“Just why would you visit China?” “What’s there to eat besides insects?” “But it has a horrible track of human rights abuse.” “I’d rather go to Europe.” For years, most of my social acquaintances have been reticent about the idea of visiting China, deeming it ‘dangerous, disgusting and boring’ for no obvious reason than what they’ve been told or what they have read about in foreign news outlets. Although Egypt has a plethora of Chinese restaurants and receives millions of Chinese tourists every year, the common, every-day Egyptian doesn’t know much about China either. Moreover, films and TV series have barely represented China in a positive way. One example of this is ‘Fool el Seen El Azeem (The Great Beans of China), a 2004 comedy film featuring Mohamed Henedi who goes to China for an international cooking competition only to experience a culture shock as he proceeds to reinforce the most cliché stereotypes about Chinese culture. On the other hand, the few who understand that the country, home to 34 divisions (including provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions) and, according to 2017 statistics, 1.386 billion people, has plenty to offer often…
Egypt Launches a New Governmental Platform for Traffic Services
Egypt just launched a governmental online platform called ‘Egypt Traffic’ where Egyptians can renew their cars’ licenses and pay fines without having to go to the traffic services office. In an attempt to help car owners to avoid long dreadful queues, now car owners will be able to issue and renew their licenses and have them delivered to their door step. Those who violate the traffic laws will also be receiving messages on their phone with a detailed report of the violation which includes the time, place and type of violation along with the monetary amount of the fine. The move was made by Egypt’s Ministry of Interior who will monitor the website. Egypt’s government is working hard to make Egyptian citizens’ life easier by digitizing all services and institutions. Other services offered electronically include passport issuing and renewal services, traffic services, birth certificates, divorce documents, marriage documents, death certificates, family records, national identification card issuing service and civil status authority. Citizens can also buy train online through the official Egyptian railway website as well as pay utility bills online. However, these services may not be accessible to many people….
Lebanon Appoints First Female Interior Minister in the Arab World
Raya Al Hassan made history on Thursday after she became the first female interior minister in the Arab world. After a nine-month deadlock of political disputes and disagreements, Lebanese political factions agreed finally Thursday on the formation of a new government. For the first time, the Lebanese government includes four women ministers, doubling their representation, including the powerful Ministry of Interior in charge of internal security. “Proud of Lebanese women, proud of the four female ministers in the government, proud of the first woman interior minister in the Arab world, proud of the future, proud of Lebanon,” Prime Minister of Lebanon Saad Hariri tweeted. Al Hassan also made headlines in 2009 when she became the first woman in the region to be appointed as a finance minister. Prior to her appointment as finance minister, she also worked on other administrating programmes under the auspices of the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank. She received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the American University of Beirut in June 1987. She then obtained a MBA in finance in investments from George Washington University in 1990. “To be honest it was a surprise but I am proud too…
Aswan Awarded UNESCO Learning City Award for Enhancing Its Education System
Upper Egypt’s Aswan has been named one of the ten cities that showed “exemplary progress and commitment to promote education and lifelong learning at the local level” by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL). UIL’s coordinator in Aswan, Mervat al-Samman, believes that Aswan enhanced its educational system by merging gardening and water-conservation programmes into its schooling system. The southern city has also expanded its entrepreneurial opportunities giving access to a larger segment of locals living in Aswan governorate. The cities along side Aswan were Chengdu, China, Heraklion, Greece, Ibadan, Nigeria, Medellín, Colombia, Melitopol, Ukraine, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, Santiago, Mexico, Seodaemun-gu, Republic of Korea, and Sønderborg, Denmark. Although these cities have their individual social, political, economic and environmental conditions contributing to their varying starting points, UNESCO Learning City Award emphasized that the 2019 winners “have initiated innovative and target-specific policies and programmes that provide fruitful opportunities for their communities to benefit from lifelong learning.” The cities also include Malaysia’s Petaling Jaya, China’s Chengdu, Greece’s Heraklion, Nigeria’s Ibadan, Ukraine’s Melitopol, Mexico’s Santiago, South Korea’s Seodaemun-gu, and Denmark’s Sonderborg. This year’s awards ceremony will be held at the International Conference on Learning Cities in Colombia’s Medellin, one of the ten winning…
Egyptian MP: Constitutional Amendment Includes Extending Presidential Limit
