EGYPT 'S ruling National Democratic Party (NDP)starts its 6th annual congress with President Hosni Mubarak delivering a keynote speech on ways to alleviate poverty and achieve economic and social justice,despite the impact of the international financial crisis on the national economy.

Did he jump or was he pushed? Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif (R) during his meeting with resigned Minister of Transport Mohamed Mansour in the Egyptian Cabinet office at the Smart Village outside Cairo yesterday.

Ahmed Ali is one of the 3.4 per cent of Egyptians who are handicapped. He stands confidently in front of his audience, making certain signs known as deaf and dumb language.Through an

Coptic Church officials in the town of Maghagha in the Middle Egyptian province of Minya began a three-day fast on Monday in hopes of drawing attention to longstanding grievances with "certain state

Gamal Mubarak, head of the ruling National Democratic Party's influential Policies Secretariat, admitted on Sunday to the existence of nepotism within the government.

ASSIUT -- State prosecutors on Sunday ordered the detention of 30 Muslim residents of the city of Dayrout in the southern Assiut province on charges of damaging the façade of a Coptic diocese building. 37 others are also expected to be brought up on the same charge.

Trains bound for Upper Egypt are running again as usual after being halted for 12 hours on Sunday when two trains collided in Ayyat station south of Cairo, killing 18 passengers and injuring 36.

Train 152 from Giza to Fayyoum never made it beyond the villages of Kafr Ammar and Rejja in Ayyat. Around 6:00 PM yesterday, the train struck a water buffalo. Five minutes later it was rear-ended by

The general secretariat of the Tagammu Party voted yesterday to expel party leader Abul Ezz el-Hariri. The decision was approved with a majority of 50 members, with eight others voting against the resolution, and two members abstaining.

ABOUT 75 wedding guests, including 30 children, were hospitalised yesterday for apparent food poisoning, a police officer in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Assuit said yesterday.

Torture in Egypt has reached an intolerable level and is systematically being used on all levels of Egyptian society including women, children, elderly men and youth, regardless of

Each month, Egyptians have to bear the burden of soaring phone, water, electricity and trash-collecting bills, while their salaries remain unchanged. There's one word to sum up this situation - it's a nightmare,'' says Hoda Abdul-Hameed, a Cairo

Leader of Egypt's Coptic Church Pope Shenouda III on Monday stressed his rejection of normalized relations with Israel. "I reject any normalization with Israel in light of the continued occupation imposed on the Palestinians," he said.

THE ruling National Democratic Party (NDP)will not change any of its leaders in its annual congress later this month,Safwat el-Sherif,the secretary-general of the party, said yesterday.He added that the

ALEXANDRIA -- Leader of Egypt's Coptic Church Pope Shenouda III said the church "still had problems" with the governors of certain provinces. "It depends on the character of the governor and his willingness to solve problems outside of a bureaucratic context," Shenouda said, calling for more cooperation between state officials and the church.

The deputy leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood denied reports yesterday that Supreme Guide Mohamed Mahdi Akef has quit in a row with conservatives in the leading opposition group

Liberal thinkers and writers are queueing up to protest against hesba (a religious principle, which legally empowers the ordinary Muslim to go to court if he suspects that a person, whether Muslim

A DECISION by the Medical Insurance Authority to raise healthcare fees for subscribers iscausing discontent in the corri- dors of local human rights organisations and prodding their officials into

A NON- GOVERNMENTAL organisation has appealed to President Hosni Mubarak to order the Ministry of the Interior to release Egyptian blogger after spending three quarters of his sentence term.

The price of democracy is much of our tolerance, which 'comes first'. This was the main concept of a lecture delivered by Lord David Owen, a former British foreign secretary in Cairo this week.

Ground-breaking talks: President Hosni Mubarak (R) sharing a joke with Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor before their meeting in Ljubljana yesterday. Mubarak wrapped up yesterday an official two-