Yossra AboulFadl, Egyptian-Australian MasterChef cooking contestant, has always had a keen eye for ingredients, and the way that different combinations can create healing remedies. Yet, the 37-year-old’s journey began in a laboratory and not in the kitchen. “I’ve always loved my job as a pharmacist and I find it very rewarding to be able to help people with their day to day problem,” Aboulfadl says. “But then cooking and feeding people is a passion that is growing bigger and bigger everyday.” “Cooking has always been a passion from a very young age. I would always observe my mum cooking in the kitchen,” Aboulfadl, who is also a mother of two children, says. A Sydney resident and a rising star in Australia’s food scene, Aboulfadl says that the search for ‘home’ has been the underlying force in her culinary career. “I have spent 17 years in Australia, and that’s a long time, yet I still think of Egypt as my home, because I believe that home is not where you physically conduct your daily life and it’s not where you go to sleep, it is where your childhood memories were built……
Top Fashion Trends in Egypt in 2019
Culture, heritage, well-known ancient civilization and above all, the Pyramids, are enough to keep the name Egypt in everyone’s ears globally. Most of the world-famous fashion weeks like Milan, London, Paris and others are also inspired by Ancient Egyptian styles in many ways. Geographically Egypt is located in the extended Sahara Desert, and their fashion trends are ruled by the factor of comfortability. Clothes in feather weight fabrics, modest colors, patterns which go perfectly along with it and whatever may be the fashion trend, Egyptians always prefer comfortable clothing that is appropriate for the arid climate. That doesn’t mean fashion trends aren’t changing. Here are nine new fashion trends in Egypt. 1. Velvet abaya is a new Hijabi trend Glowing velvet abayas in vibrant color shades are in fashion this year. Velvet abayas are elegant and capture the attention of others for more than just a minute. This elegant look doesn’t require you to spend too much either! It is now possible with a Souq coupon – you can shine in velvet at a low cost! 2. Have a sheen of pearl How can you go out without a bag?…
Egyptian Wildlife Rehabilitator Mai Gawad Attends US State Department’s Anti-Wildlife Trafficking Program
US State Department chose Mai Gawad, founder of Alexandria Turtle & Wildlife Rescue Team, to participate in the International Visitors Leadership Program to combat wildlife trafficking. Gawad was selected to participate in the program along with 10 representatives from other countries: Finland, Namibia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Laos, Costa Rica, Colombia, Tunisia, India and Bangladesh. The program also includes representatives from the Ministries of Environment, Directors of National Parks, and Natural Preserves and Wildlife Societies. Participants will meet with wildlife officials, lawyers, environmentalists and nongovernmental organization leaders to examine cooperative efforts in the global campaign to combat wildlife trafficking, as well as visit nature protection institutions, animal welfare societies, animal rescue centers, and several museums. Wildlife trafficking is a multi-billion-dollar transnational criminal activity that involves illegal trade of protected specimens of wild animals and plants, either threatened with extinction or not threatened. The trafficking in wildlife commodities causes unprecedented declines in some of the world’s wildlife species. There is also evidence that this trade is a source of funding for organized crime and global terrorist networks with up to US$ 10 billion a year, affecting the security of us all. Founded in…
US Deports Palestinian Harvard Freshman After Religious Interrogation at Airport
A Palestinian incoming Harvard student was deported at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) last Friday and his visa was revoked, the Harvard Crimson reports. 17-year-old Ismail B. Ajjawi, a Palestinian resident of Tyre, Lebanon, is slated to start school at Harvard College on Tuesday September 3rd, but upon landing in Boston on Friday night, immigration officers at BOS held him in custody for eight hours, during which he was interrogated on his religious views and had his phone and computer confiscated and inspected. Soon after, an officer informed him that his student visa had been revoked and that he was facing deportation. “When I asked every time to have my phone back so I could tell [someone] about the situation, the officer refused and told me to sit back in [my] position and not move at all,” Ajjawi wrote in a statement, according to Slate. “After the 5 hours ended, she called me into a room, and she started screaming at me. She said that she found people posting political points of view that oppose the US on my friend[s] list.” Ajjawi remained in custody even after other international students…
‘Foul El Seen El Azeem’: Cairo’s Uyghur Culinary Haven
