CAIRO: The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) rallied at the close of Wednesday’s session, boosted by Arab and foreign purchases.

The benchmark index EGX30 increased by 1.27 percent to record 7,266 points on Wednesday, after 7,158 points on Tuesday.

The small and mid-cap index EGX70 hiked by 0.86 to 391.6 points, up from 388.2 points in the previous session.

The broader index EGX100 closed at 1.20 percent up to 843.8 points, compared to 833.8 points on Tuesday.

Market capitalization gained around 2.3 billion EGP ($293.8 million) totaling 447 billion EGP, up from 444.7 billion EGP in the last session.

CAIRO:  A total of 145 inmates in Egyptian prisons nationwide will be released per a presidential decree on occasion of Eid el-Adha scheduled Sept. 24, announced the Ministry of Interior in a Wednesday statement.

Fifty eight prisoners, who qualified under President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s decree, have been completely pardoned, while 87 others received a conditional release, the statement added.

The qualified prisoners should serve at least half of their prison terms (which must be at least six months) to be pardoned.

In July, Sisi pardoned hundreds of men and women prisoners on the occasion of Eid el-Fitr (marking the end of Ramadan) and the 63^rd anniversary of the July 23, 1952 revolution.

Marking the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan in June in which Muslims around the world fast from dawn to dusk, Sisi pardoned 165 prisoners convicted of breaching the 2013 protest law.

Similar pardon decisions have been issued during the past few months following a decree issued by Sisi in January allowing him to release prisoners who served half their jail terms, on the condition that their offences do not include violence or attacking public or police properties.

CAIRO: Egypt is studying alternatives to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) studies after Dutch consultancy firm Deltares withdrew, citing conditions that do not guarantee “an independent high-quality study.”

Minister of Irrigation Hossam Moghazy met Tuesday with experts on the Nile Basin and the Egyptian members of the Tripartite National Committee (TNC) negotiating the dam to discuss possible actions after Deltares’s withdrawal after three months of negotiations, MENA reported.

What are Egypt’s options?

Egypt may propose selecting another consultancy firm that applied to the tender, informed sources at the Irrigation Ministry told MENA Tuesday. Five firms had reached the final step, including the winning firms Deltares and French BRLi.

Another possibility is to invite Deltares and BRLi to a meeting with the tripartite committee to amend the conditions opposed by Deltares.

Such a meeting would be held by the end of October, as Ethiopia refused an Egyptian request to hold an urgent meeting due to an ongoing formation of a new government in Addis Ababba. Deltares’s withdrawal extends prolonged talks that have lasted for over a year and a half between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.

Experts advised Moghazy to hold a meeting between the leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to negotiate the filling and administration of the dam and cancel the studies to save time, according to MENA.

The sources ruled out the option that Egypt and Sudan agree to BRLi solely taking over the studies.

Ethiopia and BRLi

On Tuesday, Youm7 quoted sources handling the GERD case at the Irrigation Ministry that Ethiopia insists that BRLi conducts the study on its own because, the sources claimed, it cooperates with Ethiopia in other projects and has “intertwined relations” with the country.

Ethiopia had proposed that Deltares act as a subcontractor and only execute what is assigned to it by BRLi without exceeding 30 percent of the work, according to the sources.

Alaa Yassin, adviser to Moghazy, said in a Tuesday statement that technical disputes occurred between Deltares and BRLi on the means to carry out a study on the impact of GERD on the downstream states.

Deltares said in its withdrawal statement that “the conditions as imposed by the TNC and BRLi on how the studies should be carried out did not provide sufficient guarantee for Deltares that an independent high-quality study could be carried out.”

What if negotiations fail?

The Nile Basin Group of Cairo University held a Wednesday meeting, recommending that technical talks “have been exhausted” and another political initiative should be led by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

The group said that if Egypt continues in the path to talks it would not reach a satisfactory solution; BRLi would present “biased studies,” and another tender would postpone a feasible study for a year; meanwhile Ethiopia continues to build the dam, and consultancy firms may not apply due to conflicts in the case.

Hany Raslan, head of the Nile Basin unit at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Youm7 Monday that Sisi should launch another political initiative. In case it was not appropriately received, Egypt should file a legal and technical complaint to the Security Council, declare the failure of negotiations, and expose Egypt’s efforts to achieve a fair solution versus “Ethiopia’s evasiveness” before regional and international opinion.

