Polling stations will be open for three days and Sisi, a former military commander, has urged Egyptians to vote, hinting that he sees the election as a referendum on his first four-year term, rather than a serious democratic contest.

Sisi, an ally of the United States, faces only one challenger who is a long-time supporter of the president.

Many Egyptians, as well as the country’s Arab and Western allies, see him as vital to stability as unrest since 2011 has hurt the economy. However, his critics say he has presided over Egypt’s worst crackdown on dissent and describe the vote as a charade.

Sisi, 63, who led the military’s overthrow of Egypt’s first democratically-elected president Mohamed Mursi in 2013, has cast his bid for a second term as a vote for stability and security. He is trying to defeat Islamist insurgents in the Sinai Peninsula and complete a series of mega-projects inaugurated with great fanfare since he came to power.

In early hours of the voting, witnesses said turnout was slow but on a normal business day most Egyptians are expected to vote after working hours.

A lower-than-expected turnout could suggest Sisi lacks the mandate to take more of the tough steps needed to revive the economy, which struggled after the 2011 revolution drove away tourists and foreign investors, both sources of hard currency.

Authorities have urged people to vote, ramping up nationalist rhetoric and painting participation as helping the fight against Islamists and other unspecified enemies.

“Your vote is a bullet in the heart of your enemy,” Monday’s front page of the state-owned al-Gomhouria newspaper read. Prime Minister Sherif Ismail told state TV as he voted: “People must turn out and participate with force”.

A 76-year-old voter, Saad Shahata, said at a polling station in Monofiya province north of Cairo: “We’re coming to support President Sisi. Anyone who doesn’t participate in the vote is a traitor.”

MEGA PROJECTS AND AUSTERITY

In Cairo’s upscale Heliopolis neighborhood and Zamalek, areas with strong support for Sisi and the military, nationalist songs blared out and groups of men waved Egyptian flags as they cheered and danced. A child sang the anthem of an Egyptian special forces unit.

Dozens of people queued before polls opened, but only trickled in afterwards.

One of the few young voters at a Heliopolis polling station, Zeina Sherif, said she saw casting her vote as symbolic support for Sisi. “Sisi is working on projects that we should give him a chance to finish,” the 20-year-old said.

These projects include an expansion of the Suez Canal and a new capital being built east of Cairo. These will in time improve the economy and people’s lives, he says.

But critics say austerity measures have hurt his popularity, including a currency devaluation tied to an International Monetary Fund loan which left most Egyptians worse off. Many see little benefit from large projects and the harsh fiscal reforms.

Rights groups accuse Sisi of muzzling opponents, activists and independent media. Courts have sentenced hundreds of supporters of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood to death since 2013.

The president’s sole challenger is Moussa Mostafa Moussa, a Sisi supporter widely seen as a dummy candidate. Moussa has said he hopes Sisi beats him but rejects charges he is being used to present a false sense of competition. The electoral commission says it will ensure voting is fair and transparent.

Several opposition figures called for a boycott of the vote after all major opposition campaigns withdrew, saying repression had cleared the field of credible challengers.

Sisi’s top opponent, former military chief of staff Sami Anan, was arrested and halted his presidential bid after the army accused him of running for office without permission.

Even before campaigning officially began, the United Nations, rights groups and opposition figures criticized the run-up as compromised by arrests and intimidation of opponents.

In a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump’s foreign policy team, the Working Group on Egypt, a bipartisan group of U.S. foreign policy specialists, said the “sham election” would take place against a backdrop of massive human rights abuses.

Sisi has said he will not seek a third term, but critics expect him to remove a two-presidential term limit.

He won nearly 97 percent of the vote in 2014, but less than half of eligible Egyptians voted, even though the election was extended to three days.

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Source: Reuters

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Forty-two Egyptian taxi drivers filed a lawsuit a year ago against U.S.-based Uber and its Dubai-based competitor Careem, arguing they were illegally using private cars as taxis. They also claimed that the two firms were registered as a call center and an internet company, respectively.

Khaled al-Gammal, a lawyer acting for the taxi drivers, said the court suspended the two companies’ licenses, banned their apps and suspended the use of private cars by the two ride-hailing services.

Tuesday’s decision was effective immediately, meaning the companies must suspend services pending a final ruling, although the companies have 60 days to appeal, the judicial sources said.

Uber said it would appeal and it was not immediately clear when a final ruling would be issued.

Careem said it had not yet received any official request to stop operations in Egypt, and continued to operate as normal.

Uber intends to appeal any court decision to suspend ride sharing licenses in Egypt, an Uber spokesperson said.

