Modern Egypt
Egypt amends Antiquities law
The People’s Assembly amended Egypt’s antiquities law on Monday to bring in stiffer punishments for the theft and smuggling of relics while granting patent rights to the country’s antiquities council. The sale of antiquities is still banned and Egyptians who have antiquities must report their possessions to the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Relics can in the... »
What is an Egyptian antiquity and how to protect it?
At the heart of a “heated debate” in the Egyptian Parliament (People’s Assembly) was the question of what constitutes an Egyptian antiquity and whether the people are capable of identifying an object as such. Article 8 of the proposed law, supported by Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, would ban the trade or any other form... »
Internet addresses in Arabic script approved
Image via Wikipedia The global agency overseeing Internet domain names said Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates can begin creating online addresses in their native languages. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) effectively broke the Latin alphabet’s three-decade hold on Internet domain names. The four approved countries may request local language... »
Egypt hires Hill and Knowlton to communicate its expanding economy
Global public relations firm Hill and Knowlton is to spearhead an international campaign for Egypt to help generate investment into the country from across the globe. The country wants to highlight its evolution from a developing economy into a secure international marketplace. The focus will be to communicate the competitive advantage Egypt offers companies locating... »
Interesting idea to recreate what the Great Library of Alexandria was like
Image via Wikipedia While I (John Gaudet) was there (the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina) I made the argument… that they should consider an idea put forward by Hassan Ragab, an old friend of mine who passed away in 2004. He suggested that hundreds of scrolls could be reproduced to stock a small section of the New... »
Egyptian faces at Cairo art exhibition
“Faces”, a group exhibition gathering 76 artists at the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum’s Horizon One Gallery in Giza, takes as its theme the human face, each artist giving his or her point of view in depicting Egyptian faces. Featuring some of the most important names in modern and contemporary Egyptian art, the exhibition brings together... »
New museum for Egyptian Revolution
Culture Minister Farouk Hosni approved the Supreme Council of Antiquities’ (SCA) request to establish a museum for the revolution of July 1953 in Egypt. This will be the first ever museum for the revolution, and will be installed in the building used by the revolution’s leadership in Al-Gezirah on Zamalek Island. This decision came after... »
El Koshary Today: Egyptians laugh at their own woes in new social satire website
Like its American model “The Onion”, El Koshary Today uses sarcasm and imagination to raise awareness of some of the serious (and not so serious) issues plaguing Egypt, such as sexism, harassment, tyranny, corruption, religious fundamentalism, environmental and economic affairs. Here are some examples of El Koshary Today’s ingenious satire: - Egyptian grooms can now complain... »
Egypt attempts crackdown on shisha
In a country where smoking is cheap and often described as a “national habit”, an Egyptian government enforcement of a two-year-old law banning smoking on public places is facing stiff resistance. Egyptian authorities have issued an ultimatum to the owners of cafes in several cities across the country to stop offering shisha, the popular flavoured... »
Egypt to export solar power after costs fall
Egypt plans to start its first solar power unit in 2010, but in order to expand solar power production for export, costs of the technology would need to fall first to make it feasible. The North African country, a gas and oil producer, aims to generate 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by... »