After months of stalled negotiations, Sisi inked a “declaration of principles” with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir; the declaration stated that none of the signatory states would impede the development of one another.

Sisi also delivered a speech before the Ethiopian parliament in March. He told Desalegn that Egypt is ready to be a “gateway” for Ethiopia, which is landlocked, and offered that, in addition to Egyptian investments, his country’s economic conferences serve as means for Ethiopia to attract foreign investments.

What are the risks of GERD on Egypt?

The 15 experts of the group claimed the motive behind GERD is political, rather than developmental, as it aims to control the Nile water to damage Egypt’s economic, political, social and security conditions, limiting its regional role, especially since Ethiopia plans to build more dams on the Blue Nile, the Atbarah River and the Sobat River.

Constructions works of six dams, including the GERD, began in Ethiopia following the Egyptian January 25 Revolution in 2011.

The group claimed that the impact of GERD would be permanent, and not only during the filling of the Ethiopia’s dam; Nasser Lake, Egypt’s strategic water reservoir, would be used to compensate for the lack of water during filling the GERD, and would not have a chance to be completely refilled after that.

It would only be partially full during the flooding seasons, while the Egypt’s High Dam would be drained during drought seasons, reducing its ability to secure water and electricity, the group of experts said.

The Cairo University group predicted that the direct consequences of establishing GERD in the Ethiopian plan would include the deterioration of large areas of farmland into wasteland, reducing the water table, increasing the mix of sea water in the delta and salinization of its lands, lack of drinking water, increasing pollution in the river in Egypt, and jeopardizing national fish stocks.

The size and height of the Renaissance dam is “exaggerated,” its efficiency in producing electricity does not justify this size, and its revenue of selling electricity may not cover its expenses, the Cairo University group claimed.

Ethiopia, which holds the second largest African population after Egypt, says that the dam is necessary for its development and would benefit neighboring countries by delivering cheap power.

Additional reporting by Asmaa Nassar.

CAIRO: Private equity firm Actis has sold and transferred the property of Globeleq Africa to the Norwegian Norfund and the English CDC Group, according to an Actis press release Monday.

“During the past seven years, through Globeleq, Actis has invested over $350 million in Globeleq Africa. As a result, Globeleq Africa has more than doubled its installed capacity to 1,234MW and the business is now the leading power generation platform on the continent,” the release reads.

Norfund acquired the minority share in the company by 30 percent, with a final cash of $227 million, while CDC group got the largest share by putting its interests in the joint company with Norfund.

Director at Actis Egypt Sherif el-Kholy noted that Lekela Power, a renewable power company controlled by Actis, is preparing sitemaps and plans to establish a solar power plant in Aswan and wind power plant West Gulf of Suez.

El-Kholy referred to Actis Lekela’s project of establishing a 250MW wind power plant in Gabal el-Zeit, in which Lekela offered the lowest tariff in this project of 3.961 cents per kWh.

Lekala Power is a power company affiliated to Actis, which was launched in February. The company plans to generate 1,000 MW of renewable energy across African in the next five years, Amwal al-Ghad reported in May.

CAIRO:  In the first case to apply a controversial anti-terrorism law passed in August by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, three convicts were sentenced Wednesday to seven years in jail over charges of blocking public roads and attacking police personnel.

The convicts were also fined 100,00 EGP ($12,771,) while other two minors received five years in jail; according to the investigations, they faced charges of blocking a public road of Giza’s Badrshein city and possessing weapons, and attacking police personnel in 2013.

Per the law, those who incite violence directly or indirectly shall receive at least a five-year prison sentence. This punishment could be toughened to seven years in jail in case that the act of inciting violence occurred inside a place of worship, or among military and security personnel.

The law, that makes terrorism a capital offense, has been slammed by human rights advocates as it confers immunity for those who carry out the law.

CAIRO: The first court session of freelance photojournalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid, known as Shawkan, has been scheduled for Dec. 12, according to Journalists Against Torture.

More than 700 defendants are included in the case, accused of rioting during the dispersal of the Rabaa sit-in in August 2013. Shawkan was covering the dispersal when he was arrested, and has only recently been charged with murder, attempted murder, assaulting security forces and possessing weapons.

