Archive: egypt

28th August 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
      This ad promoting Coca-Cola in bottles with a twist-off cap is one of a series produced for the Egyptian market by theFortunePromoseven agency and it's causing a stir on the internet, if not in Egypt itself. One (western) blog sees it as "groundbreaking" in a country where same-sex relations… Read more
28th July 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
The Egyptian government's uniquely incompetent handling of the worldwide swine flu outbreak last year is discussed by al-Masry al-Youm in the light of analysis by the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The paper quotes a former preventive medicine advisor for the health ministry as… Read more
18th July 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
I received an email the other day from Jonathan Wright about myrecent comments on divorce and the Coptic church in Egypt. He writes: I rather think you're missing the point in your comments on the Coptic Church and remarriage. You end by saying that "Meanwhile, the Coptic church continues to… Read more
14th July 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
More opposition in Egypt to the proposed new personal status lawfor non-Muslims – this time from the country's small Baha'i community. Raouf Hendi, the community's spokesman, described the draft law as "racist and discriminatory", saying it will promote sectarianism.Bikya Masr reports: Hendi said… Read more
10th July 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
Egypt ranks 19th in the world for violation of shipping regulations, according to a report by the International Maritime Organisationcited by Bikya Masr website.  The website quotes Adel Shaaban, Director of the French Classification Authority in Alexandria, as saying that Egypt’s presence on the… Read more
9th July 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
It's back to Square One in Egypt on the question of divorced Christians re-marrying. In May, the Supreme Administrative Courtordered Pope Shenouda III to allow two Coptic Christians, in two separate cases, to remarry after divorce. The Coptic church appealed, and now the Supreme Constitutional… Read more
4th July 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
A five-storey building fell down in Cairo on Friday, killing up to eight people who were inside. The accident happened in Abdel Fattah Nasser Street in the city's Shubra district. Collapses of buildings are a frequent occurrence in Egypt. Regarding the latest accident, al-Masry al-Youm says a… Read more
2nd July 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
The Muslim Brotherhood (known in Arabic as "al-Ikhwan") is engaged in a rather curious project to duplicate some of the world's most popular websites with its own "Ikhwan" versions. So far, these include Ikhwan Wiki (resembling Wikipedia), Ikhwan Tube and Ikhwan Web Tube (YouTube lookalikes), … Read more
1st July 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
A new and potentially important development in the case of Khaled Said, the 28-year-old Egyptian who died after being brutally beatenby police. The district attorney in Alexandria has now ordered two officers from Sidi Gabr police station – Mahmoud Salah Mahmoud and Awad Ismail Suliman –  to be… Read more
30th June 2010
By: Brian Whitaker
A 38-year-old Eritrean woman was shot and killed by Egyptian border guards while trying to cross into Israel, Reuters reports. Two other women and a child were arrested. According security sources, the dead woman was shot three times – in the stomach, right arm and left hand. More than 60 migrants… Read more