A new fried chicken fast-food chain ‘Chickin Worx’ just recently opened in Cairo’s New Cairo area; it serves a one-of-a-kind gluten free fried chicken catering to those with those who have gluten allergies and those who want to opt for a ‘healthier’ version of fried chicken. Last week, I was casually scrolling through Instagram when I came a cross an ad captioned “Chickin Revolution.” Being the foodie that I am, I had to check out the alluring profile to find out what was so revolutionary about the brand’s chicken. To my surprise, I realized that Chickin Worx was the first restaurant in Cairo to serve gluten free fried chicken. My instant reaction was of course “Oh my God, is this low calorie fried chicken? How is this even possible!” I then made sure my weekend plans centered around paying this place a visit. The restaurant is owned by Farouk Kadous, who realized that many Egyptians have an allergy to gluten or celiac disease. While it may seem like it is an international franchise, it is an local Egyptian brand opting to offer quality fried chicken to those who need to…
Egyptian Vlogger Shady Abu Zeid Will Remain in Jail After Granted a Release
After the court ordered the release of Egyptian Youtuber Shady Abu Zeid who, according to his lawyer Mokhtar Mounir, was arrested last May under “spreading false news and joining an unlawful group”, the judge accepted the prosecution’s appeal to resume the 25-year-old’s detention for 45 days. Initially, the court substituted the remainder of Abu Zeid’s sentence with “provisional measures” where he was required to visit the police station on predetermined days for certain hours. However, the prosecution insisted that he remains in jail. Abu Zeid launched a Youtube channel under the name ‘The Rich Content’, a channel that have almost 20,000 subscribers and over 650,000 views. His Facebook page, however, is more popular with more than 120,000 likes with some of his videos collecting over 150,000 views. On the fifth anniversary of the 2011 revolution in 2016, Abu Zeid posted a video featuring the now renowned Egyptian actor Ahmed Malek. The two walk around Tahrir Square gifting police officers inflated commodes as balloons decorated with the phrase “from the youth of Egypt to the police on January 25.” Just a few hours after it went live, the video generated almost 1.5…
Egypt Launches ‘Egypt and Africa’ Website to Communicate with African Countries
Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) launched on Sunday a new website in six languages -English, Arabic, French, Swahili and Hausa – to improve relations and communication with Africa in light of Egypt’s presidency of the African Union (AU) in 2019. The Amharic language, which is one of the Ethiopian Semitic languages, will also be launched within days. This is the largest ‘serious attempt’ to communicate with Africans in their local languages, according to journalist and current Chairman of the State Information Service Diaa Rashwan. Rashwan added that this comes as part of a wide media activity carried out by the State Information Service (SIS) in order to achieve the objectives of the state in strengthening Egypt’s relations with the African people, and that this will not be limited to the period of Egypt’s chairmanship of the African Union. First, the portal addresses the Egyptian people to increase their awareness of Africa and Egypt’s relations with several African countries, as well as their news, cultures, symbols, literatures, economies, histories and civilizations. Second, it addresses the African people by providing them information about his/her country in the languages they speak and Egypt’s relations with…
Egypt Chairs African Union, First in 17 Years
For the first time since its foundation in 2002, Egypt has taken over the presidency of the African Union on Sunday. The position of chairmanship, assumed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi from Rwandan President Paul Kagame, was granted at the opening ceremony of the 32nd African Summit which took place in Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa. The Sunday summit was inaugurated with the theme being “Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced People.” Dire economies of some African states, as well as reported political instability and insecurity, forced displacements, illegal migratory routes and human trafficking have been noted in the last years. Hence, this year’s theme is aimed at tackling this issue as well as several topics of sustainable development pertaining to the AU’s 2063 Agenda. In the days leading up to the yearly summit, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry attended the preparatory meetings of the summit, securing meetings and negotiations with various African states in order to improve bilateral relations such as South Africa, Namibia, Gabon among others. In this year’s summit topics such as the African free trade zone, the development of the continent’s infrastructure, compensating for the harms of…
Rami Malek Takes Home BAFTA Award For Best Actor
Rami Malek wins yet another BAFTA Award for Best Actor commemorating his Freddie Mercury performance in Bohemian Rhapsody. As he accepted the award, Malek said, “I am beyond moved…This is for and because of you, gorgeous,” while paying tribute to Freddie Mercury. Malek was competing against Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born), Christian Bale (Vice), Steve Coogan (Stan & Ollie) and Viggo Mortensen (Green Book) for the Best Actor category. The film landed another award on the same name for Best Sound and it was nominated for several other categories including Outstanding British Film, Costume Design, Make-Up & Hair, Cinematography and Editing categories. In late January, Malek landed his first Oscar’s Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Bohemian Rhapsody was also the big winner at the 76th Golden Globe Awards earlier this month, as Rami Malek won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, while the film took the prize for Best Motion Picture – Drama. Queen guitarist, Brian May, also said that Malek deserved to be nominated for an Oscar for his ‘remarkable’ performance. Bohemian Rhapsody was released early November 2018, and has grossed…