Shawkan has been jailed for over two years; his ongoing incarceration is considered unlawful by several lawyers and human rights defendants as the maximum pretrial detention in Egyptian is two years.

His defense team will file complaints pleas to release him, lawyer at the Association for Freedom of Though and Expression Ahmed Abdel Nabi told Journalists Against Torture.

Abdel Nabi added that Shawkan’s lawyers have not been allowed to obtain the trial referral documents or copies of the case files.

CAIRO: A total of 5,420 candidates and nine lists have been accepted to run in the first phase of parliamentary elections slated to kick off Oct. 17, the  High Elections Committee (HEC) announced Wednesday.

“A total of 535 out of 5,941 candidates were disqualified for several reasons including drug use, inadequate education degree and draft evasion while five, out of 14 party lists were rejected over either incomplete application documents and late submissions,” HEC spokesperson Amr Marwan said in a news conference Wednesday.

Appeals are to be presented from Sept. 17 to 19 while the final say on appeals is scheduled for Sept. 27, Marwan said, adding that “the electoral campaign will start on Sept. 29 and last for 18 days.”

Four lists of the For the Love of Egypt coalition, two lists from the Nour Party in Cairo and Delta and one list by the Republican Alliance for Social Forces are among the nine accepted lists while lists of the Independent Alliance  and the Egyptian Front coalition are among the five rejected.

Steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz and T.V. presenter Tawfiq Okasha are among the rejected candidates while head of Zamalek Football Club Mortada Mansour, spokesperson for the Salafi Nour Party Nader Bakkar and belly dancer Sama al-Masry were among those who will run for the parliamentary elections, According to Youm7.

CAIRO: A new batch of Palestinian pilgrims have arrived at the Egypt-Gaza border, heading to Cairo International Airport to join hundreds of thousands of Muslims in Saudi Arabia to perform the annual event of Hajj, Youm7 reported Thursday.

Some 500 pilgrims from Gaza are expected to come through the Rafah crossing, according to an anonymous border official, who said that state of emergency has been raised and workers’ vacations have been canceled until travelers make their way to the airport.

The source added that each bus carrying Gazan pilgrims is escorted by security forces.

The border has received more than 1,000 pilgrims from Gaza between Sept. 7-9.

Muslims worldwide are currently flocking into the kingdom to perform the Hajj, meaning pilgrimage; one of the five pillars of Islam.  This year the rituals start Sept. 22.

The last time Rafah crossing, which is the only way for Gazans to move in and out of the Gaza Strip, opened was in August for four days allowing students, humanitarian cases and patients to cross in both directions.

In October 2014, the crossing was closed indefinitely by the Egyptian authorities in both directions after coordinated attacks that killed 27 armed forces personnel in Sheikh Zuwayed.

CAIRO: A 3D video mapping show, narrating the biography of Queen Cleopatra, will be projected Thursday on the façade of Alexandria’s Qaitbey Citadel.

“Legendary Cleopatra,” is organized under the International Augmented Med (I AM) project by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities. The show will start at 7:00 p.m. and will be repeated every 45 minutes.

“The event aims to promote Egypt’s natural and cultural heritage as well as cultural tourism; a sector that has been badly affected by the crises of the past four years,” BA director Ismail Serag al-Din said Thursday.

Egypt’s political turmoil following the 2011 January uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak has badly affected the tourism sector; Egypt’s second most important source of national income after the Suez Canal provides direct and indirect employment to up to 12.6 percent of the country’s workforce.

Revenues from tourism represent 11.3 percent of Egypt’s gross domestic product.

According to the Bibliotheca Alexandria (BA), the project budget is € 3,060, 650 ($3.4 million), of which € 2,754,583 is funded by the program and the remainder is provided by the project’s 14 partners from 7 Mediterranean countries: Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Palestine, Tunisia, Spain, and Lebanon.

In 2014, The BA organized its first 3D show; “Augmented Reality: 3D Video Mapping Show on Ancient Alexandria,” that was projected on the library’s façade.

Queen Cleopatra, who ruled from 51 B.C. to 30 B.C., was the last pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt (330 B.C.-30B.C.) After her reign, Egypt became a province of Roman Empire that lasted until the late fourth century.

