The International Publishers Association (IPA) awarded imprisoned publisher Khaled Lutfi on Thursday the 2019 Prix Voltaire for his courageous publishing despite the possible dangers he might face. The award ceremony is scheduled for June 21, on the sidelines of the Seoul International Book Fair in the South Korean capital. The IPA’s Freedom to Publish committee chair Kristenn Einarsson said that the international publishing community stands with Lutfi, and that ‘we must support Lutfi’s fellow publishers in Egypt so that his imprisonment does not lead to fear and self-censorship in a country of such rich literary heritage.’ IPA general secretary José Borghino also called on president of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to grant Lutfi a presidential pardon. Lutfi is the founder of Cairo-based Tanmia Bookshop and Publishing, and was sentenced in February of this year to five years in prison on charges of divulging military secrets and spreading rumours for distributing an Arabic translation of Uri Bar-Joseph’s The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel. Uri Bar-Joseph’s book claims that son-in-law of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and a close advisor to his successor, Anwar Sadat, Ashraf Marwan was a spy…
Scorching Ramadan First Week as Heatwave Expected to Hit Egypt
A week-long heatwave is expected to hit Egypt starting Sunday, with temperatures during the day soaring to as high as 42 degrees Celsius. The Egyptian Meteorological Authority issued an advisory for the period of May 5 till May 10, coinciding with the first week of Ramadan. The day light hours in Cairo will see temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius. In Upper Egypt, temperatures are expected to reach a high between 40 and 42 degrees Celsius for the whole week. The lowest temperatures forecast for the Northern and Western Coasts will range between 35-37 degrees Celsius. Ramadan, which requires fasting between dawn and sunset, is expected to begin on Sunday or Monday for Muslims across the world and is expected to last until June 3. Tips on coping with the heatwave and staying safe 1. Avoid the heat during the warmest hours of the day which tend to be between 11 A.M. and 3 P.M. 2. Shut windows, blinders and pull down the shades during the day. Use light-colored curtains and fabric to keep rooms cooler. 3. Have recurrent cool showers and baths (but use water responsibly). 4. In non-fasting hours,…
The Legacy of ISIS and the Need for Peace in Syria
The once vast caliphate of the Islamic State, better known as ISIS, is no more. On March 23, the last scrap of ISIS territory fell to a US-backed coalition. But while the state of ISIS is gone, the terrorist organization still survives in the shadows and its memory is a stark reminder of the dangers of political unrest and extremism, and a warning for how Syria needs to proceed. What ISIS Once Was ISIS grew out of Al-Qaeda in 2006 and, like other terrorist cells in the Middle East, it was initially a dangerous organization, but one whose territorial aspirations, if any, seemed like a pipe dream. However, the Syrian Civil War was the perfect incubator for ISIS to establish itself as an actual state. Taking advantage of the sheer domestic unrest in Syria, and then Iraq, ISIS declared itself a caliphate in 2014. At its height in 2015, ISIS, from its capital at Raqqa, controlled nearly half of Syria and a significant part of northern Iraq, including the regional capital of Mosul. At the same time, ISIS has unleashed and inspired over 140 terrorist attacks across the length of…
“We Should Learn From Egypt’s Economic Experience”: Lebanese Prime Minister
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri praised Egypt’s economic model on Thursday and said that his country should learn from Egypt on how to stimulate economic growth, reform laws and combat corruption. Al-Hariri said that Sisi has “changed Egypt’s direction” and pushed his country forward after a period of stagnation. “President Sisi discovered to what extent Egypt is falling behind, as we are today in Lebanon in terms of our old laws, so we must update all the laws in Lebanon as Egypt has done in recent years and continues to do so,” the prime minister said. “Therefore, we have to learn from the Egyptian experience and expertise, whether in the fields of electricity, communications, gas, oil or other sectors. What we are trying to do today in Lebanon is actually the same as Egypt did, but the difference is that Egypt suffered economically more than Lebanon.” Prime Minister Hariri stated his comments during his participation today in the Arab Economic Forum 2019 at the Four Seasons Hotel, with the participation of the Egyptian Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly and many Lebanese, Egyptian and Arab officials and businessmen. “As Prime Minister…
AFCON Ticket Prices Face Major Criticism from Social Media Users and Prominent Figures in the Field
The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) ticket prices received a wave of major criticism from social media users and Egypt’s very own footballer Mohamed ‘Mo’ Salah, especially the third-class tickets, which ranged from EGP100 to EGP200. Earlier this week, the organizing committee of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt announced the prices of tickets for the tournament which range between EGP 200 and EGP 2500 and are expected to go on sale around mid-May 2019. The Liverpool player, Salah tweeted “Don’t ever think of sitting in the cabin. If you do, you will pray for the national team for real.” Tickets for the Egyptian team matches will be available at four different prices points, EGP 200, EGP 400, EGP 600, and EGP 2,500, while prices for the rest of the teams are at EGP 100, EGP 300 and EGP 500. Although the committee made thorough consideration of all aspects to attract a large number of attendees to the Nations Cup, certain people believe that the prices of the tickets are too high and many fans will not be able to attend the matches. Ahmed Hossam ‘Mido’,…
