Mickey, Minnie & Mobinil

An Egyptian Christian telecom mogul has angered Islamic hard-liners by posting an online cartoon of Mickey Mouse with a beard and Minnie in a face veil. Read more

Egypt’s Sufis see Islamist threat after Mubarak

Down the narrow alleyways of Cairo’s Sayidda Zeinab neighbourhood, 100 men sway their heads and clap in rhythm as they invoke God’s name.

“O how you have spread benevolence,” chant the men, some dressed in ankle-length galabeya robes, to celebrate the birth of Fatima al-Zahraa, the daughter of the Prophet Mohammed.

The men are followers of the centuries-old Azaimiya Sufi order who seek to come closer to God through mystical rites. Read more

Cairo reacts to Bin Laden’s death

by Wendell Steavenson

It reminds me of the day they captured Saddam. I was living in Baghdad at the time, and when the pictures were broadcast of him being dragged, wild-eyed, wild-haired, out of his “spider hole,” many Iraqis, even those who still bore the scars of his torturers, seemed to suffer a pang of shame and sympathy that their President had been brought so low. Read more

Special Report – Inside the Egyptian revolution

In early 2005, Cairo-based computer engineer Saad Bahaar was trawling the internet when he came across a trio of Egyptian expatriates who advocated the use of non-violent techniques to overthrow strongman Hosni Mubarak. Bahaar, then 32 and interested in politics and how Egypt might change, was intrigued by the idea. He contacted the group, lighting one of the fuses that would end in freedom in Tahrir Square six years later.

The three men he approached — Hisham Morsy, a physician, Wael Adel, a civil engineer by training, and Adel’s cousin Ahmed, a chemist — had all left Egypt for jobs in London. Read more

Egypt turmoil hits Cairo nightlife

After hours spinning the latest hip-hop and trance hits, DJ Sugar loses enthusiasm, turns off the music and surveys a nightclub dance floor that has been bare for weeks.

Egypt’s political turmoil has dealt a blow to nightlife in Cairo, an outwardly conservative city with a vibrant subculture of bars, nightclubs, belly dancers and all-night weddings.

“The revolution has spoiled the party,” said DJ Sugar. “Many expats have left and Egyptians are spending their money on just bare necessities.” Read more

Following Egypt’s lead

The change sweeping the Arab world is now entering its second month. The Arab people in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan are demanding political representation, free speech and democracy.

Only one Arab government other than Egypt is responding to the protests sweeping the region in a manner which respects the right of its people to participate in government: Jordan.

By contrast, in countries such as Yemen, Syria, Libya, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia, the people’s demands for change are being met not with reform, but with force, and violence.

Now that the initial euphoria following the Arab uprising has passed, it is clear that the journey toward democracy in the Middle East and North Africa will be long, and arduous. Read more

Egypt vs. Extremism

By BOUTROS BOUTROS-GHALI

As a Christian and an Egyptian, I was heartbroken by the New Year’s Eve terrorist attack on the Coptic Church of Alexandria that killed 21 of my countrymen. Whether this heinous act was carried out by Egyptians or by terrorist groups from outside the country, the intention was surely the same: to sow discord between Muslims and Christians in a country long known for its religious tolerance. Read more

Cairo on $2 a day

Shobra is a neighborhood of faded glory. Stately building facades, covered by centuries of Sahara sands, cast shadows on the crowded working class streets below. This is the neighborhood of taxi drivers, policemen and waiters.

Al Ahram, Egypt’s leading newspaper, estimates that 50 percent of Egyptians live on $2 a day or less. So when I decided to investigate what living on $2 daily entailed, it made sense to head to Shobra, the “shaabi” heart of Cairo.

I took all the money out of my wallet, save for 11 Egyptian pounds, which is equivalent to $2. I wanted to see if I could get by for a day spending no more than your average Egyptian. Read more

In Egypt, a village boasts the nation’s first female mayor

Her father’s chair sits beneath the window to catch the morning light, where he once held court with villagers who wanted him to discipline their sons, chase away thieves and settle land and dowry disputes on the lush fields between the Nile and the desert’s edge.She eases into the high-back chair with the worn wooden armrests. A single woman of 53 wearing faded bluejeans and a pink blouse, her dark hair uncovered, she has her late father’s spirit and wisdom Read more

Egypt: Land of Pyramids, the Sphinx…and Outsourcing?

India’s tech boom has inspired other developing nations to promote themselves as outsourcing destinations. The latest to try to cash in: Egypt.

Egypt seems like an unlikely place for Western companies to send tech work and open call centers, but Tarek El-Sadany, a government official in charge of helping to grow the country’s information-technology industry, says that the country is well positioned to do these tasks-literally. Read more

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