A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Philadelphia, ruled on December 20 that a gay Egyptian man should receive a further hearing from the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which earlier rejected his bid to stay in the US.

Angry about a European Parliament resolution on human rights in Egypt, the Egyptian government countered with an accusation that religious and ethnic minorities face increasing discrimination in Europe. "Egypt is deeply concerned at the deteriorating state of the rights of religious and ethnic minorities and immigrants on the European continent," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

In view of the meeting of the Subcommittee on political matters: human rights and democracy, international and regional issues between the EU and Egypt to be held on 2324th January 2008, the Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) are deeply concerned about the deterioration of the human rights situation since the adoption of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) action plan in March 2007.

A court in Egypt has refused to place a ban on 51 websites in the country. The court recognised the importance of freedom of expression in a civilised society and as such the websites should operate as long as they do not undermine fundamental beliefs or public order.

A US-based human rights group has accused the Egyptian government of using torture and false confessions in a high-profile anti-terrorism case. Twenty-two alleged members of an unknown Islamist group, the Victorious Sect, were accused of planning attacks on tourism sites and gas pipelines. Human Rights Watch says its research suggests the security forces may have fabricated the group's name.

ARTICLE 19 and Index on Censorship are alarmed by the continuing assault on press
freedom in Egypt. Next week, no less than three cases will come to trial. All three represent a serious infringement of the right to free expression. It is the culmination of a year-long campaign of intimidation against journalists and bloggers.

The Forced Migration and Refugees Studies Program FMRS at the American University in Cairo AUC is hosting the 11th Biennial International Association for the Study of Forced Migration IASFM conference taking place in Cairo, Shepheard Hotel from January 6th to 10th, 2008. The theme of the conference is "Refugees and Forced Migrants at the Crossroads: Forced Migration in a Changing world." FMRS is calling for volunteers to assist the conference coordinator in the conference logistics before and during the conference. Volunteers will receive a registration waiver to attend some of the sessions of the conference as well as the social events.

Egyptian bloggers, long at the forefront of exposing rights abuses, are planning an online festival of torture videos to run alongside the 31st Cairo Film Festival, local media reported on Tuesday. The parallel festival is the brainchild of a blogger named Walid, the Egyptian Mail reported, and will feature "controversial acts of torture allegedly committed by the security authorities".

AMERA is now recruiting for a new Country Director to head up its operations in Egypt.Interviews are expected to take place in Cairo on November 26-27. Deadline for applications is November 10 2007.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information has condemned the denial of the right to travel and movement inflicted upon former prisoner of conscience, lawyer Mohamed Abbu by the Tunisian authorities. He was prohibited from travelling to Cairo to attend the trial of Ibrahim Essa, editor in chief of the independent "Aldostur". The trial is set to take place on 24 October 2007.

Air pollution is so bad in Cairo that living in the sprawling city of 18-million residents is said to be akin to smoking 20 cigarettes a day. According to the World Health Organisation, the average Cairene ingests more than 20 times the acceptable level of air pollution a day. A 2002 World Bank report estimates that pollution causes $2,42-billion-worth of environmental damage each year, about 5% of Egypt's annual gross domestic product.

Catholic Relief Services Egypt is seeking to fill the post of Social Counsellor for it\'s Refugee Education Project: 2007 - 2008. The Social Counsellor (SC) will assume responsibility for working with rest of team and beneficiaries in support of the awarded (sub) grant.

Two Egyptian rights activists, Mohammed al-Dereini and Ahmed Sobh, have been arrested and detained for promoting the rights of the country’s Shi’a minority and criticising the prevalence of torture in Egyptian prisons. Mohammed, who heads the Supreme Council for the Care of the Prophet’s Family, was taken away from his home by security agents before dawn on Monday. Ahmed, the Imam of Ali Center for Human Rights, was arrested on 28 August but was not questioned by the state prosecutor until 29 September.

While the Egyptian government basked in the praise of the “Doing Business” report earlier this week, at home, 27,000 employees of the country’s largest textile mills went on strike, demanding higher wages and benefits. The Egyptian government has reacted severely to the work stoppages, sending several of the strike organizers to prison.

Egyptian security forces have detained a Shi'ite Muslim activist who campaigned for more rights for Egypt's tiny minority Shi'ite population, security sources and the man's lawyer said on Wednesday. Mohamed el-Derini, who runs a Shi'ite group called the Supreme Council for the Care of the Prophet's Family, was taken from his home on Monday, and is the second Shi'ite activist arrested in two months in Egypt, lawyer Hossam Bahgat said.

A Cairo court has sentenced four journalists and a newspaper executive to two months in jail with labour for publishing 'false news' about a businessman, judicial sources said on Wednesday. The verdicts, which come amidst concern from rights groups about what they call a pattern of harassment of the press by authorities, were passed last Saturday after an in absentia trial, the sources said. The defendants can ask for a retrial.

An Egyptian court sentenced four outspoken newspaper editors to one year in prison with labour on Thursday for defaming President Hosni Mubarak and his politician son Gamal, court sources said. The court also ordered Ibrahim Issa, Adel Hammouda, Wael el-Ebrashi and Abdel-Halim Qandil to pay fines of 20 000 Egyptian pounds each.

It was 3am when armed security agents hammered on the door of Khairat al-Shater's flat in Nasser City; his daughter Zahra could only watch and comfort her distraught children while her father and husband, Ayman, were detained as Hosni Mubarak's latest crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood got under way. "The Brotherhood are good people," insisted Zahra, in a hijab of the kind increasingly seen on the streets of Cairo. "We believe in peaceful change and the regime is crushing us.

Egypt has announced that it is imposing a complete ban on female circumcision, also known as genital mutilation. The announcement follows a public outcry after a young girl died during the operation. A ban was introduced nearly 10 years ago but the practice continued to be allowed in exceptional circumstances.

Egypt on Thursday finally banned all female circumcision, the widely practised removal of the clitoris that just days ago cost the life of a 12-year-old girl. Officially the practice - which affects both Muslim and Christian women in Egypt and goes back to the time of the pharaohs - was banned in 1997, but doctors were allowed to operate "in exceptional cases".