CAIRO: The Sinai Province has claimed responsibility for the Wednesday murder of General Khaled Othman in Arish while he was monitoring a checkpoint.

Minister of Interior Magdy Abdel Ghaffar with children of murdered general at funeral

Othman, the supervisor of police security services in Arish, North Sinai, was overseeing security in the middle of Arish at night when gunmen in a white car shot at the forces, according to a Ministry of Interior statement.

The forces returned fire, but the attackers escaped after fatally shooting Othman, the statement said.

General Khaled Othman

The incident comes amid an ongoing military operation against militants in Sinai. The “Right of the Martyr” operation has been ongoing for nine days, with military spokesperson Mohamed Samir announcing the killing of dozens of “takfiris” each day.

Minister of Interior Magdy Abdel Ghaffar with children of murdered general at funeral

The most recent wide-scale attack on the army in North Sinai occurred July 1, where 17 soldiers and some 200 militants were killed, according to military figures.

Sinai Province, formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, is an affiliate of the Islamic State group.

CAIRO: Egypt’s foreign minister said Wednesday that the killing of 12 people in an accidental attack by security forces on a group of Mexican tourists traveling in the western desert was “regrettable,” but stopped short of apologizing.

Sameh Shoukry made the remarks during a joint press conference with his Mexican counterpart Claudia Ruiz Massieu, who also met with Egypt’s president. She called for a “comprehensive, prompt and transparent investigation” into the “tragic and unprecedented events” on Sunday.

Ruiz Massieu, who arrived in Cairo earlier Wednesday, met with survivors of the attack accompanied by their family members. She did not relay survivors’ accounts of what happened.

“I want to stress that for Mexico and for all the people of Mexico this has been a terrible incident, this has been an unprecedented incident,” she said at the press conference.

Mexico’s ambassador to Egypt had earlier said that survivors told him the tour group’s vehicles were attacked by helicopters. Eight Mexicans were killed in the attack and six were wounded. The nationalities of the other four people who were killed are not yet known.

Ruiz Massieu said the survivors were in stable condition and “evolving favorably.” She had said earlier she would speak with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi about repatriating the survivors and the remains of the dead.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry expressed condolences but declined to give an account of the circumstances surrounding the deaths, saying details will be provided once the full investigation has concluded. Egyptian officials initially said the tourists, who were in a group of SUVs, had strayed into a restricted area where security forces were pursuing suspected terrorists.

Ruiz Massieu said information provided to Mexican officials by the survivors “indicates that the group of Mexican tourists had organized their itinerary through an accredited tourism agency.”

“They had arranged a number of trips over the space of two weeks — and for this purpose they had all the necessary permits. We will wait for the investigation to end to know the facts and to be able to clarify them,” she said.

In an open letter to the Mexican people on Tuesday, Shoukry said the facts of the case remain “confusing,” and promised a thorough and impartial investigation.

“We still do not know if the convoy was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, or if some error was involved,” Shoukry wrote in letter published in Mexican newspapers on Wednesday.

“I assure the Mexican people that an impartial inquiry is being held, under the leadership of Egypt’s prime minister himself, and that Egypt is prepared to do its utmost to help in any way it can,” the letter said.

Egypt’s top prosecutor has issued a gag order on reporting details of the probe, the state-run MENA news service said Wednesday.

Shoukry insisted Egyptian forces had not acted recklessly.

“It would defy reason to think that Egypt’s law enforcement authorities could ever deliberately harm innocent tourists,” he wrote.

At the press conference, when asked whether an error had led to the killings, Shoukry said “it is the objective of the Egyptian government to scrutinize all the potential circumstances related to this incident.”

The incident, among the deadliest involving tourists in Egypt, comes as the country is trying to revive its vital tourism industry after the turmoil following the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt has mainly been battling insurgents in the northern Sinai Peninsula, on the other side of the country, where Islamic militants stepped up attacks on security forces after the military ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013 amid massive protests against his rule.

But in recent months, militants loyal to the Islamic State group have carried out a series of attacks in more central parts of the country, including the bombing of the Italian Consulate in Cairo and the kidnapping and beheading of a Croatian oil surveyor who was working in the capital.

Egypt’s western dseert has long been a popular safari destination, with tourists flocking to its verdant oases, unique rock formations and white sand dunes.

