Issues

Egypt Independent “The cost of environmental degradation in Greater Cairo alone amounts to US$47 Billion annually”, Minister of Environment, Yasmine Fouad stressed on Sunday. She noted that the issue stems from waste, vehicles and factory emissions which include the use of fossil fuels. “Linking climate change to the economy is …

Egypt Independent “The crisis in Ethiopia is a stain on our conscience”, the United Nations humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. His remarks came as children of the Tigray region starve to death under what the UN has called a de facto …

Egypt Independent After attending several of the so-called “summer camps,” Samir was filled with an urgent desire to fight on the Houthi side in Yemen’s civil war. During the camp training sessions, the 15-year-old local had heard Houthi insurgents explain their years-long fight against the official Yemeni government from their perspective. Additionally, religious teachers …

Egypt Independent “A study of the cost of environmental impacts prepared in cooperation with the World Bank has revealed that air pollution in Greater Cairo costs the country £E47 Billion annually”, Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad said on Saturday. “This has necessitated further work to reduce pollution, which includes efforts to …

Egypt Independent A United Nations appeal for aid to Yemen to alleviate the world’s worst humanitarian disaster raised no more than $1.7 Billion on Monday, a result the UN chief called “disappointing.” At a virtual pledging conference co-hosted by Sweden and Switzerland, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had appealed for $3.85 …

Egypt Independent Independent UN sanctions monitors accused Yemen’s government, in a report seen by Reuters on Tuesday, of “money-laundering and corruption”. It stated that the actions “adversely affected access to adequate food supplies” and added, “the Houthi group collected at least $1.8 Billion in state revenue in 2019 to help …

Samar Samir – Egypt Today The tripartite negotiations between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia concerning the controversial Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile river are still shrouded in uncertainty. It instils fear of drought into about 50% of the population and thousands of Egyptian farmers whose livelihoods rely …

Egypt Independent A Yemeni rights organisation accused both sides in the country’s civil war, on Tuesday, of “arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances and torture of thousands in the past four years, in unofficial detention centres across Yemen”. The Mwatana Organization for Human Rights said, it “documented over 1,600 cases of arbitrary …

Claire Malleson What was on the menu for the builders of the pyramids? And who was responsible for providing the supplies? How were the pyramids built?’ is one of most common questions I get when people learn that I am an Egyptologist. They expect answers about miraculous engineering feats, or …

Barcelona – Times of Egypt The Union for Mediterranean (UfM) convened on 16 June to discuss the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on the water sector, the long-standing challenges in the region, access to water supply and sanitation services for their populations. The meeting brought together over 100 participants …