CAIRO: Proficiency in Arabic should be a prerequisite for those seeking government jobs in Egypt, according to an organization seeking to save the language.

The Egyptian Arabic Language Academy has made a number of recommendations to education ministries aimed at protecting the language from the influence of foreign technology and education, which it says is harming the language skills of children and students.

CAIRO: Egypt has confirmed plans to use biogas technology to meet its energy needs.

Biogas is a renewable energy source that uses gases produced from raw materials including agricultural and municipal waste. It is already used in hundreds of places around the world.

CAIRO: The case of a four-year-old boy, Shenouda, who was raised by a Coptic couple who found him abandoned outside a church, has sparked a heated debate in Egypt involving human rights activists and lawmakers.

Activists have called for the case to be brought before the House of Representatives in the hope that Egypt’s laws regarding the adoption of children by Christians will be amended.

CAIRO: Iranian authorities arrested one of the country’s most famous actresses on charges of spreading falsehoods about nationwide protests that grip the country, state media said Saturday.
The report by IRNA said Taraneh Alidoosti, star of the Oscar-winning movie “The Salesman,” was detained a week after she made a post on Instagram expressing solidarity with the first man recently executed for crimes committed during the nationwide protests.

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that the courts would correct any mistakes in an appeal process after the jailing of Istanbul’s opposition mayor, and in the meantime Turks had no right to ignore legal rulings.

In his first direct comments on Wednesday’s conviction of Ekrem Imamoglu — a potential challenger to Erdogan who was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison and handed a political ban — Erdogan said he did not care who is the opposition candidate in next year’s elections.