In recent years, however, it has been the subject of security concerns because of the long, porous border with Libya. Egypt has been flooded with weapons, mostly from Libya, since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and plunged that country into turmoil.

Egyptian security forces frequently target smugglers in the western desert, and in July 2014, gunmen armed with rocket-propelled grenades attacked a border guard post, killing 21 troops.

CAIRO: The Egyptian Awqaf (Religious Endowment) Ministry will hold an international conference on the renewal of religious discourse in mid November, the ministry announced Thursday.

Under the title “Imams’ vision on the renewal of religious discourse and refuting extremist ideology,”  more than 50 clergymen, preachers, Awqaf ministers and muftis (Muslim legal experts who are empowered to give rulings on religious matters) from all over the world have been invited to attend the conference scheduled to convene in Egypt’s touristic city of Luxor in 14 and 15 November,” caretaker Awqaf Minister Mohamed Mokhtar was quoted by Youm7 Thursday.

In press statements on Thursday, Gomaa said that holding the conference in Luxor aims at “supporting tourism and demonstrating the tolerance of Islam toward ancient civilizations,” state news agency MENA reported.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has repeatedly called on religious preachers to combat terrorism through defending Islam and correcting the “flawed image” of the religion in the religious discourse delivered at mosques and public events.

CAIRO: The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) received 1,025 artifacts Wednesday from the Antiquities Ministry’s storehouses in Alexandria, Youm7 reported.

The artifacts will be on display during the inauguration of the GEM, scheduled for 2018.

“Some 766 artifacts, spanning several eras of Egypt’s Greco-Roman history (330 B.C.-395A.D.,) were brought from Maria Storehouse in Alexandria and have been deposited in the museum’s restoration lab,” General Director of the GEM Dr. Tarek Tawfik stated Wednesday.

Tanagra statues, a sarcophagus, and oil vessels are among the artifacts. The other collection of artifacts was brought from Alexandria’s antique storehouse of al-Nahaseen, Tawfik said.

“All necessary measures have been taken according to the latest scientific techniques to ensure the safety of the artifacts during transportation,” Caretaker Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty said in a statement Wednesday.

GEM, situated on 120 acres of land, is located 2 km southwest of the Giza Pyramids and was scheduled to be inaugurated in August 2015 but due to funding issues, according to Damaty’s statement in Al-Ahram Thursday; it will not be inaugurated before 2018.

The construction of the three-phase project, which includes the construction of the museum’s main building and implementation of the master plan, landscape parks and surrounding site infrastructure, began in March 2012 with two phases completed so far.

CAIRO: The total number of women who run for 2015 Parliamentary elections reached 308 out of 5,420 candidates, or 5.6 percent.

Egyptian High Elections Commission (HEC) spokesperson Omar Marawan announced the figures Thursday for the first phase of the elections.

A total of 5,420 candidates and nine lists have been accepted to run in the first phase of parliamentary elections slated to kick off Oct. 17, the HEC announced. The first phase includes 14 governorates of Giza, Fayoum, Beni Suef, Minya, Assyut, New Valley, Sohag, Qena , Luxor, Aswan, Red Sea, Alexandria, Beheira, and Marsa Matrouh.

The most prominent candidate is belly dancer Sama al-Masry; her nomination request has been accepted to represent Cairo’ al-Gamalia district, homeland of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

Lawyer Samir Sabri filed Wednesday a complaint against accepting al-Masry’s nomination request as she lacks “trust and good reputation.”

Egypt’s House of Representatives will comprise of 596 members, with 448 to be elected as independents, 120 through the winner-take-all party lists system, with 28 seats to be appointed by the president, HEC said.

Egypt’s parliament was consists of two houses: Shura Council (upper house) and Peoples’ Assembly (the lower house); however, Shura Council cancelled and the Peoples’ Assembly was named the House of Representatives in 2014.

CAIRO: Residents of the Maadi district have reported seeing poisoned stray dogs lying dead in the street, and are slamming the  government for adopting an “unmerciful” way to deal with the crisis of stray dogs.

Thousands of animals are poisoned across Egypt every year using a deadly pesticide called strychnine, the former Deputy Head of the Veterinarian Services Authority Hassan Shafiq told The Cairo Post Thursday.

