Iraq’s most powerful politician has just caused a ‘tectonic shift’
Cairo, Egypt (CNN) – After eight months of political paralysis, the kingmaker of Iraqi politics has ordered his bloc to withdraw from parliament. The stepdown of Shia Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s entire group of 73 lawmakers is the largest shakeup in Iraqi politics since an October election saw Iran-backed Shiite blocs losing seats to the Sadrists. “This is a tectonic shift that threatens to derail the post-2003 political order in its entirety,” said Ranj Alaaldin, nonresident fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington, DC. Sadr may be signaling to his supporters that he has done all he can to try to form a government with his Iran-aligned Shiite rivals, said Jiyad. The move may also be a threat to other parties, showing them that they cannot do without him, he added.
Source:Egypt Independent
June 14, 2022 14:19 UTC
Amr Diab to launch resort in North Coast this summer
Egyptian singer Amr Diab topped Twitter trends after announcing the launch of a new resort in the North coast this summer. Diab’s Facebook account announced the imminent opening of a resort, his second project in cooperation with Emirati businessman Mohammed al-Abbar, combining music and sports features. Diab announced early in June the launch of a series of luxury hotels named “Locanda” as an investment project away from singing. And Diab recently released a new remix of his “Hatedalaa” song through a music app. The audience interacted with Diab, who sang his latest abum songs “Hatedalaa”.
Source:Egypt Independent
June 14, 2022 13:54 UTC
Why unearthing stone blocks from King Khufu's reign deemed an important discovery?
of Tourism & AntiquitiesPart of the discovery - Min. of Tourism & AntiquitiesPart of the discovery - Min. This is supported by many other finds from the reigns of a number of kings, including Amenemhat II, Senusret III, Amenemhat III, Amenemhat V, Thutmose III, Amenhotep II and III, Horemheb, Ramses II, and King Seti II. of Tourism & AntiquitiesPart of the discovery - Min. of Tourism & AntiquitiesPart of the discovery - Min.
Source:Egypt Today
June 14, 2022 13:17 UTC
"Raqamyat" announces the launch of its business in the Egypt's market with exclusive packages, boosting E-commerce, maximizing sellers' profits
"Raqamyat" announces the launch of its business in the Egypt's market with exclusive packages, boosting E-commerce, maximizing sellers' profits"More Than Just a Seller" is a national initiative to support SMEs with a smart business bundle, tying it to achieving financial goalsIn line with Egypt's Vision 2030 towards digitization, Raqamyat, a company specialized in providing integrated solutions to e-payments and e-commerce, has announced launching its business in the Egypt's market with exclusive packages to boost e-commerce and maximize sellers' profits. The size of retail e-commerce is on the rise globally, especially after Covid-19 pandemic. He adds that "Raqamyat provides an innovative model from successful strategic partnerships that eventually serves the market in Egypt. Egypt comes in the second place in MENA region in regard to size and value of e-commerce. The size of e-commerce in Egypt reached 4.9 Billion USD in 2021 following Covid-19 crisis, as the size of retail e-commerce sales had reached 3.6 Billion USD before the pandemic.
Source:Egypt Today
June 14, 2022 13:08 UTC
Al Azhar launches initiative calling for saving the high costs of marriage
The Al Azhar Islamic Research Academy launched an initiative calling for saving the high costs of marriage dubbed “Li Taskono Ilayha” (To dwell in tranquillity with them). The Islamic Research Academy announced the launch of the comprehensive initiative to confront some of the wrong customs and traditions that some people resort to in their marriage, which has resulted in continuous suffering for young people. According to what the Islamic Research Academy stated through a video published on their official Facebook page, on Sunday, this initiative addresses several stages of marriage, namely engagement, preparation for marriage, and marriage itself. The initiative advised minimizing mutual gifts as gifts are a symbol of affection and not for bragging. It advised against extending the engagement period in a way that leads to problems, and recommended agreeing on the costs of marriage before signing the marriage contract.
