Categories
Society

Cairo’s Mimes, A Silent Minority Make Themselves Heard

In the deafening Egyptian capital, a small group of independent artists quietly present an art relying on everything the performer has to give … except their voices.

Categories
Society

Mob-Run Fisheries And Pollution Imperil An Egyptian Lake

Lake Burullus, the country’s second-largest natural lake, which yields a third of all the fish sold in Egypt, is slowly being ruined, as are family businesses.

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Society

Under The Niqabs, A Peek Inside Cairo’s Lingerie Shops

CAIRO — International lingerie store Victoria’s Secret came to Cairo in 2013, but somewhat surprisingly for a country of Muslim modesty, there has been a varied and flourishing lingerie business in Egypt’s capital for years. Most of the lingerie downtown is imported from either Turkey or Syria. The owners of the two lingerie shops who […]

Categories
Geopolitics

Why Egypt Has Joined The Gulf Coalition In Yemen

Egypt’s participation in the military operation “Decisive Storm” against the Houthis in Yemen is a question of interests, alliances and cold, hard cash.

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Society

Egyptian Dwarfs Fight For Their Rights

It’s a different kind of Arab Spring in Egypt that you may have missed.

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Society

Translation, Adaption And The Meaning Of Modern Arab Literature

CAIRO — Amid shifting copyright and publishing norms, adaptation and translation of existing works is as contentious an issue today as ever in the literary world. The questions are particularly relevant for the Arabic novel, both for its recent and not-so-recent history. Many have accused Ahmad Mourad of reproducing characters from Naguib Mahfouz in his […]

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Society

Tackling Egypt’s Energy Crisis With Online Consumer Tools

As electricity costs climb in the face of energy shortages and a steep reduction in government subsidies, a new website helps consumers track their consumption and calculate costs.

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Geopolitics

ISIS And Twitter: Don’t Shoot The Messenger

Governments are taking Twitter to task for inadvertently helping jihadists “recruit, incite and horrify.” But they’re forgetting what a valuable law enforcement resource the platform is too.

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Society

Oriental Hits To Female Koran Chants, Welcome To Egyptian Vintage Vinyl

CAIRO — Antique dealers, second-hand markets, auction showrooms, music lovers and historians are the cornerstones of the wondrous world of vintage vinyl records in Egypt, just as they are in similar dusty corners around the world. Egypt’s phonographic history is particularly rich in oriental music, with record labels running from the end of the 19th […]

Categories
Geopolitics Ideas

Why The Egypt-Russian Alliance Is Mere Symbolism

CAIRO — Much has been made about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Cairo. There has been speculation since the 2013 coup that Egypt’s ruler Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been contemplating a shift in alliances toward Russia. This has been in response to the popular belief in Egypt, propagated by the regime and its media […]

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blog Geopolitics

The Mortal Danger Of Being Egyptian In Libya

The Cairo regime is facing criticism after the ISIS beheading in Libya of 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt. Too many poor Egyptians risk it all in search of work across the border.

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blog Geopolitics

ISIS In The Sinai: Terror Group Takes On Egyptian Regime

A group calling itself “Defenders of Jerusalem” is throwing its lot in with ISIS, making the battle between Cairo and Islamists ever more since the army ousted the Muslim Brotherhood.

Categories
Geopolitics

Why The Third Jailed Al Jazeera Journalist Is Being Singled Out

Australian colleague Peter Greste has been deported, and Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy is expected to be released to Canada. But Baher Mohamed, the third Al Jazeera prisoner, is being treated differently for what appears to be a very simple reason.

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Geopolitics Society

Mother Of Al Jazeera Journalist Appeals To Al-Sisi

Editor’s Note: Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste, who was imprisoned in Cairo for 400 days with two of his colleagues, has been released by Egyptian authorities. The two other Al Jazeera journalists — Baher Mohamed, a producer, and the channel’s Cairo bureau chief Mohamed Fahmy — still remain imprisoned in Egypt. The three journalists were […]

Categories
Food / Travel

Thirty Hours Aboard The Rickety Upper Egypt Railway

CAIRO — As I hop on the Wednesday night Upper Egypt train from Cairo, I hear a newbie ask when we will get to Aswan, my destination and the end of the line. His question is met with collective laughter from a group of old Nubian men who seem to make the trip often. “You just relax and don’t even ask this question,” one of them answers. “We will get off when the train lets us go.” The man seems to have made his peace with the uncertainty that comes with using the Egyptian railway system, with all its downfalls […]

Categories
Society

New Film Visits The ‘Chaordic’ Crush Of Cairo’s Tangled Streets

CAIRO — Ironically enough, the roads to the Cairo premier of Sherief Elkatsha’s traffic-centered documentary Cairo Drive weren’t at all crowded. The special screening at the recent Zawya cinema happened on arguably one of the coldest days the capital has ever seen.

Categories
Society

Ranked Last Globally, Egypt’s Public Education Creates Heavy Burden For Parents

CAIRO — Yasmine Hamed worked hard to save money for her marriage five years ago. But by the time her daughter Jannah was old enough for school, she realized that the savings race would have to start all over. Hamed had stopped working as a secretary after bouncing between two jobs so she could finally […]

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Society

Egypt’s Sex Workers Sell Pleasure, Reap Hardship

Driven by economic necessity or pushed into prostitution after traumatic abuse, sex workers in Egypt lay bare grim realities in a conservative country with little empathy for their plight.

Categories
Society

Cairo Shutters Cafe Charged With Serving Satan-Worshipping Atheists

Nicknamed the “atheists’ cafe,” police say there was evidence of devil worship at the shop. Twitter users are now mocking Cairo authorities, asking when the war on vampires begins.

