September 14, 2023

The Unveiling

The Egyptian government banned the wearing of full-face veils in the country’s schools, a decision that sparked a fierce debate online in the Muslim-majority country, Agence France-Presse reported Tuesday. Earlier this week, the education ministry issued a decree banning the niqab, a garment that only leaves...

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August 21, 2023

‘A Fig Leaf’

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi pardoned 35 political prisoners over the weekend, including the prominent Arab Spring activist Ahmed Douma, a move aimed at improving Egypt’s human rights record as it seeks badly needed international funding, the Washington Post reported. Douma was one of the key...

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July 10, 2023

The Tiger’s Stripes

Ten years ago on July 3, the Egyptian military under Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi launched a coup against the first democratically elected president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi – a member of the Islamist organization the Muslim Brotherhood, that supporters describe as a religious and social movement...

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June 09, 2023

Representation Problems

Egypt banned archaeologists from a Dutch museum from conducting excavations at a key site after a new exhibition on Egyptian history at the institution drew condemnation from officials and historians for linking ancient Egyptians to contemporary Black musicians, the BBC reported. The National Museum of Antiquities...

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April 21, 2023

The Gray

A new Netflix documentary series sparked outrage in Egypt this week for portraying ancient Egyptian Queen Cleopatra as a Black woman, with one lawyer calling for the streaming platform to be blocked in the North African country, the Telegraph reported. The issue stems from a trailer...

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November 18, 2022

Waving Bye-Bye

Shortly before Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi hosted world leaders for the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh, he delivered a scornful message to his constituents. He asked them to stop having so many kids. El-Sissi has...

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August 02, 2022

Floating On

The houseboats of the Nile River in Egypt have a storied past. Many believe the pharaohs used them thousands of years ago for long river voyages, the BBC explained, while in the 19th and 20th centuries Ottoman and British military leaders used them as bases. And...

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