Tunisian-Egyptian actress Hend Sabry will be joining the prestigious jury panel of the Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film at the 76th Venice Film Festival, which is set to take place in Rome from August 28 to September 7. This makes the award winning actress the first female Arab filmmaker to fill this post at the Venice Film Festival, the world’s oldest film festival. “I am proud to be one of the jury members of Venice Film Festival and I also feel proud that veteran directors Emir Kusurica and Antoinette Liowill be the jury presidents,” stated Sabry on her official Instagram account. I also am happy that this announcement coincides with the release of my movie ‘El-Feel-el Azra’a (The Blue Elephant) Part 2 which achieved huge success across the Arab world. I hope to be a good ambassador for Arab art at the oldest festival in the world, and one of the three most important festivals in the world.” https://www.instagram.com/p/B0bJ1R_hSDX/?utm_source=ig_embed This is not the first time for Sabry to be seated on an international festival’s jury panel, as in 2015, she was a jury member at the Dubai International…
Egyptian Handball Team’s Impressive Performance Secures Bronze Medal at U21World Championship
Despite failing to reach the final at the U21 World Championship, Egypt’s handball team was able to reach third place after losing to France 35-37 in a heated match on Sunday. The Pharaohs, the only non-European national team to win all of its group matches in ten years, had defeated Portugal 37 – 27 prior to finally losing to northern neighbor. Overall, France claimed the trophy of the tournament, with Croatia clinching second place. This marks a strong contrast from the Egyptian team’s performance at the former Men’s Junior World Championship in 2017 where the team reached 17th place. The Egyptian Handball national team includes Abdelrahman Taha, Abdelrahman Hameed, Galal Khorshid, Abdelaziz Ehab, Shehab Abdallah, Hassan Walid, Seif El Deraa, Ahmed Hesham, Ahmed Rady, Hazem Mamdouh, Mohsen Ramadan, Mohamed El Azhary, Omar Khaled, Omar Samy, Khaled Waleed and Yasser Mohamed. The IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, which took place in Spain this year, is the official competition for men’s national handball teams of under-21 years category. Since its launch in 1977, Egypt has hosted the competition in 1993, where its team claimed first rank, and in 2009 where it reached…
Egyptian Startups Forasna, Taskty Among Finalists at Global MIT Innovation Challenge
The MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge (IIC), a global tournament that awards $1.6 million annually to entrepreneurs using technology to create economic opportunity for workers, has selected Cairo-based blue collar jobs platform Forasna and home services online marketplace Taskty as regional finalists, reports Menabytes. The Egyptian startups are the only ones representing the Middle East region among the final 60 organizations from around the world for MIT’s 2019 global cohort. Both startups have been selected as finalists in the skills development and opportunity matching category for the African region. The 60 regional finalists now move forward to the regional events where they will be pitching live to a selection panel of innovation experts in events in five regions; US and Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Four teams from each region will then be selected to proceed to the Global Grand Prize Gala at MIT on November 21st, and will be awarded a grand prize of $250,000. Taskty, founded by Ahmed Galal, is Egypt’s largest online marketplace for home services, connecting workers with work and increasing economic opportunity, and won “the best Arabic web project for 2012” for the Techwd competition sponsored…
Egyptian Swimmer Farida Osman Secures Bronze Medal at World Championships
Accomplishing an impressive feat of 25.47 seconds in the women’s 50 m butterfly final at the World Swimming Championships in Gwangju, Farida Osman secured the bronze medal on Saturday. Osman reached third place as the silver medal went to Ranomi Kromowidjojo (Netherlands) while the gold went to Sarah Sjoestroem (Sweden). The Egyptian swimmer, beaming, thanked her fans and supporters in a video on her Facebook page. “Thank you for your messages for support. I’m doing much better today despite yesterday being difficult. I have yet to respond to all of your messaged but I’m very happy that I made you and Egypt proud,” enthused the swimmer. Her 25.79 second swim, earning her fifth place in the semis, qualified her for the final. Nicknamed ‘the golden fish’, the Egyptian champion won Egypt’s first medal in the 50m butterfly’s race at the FINA World Aquatics Championships in the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Soon after, Osman won Best Female Athlete from Africa 2017 at the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) Awards at the Czech Republic. The athlete, who started swimming at the tender age of four, also participated in the 2018 Mediterranean…
“Thaat”: An Egyptian Design and Social Enterprise With An Inspiring Vision