Employment rate in Egypt Rises to 90.1% : CAPMAS Report Reveals
In the spirit of International Labor Day, a statement by Egypt’s national statistics agency Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) revealed that Egypt’s manpower reached approximately 28 million with a whooping 90.1 percent employment rate by the end of 2018. According to CAPMAS the unemployment rate as of the last quarter of 2018 is at 8.9 percent with 2.492 million people unemployed compared to 11.8 percent of the previous year. Around 21.3 percent of those unemployed are women while men make up about 6.8 percent. Interestingly, more people are employed in rural areas than urban cities where over 16 million people are employed provincial cities and almost 12.2 million in the cities. The reported also highlighted that “as far as economic activities are concerned the agricultural and fishing sectors got the highest rate of workers.” Manpower Minister Mohamed Saafan said in March that the “unemployment rate in Egypt went from 13.3 percent in the second quarter of 2014 to 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018 due to the ongoing national mega projects.” The public sector has been making several efforts such as introducing in several mega…
Trump Working to Designate Muslim Brotherhood a Terrorist Organisation
The White House announced on Tuesday that the Trump administration is working to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a foreign terrorist organisation. The designation is expected to bring economic and travel sanctions against Egypt’s oldest Islamist movement, with more than a million members across the Middle East. “The president has consulted with his national security team and leaders in the region who share his concern and this designation is working its way through the internal process,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in an email. According to a report by the New York Times, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi asked Trump to make the designation in a private meeting during a visit to Washington on April 9, a senior U.S. official said. Following the meeting, the Trump administration first directed security and diplomatic officials to find a way to impose sanctions on the Brotherhood. However, the decision has caused a rift between White House officials and Pentagon staff, according to the New York Times. On the one hand, US National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo both support the move, yet career national security staff, government lawyers…
Egypt Announces AFCON Ticket Prices as the Tournament Approaches
The organizing committee of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt announced the prices of tickets for the tournament which range between EGP 200 and EGP 2500 and are expected to go on sale around mid-May 2019. Tickets for the Egyptian team matches will be available at four different prices points, EGP 200, EGP 400, EGP 600, and EGP 2,500, while prices for the rest of the teams are at EGP 100, EGP 300 and EGP 500. According to Amr El-Bortoqali, head of tournament’s tickets sub-committee, the ticket prices were coordinated with the African Football Confederation (CA) preluding the announcement. Although the committee made thorough consideration of all aspects to attract a large number of attendees to the Nations Cup, certain people believe that the prices of the tickets are too high. Ahmed Hossam ‘Mido’, former Zamalek football team manager, stressed in a press statement that the prices of third-class tickets should not exceed 50% of minimum wage income, demanding the Minister of Youth and Sports Ashraf Subhi to adjust the prices of tickets to be more affordable to low-income families in Egypt. The Confederation of African Football…
‘Egypt Part of Australian Consciousness’: Exclusive Interview with Australian Ambassador
Egypt has always been a significant nation when it comes to international relations due to its strategic location in the Middle East and North Africa. For decades, embassies from all over the world have opened in the country and bilateral relations have grown stronger. Although focus tends to quickly go to Europe and the US when considering Egypt’s foreign policy, Australia has had a shared history with Egypt that dates back to World War I. Egyptian Streets sits with his Excellency, Ambassador Glenn Miles, to discuss the budding relationship between both nations and his recurrent role as the Ambassador to Egypt after first serving in Cairo over twenty years ago. How do you see the Australian-Egyptian relationship as of late? What recent challenges have you and/or this relationship faced? I think it’s a very strong and historical relationship. We had a function the other night at the residence where I pointed out that the Australian residence here was purchased in the 1950s. The diplomatic presence goes back to 1937 when we opened our first trade office here [in Egypt]. For Australia, this constitutes the oldest embassy in the Middle East…