“We will do all we can to ensure millions of Egyptians can continue to enjoy the benefits of on-demand transportation,” the Uber official said.

“We are fully committed to working with the entire sector – including taxis – to improve mobility in Egypt together. We will appeal this decision, and continue to be available in Egypt in the meantime.”

Uber said Egypt is its largest market in the Middle East, with 157,000 drivers in 2017 signed up and 4 million users having used the service since its launch there in 2014.

The San Francisco-based company said last year it was committed to Egypt despite challenges presented by sweeping economic reforms and record inflation. In October Uber announced a $20 million investment in its new support center in Cairo.

It has had to make deals with local car dealerships to provide its drivers with affordable vehicles and adjust its ride prices to ensure its workers were not hit too hard by inflation.

Egypt is one of Uber’s fastest-growing markets, its general manager in the country, Abdellatif Waked, has said, according to state news agency MENA.

Egypt’s investment ministry said last year that a draft law regulating web-based transport services would provide a legal framework for companies like Uber, but did not say when that bill was likely to be passed.

Uber has faced regulatory and legal setbacks around the world amid opposition from traditional taxi services. It has been forced to quit several countries, such as Denmark and Hungary.

Last year, London deemed Uber unfit to run a taxi service and stripped it of its license to operate. Uber is appealing against the decision.

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Source: Reuters

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Sherine, one of the country’s most famous singers – and a judge on the Arabic version of The Voice TV show – told a fan that drinking from the famous river might give them parasites.

“Drink Evian instead,” she joked.

Another singer, Laila Amer, was also sentenced on Tuesday to two years in prison over a music video.

Ms Amer – who is not as well known as Sherine – was found guilty of “inciting debauchery and immorality”. The director and another actor were sentenced to shorter terms.

Sherine, meanwhile, has been convicted by a Cairo court of spreading false news. Egyptian news outlet Ahram said she was ordered to pay 5,000 Egyptian pounds (£204) as bail, in addition to a fine of 10,000 pounds and remains free until her case is concluded.

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Source: BBC

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About 20 people were on board when the accident occurred on Friday. The tourist who died was South African.

The balloon was travelling over the ancient city when it was forced off course and into a mountainous area by strong winds, according to reports.

In 2013, 19 tourists were killed when a hot air balloon caught fire in Luxor.

Luxor governor Mahmoud Badr confirmed Friday’s accident, adding that he was checking on the wellbeing of passengers at a local hospital, AFP news agency reports.

A health ministry spokesman said that two of the wounded were in serious condition.

Those on board the flight included a number of foreign nationals from South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, France and Australia along with Egyptian tourists.

No British citizens were involved, the UK Foreign Office said.

Some 20 ambulances attended the scene of the accident, Egypt’s state-run Mena news agency reports.

Egypt’s Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement that 21 other balloon trips carrying more than 400 tourists had all landed safely on Friday.

The ancient city of Luxor, which lies on the banks of the River Nile in the south of Egypt, has long been a popular tourist destination due to its archaeological sites.

Hot air balloon crashes have occurred in the region before.

In 2016, balloon flights were temporarily halted in the city after more than 20 people were injured in a similar accident.

The deadly incident in 2013 was the result of an explosion mid-flight and involved tourists from the UK, France, Hong Kong and Japan.

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Source: BBC

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Hector Cuper and his charges have been drawn in Group A of the World Cup alongside host nation Russia, Saudi Arabia and South American powerhouse, Uruguay.

The Pharoah’s have in recent times become heavily dependent on the goals of pacy winger Mohammed Salah and this manifested in the qualifying series where he scored 5 of the 8 goals during the campaign.

Appiah feels this dependence will make Egypt easy to figure out.

“We played Egypt but as I said all the time all their attacking machinery is dependent on one player.

“This is not the best because once he is closed down then this becomes a problem.

“If they can work on some stuff and get two or three players that are playing at the highest level then automatically team’s won’t plan only against Salah but for others as well,” he told Kwese Sports in an interview.

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By: Benjamin Nketsia/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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A source close to Mr Shafiq’s family told Reuters he had been arrested at his home and taken by plane to Cairo.
Mr Shafiq fled to the Gulf state after losing a close presidential election to Islamist Mohamed Morsi in 2012.

Incumbent President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi is widely expected to seek a second term, but has yet to confirm it.

It is not clear on what grounds Mr Shafiq was deported from the United Arab Emirates.

On Thursday, the UAE denied a claim by Mr Shafiq that he had been prevented from travelling to Cairo. The former prime minister had appeared on Al Jazeera television to say he was being barred from leaving.

