No strike
For mainstream Egyptians, last Monday was just a day like any other. The day had been scheduled by Egypt’s 6 April opposition group for a general strike to protest against general conditions in Egypt, mainly poverty and non-democratic practices. The group was born through networking on Facebook, and called for the first strike last year, but this strike turned bloody as the police clashed with the already-on-strike workers of Mehalla al-Kubra textile factories. Even though the 6 April movement succeeded in persuading most of the opposition parties and groups in Egypt to join the strike this year and declared 6 April “The day of anger”, it was business as usual for ordinary Egyptians. “Do you see a strike? There is no strike,” Mohammed Hassan, a lawyer, told the German Press Agency.
Bid blocked
The Egyptian Capital Market Authority (CMA) last Tuesday blocked a tender offer submitted by France Telecom to buy up Mobinil, the country##s largest cell phone provider by number of subscribers, in a ruling that could scuttle the deal. The CMA said that the tender offer submitted by France Telecom to buyout minority shareholders in the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services—Mobinil##s operator—was far short of what was fair for the stockholders. The CMA ruling came two days after an arbitration court ruled in France Telecom’s favour in a dispute filed in 2007 by Egyptian telecom giant Orascom Telecom, which owns a 20 per cent direct equity stake in ECMS as well as a 28.25 per cent stake in holding company Mobinil Telecom. The Arbitration Court of the International Chamber of Commerce said that Orascom must sell its stake in Mobinil Telecom to FT, which already holds an 81.75 per cent stake in the company.
IBM’s new centre
IBM has announced that it is establishing a managed business process services (MBPS) delivery centre in Egypt. The agreement aims to expand IBM##s presence in Egypt by establishing a delivery centre for IBM clients. The centre will create up to 1500 Egyptian jobs over the next three years, the company said. The new centre will include a range of activities and functions from Business Process Outsourcing back-office and transaction processing operations, technical support operations and call centre operations.
Egyptian rig
A huge oil field has been discovered in the Eastern Desert, using the Egyptian-made rig Mubarak-1. Oil Minister Sameh Fahmi said that the two wells of the new find, al-Amir-1 and al-Amir-2, are believed capable of producing 3,400 barrels per day (bpd) and 6,000 bpd respectively of the finest quality oil. The find was discovered in West Gemsa by the Greek Vegas Oil
Statue of Thutmose III
Egypt has presented a statue of Thutmose III to the African Union Commission (AUC), to be installed at the entrance of its headquarters building in Addis Ababa. A ceremony was held at the African Commission premises by the Egyptian embassy in Addis Ababa in honour of the occasion. Thutmose III was the sixth Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. During the first twenty-two years of his reign he was co-regent with his aunt, Hatshepsut, who was named pharaoh. After her death he became pharaoh (1490 – 1436BC) and created the largest empire in Egypt’s history.
The diva
The Encyclopaedia Britannica has included Egypt’s legendary songbird of the 20th century, Umm-Kulthoum among 300 women who “changed the world”. Known as Kawkab al-Sharq (Star of the East), Umm Kulthoum was one of the most famous Arab singers and public figures in the 20th century,” the encyclopedia said. The Encyclopaedia Britannica’s 300 women list includes the ancient Egyptian queens Nefertiti (wife of King Akhenaton), Cleopatra and Hatshepsut.