Political satirist Bassem Youssef is a rising star in Egypt. His hit show, “El Bernameg,” began as a YouTube sensation but soon found its way onto television. But is Youssef’s scathing commentary making any kind of difference?
Tag: egypt
Two countries, two revolutions. Yet as both Egypt and Libya transition into new realities, Egyptian workers face the old fact that there are still more jobs across the border. But for the thousands who fled the war that took down Muammar Gaddafi’
In Port Said, Egypt, more than 70 people were killed after violence erupted at the end of a Wednesday night soccer match. But some are already asking whether the authorities, trying to reassert control after the Arab spring movement, may have played a rol
To mark the anniversary of the day that sparked the Arab spring’s most momentous revolution, a reporter visits the homes of those Egyptians who didn’t live to see it through. The remains of their lives are both painful memories for their
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Egypt’s Africa Problem
Analysis: While everyone from Chinese to Turks is busy profiting from Africa’s newfound economic growth, Egypt has been slow to capitalize on opportunities on its own continent. It’s a question of both initiative and identity for a count
Essay: A writer tries to imagine the mentality inside the Egyptian interior ministry, after a new crackdown has reasserted some control of the state’s security apparatus. That protesters again paid the ultimate price may be of secondary concern i
Analysis: In some way, one full year after the Jan. 25 revolution began, the same standoff is at play between a military-led establishment and a grassroots popular movement. And controlling the message, and the media, is as central as ever to each camp.
Year-end totals are in for the number of 2011 visitors for the Egyptian capital and its top seaside resort Sharm el-Sheikh. Not surprisingly, hotels were largely empty as protests in the streets surged.
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.
Analysis: The Egyptian army is trying to reassert its control as leftist protesters have returned to the streets. The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, assured by its electoral success, needs to ally with the protesters to show it isn’t only after pow
Essay: Soldiers ripping off the shirt and veil of a female demonstrator, and dragging her across Tahrir Square by her hair has set off unprecedented outrage. But there is a deep paradox in the reaction, even in the post-Revolution Arab world — and even f
Analysis: As crackdowns continue against pro-democracy protesters, a closer look at recent events shows that Egypt’s military powers and other key players are taking their cues from the old Pakistan model rather than the new Turkish one.
The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) looks set to finish first following Thursday’s second round election for the People’s Assembly. Early results have the Nour Party in second place in most of the country’s governorates.
Analysis: Long shut out from ruling, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood achieved success in parliamentary elections that exceeded even their own expectations. But they must now navigate between potential extremism of Salafists and liberal forces’
From China’s Weiwei to the Egyptian blogger Aliaa Magda al-Mahdi, people are again busy using their naked bodies as a way to challenge authority and demand rights. Even in today’s much more sexualized world, public nudity continues to be a powerful form o
Op-Ed: The military’s recent decision to appoint Kamal al-Ganzouri as prime minister is the latest bad sign from Egypt’s ruling class. Ganzouri, who already served under Mubarak, is the wrong choice at a time when citizens are clamoring
A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie EGYPT, ELECTIONSIn Cairo, the High Elections Commission is postponing for a third time the announcement of parliamentary election results. A larger-than-expected voter turnout is responsible for the delay, the commission said. EGYPT, RESERVESAlso in Egypt, foreign-currency reserves are expected to drop to $15 billion […]
A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie TAHRIR – THE MARSHALWith an estimated 35 Egyptians dead from the crackdown during recent days of protesting, the leader of the country’s ruling military junta gave an address on state television, announcing that the ruling government cabinet’s resignation has been accepted and that presidential […]
Activists have called for a mass showing in Cairo’s central square on Tuesday to call for the ouster of Egypt’s military leadership. The Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest opposition group, has said it will not participat
At least 20 have been killed in recent protests in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt, as the government responds with a major crackdown on demonstrators. A review of how Egypt’s recently liberalized press is covering the most severe unrest since Mubar
After the regime fell, the security vacuum has posed a new set of problems in some hospitals, where doctors and medical workers describe chaotic encounters with enraged – and sometimes armed – patients.