Categories
Future Society

Egypt’s Scorched Earth Energy Policy Leaves Clean Power Behind

Despite strong opposition, Egypt has just approved the contruction of coal-fired energy plants that are still years away from operation. Meanwhile, it’s nowhere on harnassing wind and solar energy.

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Geopolitics Ideas

Egypt, A Pragmatic Manifesto For Human Rights Now

There’s always a clever argument – security, stability, secularism – to put rule of law and democracy on hold. But denying human rights is a certain recipe for destruction.

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Society

A Brighter View Of Cairo, One Satellite Dish At A Time

An American artist uses pastels and polka dots to transform the Egyptian capital’s tangled rooftops.

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Society

In Cairo, An Impossible Quest For Peace And Quiet

Searching for a quiet public space in Cairo sets you up against unscrupulous police and leering neighbors, oppressive moral codes and an eternal maze of streets. One woman’s failed hunt for tranquility in the Egyptian capital.

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Geopolitics Ideas

Europe And ISIS, An Islamic State Within The Old Continent

A policy of war abroad, mixed with tighter border controls at home, won’t meet the challenge.

Categories
Geopolitics Society

Relocating Civilians To Fight Insurgency, Does It Even Work?

Egypt is forcing civilians to move to create a buffer zone after terrorists hit again in the Sinai. From Vietnam to Algeria, such tactics have caused as much hardship as they’ve prevented.

Categories
Future Society

Why Egypt’s Brightest Scientific Minds Move Abroad

CAIRO — In February 2014, the Egyptian military announced that it had found a cure for AIDS and hepatitis. This supposed miracle of medical technology was developed by the Armed Forces’ Engineering Authority, which claims to use electromagnetic waves to eradicate the viruses in infected blood. Known as the Complete Cure, or CC for short, […]

Categories
Society

Egypt Ratchets Up Its Morality War Against Gays And Lesbians

To appease conservatives, Egypt’s government is again targeting the LGBT community, arbitrarily arresting them, conducting anal examinations and jailing them for “debauchery.”

Categories
Food / Travel

Fighting City Hall In Egypt To Save Red Sea Cliffs

In Sinai’s Sharm el-Sheikh, a cliff restoraton project has mobilized a community against an over-the-top contractor.

Categories
Ideas Society

Corrupt And Violent, Egyptian Police Immune To All Revolutions

-OpEd- CAIRO — The record of police violations is extensive, ranging from murder to extortion and illegal bribes. While some claim these are individual incidents and that the situation should not be generalized, tedious accounts of numerous violations reveal the dysfunctional role of police in daily Egyptian life. Within the old structures of authority under […]

Categories
Society

Egypt, The Collective Trauma Of A Revolution Denied

More than three years since the Jan. 25 revolution, and with much having returned to the past, signs are everywhere of a shell-shocked nation. Analysis of an Egyptian psychiatrist.

Categories
Smarter Cities Society

As Fuel Prices Rise, Egyptians Turn To Alternative Transport

Since the Egyptian government cut fuel subsidies earlier this year, the cost of fuel has hit working Egyptians where it hurts. Carpooling and even bus-pooling are gaining steam.

Categories
Geopolitics

Rumblings Of A Deal Between Sisi And Muslim Brotherhood

Though both parties deny it, there have been rumors and a number of signs pointing to a possible reconciliation between the Egyptian government and the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Categories
Geopolitics Society

Disappearing Prisoners: Egypt’s Arbitrary Injustice System

Omar Abdel Maqsoud and his brothers were arrested for no apparent reason five months ago. Though a court ordered their release, they’ve simply vanished. Their case is hardly unique.

Categories
Society

Rise And Retreat, Autumn Lessons From Mediterranean Spring

Activists from Turkey, Morocco, Spain, Egypt, Greece, Tunisia and Syria gathered to swap stories and compare notes about nearly four years marked by protest, liberation and repression.

Categories
blog Society

No Oasis: Cairo’s Shiny New Developments Face Water Shortages

Boasting of the good life, safe from the chronic problems of the Egyptian capital, the “New Cairo” developments blamed for wasting precious water for all, now face shortages of their own.

Categories
blog Geopolitics

Desperate For Freedom, Egypt’s Hunger-Striking Political Prisoners

Tired of being denied basic rights, Egypt’s political prisoners are increasingly trying to break the cycle of helplessness with the one bit of control they still have over their lives. 

Categories
Society

Schooling Sisi On Egypt’s New Education Strategy

The country’s proposed reforms don’t consider the two elephants in the room, an expert warns: below-mimimum-wage teacher salaries and goals for graduates.

Categories
Society

The Egyptian Newspaper Calligrapher Still Writing History’s First Draft

At Al-Ahram, Egypt’s largest daily, moveable type doesn’t cut it for major historical events such as Arab springs and presidential elections. That’s when they call in the calligrapher.

Categories
Geopolitics The Endless War

Doomed City: Visit To Rafah On The Egypt-Gaza Border

Both Egyptians and refugees from Gaza are living through the war that comes to them in Egypt both from across the border in Palestinian territory, and from Cairo’s showdown in the Sinai.

Categories
Geopolitics Ideas

Al-Sisi Must Fix Egypt’s Policy On Palestine

-Analysis- CAIRO — The events unfolding in Egypt since July 1, 2013, when General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, has been by all accounts detrimental to the interests of the Palestinians in Gaza and to Hamas, an offspring of the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood, which has governed the tiny territory since […]

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