In a slightly dim side road in Nasr City, a neon-lit banner emblazoned with the words ‘Foul El Seen El Azeem’ (Great Beans of China) in bold green font was hard to miss. A namesake of a 2004 Egyptian comedy blockbuster starring Mohamed Henedy, this Uyghur restaurant is one of Cairo’s most popular Asian eateries. Living in Xinjiang, an autonomous territory in the northwestern reaches of China bordered by Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the Uyghurs are descendants of Turkic groups that migrated centuries ago to the region. A largely Muslim ethnic group, the Uyhgurs reportedly face discrimination under the ruling Communist Party of China, culminating in the Xinjiang re-education camps, which many critics in the international human rights community have compared to concentration camps. Like many ethnic communities across the world, the Uyghurs have maintained strong ties with their unique identity. As a result of their cross cultural background, the Uyghurs’ cuisine is inspired by Chinese cooking as well as Middle Eastern spices and dishes which create a delightful dining experience. Located 10 minutes away from Al Azhar University, ‘Foul El Seen El Azeem’ is primed to serve most Uyghur students…
Lawyers Call for Musicians Syndicate to Ban Mohamed Ramadan From Performing
A couple of days following Egyptian actor and singer Mohamed Ramadan’s controversial concert in Egypt’s North coast, various lawyers have called for the artist to be banned from performing. Ramadan, who constitutes one of Egypt’s most celebrated male TV stars with a large following among mainly young males, was criticized for performing in a ‘see-through shirt’ and alternatively, in mere shorts and a vest, dancing provocatively and prostrating on stage. Various videos circulating on social media have also portrayed a lack of organization at his concert, held in newly established coastal city Al Alamein on Friday night, in which Ramadan’s fans climbed the stage only to be violently pushed back into the crowd. While complaints from fans and lawyers alike poured into the Musicians Syndicate questioning Ramadan’s eligibility to be performing in the first place, the syndicate issued an official statement in which it confirmed that Ramadan’s concert had the necessary clearance: a temporary permit to sing. Technically, the Musicians syndicate grants artists and performers one of two types of permits for holding concerts: a permanent permit for recurrent and well-established artists as well as a temporary permit for artists…
Egyptian TV Host Tamer Amin Back on Air After Sexist Comments to Olympic Swimmer Rania Elwani
Egyptian TV host Tamer Amin has been reinstated and permitted to resume his show Akher El Nahar (End of the Day) on the Al Nahar Network. Amin had been accused of misogyny and sexism after insulting Olympic swimmer, gynecologist, and member of parliament Rania Elwani’s husband on the air for co-parenting. During a segment of a June 2019 interview, Elwani was discussing her family life and the support system that has allowed her to succeed as a global sports hero, a medical professional, and a politician, praising her husband for supporting her along her journey. “He has supported me a lot. …In 2004, for instance, he was passing around flyers for my parliamentary election campaign,” she said, adding that her husband was tutoring their children while the interview was being taped. Amin’s controversial interview with Elwani Amin seemed to take offense and proceeded to mock Elwani’s husband, looked straight into the camera and addressed him, saying: “What’s up man? How do you feel making chai latte and tutoring the kids, and staying at home while the doctor [Elwani] is on TV? After which, she will head to the clinic, then…
Egyptian MP Calls for E-Cigarette Ban After First Vaping-Related Death in the US
Egyptian Member of Parliament Amal Rizkallah issued a call to ban e-cigarettes, vapes, and similar devices in Egypt, reports Youm 7. Rizkallah had submitted a motion on Sunday to prohibit the sale, distribution, and import of all electronic nicotine delivery systems across the nation, citing several reports confirming the health hazards of e-cigarettes. This comes days after what is believed to be the first vaping-related death in US history was recorded in Illinois, after a resident of the state died of an unknown respiratory condition linked to e-cigarette use, according to the Chicago Tribune. Nearly 200 e-cigarette smokers are currently hospitalized across the US due to similar symptoms—coughing, shortness of breath, and fatigue. The World Health Organization (WHO) had previously reported a number of troubling findings on the health hazards of using such devices, concluding that vapes are no less dangerous than other smoked tobacco products, such as regular cigarettes. WHO also reported that e-cigarette use could lead to arteriosclerosis, cardiomyopathy, hypertension, and can affect the brain negatively as they often cause an increase in blood lipids. The report also found that vaping could cause infertility and impotence in men….
From ‘El Ar’ to ‘Welad Rizk 2’: The Decay of Egyptian Cinema
There is a saying by American showman Phineas Taylor Barnum that goes, “the noblest art is that of making others happy.” It is to affirm that all art, be it thought-provoking, emotive, or simply entertaining, is one and the same. In other words, a performance at a circus should be appreciated and celebrated as much as a night at the opera, for they all represent the core aim of art: eliciting emotion. Yet not all art is created equal, and not all art has inherent value. The seriousness, thoughtfulness and creative power of an artist must always be present for any work to earn the ‘art’ label. Simply pasting images, events, and words together in an utterly random manner is neither storytelling nor filmmaking – it produces no serious expression, no thought, no vision, and no real emotion. It is an egotistical act full of self-delusion, and this is what Egypt’s biggest film of the year, Welad Rizk 2 (Sons of Rizk 2), symbolizes. Directed by Tarek El Arian and written by Salah El Gehiny, Welad Rizk is a sequel that tells the story of four brothers who commit crimes…