cc President Obama’s speech to the Muslim world delivered on 4 June was ‘powerful’ and ‘smart’, but PT Zeleza finds himself most interested in its ‘equivalences and silences’. With reference to media reactions and commentary from different parts of the world, Zeleza looks at Obama’s framing of the relationship between the US and Islam, the parallels Obama draws between the civil rights movement in the United States and Palestinian resistance, and Obama’s failure to ‘fully address one of the fundamental reasons for the estrangement of the so-called Muslim world from the United States: The latter's support for authoritarian regimes’. The United States ‘would do itself a lot of good if it curtailed its propensities for destructive interventions around the world’, says Zeleza, while ‘the so-called Muslim world’ would benefit from building ‘truly democratic developmental states’.

Africa Middle East Refugee Assistance (AMERA), a UK-based refugee rights organization assisting refugees who seek asylum in Egypt, is seeking a dynamic team-builder with a background in social or community-based work to serve as Psychosocial Team Leader. AMERA requires an intelligent, hard-working person with a commitment to service for vulnerable people, and an interest in finding innovative ways to integrate psychosocial, community and legal aid approached to improving refugees' access to human rights.

It is in Egypt's interest to show more respect for human rights, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday, hitting a raw nerve in U.S.-Egypt relations ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama. Clinton met representatives of Egyptian pro-democracy groups at the State Department one day after she received Egypt's foreign minister.

'Provinces on fire with kidnapping rumours; every day more stories of missing children', read the May 1 headline of independent daily Al-Dustour. For months now, the independent press has been carrying reports of the disappearance of young children, mostly from Egypt's rural provinces. On Apr. 11 two children from the Sharqiya province vanished without a trace; on Apr. 28, four young children - three of them under six years old - were reported missing in the northern city Mansoura. Dozens of other cases have been reported through this period.

It is a health crisis of alarming proportions. Up to nine million Egyptians have been exposed to hepatitis C, and tens of thousands will die each year unless they receive a liver transplant. Health authorities are taking steps to stop the spread of the blood-borne virus, but must also contend with higher liver failure mortality rates as the disease advances in those infected decades ago.

In the year since Egypt outlawed female genital mutilation the government hasn't prosecuted a single case. Nonetheless, some activists say the law is a tool, among others, for gradually dismantling an ancient tradition.

For over 27 years President Mubarak has ruled with an iron fist. With protests and strikes forbidden, activists are finding new ways to fight for democracy. Through Facebook, protestors can now find a voice.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) expressed its strong condemnation and dismay at the continued detention since 3 October 2008 of the Christian blogger, Hani Nazeer, by state security. His arrest was carried out in coordination with the Church in Naga Hammadi, his hometown in Qena Governorate. Nazeer is the author of the .

The American University in Cairo (AUC) Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) is pleased to announce its plans for an additional Graduate Diploma with a Specialization in Psychosocial Intervention for forced migrants and refugees beginning in September 2009.

Following the arrest and trial of novelist Magdy El-Shafei on grounds of ‘publishing and distributing publications incompatible with public morals’, the is calling for the Egyptian government to drop the charges against the writer, which violate the freedom of opinion and expression, and to amend the existing criminal legislation to ensure the practice of freedom of opinion and expression.

About 100 journalists, human rights activists and media personnel gathered in Cairo this week to mark the "100 Anniversary of Press Freedom Demonstrations in Egypt 1909", an event organised by IFEX members in Egypt the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) and the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR). It was held in cooperation with the Arab Affairs Committee of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate (EJS).

The hybrid United Nations-African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Darfur, known as UNAMID, received a boost today from the arrival of 100 personnel from the second Egyptian Infantry Battalion. Another 100 troops from the battalion are slated to arrive tomorrow in the strife-torn western flank of Sudan as a meeting of the Tripartite Committee – comprising the Government of Sudan, the AU and the UN – is scheduled to take place for the first time in Darfur.

The most powerful opposition group in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, has debunked fears that it will sit out a planned national opposition boycott and demonstration on 6 April, when it announced on Thursday that all Egyptians should join in the Monday activities. The move came after the 6 April Movement entertained fears that the powerful Islamic group would not participate in the strike.

Last week, a Sudanese refugee girl was sexually harassed in the street, while waiting for a taxi in the Al Haram district. A taxi driver pulled up and verbally and physically harassed her. When she accused him of verbally and physically harassing her, he drove his car towards and hit her with the car repeatedly. She attempted to desperately defend herself, but did not have time to do so. The taxi driver then grabbed her arm and hand and began moving the taxi.

Tadamon- The Egyptian Refugee Council is seeking a qualified individual for the position of Network Coordinator. The Network Coordinator is mainly responsible for the overall coordination of all Council initiated activities in Egypt and ensures that the Council's mission, objectives and principles are followed and achieved. Interested candidates are kindly requested to send their updated CVs along with a one page statement (400 words max) to [email][email protected] Deadline for applications is March 20th, 2009. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

An Egyptian woman, who went to file a complaint at a police station on 19 January, has since been subjected to torture, ill-treatment and death threats against her and her family by members of the local police force. Mona Said Thabet went to a police station north of Cairo after she was assaulted by two men at her sister's home. The men were reported to have been police informers.

Minister of Trade and Industry Rasheed Mohamed Rasheed started on Tuesday 24/02/2009 important talks in Beijing with senior Chinese officials on ways of deepening bilateral economic relations. The talks focused on promoting Egyptian exports to the Chinese market to correct the imbalance in trade that tilts in China's favor by billion.

Li Jinglin is one unique Chinese businessman. This owner of a textile company in Egypt has become one of the few Chinese businessmen to sniff out opportunities in the African nation, mainly to beat fierce competition from back home. Even as domestic enterprises start to feel the pinch from deepening credit woes caused by the global downturn, Li has been busy dealing with rising orders from the US and European markets.

Egyptian police have released a pro-Palestinian blogger who was detained last week during a rally. Egyptian-German student Philip Rizk was held on Friday, north of Cairo, where he helped organise a protest in support of the Gaza Strip. Eyewitnesses said he was bundled into a white van with no licence plates, which then sped off.

Two Sudanese migrants were shot by border police and a third was detained after they were spotted along the border with Israel, an Egyptian security source in Sinai Peninsula told PANA. One woman was shot in the stomach and the man was hit in the left shoulder. According to the official, the guards ordered the three migrants to stop and when they refused, the guards opened fire.