Three weeks ago, Gehad El Haddad divided his time between volunteering for the Muslim Brotherhood and heading the Cairo office of the Clinton Climate Initiative, a nongovernmental organization set up by the former American president.
Mixing (...)
International and local elections observers have condemned the political and legal context of the second round of Egypt's presidential election while raising minor concerns about fraud and irregularities.
The monitors also complained that the (...)
Under Hosni Mubarak's 30-year reign, “the private sector” and “privatizations” became politically laden terms associated with a circle of businessmen buying state assets for cheap due to their connections with the president and his sons. Deals were (...)
The only trial that has taken place against one of the fallen dictators of the Arab revolutions ended today. The verdicts in former President Hosni Mubarak's trial may have symbolic importance for the region, but many feel they have mocked the (...)
A few days ahead of the commemoration of the Nakba, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the artists and activists partaking in this year's Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest), reiterated the need to visit Gaza as a manifestation of Arab solidarity (...)
An issue that has enraged Parliament members in the Budget and Planning Committee over the last few months, and those fighting against corruption for over a year at the Central Auditing Organization (CAO), has been that of so-called “private (...)
The usually lively and ruckus People's Assembly did not meet this week as senior members from the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, which holds the majority of parliamentary seats, led its first official delegations abroad.
Parliament (...)
Under the glaring midday sun early last week, Shadia Abdel Aziz, a 52-year-old worker at the Central Auditing Organization (CAO) stood opposite her employer's drab concrete premises in the middle of a traffic-clogged road. Along with four of her (...)
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights issued this month a scathing critique of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's vision for economic development in Egypt.
In an analysis of the bank's technical assessment of Egypt, which (...)
On Tuesday 28 February, the second hearing of a case filed by activist Malek Mustafa will be heard at Cairo's Court of Administrative Justice. The lawsuit aims at suspending and abolishing Interior Minister Decree 156, issued in 1964, which permits (...)
A harp with no player, a piano and no pianist, opulent seats but no people, a Garden of Eden without lovers, a playground void of children's laughter, a swimming pool but no splashing, a hotel with few guests.
There's a vacuousness about Al-Masah, a (...)
The haunting bangs of gunshots have ceased, police and ambulance sirens are silent, and the smell of tear gas no longer permeates the air. You can step out on to a balcony without covering your nose from the stench of gas, vinegar and smoke. Your (...)
While many perceive current investigations into unregistered NGOs as a quest by the government to dominate civil society, criticism of registered bodies is abundant, which is raising concerns about further state control.
Maha Abdelrahman, a (...)
For years, Egypt's government has discussed the need to reform fuel subsidies that mainly benefit energy-intensive industries and the wealthy, who consume more fuel than the poor. But all the talk has resulted in little action.
Fuel subsidies are (...)
The Interior Ministry on Sunday erected a concrete wall between Noubar Street and Mohamed Mahmoud Street, where clashes have been taking place between police and protesters since the death of 74 football fans in Port Said on 2 February.
The wall (...)
Under a glaring sun, thousands in Alexandria gathered to mark the revolution's one year anniversary on Wednesday. The atmosphere was one of both celebration and protest.
The navy and army organized a military band to perform at the Tomb of the (...)
Despite their modest gains in the first round of elections, liberal parties could still play an influential role in setting economic policy in the coming parliament, though this will largely depend on what alliances the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom (...)
With the hashtag “EgyElections,” much of Monday's Twitter coverage focused on Egypt's first parliamentary elections post-Hosni Mubarak.
The week's build-up to the elections was overshadowed by fatalities and injuries, as protesters clashed with (...)
By 12 noon numbers were steadily increasing in Tahrir Square, well into the thousands. The protesters were mostly young people, but some families were also present.
Mohsen Awf, 42, a microbus driver from Damietta, said "I came to the square because (...)
I went on a shopping spree today, but not my normal kind, for food or clothes. On Tuesday I bought tear gas protective gear: a hard hat, goggles, a plastic filter mask, and a surgical mask.
They were purchased from vendors in Tahrir Square, where (...)
Recent announcements that Qatar and Saudi Arabia have both granted Egypt US$500 million in budget support raised eyebrows among some Egypt-Gulf watchers, curious about whether the funding comes with any political strings attached.
Money given by a (...)
Ineam Atta, whose son Essam was incarcerated in the infamous Tora prison and died in a hospital last week, gave her testimony to the public prosecution Tuesday, saying that her son was tortured.
Her son and his friends in prison told her he was (...)
A doctor who witnessed the majority of the autopsy conducted on the body of Essam Ali Atta on Friday, 28 October said on Monday that the procedure neither confirmed nor denied whether or not the 23-year-old was tortured to death.
Ahmed Sayam, a (...)
Neima Atta knew her 24-year-old son, Essam, was being tortured in Tora prison. He rang home on Wednesday evening to let his mother and family know that an officer called Nour was giving him trouble.
His father, Ali, told him to try and withstand it, (...)
The Egyptian military's economic interests have long been considered too taboo to discuss in the mainstream media, so little is known about the sections of the economy that fall under the military's control. But now that a military council is (...)