According to brief statement published on his Facebook page, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi expressed his ”deep sadness” as to having received new of the cathedral of Notre-Dame’s fire in Paris. As soon as the fire was noticed in the medieval and iconic monument, news quickly circulated worldwide that one of France’s most valuable heritage sites was ravaged by a fire. The President also stated that the accident of the fire possibly leading to the loss of the cathedral would constitute a “a great loss for humanity”. He also expressed Egypt’s solidarity with France and its people. Similarly, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar expressed dismay at the news of the incident, stating through the Al Azhar official Twitter account “I feel so sorry for the massive fire at the historical architectural masterpiece “Notre Dame Cathedral” in Paris, our hearts go out to our brothers in France, they deserve our full support.” Egypt’s Coptic leader, Pope Tawadros II also issued a statement through the Coptic church’s official spokesman page on Facebook saying “This is a huge loss for all of humanity, for its extremely important historical value, and being…
Egyptian Women Awarded Pulitzer Prize for the First Time
Associated Press (AP) journalists Maggie Michael and Nariman El-Mofty won on Monday a Pulitzer Prize in international reporting alongside Yemeni Maad al-Zikry for their coverage of Yemen’s civil war, becoming the first Egyptian women to ever win the prestigious award. Maggie Michael is an Egyptian reporter based in Cairo. Her work has covered political and religious conflict in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Nariman Ayman El-Mofty is a Canadian-Egyptian photojournalist covering Egypt, Yemen and other parts of the Mideast. What was their work? Dubbed the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, the team spent a year documenting torture, graft and starvation in Yemen. “Their images and stories, gathered at times under dangerous conditions, made a difference”, said AP about their work. At least 80 prisoners were released from secret detention sites controlled by the United Arab Emirates after one of their reports, according to AP. A Houthi leader ordered an investigation of rebel-run prisons, saying that torture was “unforgivable”. The United Nations also rushed food and medicine to areas where the AP revealed that people were starving and threatened to cut off aid to Houthi-controlled areas unless corrupt food diversions stopped….
Five 90s Pop Songs That Changed Our Culture
1. Rag’een by Amr Diab https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTQDAriZCP8 As elsewhere, pop music represents a radical shift to modernity. In his music video for the major hit ‘Rag’een’, Amr Diab lands with a ‘flying car’ to a classical black and white scene and introduces colour and pop. The change of music in Egypt changed radically since then. 2. Kamanana by Mohamed Fouad and Mohamed Henedy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91gd0dXap1E From the film ‘Ismailia Rayeh Gay’ in 1997, Mohamed Fouad and Mohamed Henedy symbolised a new generation of artists that wanted to simply have a little fun with music and lyrics, echoing ‘Wannabe’ by Spice Girls that no one until now seems to understand the meaning behind the chorus. 3. Ghazaly by Hamied El Shaeri and Moustafa Amar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhKrujfRJMs Hamid Al Shaeri was the mastermind behind the growth of Arab pop music since the 1980s, helping other artists like Moustafa Amar to follow in his footsteps. One of his major hits is ‘Ghazaly’, which set the tone for upbeat western music intertwined with oriental instruments. 4. ‘Mabsouta’ by Simone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb6F8nFmoj4 Long before Sherine Abdel Wahab and Nancy Ajram, Simone was one of the first to really invent…
Sisi Backs Libya’s Haftar in Fighting Terrorism and Achieving Security
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met today with Field Marshal Khalifa Hafter, Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan Armed Forces, where he discussed the developments occurring in Libya and Egypt’s keenness on the unity, stability and security of Libya, presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady said. Spokesman for the Presidency said that during the meeting, President Sisi affirmed Egypt’s support for the efforts to combat terrorism and extremist groups and militias to achieve security and stability for the Libyan citizens in all Libyan lands. The United Nations, on the other hand, rejects Haftar’s offensive, as it was opting for peace negotiations between Haftar and the UN recognized government (Government of National Accord). “Our position will not change,” U.N. envoy Ghassan Salame tweeted. “You’ve learned and tasted war. No matter how obstinate one becomes, there is no solution except a political one.” Haftar’s campaign began on April 4, when he called on his forces to advance on Tripoli and take control of the capital. One of his main aims since the start of the civil war is to completely dismantle the Libyan branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as what he considers to be any…
CAPMAS: Car Accidents in Egypt Down by 23.6 % in 2018
