Cairo

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Egypt's parliament hit by blaze

At least 13 people are hurt in a fire at the upper house of the Egyptian parliament in Cairo, officials say.

EgyptAir Offers Muslim Prayer Before Flights; Some People Freak Out.

Because we don't have enough to worry about in this country, a group calling itself Stop the ACLU has posted a silly rant on its Web site complaining about EgyptAir ending its preflight safety spiel with an Islamic prayer. The brilliant mind behind the post says no one has lodged a complaint against EgyptAir for this atrocious crime, because "complaining about all things Muslim is almost taboo." What a load. Can anyone really listen to the last few seconds of the prayer posted at YouTube (and at the end of this post) and find it offensive? We'll admit wrapping up a safety briefing with a prayer and a shot of a mosque might be a little strange, but is it really that horrible? Here's a tip, folks. If you don't like the video, how about not watching it. We don't see a flight attendant standing over anyone's seat forcing them to tune in. If an Islamic prayer stresses you out that much, put on your noise-canceling headphones, dig into the latest issue of the Weekly Standard and ignore it. Or better yet, if you're that hot and bothered, how about not flying EgyptAir? Lufthansa has a nice connecting flight into Cairo, though the crew would be speaking German, so that might not work for you either. Maybe Ann Coulter has a travel agent who can help you put together an itinerary. Stop the ACLU is making this nonissue into some sort of struggle between Christianity and Islam (and manages to get in a dig against Jews, to boot), and it's anything but. You know why EgyptAir flights feature prayers that appeal to Muslims? Because Egypt is 90 percent Muslim. It's the same reason that Air France flight attendants speak French and Qantas serves Australian wine. Airlines are in the business of making their most-important customers happy. If a U.S. airline thought it could rake in some cash with an inflight Hail Mary or two, you can bet they'd do it. So if you think EgyptAir is blatantly insensitive, take your business elsewhere. And if you're going to complain about an airline on your blog, how about focusing on something that matters? Like the fact that in five years most of us won't be able to afford to fly anyway. That would take care of your in-flight prayer problem, wouldn't it? Photo: caribb/Flickr.

Egyptian film legend Chahine dies

Egyptian film director Youssef Chahine dies in Cairo aged 82, four weeks after suffering a brain haemorrhage.

Spat over Iranian film on Sadat

The Cairo office of an Iranian-backed TV station is closed down, the latest victim of a spat over a film on the assassination of President Sadat.

EGYPT: Locals Step Up Fight Against Factory

CAIRO, Jul 21 (IPS) - Controversy continues to rise over the fate of a Canadian fertiliser plant currently under construction in Egypt's coastal province Damietta. Residents fear it could adversely affect the environment.

Cairo's Downfall

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:00:00 PDT