Ain Shams University’s Art Faculty Creates a Facility to Help Students with Special Needs
Ain Shams University’s Faculty of Arts just launched the first facility that caters towards students with special needs on 7 February. The educational facility aims to provide students with disabilities with an equal learning experience. The hall will host several trainings sessions and workshops for its art students. It is equipped with technical services like projects, speakers and internet to help the students in their learning process. In 2015, Ain Shams’ Faculty of Arts attempted to create a system catered for students with disabilities to assist their learning experience. It offered subsidized books and a reduced tuition fee. However, the students had to follow the regular curriculum and sit for the same tests. Nonetheless, the university emphasized that its open for suggests. To accommodate for students who are visually impaired, there is the Center for Visual Services that assists students in their course work. The dean of the Faculty of Arts, Suzan Al Kellany, the university aims to accommodate several disabilities which include muscular atrophy, hearing impairment, cerebral palsy, autism, mental disability, and learning difficulties. Al Kellany highlighted that the facility was endorsed by Ethedico Petrochemical Company and established by…
All You Need to Know About Aswan’s International Women Film Festival
Known for its magical sites, captivating views and richness in African culture and history, the city of Aswan is set to host the third edition of Aswan International Women Film Festival (AIWFF), running from 20 until 26 February. The festival is held under the auspicious of the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Tourism, and supported by the National Council for Women and the Cinema Professions Syndicate. The poster for this year’s festival was revealed on January 22, which was designed by Alexandrian artist Hisham Ali. It is meant to portray the face of the modern Egyptian woman covered by a number of different colours that reflect Egyptian and African environments, such as the colour blue that symbolizes the Nile. The writing on the poster is also inspired by Aswan and Nuba’s style of calligraphy, joining the two worlds – Egypt and Africa – together. The Aswan International Women Film Festival is the first women’s film festival in Egypt, the first international festival held in Upper Egypt, and the first Egyptian film festival that specializes in workshops for youth in Aswan. This year’s festival will see the honoring of Egyptian actresses…
Four Egyptian Students Mocking Christian Religious Rituals Arrested
Egyptian police arrested four students on Saturday for investigations after the release of a Youtube video that included mockery of Christian hymns and prayers. The four young men, which included a student from Al-Azhar University, posted a video on YouTube on January 31 mocking Christian religion rituals, according to an official statement by the Egyptian Interior Ministry. Security forces were later able to identify the location of the four individuals and arrest them in the area of Abu Hammad Governorate of Eastern Province. The students confessed to filming the video for comical reasons, and that they had no intention to insult the Christian religion. The idea of the video was by one of the students, ‘Mustafa H.F.’, who got inspired by a satirical page on Facebook that posted comical comments on political, economic and religious issues. Al-Azhar University officials decided to transfer Al Azhar student “Mustafa H.F.” to a disciplinary board to take necessary action. According to the Ministry of Interior, there will be necessary legal actions taken regarding the incident, and that the four young men confirmed the removal of the video after sensing the escalation of the situation, and posted…
Book Review: A Concise History of Sunnis and Shi’is
It is much easier to perceive a supposed ‘enemy’ or a problem within the boundaries of the present time. When right-wing parties in Europe look at Islamist terrorism and immigrants, they look at such issues through a narrow context that only includes certain actors and events, such as 9/11 and the recent terrorist attacks, and exclude the historical and political narrative behind it all. Similarly, in the Muslim world, there are certain problems that are often looked at without its historical context – and that’s the problem between Sunnis and Shi’is. In every conflict that exists in the Middle East, the issue of sectarianism is always used as a lens for explanation. In Yemen, for instance, it is seen as a Saudi-led coalition launched a war against the Zaydi Shiite armed group known as the Houthis. In Syria, the war has also often been portrayed as a sectarian conflict between a Sunni majority population and a minority Shiite ruling elite. ISIS have also carried out one of the most ruthless genocides against Shi’is in Iraq and Syria, as the terrorist organization’s magazine Dabiq features 14 pages justifying violence against modern…