Stepping into the colorful and spacious hub of Cairo-based social enterprise Thaat and its sister company PAZ.Cairo, an ethical fashion brand that pays homage to traditional craftmanship, is certainly a unique and worthwhile experience. “Here, customers can come and be made to feel like a princess, have a nice drink, sit down and have measurements taken,” explains Peri Abuzeid, founder of the joint venture. In fact, this is a key reason why their products are only delivered internationally, and not locally. “I’m actually doing this on purpose. I want people to come to the store and experience the whole story. It makes a big difference.” Much of the conversation that Peri kindly agreed to have with Egyptian Streets, about the multiple facets of her work and the inspirational backstory to Thaat, ends up taking place in the store-section amidst beautiful racks of clothing made from carefully-sourced Egyptian textiles and boasting exquisite details such as handstitched embroidery or beading. As we observe and feel our way through the different designs on display, details about the production process, the artisans and ultimately, the business as a whole, begin to unfold. “This is…
Egypt’s Handball Team Reach Semi-Finals After Beating Norway
Egypt’s national handball team has qualified for the Men’s Junior U21 World Championship semi-finals to be held in Spain on Thursday, after a 29-27 victory over Norway. The Egyptian team will face its French counterpart on Saturday in the semi-finals, and the winner will face either Croatia or Portugal in the final. This is the sixth straight victory at the competition after they already beat Serbia 30-29 in the quarters, Australia 44-17, Nigeria 47-30, Sweden 32-22, and South Korea 38-36 in the group stage. This makes Egypt the first non-European team to have won all first stage matches since 2009. Egypt managed to reach the semi-finals five times before, winning the title in 1993 and the bronze medal in 1999. The Egyptian Handball national team includes Abdelrahman Taha, Abdelrahman Hameed, Galal Khorshid, Abdelaziz Ehab, Shehab Abdallah, Hassan Walid, Seif El Deraa, Ahmed Hesham, Ahmed Rady, Hazem Mamdouh, Mohsen Ramadan, Mohamed El Azhary, Omar Khaled, Omar Samy, Khaled Waleed and Yasser Mohamed….
Three Million Egyptian Women Screened for Breast Cancer Under Women’s Health Initiative
Under the slogan “Egypt’s Women are Egypt’s Health”, the first phase of a nationwide campaign to support women’s health kicked off in nine governorates and screened more than three million women so far, reports Ahram Online. The Ministry of Health and Population launched the Women’s Health Initiative earlier this month for early detection of breast cancer, hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis and heart disease, targeting around 30 million women above the age of 18. The examinations are accompanied by awareness lectures on methods of breast-cancer detection as well as tips on how to lead healthier lifestyles and improve reproductive health, with checkups taking place at 1,200 medical centres in South Sinai, Marsa Matrouh, Port Said, Alexandria, Beheira, Damietta, Qalioubiya, Fayoum and Assiut. The first phase is set to last until August 30 in Alexandria, Port Said, Beheira, Qalyubia, Damietta, Matrouh, South Sinai, Fayoum and Assiut. The second is from September 1 to October 30 and includes Cairo, North Sinai, Red Sea, Ismailia, Suez, Kafr El-Sheikh, Menoufia, Beni Suef, Sohag, Luxor and Aswan. The third and final stage will start on 1 November and will include Giza, the New Valley, Gharbia, Dakahlia, Sharqia,…
23 Egyptian Women Who Made History
In a culture bound by oppression, Egyptian women never stood a chance in acquiring the same fame, power and success of that of an Egyptian man. Women stood in the background while men stood in the forefront taking credit for work women also contributed too. Women were regarded as second-class citizens and women’s rights issues were ‘elitist’ and unimportant. Yet, despite all of that, there are many women who have soared to heights of success that were unmatched to that of a man at the time. There have been women who thrived and triumphed against all odds. There have been women who defended their country, women who recreated art, women who took office, women who changed policies and women who thrived in sports, business and ethics. This is just a sample of kind of the women who existed and still exist in Egypt. 1. Cleopatra “I will not be triumphed over.” Known as the last active Pharaoh of ancient Egypt, Cleopatra was a politician, mathematician and a businesswoman. She was fluent in nine languages and during her rule she defended Egypt from the vastly expanding Roman Empire. 2. Lotfia El Nadi…
BA to Resume Cairo Flights Following Security Examinations
Days following the controversial and sudden decision of British Airways to suspend Cairo flights, the airline has announced that it would flights would return to normal operations following the week’s suspension. The airline released an official statement in which it revealed its decision following security examinations. “Following a thorough assessment of the security arrangements, we are pleased that our service to and from Cairo will resume from Friday,” the airline stated. The abrupt decision by airways was mirrored by Lufthansa on Saturday but just for the day; the latter had suspended flights from the cities of Frankfurt and Munich to the Egyptian capital with little explanation. Egyptian authorities heavily criticized the move which was not announced to the airport or the officials prior to coming into effect. TV presenters and Egypt’s Aviation Ministry also echoed the criticism, expressing that the decision was not communicated despite its consequences. Foreign and local passengers discovered the decision, without prior notification, as they were attempting to check in. An official from the regional office of British Airways, Regional Customer Service Manager of British Airways Sherif Barsoum revealed that the airline has suspended the flights…