Source:Egypt Independent
June 14, 2022 10:50 UTC
30% of Hayah Karima investments directed to green projects
CAIRO - 13 June 2022: The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development allocated LE 200 billion to implement the first phase of the presidential initiative Hayah Karima "A Dignified Life" mid-last year at the level of 1,500 villages in 52 centers, where 30 percent of the allocations were directed to green projects and environmental improvement. In the forefront of these projects are the drinking water and sanitation projects, irrigation and agriculture, transportation and energy. The canal lining project is one of the projects with economic and environmental returns that the state is implementing within the projects of a decent life at the level of Egyptian villages. The ministry explained in its report that the cost of decent life projects increased from LE 600 billion to nearly LE 1 trillion, as the decent life initiative is the largest development initiative in the world, both in terms of the scope of the impact that extends to 60 percent of the population of the republic, and the size of the projects that are being implemented. The Egyptian state aims to complete the development of all 4,600 villages in the Egyptian countryside, comprising 58 million people, by 2025 instead of 2030, which will contribute to shortening 5 years of development, and achieving one of its most important goals, which is the eradication of poverty.
Source:Egypt Today
June 13, 2022 16:07 UTC
Orange Egypt joins forces with the world's most popular global audio streaming subscription platform - Spotify - to provide exclusive offers to its customers
Orange Egypt continues to offer premium entertainment content to the youth who love music and regard it as a priority. Under the partnership, Orange customers on qualifying tariffs will be given the option to get Spotify Premium for free for up to 12 months as part of their plan. With access to 82 million songs and over 4 billion playlists on Spotify, Orange Egypt's customers will be able to discover Spotify Premium, share and enjoy new music as part of their monthly tariff. Commenting on the partnership, Ahmed Al-Abd, Orange Egypt Chief Commercial Officer, said, "We are very proud of being a strategic partner with the world's most popular audio streaming platform. Such partnerships distinguish Orange Egypt as a pioneer in the telecommunications sector in Egypt."
Source:Egypt Today
June 13, 2022 15:00 UTC
Ancient Egyptians proven the first to take shaving seriously
CAIRO – 13 June 2022: Men began shaving their beards nearly 30,000 years ago. By looking at the history of shaving, we can see that we are not really different from our ancestors. Archaeologists have found evidence that the idea of shaving dates back to between 30,000 BC and 10,000 BC. It is likely that prehistoric humans began shaving for hygienic reasons. Shaving didn't advance until around 3000 BC when the advent of copper tools changed everything, but ancient Egypt was the first civilization to take shaving seriously.
Source:Egypt Today
June 13, 2022 13:22 UTC
Costa Rica and New Zealand meet for last World Cup place
DOHA — The last place at this year’s World Cup will be decided on Tuesday in Doha when Costa Rica face New Zealand in their intercontinental playoff. Costa Rica, looking to qualify for a third successive World Cup, reached the quarter-finals in Brazil eight years ago and having had substantially more competitive matches over the last four years will be favorites to advance. Since the last World Cup, they have played 30 competitive games compared with five for New Zealand which have all been against low-ranked Pacific island nations. “Costa Rica have played a lot together and have a lot of caps,” said New Zealand coach Danny Hay, whose side played Peru and Oman in warm-up matches over the last week. “But that said, I think everybody’s got half an eye, if not a full eye, if not two eyes on Costa Rica,” he added.
Source:Egypt Today
June 13, 2022 09:23 UTC
Egypt, Latvia sign agreement on cooperation in education, science
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, his Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkēvičs signed, Sunday, an agreement on amendments to the Agreement on Co-operation in the field of Education and Science- press photoCAIRO- 13 June 2022: Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkēvičs signed, on Sunday, an agreement on amendments to the Agreement on Co-operation in the field of Education and Science between both countries to promote cooperation in the fields of education and scientific research. Both sides held bilateral consultations to discuss means of developing bilateral cooperation, especially in the political, economic and investment fields, as well as international and regional issues of common interest, said Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Hafez. The two Ministers held a joint press conference, announcing their bilateral meeting and discussed ways to enhance cooperation relations between the two countries in various fields. Shoukry stressed that Egypt is looking forward to benefiting from what the Latvian state has achieved in the fields of technology and digitization in light of the renaissance that Egypt is witnessing towards reconstruction, technology orientation, and smart city building. Minister Shoukry confirmed that both sides tackled issues of mutual concern, foremost of which are the Ukrainian-Russian crisis, the Palestinian issue, the situation in Syria, Libya and the Renaissance Dam, the food crisis, and the COP27 conference.
