuals I have cited, and countless more, are making a difference and moving Egypt firmly forward. They are proving every day, that amidst the turmoil and economic uncertainty, progress is not only possible, it is a reality.

Burns is a managing director at Cambridge Global Advisors in Washington and a consultant to both private and not-for-profit organizations in Egypt.

via thehill.com

Swiping a Priceless Antiquity ... With a Scanner and a 3-D Printer

The New York Times, by Charly Wilder. Excerpt—read on here. 

Nora al-Badri and Jan Nikolai Nelles with a 3-D printed copy of a bust Queen Nefertiti they brought to Cairo. Credit Jan Nikolai Nelles

BERLIN — Two German artists walked into the Neues Museum in central Berlin in October and used a mobile device to secretly scan the 19-inch-tall bust of Queen Nefertiti, a limestone-and-stucco sculpture more than 3,000 years old that is one of Germany’s most visited attractions. They used the data to create copies of the bust and delivered them to Egypt.

Then last December, in the tradition of Internet activism, they released the data to the world, allowing anyone to download the information for free and create their own copies with 3-D printers.

On Thursday, German museum authorities responded publicly for the first time. They were not amused.

Birgit Jöbstl, a spokeswoman for the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which oversees the national museum system in Germany, cast doubt on the quality and authenticity of the scan, saying in an email that the museum had “noticed the ‘artistic intervention’ regarding the Nefertiti bust, but sees no necessity to react.”

system in Germany, cast doubt on the quality and authenticity of the scan, saying in an email that the museum had “noticed the ‘artistic intervention’ regarding the Nefertiti bust, but sees no necessity to react.”

via www.nytimes.com

Egypt to benefit from $17.7bn investment from Japanese companies

AfricaNews

Egypt is to benefit from nearly 2 trillion yen ($17.7 bn) of projects from Japanese companies.

The projects to be undertaken by the Japanese firms will be in the electricity and other sectors.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe disclosed this after a meeting with the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who is on a working visit to Tokyo.

“The Japan and Egyptian economic cooperation committee has signed an overall 2 trillion yen (US$ 17.7 billion dollars) worth of projects in industries including electric (infrastructure). I welcome this as a new step towards progress in the economic relationship between our two nations” the Japanese premier disclosed after the meeting.

And although the Prime Minister did not elaborate on the projects, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said companies from the two countries are scheduled to sign more than 10 memorandums of understanding on Wednesday March 2.

The announcement comes at a time when Egypt is struggling to revive its economy after the 2011 uprising and subsequent unrest have driven away foreign investors and tourists.

Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr also signed several loan agreements with representatives of the Japanese government and President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Shinichi Kitaoka to facilitate initiatives in the fields of education and energy.

According to an official statement from the Egyptian Cooperation Ministry, the loans will provide a total of $500m.

The loans will finance the construction of a passenger terminal in Borg Al-Arab Airport, increase the efficiency of electricity distribution companies, and fund the construction of a 20MW solar power plant in Hurghada.

Prime Minister Abe’s government drives exports of social infrastructure such as railway systems and power generation systems to the Middle East and other regions as part of its growth strategy.

The leaders agreed to hold dialogue between their Defence and Foreign Ministry officials periodically to strengthen security ties.

 

via www.africanews.com