Only tourists on organised trips will be exempt from the rule
Ahram Online , Tuesday 17 Mar 2015
Any person wishing to enter Egypt will need to obtain a visa before departure and will not be offered it at the airport upon arrival, Egypt's ministry of foreign affairs announced on Monday.
Individual tourists must obtain visas for tourism purposes from Egypt's diplomatic missions prior to their arrival in Egypt, the statement says.
Organised tourist groups will be the only exception, according to the statement.
The decision will apply from 15 May 2015.
Many nationalities, including Europeans and American, were allowed to obtain an Egyptian visa at the airport upon arrival.
The same decision was taken in September 2011 but the government suspended it after three days due to a public outcry and accusations that it will be a big blow to Egypt’s tourism industry.
"This is an act of state sovereignty,” foreign ministry spokesman Badr Abdel Atti told Ahram Online. “Every country has the right to protect its borders."
But the tourism sector has expressed its concern.
"We do not have diplomatic missions in all cities for independent tourists to apply for a visa,” chairman of Egypt's Federation of Tourism Chambers (EFTC) Elhamy El-Zayat told Ahram Online. “Many people, especially frequent travelers, won't like to send their passports away by mail to get visas, because they may need their passport at any time."
El-Zayat discussed the matter with tourism minister Khaled Rami on Monday, he said.
The EFTC chairman suggested that a new system be implemented to allow tourists to apply for visas online, as either groups or individuals.
On arrival visas will still be available for foreign tourists until an electronic visa system is introduced on a yet to be announced date
Ahram Online , Thursday 2 Apr 2015
：No daylight saving this summer: Egypt's prime minister
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ttp://english.ahram.org.eg/News/128195.aspx @ahramonlineさんから
Egypt's Cabinet agreed on Monday not to switch clocks for daylight saving time this summer, and carry studies on the possibility of canceling the practice altogether in future years
Ahram Online , Monday 20 Apr 2015
Egypt's cabinet agreed on Monday not to switch clocks for daylight saving time this summer, and carry out studies on the possibility of canceling the practice altogether in future years.
The cabinet previously announced that clocks would go forward one hour starting on 1 May, but suspended the decision until a national opinion poll was carried out to ask citizens whether or not they support daylight saving time.
The polls, according to a cabinet statement, showed that most citizens disapprove of the practice.
Egypt first adopted daylight saving time in 1988 as a way to reduce electricity consumption, but in April 2011 the cabinet endorsed a decree to cancel changing clocks in summer.
The practice returned in May 2014, after fuel shortages led to electricity cuts nationwide.
In the summer of 2014, Egypt changed the clock four times, first applying daylight saving time, and then suspending it during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to shorten fasting hours from dawn till dusk.
Standard time in Egypt is GMT + 2, and GMT + 3 during daylight saving time.
１ ４月19日，カイロ大学構内において，「反政府」の主張を掲げる一部学生と大学警備隊（民間警備会社）の間で数か月ぶりに衝突が生じ，負傷者も出る事態となりました。
この衝突事案については，SAC(Students Against Coup)を名乗る者が，フェイスブックのアカウント上で，衝突時の状況の映像等を掲出するとともに，今後も同様の行動を続ける旨を述べています。昨年10月頃まではカイロを始めとする各地の大学でデモが頻発していたことから，今後も大学や周辺でデモが発生する可能性があります。
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ttp://english.ahram.org.eg/News/128509.aspx @ahramonlineさんから
#midjp #エジプト #egyjp
Public polls show that moving the clocks forward during summer is unpopular
Ahram Online , Friday 24 Apr 2015
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi issued a decision to officially abandon summer daylight saving time, which has for years seen clocks put forward one hour in the summer, his office said Thursday.
The decision came three days after the cabinet approved scrapping the system this year, following a public poll that showed a majority did not support applying daylight saving time in Egypt.
“The decision was made in response to the majority of citizens who have been polled in this regard,” presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef said, as quoted by state news agency MENA.
First implemented in Egypt in 1988, daylight saving time was introduced as a power-saving measure prolonging daylight hours.
It was abolished in April 2011 after the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, with the government saying at the time the practice was ineffective in curbing power usage after polling the public.
Moving clocks forward each summer was revived in May 2014 in order to ease rolling power blackouts.
In the summer of that year, Egypt changed the clock four times, first applying daylight saving time, and then suspending it during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to shorten the daily dawn-to-dusk fast.
Egypt is normally two hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) — meaning it was three hours ahead when daylight saving time was applied.
