Today, Sudanese protesters are marching a “million man” march towards the presidential palace to stand against the currently ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) demanding them to hand over power to the civilians. According to the BBC, Sudan’s security forces attacked civilians with tear gas in an attempt to disperse the march. As of now, one protester has been killed. The forces have also closed down Al Manshia Bridge, that connecting Khartoum with its sister city Omdurman, to make sure protesters remain scattered. This is the first mass demonstration since the military crackdown that took place in 3 June killing at least 128 protesters. Sudan is under an internet blackout in an attempt to prevent civilians from sharing what is happening inside the country on social media. However, since the massacre “#BlueforSudan” has taken over the internet and evolved to a movement with dozens of celebrities and influencers changing their profile picture to blue to raise awareness to the events in the country. Today, the “one million-man march” trended on Twitter in several countries across the Middle East including Egypt and UAE. In 30 June 1989, the ousted Sudanese president Omar…
Fayoum Mudbrick ‘Lahun’ Pyramid Open to Public
Egypt’s only Middle Kingdom pyramid, Senusret II’s Lahun pyramid located in Fayoum, is officially open to the public. News of the recently restored pyramid’s opening to visitors, as well as the discovery of two tombs near it and the completion of the restoration of Khond Aslabay mosque, was announced by Minister of Antiquities Khaled El Enany on Friday. The little-known structure, rendered unique through its construction in mud-brick as is commonly known of older pyramids, was cleaned of debris on the inside, notably in the burial chamber and the corridors. Restoration work on the 4000 year old pyramid also included installing wooden stairs at its entrance, a new lighting system as well as guiding panels. El Enany and Supreme Council of Antiquities also announced the discovery of a Roman and Middle Kingdom tombs. According to a statement released by the Ministry of antiquities, the uncovered objects were found inside one of the Middle Kingdom tombs located on the southern side of the Lahun pyramid. The first contained an assortment of funerary masks, a box one of ushabti, leather sandal belonging to a child and fruits along with amulets. Among the…
Egypt Establishes First Air Pollutant Monitoring Station in El Sohag
The Ministry of Environment installed the first two stations to monitor the surrounding air in Sohag governorate. A monitoring station was installed at the top of the central administration building of Sohag University to the east of the Nile, bringing the number of air monitoring stations at the national level to 100 stations. This is part of the Ministry of Environment’s plan to focus on the environment in Upper Egypt, which led to the establishment of monitoring stations in the provinces of Qena, Minya and Luxor to monitor the air pollutants and achieve the environmental targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In 2018, the Ministry of Environment announced a strategy for Egypt to reduce its air pollution rate by 50 percent in 2023. In the recent years, both the public and the private sector in Egypt have been actively working towards environmentally sustainable solutions by introducing electric cars and electric buses to its transportation system. Egypt is one of the few countries in the Middle East region, Africa and Asia that owns such a large number of air quality monitoring stations, according to the ministry. According to ACS Publications,…
Egypt’s Sisi Meets World Leaders at G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan
On the sidelines of the two-day G20 Summit held in Osaka, Japan, from 28-29 June, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi participated in various important meetings with other world leaders, including the Japanese and Italian prime ministers and German chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss ways of enhancing cooperation and to consult about a number of regional and international issues. Sisi’s participation follows Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s invite, whose country is chairing the 14th summit for the first time since its inception in 2008, according to a statement made by Egypt’s presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady. The invite comes in light of Egypt’s presidency of the African Union in 2019 and in the context of growing relations between the two countries, which are discussing means of boosting cooperation in the fields of trade and economy. The G20 (Group of Twenty) Summit assembles the most important developing economies including the European Union to discuss key issues pertaining to the global economy. In addition, leaders of several guest countries as well as representatives of international organizations are invited to participate in the meeting. The themes of interest to the 2019 summit include global economy…
Amr Warda’s ‘Apology Accepted’, Will Return to National Team
The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) announced on Friday that it had accepted Amr Warda’s “apology” and reinstated him to the national football team. In a statement, EFA said Warda will continue with the national team for the duration of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) after the end of the group stage. This means Warda will miss Egypt’s third group stage match against Uganda that will be held on Sunday 30 June, but will appear in the round of 16 knockout stage which Egypt has already qualified for. According to the EFA meeting was held on Thursday at the camp of the Egyptian team participating at AFCON, where a number of players reportedly called for Warda’s return and forgiveness. The meeting was held in the presence of Egypt’s Minister of Youth and Sports Ashraf Sobhi and EFA President Hany Abo Rida. Following the meeting, the EFA decided to revert on its decision to expel Warda from the national team, limiting the expulsion to the AFCON group stage. Reports had been swirling on social media for the past 24 hours of Warda’s return, with many on social media criticizing the decision….
