US death penalty sentences fell to a historic low last year and executions also dropped sharply, contributing to a global slump of over a third from 2015, Amnesty International said Tuesday. The number of death sentences handed down in the US, 32, was the lowest since 1973 and the number of executions, 20, meant the … Read more
Hundreds gathered Monday to mourn 45 Egyptian Christians killed in jihadist bombings just a week before Easter, after Cairo declared a state of emergency following the attacks on two churches. The Islamic State group said it was behind the twin bombings that targeted Palm Sunday services at churches in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria, … Read more
Egypt prepared to impose a state of emergency Monday after jihadist bombings killed dozens at two churches in the deadliest attacks in recent memory on the country’s Coptic Christian minority. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced the three-month period, which will vastly increase the powers of Egypt’s security forces, after the Islamic State group claimed the … Read more
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has declared a state of emergency after two deadly bombings Sunday, the first at a church north of Cairo, the second hours later outside a church in Alexandria, that were claimed by the Islamic State group. “Islamic State squads carried out the attacks on two churches in Tanta and Alexandria,” … Read more
Egypt’s Copts, targets of an apparent church bombing north of Cairo on Sunday, are the Middle East’s largest Christian minority and one of the oldest. Making up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 90 million, the Coptic Orthodox form the largest Christian denomination in the Muslim-majority country. Here is a recap of their history, … Read more
A bomb blast at a church north of Cairo killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens who had gathered for Palm Sunday mass, state media reported, in the latest apparent attack on Egypt’s Coptic Christians. Some 40 people were wounded in the blast, which struck at a Coptic Church in the Nile Delta City … Read more
Not long ago, the Egyptian heart surgeon-turned-comedian Bassem Youssef was hosting the most popular political satire television show in his country’s history. Launched after the 2011 uprising ousted former president Hosni Mubarak from power, the groundbreaking “Al Bernameg” (The Show) drew as many as 30 million viewers per episode in a country of 82 million … Read more
President Donald Trump put human rights controversies aside to warmly welcome Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to the White House Monday, the first such visit from an Egyptian president in almost a decade. Greeting Sisi in the Oval Office, Trump heaped praise on the former general’s leadership and embarked on a charm offensive designed to fix ties … Read more
The parents of Giulio Regeni, the Cambridge University student tortured to death in Egypt last year, appealed Monday to Pope Francis to raise their son’s unexplained killing when he visits Cairo this month. “We are sure that the pope will not be able to not remember Giulio during this trip and will share our concrete … Read more
US President Donald Trump meets his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Washington on Monday, welcoming a strongman leader who has faced harsh criticism for his human rights record. For Sisi, the first foreign leader to congratulate Trump following his surprise election victory, the Oval Office meeting will have special meaning — he was never … Read more
An Egyptian court ruled Sunday that a judicial decision to block the transfer of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia was invalid, lawyers said, in a blow for opponents of a handover. The urgent matters court in Cairo invalidated a verdict by Egypt’s highest administrative court that went against the islands’ transfer. Saudi Arabia … Read more
After four years of tension with the United States, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi now has a fan in the White House and on Monday he meets President Donald Trump. The American former reality television star and tycoon has made no secret of his admiration for the ex-army chief who overthrew his Islamist predecessor and … Read more
Jordan’s King Abdullah will visit the White House next week for his second meeting with Donald Trump since the US president took office, a US official told AFP Thursday. Trump and Abdullah briefly met at a prayer breakfast in Washington last month. The official confirmed that Abdullah will visit on April 5, amid increased diplomatic … Read more
President Donald Trump is “serious” about solving the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said ahead of a meeting with the US leader. “The US administration of President Donald Trump is seriously considering a solution to the Palestinian issue,” Abbas told AFP late Wednesday after a meeting of the Arab League in Jordan. Abbas met … Read more
Arab leaders gathered for an annual summit in Jordan Wednesday looking to overcome divisions on regional crises including the devastating wars in Syria and Yemen. A show of unity was expected on the Israeli-Palestinian question, but on other issues analysts said any breakthrough was highly unlikely. As the summit of the 22-member Arab League opened … Read more
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has met one of US President Donald Trump’s top envoys on the sidelines of an Arab summit as the White House seeks ways to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks. The meeting on Tuesday night comes ahead of Abbas’s expected visit to the White House in April and after Trump adviser Jason Greenblatt held … Read more
The White House announced Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will make an “official visit” to Washington on April 3, ending years in which the Egyptian president had been kept at arm’s length amid rights concerns. “President Trump and President Al-Sisi will use the visit to build on the positive momentum they have built for the United States-Egypt … Read more
Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian autocrat toppled during the 2011 Arab Spring, left a military hospital on Friday where he spent much of the last six years in detention. The release of the 88-year old who ruled Egypt for three decades would have been unthinkable several years ago, but revolutionary fervour gave way to exhaustion … Read more
What happened to the leaders whose power was challenged in the so-called Arab Spring that began in late 2010? Here is a look. Hosni Mubarak stepped down on February 11, 2011 after three decades in office and handed power to the army, following an 18-day revolt. Mubarak was arrested that April, and succeeded in June … Read more
Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak left a military hospital on Friday where he had spent much of the last six years in detention, his lawyer said. Mubarak had been cleared for release earlier this month after a top court finally acquitted him of involvement in protester deaths during the 2011 revolt that ousted him. “Yes,” … Read more