According to the most recent statistics by the country’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), there was a recorded 8,480 road accidents compared to 11,098 in 2017. In total, the number of accidents had dropped by 17.8 percent in a year’s time as per the report which was released on Sunday. The report also estimated that the cause of accidents was due to human error (76.8 percent), technical malfunctions (15.7 percent) and problems with the quality of roads and their maintenance (2.7 percent). As such, the number of road accidents, which are estimated to be one of the primary causes of death among youth under the age of 25 in Egypt, was lessened by an improvement in road infrastructure. The report however did stress on an increase of train accidents by 14 percent, reaching 20.44 in 2018, with one of the most tragic being of the recent incident at Cairo’s Ramses station. Although the Egyptian government has allocated a great sum into developing road networks, Egypt still struggles with an exhaustive traffic and driving problem. Many drivers do not abide by internationally recognized conventions of driving such as…
From Inside the Sudan Protests: Sudan Fights for a Better Future
A series of demonstrations that started late December 2018 for four months toppled not only President Bashir who has been in power for 30 years, but also his vice president and minister of defense Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, who seized the former president’s power in a military coup on Thursday. Upon announcing his leadership for the transitional ministry council, the streets of Khartoum and various states including Atbara, Port Sudan and Gadarif flooded with people demanding the fall of Ibn Auf whose history does not stray far from Bashir’s crimes – including his involvement in the Darfur genocide. In 30 hours, Ibn Ouf announced his resignation handing over the leadership to successor Lieutenant -General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan. I have been observing closely the protests for the past four months through social media as the hashtags #SudanUprising and ‘Tasgutbas’ took over Twitter. From afar, the protests do not give the on ground action justice. Once I arrived to Khartoum, I had to witness this historic moment first-hand. I went after the news of Bashir’s expulsion and after Burhan took over as celebrations filled the streets of Khartoum. I was…
Egypt to Face Zimbabwe in the Opening of African Cup of Nations
Egypt is set to play against Zimbabwe and open the 2019 African Cup of Nations at the Cairo Stadium on June 21. The announcement came during the draw ceremony for the 24-team tournament staged against the spectacular backdrop of the Pyramids on Friday. Egypt came in Group A with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Egypt will then play against Congo in the second round and end it with Uganda. The African Cup of Nations will start on June 21 and end on July 19 with 24 teams in six groups, the biggest tournament in the history of the African competition. Group D features Morocco, Ivory Coast, South Africa and Namibia, while Algeria will play in Group C against Senegal, Kenya, and Tanzania. Tunisia is in Group E with Mali, Mauritania and Angola. Egypt was granted the hosting rights of the 2019 African Cup of Nations after winning the majority of votes in early 2019, with only one vote for South Africa. The AFCON draw in full: Group A: Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Zimbabwe Group B: Nigeria, Guinea, Madagascar, Burundi Group C: Senegal, Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania Group D: Morocco,…
Book Review: Believing Women in Islam – Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Quran
Muslim feminists have two tedious battles to fight: one against those who hold on to patriarchal notions within their own community, and the other against feminists who refuse any reconciliation between feminism and any ‘Abrahamic’ religion, including Islam. From both sides, they are belittled, misjudged and dismissed. In ‘Believing Women in Islam’ by Saqi Books, Asma Barlas takes on these two battles with precision, clarity and a clear purpose: first, to ask whether Islam’s scripture condones sexual inequality and oppression, and second, whether Islam permits or encourages liberation for women. Barlas begins tackling the former by critiquing patriarchal interpretations of the Quran. First, she starts by clearly defining ‘patriarchy’, and what it means for scripture to be patriarchal. Narrowly defined, patriarchy is a ‘mode of rule by fathers’, that is, it assumes a real relationship between the ‘father’ as a male figure and God, and extends this to the husband’s claim to rule over his wife and children. Barlas also adds on to this definition by including the politics of sexual differentiation that privileges males and transforms biological sex into a politicized gender, and thus, it is an ideology that…
MAAT Contemporary Dance Company to Begin “The Platform” 3rd Edition This Saturday
Maat Contemporary Dance Company and Cairo Contemporary Dance Center “CCDC” are kicking off the third edition of “The Platform” which will take place from April 13th until April 15th at The French Institute in Cairo, April 17th at Cimatheque Alternative Film Center, and April 18th at Zawya Cinema. The Platform is a showcase opportunity of research, experimentation, and projects developed by the full-time students and alumni of MAAT|CCDC Contemporary Dance School. This program takes place under the mentorship of Karima Mansour, Founder and Artistic Director of MAAT|CCDC Contemporary Dance School. The Platform was established in 2014; it has already presented five performances that were developed by the first generation students of the school. The Platform has also previously included workshops, roundtables, film screenings and the organization of the first meeting of the Euro-Arab Network for Contemporary Dance and Performance in Egypt. The second edition of The Platform was in December 2018 and presented 3 performances by their alumni and current students of MAAT|CCDC Contemporary Dance School, with the concept of short format – zero budget productions to question content and form. In this third Platform edition, students will present four performances…