European and Egyptian officials held a crisis meeting in Cairo Sunday night to dispel the recent human rights furor triggered by a contentious European Parliament (EP) resolution.
The Egyptian-European Economic Council met to ensure that the recent resolution passed by the EP criticizing the human rights situation in Egypt would not affect business ties.
Matters were further convoluted when a meeting of the EU-Egypt subcommittee on political affairs scheduled to take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Cairo was cancelled by the foreign ministry.
Klaus Ebermann, ambassador of the Delegation of the European Commission in Egypt, hoped this spat would pass soon and “not interrupt business.”
Category: Blog
Lebanon: ALL OUT ON 24 JANUARY
Simon has great news…
Truck drivers have staged an indefinite strike along the international road in the Akkar Abda, northern Lebanon. The drivers are unhappy about regulations over the weight of their loads at the Syrian and Jordanian borders. They claim that they are not treated as well as foreign drivers and want the government to push for “reciprocity”.
The strike comes as trade unions have called a day of action over rising prices on Thursday 24 January.
The strike has been called by the confederation of road transport and agricultural unions. The unions are demanding the government “open a dialogue to address the difficult living situation.”
Updates:
• The Federation of Trade Unions and employees in the Bekaa have backed the strike call
•The nurses and midwives union will take part in a one-hour stopage at 10am on Thursday morning. They are demanding an end to “humiliation and starvation. ”
• The president of the doctors association, Dr. Ghassan Jaafar, declared that all physicians will join the strike in defence of “a living wage, freedom and against the unjust policy of the ruling authority.”
• The National Federation of Trade Unions and Workers in Lebanon has backed calls for the strike.
• The national meeting of the agricultural bodies in Akkar held a press conference in support of the strike. Mayor Tlberh Abdul Hamid Saqr, head of the tobacco farmers in the north, told appealed to transport workers, green grocers, supermarkets, cooperatives to join the strike in solidarity. Farmers should not harvest their their crops on 23 January, he said. He also called on the owners of companies and agricultural fertilizers and medicines to close in solidarity.
“I hope workers from the port of Tripoli will not load or unload grains, meat, milk and powdered milk and others,” he added.
• The union construction workers and timber sectors are coming out.
• Maritime Transport Union announced its support for the strike
Iran’s leftist revival
Very interesting article from NYT on the revival of the Iranian radical left.