A coalition of Egyptian parliamentarians announced Saturday that it would submit a bill to Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal on Sunday to amend the Egyptian constitution. Any changes need approval by two thirds of parliament members, followed by a referendum. Head of the coalition, Abdel Hadi al-Qasabi, said at a meeting on Saturday that this comes within the framework of “preserving the gains of the 2014 constitution, and to confirm them through new guarantees to increase freedoms.” The proposed constitutional amendments include the creation of a senate, a second chamber for parliament, a woman quota in the parliament no less than 25 percent of the members, the maintenance of youth and special percentages, the appropriate representation of workers, farmers, youth and Christians and the appointment of one or more deputies to the president. MP Mahmoud Badr said that “the proposed constitutional amendments, which will be submitted tomorrow also include the amendment of the term of the presidency of the republic.” “Four years are not enough,” he said in a telephone interview in Amr Adeeb’s program on MBC Egypt, “our desire to amend the term of the presidency comes within the context…
First Discovery of 2019: 50 Mummies Found in Minya Tombs
According to an official press release given by Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities, an Egyptian archeological mission has uncovered a collection of burial chambers dating to the Ptolemaic period in Minya’s archeological site of Tuna El Gebel. The discovery, which includes the finding of 50 mummies, was announced on Saturday and is the result of a collaboration between a mission from the Ministry as the Research Centre for Archaeological Studies of Minya University. All the mummies and grave goods were divided into found in four burial chambers nine meters deep in the Tuna El-Gebel site. The cache of tombs was revealed to the press as well as to officials such as Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Tourism, Dr. Mostafa Waziri Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Major General Kassem Hussein, Menia Governor, members of parliament in Minya. Amongst the attendees were ambassadors and cultural attachés from 11 foreign countries at the announcement ceremony held on site. Minister of Antiquities, Khaled El Enany announced that the discovery was the first of the year 2019 and it would be considered the third discovery announced in the governorate of Minya since he took office. It is most…
Exclusive Collection of Art, Egyptology, and Film Books at Cairo Book Fair
For the first time in Egypt, American University in Egypt Press is selling an exclusive collection of art, egyptology, design and photography books at this year’s Cairo International Book Fair, which can be found at Hall 2, Stand B30. The collection includes “Picasso Mania” by Hirmer Publishers, which has three hundred images and a dozen essays, and features rarely seen Picasso works, discussing his effect not just on artists such as Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol but on cinema, dance, theater, and video art. The book “Dalí Pop-Ups” features some of the most famous paintings of Salvador Dalí, providing new layers of appreciation of the surreal genius of the artist. The art and design collection also includes “Subway Art” by Henry Chalfant and Martha Cooper, “Photography is Magic” by Charlotte Cotton, “Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon” by Helen Trompeteler, “Art in Detail: 100 Masterpieces” by Susie Hodge and Terence Pepper and “Pop to Popism” by Wayne Tunnicliffe. In Egyptology, the impeccable “Life in Paradise” by Zahi Hawass is being sold, which includes spectacular paintings of Egyptian art that reflects the mysterious world of the ancient nobles. “Treasures of the Egyptian Museum”, “Art of…
6 Egyptians Dominate the Top 10 World Ranked Squash Players
In a phenomenal achievement unmatched in any individual sport, six male Egyptians and four female Egyptians dominate the top 10 world ranked squash players in the February PSA World Rankings. Mohamed El Shorbagy comes first place with 18, 370 points, followed by Ali Farag in second place, Tarek Momen in third place, and Karim Abdel Gawad in fifth place. Marwah El Shorbagy comes eighth place, followed by Mohamed Abou el Ghar in the ninth place. In the women’s rankings, four Egyptian women also dominate the top 10, with Raneem El Welily in first place, Nour El Sherbini in second place, Nour El Tayeb in fourth place, and Nourhan Gohar in eighth place. El Sherbini captured her first Platinum title of the season in New York at the Tournament of Champions, which booked her place at the season-ending PSA World Tour Finals in June, after defeating her compatriot who took her World No.1 ranking, El Welily. El Welily remains top of the women’s ranking with 8,925 points after reaching her fifth consecutive final this season. Egyptians also swept up the 2019 J.P. Morgan Tournament of Champion on January 24, in New York City’s…
Mariah Carey Performs in Saudi Arabia Despite Criticism from Human Rights Activists
Despite being advised by women’s rights and human rights advocates to cancel her performance in Saudi Arabia, Mariah Carey carried out her performance on 31 January saying that it is a “positive step towards the dissolution of gender segregation” in the Kingdom. Carey was the first female singer to ever perform in the Kingdom before a mixed-gender audience since social reforms eliminated the curbs on entertainment and gender segregation. Activists called her to cancel her performance in solidarity with the 11 Saudi women’s rights activists who were jailed in May of last year and are allegedly being tortured. Others asked her to at least advocate for their release. The singer appeared along side DJ Tiesto, Sean Paul and the Yemen-born singer Balqees Fathi at King Abdullah Economic City. Although Mariah strongly believes that this is a step towards gender equality, activists disagree. “The Saudi government is using entertainment to distract the people from human rights abuses because it can sense the anger among the public,” Saudi woman who sought political refuge abroad and co-founded Women for Rights in Saudi Arabia (WARSA), Omaima al-Najjar, told The Guardian. Najjar’s NGO, WARSA, created a…