“Shafiq has publicly asked to go to Egypt and his wish will be met,” a source in the Gulf close to the matter told Reuters.

One of his aides said she had seen officials arriving at his home in Abu Dhabi.

“They took him from the house and put him on a private plane. They said he would go back to Cairo, because they can deport him only to his home country,” she told the AFP news agency.

Mr Shafiq was appointed prime minister in the final days of Hosni Mubarak’s presidency in 2011. But he stayed in post just three weeks after the Egyptian revolution ended, when he was forced to step down because of his links to the ousted president.

He has been living in the UAE since ex-President Morsi issued an arrest warrant in the aftermath of the 2012 election on corruption charges. He was later acquitted.

Mr Morsi himself was ousted by the military in July 2013 following mass anti-government protests, with Mr Sisi elected president a year later.

A former fighter pilot, Mr Shafiq served as commander of the Egyptian air force between 1996 and 2002.

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Source: BBC

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Nigeria, who were crowned champions of Africa in 2013, will face Argentina for the fifth time in the group stages of the World Cup

They are joined in Group D by Iceland and Croatia.

Morocco who beat Ivory Coast to make it to the tournament will face a huge task of making it out of their group after they were drawn against European Champions Portugal and Spain who have won the World Cup in 2010.

Senegal were grouped with Poland, Colombia and Japan while Tunisia will be hoping they can make it out of a difficult group with Belgium, Panama and England.

Defending champions Germany will be expected to qualify from a group which has Sweden, Mexico and South Korea

Hosts Russia play Saudi Arabia in the World Cup’s opening game in Moscow on 14 June (16:00 BST).

The 2018 tournament takes place across Russia between 14 June and 15 July.

World Cup groups in full

• Group A: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay
• Group B: Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran
• Group C: France, Australia, Peru, Denmark
• Group D: Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria
• Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia
• Group F: Germany, Sweden, Mexico, South Korea
• Group G: Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England
• Group H: Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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The al-Rawda mosque in the town of Bir al-Abed was bombed and fleeing worshippers were then gunned down.

The Egyptian military has said it has conducted air strikes on “terrorist” targets in response.

No group has yet claimed the attack, the deadliest in recent memory.

After bombs were set off, dozens of gunmen waiting outside the mosque opened fire on those trying to escape.

The assailants reportedly set parked vehicles on fire in the vicinity to block off access to the building, and fired on ambulances trying to help victims.

Thirty children are among the dead and at least 100 people have been wounded.

“What is happening is an attempt to stop us from our efforts in the fight against terrorism,” Mr Sisi said in a televised address hours after the attack.

“The armed forces and the police will avenge our martyrs and restore security and stability with the utmost force.”

Egyptian security forces have for years been fighting an Islamist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, and militants affiliated with so-called Islamic State (IS) have been behind scores of deadly attacks in the desert region.

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Source: BBC

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Witnesses say the al-Rawda mosque in the town of Bir al-Abed, near al-Arish, was targeted during Friday prayers.

Local police said men in four off-road vehicles opened fire on worshippers, AP reported.

Egypt has been fighting an Islamist insurgency in the region, which has intensified since 2013.

There have been regular attacks blamed on militants on the Sinai peninsula, but this is the deadliest assault of its kind.

Pictures from the scene show rows of bloodied victims inside the mosque. At least 125 people were also wounded, reports say.

One report said the target appeared to be supporters of the security forces who were praying at the mosque.

Locals are also quoted as saying that followers of Sufism, or Islamic mysticism, regularly gathered at the mosque.

Islamist jihadist groups, including so-called Islamic State (IS), see Sufis as heretics.

President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi is to meet security officials to discuss the incident, Egypt’s private Extra News TV reported.

It is not yet known who was behind Friday’s attack.

Jihadist militants have been waging an insurgency in recent years, stepping up attacks after Egypt’s military overthrew Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013.

Hundreds of police, soldiers and civilians have been killed since then, mostly in attacks carried out by Sinai Province group, which is affiliated to IS.

In September, at least 18 policemen were killed in an attack on a convoy near al-Arish by militants affiliated with the group.

The jihadists have also killed dozens of people in attacks targeting Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority elsewhere in the country, and claimed they planted the bomb that brought down a Russian plane carrying tourists in Sinai in 2015, killing 224 people on board.

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Source: BBC

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The team received a rapturous welcome from the Cape Coast crowd upon arrival with fans bearing high hopes of finishing the disappointing campaign on a high.

Ghana have lost their last three competitive games against the Pharoahs and will be hoping to put an end to that poor run of form this afternoon.

The game kicks off at 3:30pm.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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