‘StoryLab: Aswan’: a Nomadic Project Builds Community and Cultivates Creativity
An inspirational encounter with 826 Valencia, an after-school tutoring center dedicated to supporting underprivileged students in San Francisco, sowed the seeds for what would soon be locally adapted and implemented in Egypt in the form of the ‘StoryLab’ project. Its first edition, the immersive workshop ‘StoryLab: Aswan’, successfully took place in April 2019 and the next edition is already in the pipelines. 826 Valencia was set up in 2002 as a social project in the back of a store, where it provides free services to young – predominantly Latino immigrant – students in need of individualized support outside of under-resourced state school classrooms. Here, writing is considered the ultimate form of agency: it allows for telling stories, processing experiences, bringing imagination to life and building community. The creative minds behind StoryLab were immediately keen to emulate this model in a similar capacity in their home country Egypt, as Wael Omar shared with Egyptian Streets in a recent interview. In fact, taking the foundational idea a step further, Wael, who works for the Egyptian film production house Middle West Films and manages the Cairo edition of the International Short Film Festival…
Egypt’s Endangered Species: A Current Assessment of the Native Wildlife
Although Egypt has a very rich wildlife, in recent years, more and more indigenous animals have become endangered, as is the case with many countries across the world. There are several reasons for this; to begin with, the National Geographic defines an endangered species as one that “is threatened by extinction.” There are currently 41,415 species across the world under the threat, according to IUCN Red List. Egypt’s landscape mostly consists of semi-arid, arid, and stony deserts framed by the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea coastlines, making it a sustainable environment for many mammals. However, a large majority of these mammals are facing threats to their populations, primarily due to loss of habitat, but there are many other reasons why species might face endangerment. The underlying reason for loss of habitat, which presents a great threat to animals, is due to the lack of a sustainable environment that can provide for all the animals’ needs, from food to shelter, reducing their chances of survival. Habitat degradation can be either natural or man-made. One of the prime examples of an animal becoming extinct are known to be dinosaurs. Dinosaurs went extinct…
Egypt’s Historical Palace Cinema Reopens After Renovation
After a three-year hiatus, the Ministry of Culture will reopen the historical Palace Cinema located in Heliopolis, following its development and renovation as of Thursday evening, 27 June. The decision to renovate it was part of Cairo Governor Atef Abdel Hamid’s plan to restore Cairo’s historical buildings that hold great historical value and cultural significance. The Palace Cinema was established in 1989 and stopped working in 2016 so it could be further developed and renovated under the late head of the Cultural Palace Authority, Dr. Sayed Khattab. Specialized training courses have been added to the program, along with a monthly photography exhibition that includes footage from the works of some of the most important and famous directors. It will also feature African and Latin films and a weekly seminar for discussion. In an attempt to preserve the Egyptian cinematic heritage, the Egyptian Ministry of Culture decided to create the first documented archive of Egyptian cinema and its heritage since 1896, naming it “Egyptian Cinematic”. Head of the National Film Center, Khaled Abdel Jalil, stated that the archive comes as part of the Ministry of Culture’s efforts to support Egypt’s cinematic…
“Shunning is Not the Answer”: Mo Salah Reacts to Amr Warda’s Expulsion
Egyptian football sensation Mohamed ‘Mo’ Salah tweeted “shunning is not the answer” less than a day after footballer Amr Warda was dismissed from the national football team following claims of sexual harassment. Talking to Twitter after Egypt secured a 2-0 victory against DR Congo at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), Salah stressed that women must be treated with the utmost respect and that “no means no”. “Women must be treated with the utmost respect. “No” means “no”. Those things are and must remain sacred,” said Salah in a tweet, before adding that he believes those who make mistakes can change. “I also believe that many who make mistakes can change for the better and shouldn’t be sent straight to the guillotine, which is the easiest way out.” In a separate tweet, Salah, who scored his first goal at AFCON earlier in the day, said simply shunning those who make mistakes is not a solution. “We need to believe in second chances… we need to guide and educate. Shunning is not the answer,” tweeted Salah. Though he did not name Warda in his tweets, social media users have assumed the…