Pictures of poisoned stray dogs lying dead in Cairo streets in 2014- Youm7

Pictures of poisoned stray dogs lying dead in Cairo streets in 2014- Youm7

The killing mainly occurs through either injection or by poisoned food, as opposed to shooting the animals in the past. The process does not include medical examination to the dog to check whether it is dangerous to the public or carrying a disease, according to interviews with veterinarian experts.

“There are many stray dogs in the streets in Egypt because of the accumulated piles of rubbish,” he said. According to him, poisoning dogs is the most “practical, effective and cost-effective way for Egypt to end the crisis.”

Neutering surgeries, another alternative solutions according to Shafiq, costs around 400 EGP ($51)for each dog, “which is a burden to the state’s budget.”

Some neighborhoods send complaints about dogs gathering in their areas, and thus, the Veterinarian Services Authority also sends “trained” vets to these areas to kill the dogs, according to Shafiq.

Authorities choose to kill homeless dogs because it is the best choice for the public interest, Senior Head of Veterinary doctors, Yasser el-Serafy told The Cairo Post. He continued, “for example, some complaints say that residents are sometimes threatened from dogs barking all the time outside their buildings and at passersby.”

Serafy added that many stray dogs are vulnerable to be infected with scabies as well as rabies.

“What is taking place by the government is unmerciful and leads to an environmental disaster,” Dina Zulfaqqar, a well-known animal rights activist said in comments to The Cairo Post. She said that the killing of the dogs is based on “unexamined complaints and baseless reports by the Ministry of Health about the frequent use of rabies vaccine.”

Zulfaqqar explained “the frequent used of the vaccines is normal among vets who are dealing with animals on a daily basis, but it is not an indication that there are many people were bitten or that the biting animal is a dog.”

She continued “the only documented cases of rabies in the records were in 2013 for two cows and two horses.”

“The poisoned food thrown to the dogs could also infect the soil, and endanger people’s lives, including rubbish collectors who use their bare hands,” added Zulfaqqar.

She said that the government is violating recommendations by both the World Health Organizations and the World Organization for Animal Health, as well as Islamic Sharia (law,) “which urges and guides us for mercifulness in dealing with animals.”

Awareness campaigns at schools are highly recommended, she said, to discuss compassion and mercy in dealing with animals.

Stray dogs and cats have been ubiquitous on Egypt’s streets for years, and although they are not typically mistreated, recent cases have been reported raising backlash from Egyptians against cruelty in dealing with animals.

In May, animal rights activists organized protests against the killing of six puppies in Alexandria after a man fatally beat them with a piece of wood.

In February, a video of a dog named “Max” being stabbed to death went viral and the perpetrators have been sentenced to prison.

CAIRO: A total of 95 x-ray devices have been installed on entrances of all stations of the first and second metro lines to detect explosives, managing director of the company Khaled Sabra told Youm7 Wednesday.

An additional 25 devices will be installed at the metro at a cost of 30 million EGP ($3.83 million,) Sabra said. The metro is considered part of Egypt’s national security, as it transports millions of passengers on daily basis from different parts of the capital. Major traffic problems aboveground occur if a metro station is closed.

No fatal attacks have been carried out against the metro, but the government shut down central Sadat metro station for about two years after the dispersal of Rabaa al-Adaweya sit-in in August 2013 for “security reasons.”

The company has announced several plans to expand the massive network connecting the capital and to improve its services. Four carriages of the oldest metro line running from Helwan to Marg have been air-conditioned; the newer lines are already air-conditioned.

Cairo Metro had announced a wireless internet service at its stations, but the plan has been indefinitely postponed over “security concerns.”

The digging of the third phase of the third metro line will begin before 2016 to be inaugurated in three years, according to the acting head of the National Authority for Tunnels Sameh Refat.

The phase will include 15 stations underground and aboveground over a distance of 17.7 kilometers, connecting Imbaba and Mohandiseen west of the Nile, and pass under the Nile River to Zamalek and continue to Attaba, Abassiya, Cairo Stadium, Heliopolis and the Cairo Airport.

Additional reporting by Reda Hebishi.

CAIRO: A lawsuit demanding the designation of Nov. 19 as official Father’s Day was rejected Thursday by the Administrative Court of Asyut, Upper Egypt.

Yasser Abdel Wahab, the citizen who filed the lawsuit, chose Nov. 19 because it is the birthday of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. He said he was “seeking equality” with Mother’s Day, celebrated in Egypt March 21.