Source:Egypt Today
June 13, 2022 03:52 UTC
Egyptian president holds meeting to follow up on projects relevant to food security
CAIRO – 12 June 2022: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi held a meeting Sunday with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Al Sayed al-Qusair, and Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority Osama Rabie to follow up on a number of projects relevant to food security. On that front, the president instructed the allocation of the resources needed to bolster local fish production. In that framework, the president stressed promoting the program concerned with introducing most productive cattle breeds. The move is meant to promote food security especially when it comes to strategic crops and boost the competitive edge of Egyptian agricultural products locally and internationally. This is also intended to link agricultural production with related industries and provide more direct and indirect job opportunities.
Source:Egypt Today
June 13, 2022 01:51 UTC
DXwand raises $1M in Pre-Series A Investment Round
CAIRO - 12 June 2022: The Omnichannel conversational AI and digital assistants tool, DXwand, announced Sunday the closing of its pre-Series A investment round of $1 Million, led by Huashan Capital, and with commitments from angel investors Mohsen Abulleil and Ahmed Bakeer. US-based VC firm SOSV, the earliest investor in DXwand’s seed round, has also supported the due diligence and syndication of this fundraising round as part of its strong belief in the company’s success. DXwand was one of the first investments for SOSV in MENA; the positive experience led to more than a dozen investments in the region,” SOSV General Partner, Oscar Ramos, said. DXwand will be using this investment to accelerate its growth across the region, expand its market share and accelerate its AI research to further differentiate its solutions in the market. “We’re most grateful to our investors for their continuous support and trust in us,” said Ahmed Mahmoud, Founder and CEO at DXwand.
Source:Egypt Today
June 12, 2022 20:35 UTC
Twenty thousand tourists arrive Hurghada and Marsa Alam through 128 European flights
The operating schedules for arrival flights at Marsa Alam and Hurghada airports in the Red Sea on Saturday reported that 128 regular and charter flights from various European airports carrying about 20,000 tourists were expected to arrive. German flights coming to Hurghada topped the list of European nationalities. The operating schedules for arrival traffic revealed that Hurghada International Airport received 98 European flights carrying 5,000 European tourists, while Marsa Alam Airport received 30 flights from eight European countries carrying 5,000 European tourists. Polish flights topped the list of nationalities coming for Marsa Alam. Tourism expert Essam Ali said that, starting Monday, the Pegas Touristik Company will resume its flights to Egypt, becoming the fourth major Russian tourism company to launch direct charter flights after tour operators TEZ TOUR, Biblio Globus and TUI Fun & Sun to the resorts of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh.
Source:Egypt Independent
June 12, 2022 18:40 UTC
Third round of Libyan negotiations kicks off in Cairo
The third and final round of Libyan talks began in Cairo on Sunday to discuss laying down a constitutional framework for holding the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections, and how to secure them at a time when the Libyan capital, Tripoli, has been beset by armed clashes. The Libyan Constitutional Track Committee – formed according to a UN initiative to resolve the Libyan crisis – will meet to complete the remaining provisions of the constitutional rule, on the basis of which the general elections will be held. The interlocutors representing the Libyan House of Representatives and the High Council of State had postponed the discussion on these points to this session, after deciding 70 percent of the constitutional rule during the last round on May 20 in Cairo. It urged the Libyan security and political parties to exercise the utmost restraint and display the qualities of responsible leadership, and resolve all disputes through dialogue. Thick smoke rose between the buildings, and the sounds of shooting were clearly heard, without explaining the reason for these clashes.
Source:Egypt Independent
June 12, 2022 18:31 UTC
Did migrations occur in Africa 65,000 years ago? Discovered tools explain
The similarities in their tool-making technique point to an ancient, far-reaching communication network. The fascinating fact here is that ancient Africans used this meticulously designed tool, over distances that were not easy to traverse. This shows that 65,000 years ago people in South Africa were in the process of creating a common and cooperative culture, extending over a greater distance than usual, which resulted in an ancient communication network. It was around this time that the first modern humans began to migrate from Africa to Eurasia in large numbers. The researchers involved in this new study believe that the apparent interdependence in their tool-sharing practices helps explain how this large-scale exodus was possible and successful.
Source:Egypt Today
June 12, 2022 12:53 UTC