Press TV US condemns 'chilling' sentences of Egypt activists The United States has condemned "new harsh sentences" given by an Egyptian court to opposition activists, who participated in the 2011 revolution that toppled longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak. On Monday, the court sentenced Alaa Abdel Fattah and 24 others to prison terms for organizing a peaceful but "illegal" demonstration in November 2014 outside the parliament in Cairo. Abdel Fattah was jailed for five years while the other defendants in the case received sentences ranging from three to 15 years. "As a matter of principle, the United States believes that a country's long-term stability is strengthened by protecting the right of its citizens to peacefully express dissent," US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington on Monday. Read more: http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/02/23/398902/US-condemns-chilling-Egypt-sentences Middle East Eye Amnesty condemns Egypt over Libya airstrikes On Monday, rights group Amnesty International criticised Egypt over recent airstrikes on Libya, saying its air force failed to take the necessary precautions in the raids which also killed seven civilians in a residential neighbourhood of Derna. "Egypt has now joined the ranks of those placing civilians at risk in Libya. The killing of seven civilians, six of them in their own homes, must be investigated, as it appears to have been disproportionate," Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa deputy director, said in a statement. Egypt launched the strikes on 16 February following the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in the Libyan city of Sirte by militants affiliated with the Islamic State group. Egypt said the strikes were carefully planned. The Islamic State's branch in Libya retaliated, killing at last 40 people in a string of suicide bombings in eastern Libya on Friday. Read more: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/amnesty-condemns-egypt-over-libya-airstrikes-1326103091 Al-Monitor Egypt hopes to lure investors back New proposed legislation aims to make Egypt attractive for investments by eradicating bureaucracy that drains investors' time and energy while they try to obtain the licenses needed to start their projects. The "investment window" system will ensure this, as it creates a single window through which the investor finalizes all the required conditions to get a license, without having to go to several parties and ministries, as was the case before. An investment committee will represent the investor in all matters and will adopt a mechanism to resolve disputes when they arise. The decision of this committee, as the body in charge of settling conflicts in investment contracts, will be final. The new law is expected to include several procedures in line with technological progress, setting up a network that links the investment committee, the central bank and other banks. This network will facilitate the credit-query process and the receipt of letters of guarantee in order to save time and eliminate obstacles facing investors in this regard. The Egyptian government is planning to attract direct foreign investment ranging between $8 billion and $10 billion for the 2014-2015 fiscal year, mainly in the oil sector, power stations and the Suez Canal. Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/02/egypt-new-law-investment-procedures.html##ixzz3SeFKfR00 Reuters Egypt aims to halt gas imports in 2020 Egypt hopes to halt liquefied natural gas imports in 2020, Oil Minister Sherif Ismail said on Monday, as projects to develop its own gas fields are completed. The Arab world's most populous nation is struggling to cope with energy demand from a population of 85 million. Demand now outstrips production of oil and gas from fields in the Western Desert, Nile Delta and offshore. Ismail told Reuters in an interview that "we are targeting to stop importing gas with ... the completion of developing gas field projects." He added the caveat that this would be as long as there was no need to meet additional demand with imports. Read more: http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/02/23/egypt-gas-idINL5N0VX2P020150223