The lawsuit also demanded that the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh be renamed “the City of Peace.”

When he decided to file the lawsuit, Abdel Wahab told reported last March that the role of fathers “cannot be denied or ignored,” and they should be honored because their sacrifices are “no less valuable than mothers.”

Days before Abdel Wahab announced his lawsuit, Sisi had honored 31 mothers, who received a 50,000 EGP ($6,560) award each.

Qalyubia, in Egypt’s Delta, became the first governorate to designate a Father’s Day; April 21. The request was filed to the council of Qalyubia by Dean of Applied Arts at Banha University Yasser Suhail.

CAIRO: Egypt’s Armed Forces in cooperation with the UAE’s Emirate of Sharjah will hold a five-day celebration, marking the anniversary October 1973 War victory against Israel, announced Sharjah Media Center chairperson Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qassimi Wednesday.

The celebrations will be held Oct. 5 and 6 at the Cairo Air Defense Stadium.

The UAE is to participate in the celebration with a show entitled “Clusters of Light,” he added in a press conference in Cairo, saying “the greatest artwork tells the biography of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him; and the preparations of this work have been taken in cooperation with the biggest producers, artists and major companies in the world.”

“Clusters of Light” is a theater act has been taken from poems by Saudi poet Abdel Rahman al-Ashmawi; the show crew consists of more than 700 persons from different nationalities, he continued.

“Clusters of Light has been dedicated from Sharjah ruler Sheikh Sultan III bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi to beloved Egypt and to continue the brotherhood and cooperation between both nations,” Qassimi said.

“Egypt, the Place and the Statue” is another 20-minute show that will be displayed at the celebration; it consists of three parts: Egypt’s history, October War victories, and Egypt’s future projects, he noted.

The relations between Egypt and UAE have been strengthened since the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi on July 3.

CAIRO: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) locked the interest rate of deposits and lending at 8.75 and 9.75 percent, respectively, Reuters reported Thursday.

The decision was taken during a monetary policy committee meeting held on Thursday.

The bank stated the decision aims to slowthe inflation rate that is hampering economic growth, said Al-Ahram Online Thursday.

“While investments in domestic mega projects are expected to contribute to economic growth, the downside risks and uncertainty that surround the global economy could pose downside risks to domestic GDP,” Reuters quoted the central bank’s statement.

Egypt’s Minister of Planning Ashraf al-Ararbi announced in May that he inflation rate reduced by 0.3 percent in the period between July and March, compared to the same period in the last fiscal year; as it recorded 7.9 percent in August after 8.3 in July, according to CBE’s September report.

In May, the CBE said Egypt’s real GDP growth hit 4.3 percent (y/y) in 2014/15 Q2, recording 5.6 percent (y/y) in the first half of the fiscal year, powered by the 6.8 percent record growth witnessed in Q1, the highest annual growth rate since 2007/08 Q4.

CAIRO: Banque Misr will provide the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) a $525-million loan for enhancing and supporting the electricity services, Youm7 reported Thursday.

The loan will be granted from Misr Banque in cooperation with a number of the Egyptian and Arab banks, including National Bank of Egypt, Commercial International Bank and Arab African International Bank.

In press statement during the financial inclusion forum Thursday, Cthat bank chairman Mohamed el-Etreby announced that the bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Arab Banking Corporation in Bahrain for a $300-million loan for the Banque over three years, to be used in funding projects.

In August, EEHC requested $525 million from banks to resume the work in Asyut and Damietta power plants, Amwal al-Ghad reported.

“The EEHC targets a loan from a banking consortium that would pay off dues of the contractors working on the two plants; Orascom Construction (OC) and General Electric,” a senior banking source told Amwal Al Ghad Aug. 25.

A 1000-megawatt (MW) combined cycle power plant was inaugurated in Asyut in June, with an investment cost of around $746 million, Youm7 reported.

The power plant is established on a total area of 85 acres and consisting of eight generating units, each generates 125 MW.

The power plant is established jointly by the Egyptian Orascom and the American General Electric companies.

Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker said the Asyut power plant is part of Egypt’s 2015 plan to overcome electricity shortages, which includes adding 3632 MW to the country’s power grid, with an investment cost of around $2.65 billion.