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Egypt

Egyptian Court Lifts Ban On Veiled TV Hosts

Television presenters have mostly gone headscarf-free on Egypt’s state-run Channel 5. The fall of the Hosni Mubarak regime – and a weekend court ruling – may soon change that.

Headscarves appear frequently on Egypt's Channel 5, just not on the heads of presenters
Headscarves appear frequently on Egypt's Channel 5, just not on the heads of presenters

*NEWSBITES

For half a century, female presenters working for Egypt's state-run Channel 5 were expected to leave their headscarves at home. That could soon change.

On Sunday, a court in Alexandria challenged the decades-old policy, arguing that the headscarf is a symbol of decency, and that banning women from wearing it violates their personal freedom. More specifically, the ruling overturns a decision made in 2008 by then Information Minister Anas al-Fiqi, who banned Channel 5 presenter Lamiyaa al-Amir from appearing on television in a headscarf.

Egypt's state TV is the oldest state-run television in the Middle East. At the time of its establishment in 1960, no female presenters wore headscarves. As time went on, the headscarf became much more common among Muslim women. Still, state TV refused to let presenters wear it, prompting complaints from religious and conservative forces, who used the ban to attack the regime of former Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak, who fell from power a year ago.

The rare case of a veiled presenter was in the early 1990s with Kariman Hamza. She fought a legal battle against former Information Minister Safwat al-Sherif, who was in charge of national TV from 1982 to 2004.

Read the full article at Al-Masry Al-Youm

Photo – YouTube

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Economy

Wealthy Russians Are Back To Buying Real Estate In Europe — Sanctions Be Damned

After the start of the war in Ukraine, Russian oligarchs and other rich individuals turned to the real estate markets in Dubai and Turkey. Now Russian buyers are back in Europe. Three EU countries in particular are attracting buyers for their controversial "golden visa" program.

Photo of a sunset on villas on a hillside in Benahavis, Spain

Villas in Benahavis, Spain, a country that has enticed Russians with a so-called "golden visa" program.

Eduard Steiner

BERLINWestern sanctions imposed after the start of Russia's war against Ukraine have made financial outflows from Russia much more difficult — and paradoxically have also helped to strengthen Russia's economy, as the renowned economist Ruben Enikolopov recently noted in an interview for the online media "The Bell".

So while sanctions have not completely prevented these financial flows, they played a role in changing their direction.

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It was notable in real estate purchases during the first year of the war: as Russian buyers moved away from the previously coveted European market to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as to Turkey or the South Caucasus and even Southeast Asia.

Instead of "Londongrad", where the high- to middle-income earners from Vladimir Putin's empire turned for the previous two decades, people suddenly started talking about "Dubaigrad."

But this trend now seems to have peaked, with unexpected signs that Russians are back on the European real estate market.

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