Essay: After its first free election, Tunisia is not without its challenges. Still, the “post-revolution” situation there is already starkly more hopeful than in Egypt where the military continues to exert control in absence of a politic
A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie FULL CIRCLEThe head of the Ennahda party in Tunisia, Rachid Ghannouchi, is calling for calm in the town of Sidi Bouzid, the site of violent protests since the Islamist party’s victory was announced on Thursday, Almoslem.net reported. Supporters of the People’s Party began rioting […]
A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie WE ARE ALL…Two police officers were convicted of torturing and killing the young Egyptian activist Khalid Said, 28, who was arrested while at an Internet café in Alexandria last July. Pictures of Said’s tortured body post-mortem circulated on the web and inspired Wael Ghonim, […]
Analysis: This year’s revolutionary wave in the Arab World has already toppled several dictators. But as the “Arab Spring” turns to Autumn, incidents like last weekend’s attack on Coptic Christians in Cairo offer a grim reminder that the region’s troubles
A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie LIBYA, AL QAEDA LINKS?Tripoli military commander Abdelhakim Belhadj denies al-Qaeda fighters are among ranks of rebel forces, quoted in Al-Quds al-Arabi, a London-based daily. LIBYA, CIA LINKS?A Facebook group calling itself “Wikileaks Libya” posted documents exposing efforts by a number of former American intelligence […]
Poverty is getting worse in Egypt, particularly in rural areas, according to a study released by the government statistics agency. Analysts blame the worsening situation in rural regions on the government’s bias in recent years towards funding urban devel
Egypt and Tunisia began 2011 with a revolutionary bang. But over the course of the year their respective economies have gone flat. Leaders from the Arab Spring countries know that stoking economic growth may be the best chance to make democracy last for t
Earlier this month protesters attacked the Israeli Embassy in Giza and hurled stones at officers in the city’s Security Directorate. Anyone tempted to try the same thing on the Interior Ministry can expect to be shot, Interior Minister Mansour Al
An Al-Masry Al-Youm investigation cites secret documents outlining specific orders for sniper units to fire on protesters, despite denials by current Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy, who has repeatedly denied that the Interior Ministry had sniper unit
Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes a splash on his so-called “Arab Spring” tour, landing in Cairo to a “rock star” welcome and later telling an interviewer that Egypt should embrace secularism. This is how
Op-Ed: This year’s Arab Spring may soon give way to a winter of discontent. Revolutions in Egypt, Libya and beyond have shifted the region’s balance of power. Stability will depend on how Turkey, Egypt and Israel handle simmering hostility suddenly brough
Like the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Jama’a Al-Islamiya is looking to carve out a political niche in post-revolutionary Egypt. Reformists have reshaped the once violent-prone organization, but continue to be challenged internally by a powerful militant faction
A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie DEFECTIONDespite persistent reports to the contrary, Syria’s official media continues to deny that soldiers are defecting from the army. A quick tour of YouTube turns up dozens of defector videos. The latest is here, with Ahmed Darwish in uniform and showing his official identity […]
A R A B I C A ارابيكا TERMS OF SANCTUARYCNN Arabic is reporting that fleeing Gaddafi family members agreed to certain conditions by the Algerian government before being given sanctuary in that country. A Libyan convoy of seven cars carrying 31 people, including Gaddafi family members, arrived at the Algerian border at 8:45 Monday […]
The Arab spring hit its zenith in Tahrir Square in Cairo, but the next challenge is just as important, if not quite as glamorous: bringing real democracy to local politics, from trash collection to schools to health care.
A debate over child custody laws is one example that things could be changing for Egyptian women following the country’s April revolution. Women are also being kept out of the new government, where Islamist parties now have far more influence than in the
In post-Mubarak Egypt, both devout Muslims and ardent secularists are calling for the autonomy of Cairo’s authoritative Islamic institution and center for learning. But they have very different ideas about where it will lead.
Op-Ed: In the halls of power in the United States, some seem to think the old regime is still in power. But big things have changed in Egypt, says the writer, including Cairo’s bowing to Washington’s every whim. A viewpoint on the eve of the Mubarak trial
A R A B I C A ارابيكا A NEW ARMY*Syrian Colonel Riyadh al-Aasad announced in a video posted on YouTube the formation of the “Free Syrian Army.” Sitting with a uniform brandished with two stars on each epaulet, al-Aasad read a statement while surrounded by six uniformed soldiers. “The army’s job is to protect […]