Day: August 23, 2022

H.E. Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment in Egypt, received H. E. Mr. Glenn Miles, Ambassador of Australia in Egypt, in her office at the Ministry’s headquarters in Fustat, bidding him Farwell before the end of his tenure as ambassador.

She wished Ambassador Miles all the best in his future endeavors. The meeting was attended also by Rhian White, First secretary at the Australian Embassy, who will attend the international COP27 that will take place in Egypt in November 2022. It was attended also by H.E. Raouf Saad Minister’s Advisor for the international conventions.

Dr. Fouad stressed that 70 days ahead of the COP27, members of Ministry of Environment are fully busy by all preparations for this important conference. “They aim to transfer Sharm El Sheikh into an ecofriendly-city, with electric or natural gas buses, green tourism and green zones”. As for the technical part, Dr. Fouad explains that the Ministry is open for proposals from all partners to support COP27.

She emphasized on the importance of the role of civil society and development partners, especially in issues related to food and water security.

She assured that Egypt had finalized its national strategy for climate change for 2050, and its NDC. She also emphasized that there are three tiers of priorities that have been derived from the strategy and the NDC: the first is related to food, water and energy nexus (called Nowaffy), and the second tier is related to the transport, and the third tier is related to reducing emission from the oil and the gas sector.

As for his side, H.E. Mr. Miles congratulate the minister of Environment for the progress done on the level of energy and assures that Europe is turning from Russian Gas because of the Ukrainian war, so it turns to green. He expresses his regrets that he will not be able to attend the COP27, but affirms that a large delegation from Australia will be attending the COP27 in Egypt.

Dr. Fouad affirms that the Website of the Cop27 has all information such as reservation for accommodation, medical precautions, thematic days related to the presidency program. She assures that by the end of September there will be a portal for any country event and requests, and a portal for trips to protected areas and tourism packages. There will be as well, according to the Minister of Environment, a mobile application to explain all about participants’ journey, as well as bikes with parking stations, to help participants’ movement. Also there will be electric vehicles for the reservation by the participants.

Source: Egypt Today Magazine

Egypt’s Atomic Energy Authority succeeded recently in expanding the peaceful uses of atomic energy in different fields, which sends a clear message to the world on the country’s keenness to adhere to standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Nuclear Research Center of the Atomic Energy Authority succeeded in discovering a new mutation of wheat that was developed inside the center, which achieves an increase in wheat productivity by up to 33% over the traditional local product.

This comes in a bid to Egypt’s efforts to benefit from this technology to serve society and achieve safety, and expand the peaceful uses of atomic energy in the medical, agricultural, health and industrial fields.

The Atomic Energy Authority began working on the strategic project since 2002, and the scientific plan was to elicit new agricultural booms in Egypt to confront climate changes.

Mutation breeding is the fastest way to confront the problem that all countries of the world suffer from, which is the narrow genetic base of crops, and the reason for which many countries seek to obtain such distinguished genetic assets.

The most important characteristic of these mutations of wheat produced by the authority is that it has a different genetic base, which helps in its ability to resist diseases and bear adverse environmental conditions, as well as increase the productivity per unit area by 33% over the current commercial varieties, and it is completely safe in terms of food safety.

The Atomic Energy Authority is currently conducting the registration stages for obtaining a permit to trade them as new items in the Egyptian market, especially since all the tests carried out by the Items Registration Committee are the same tests carried out by the authorities that produce mutations.

It is worth noting that the mutation is exposed to a dose of radiation using gamma rays, which is completely safe for human health. They have no side effects, and these mutations have been tested and ensured that their quality is superior to that of the traditional product.

In the medical field, Dr. Nashwa Kamal Radwan, researcher at the National Center for Radiation Research and Technology and head of the radioactive amino tissue project, succeeded in developing a production laboratory at the highest levels of safety and quality that comply with international standards for the production of amniotic tissue extracted from the placenta at the Atomic Energy Authority, where experimental production was carried out.

The product has proven excellent efficacy compared to traditional methods of treatment and compared to competing products internationally. These successes have been proven in scientific journals and international conferences. These researches were recorded on the official US website to record clinically innovative successes.

The amniotic fluid was tried as a treatment to remove facial wrinkles and acne scars, and the results were impressive. The experimental production of the amino tissue project at the Atomic Energy Authority was successful with all researchers who tested it clinically and expressed their desire to use the product, whose cost in America is 700 dollars for one patch while it can be saved in Egypt, at a price of only 250 pounds.

Gamma irradiation units services are provided in the center’s locations in Cairo (Nasr City) and Alexandria, and they are the only units in the Arab Republic of Egypt that provide irradiation services such as treating and preserving food by radiation.

One of the goals is to achieve food security through:

1- Preventing storage operations in onions, garlic and potatoes, which are strategic crops, in order to reduce the amount of wastage.

2- Eliminate spoiling microbes that cause corruption and damage to meat, pourtly and fish, which works to maintain their quality.

3- Achieving food safety by eliminating pathogenic bacteria in food, fungi that secrete mycotoxins, and parasites harmful to human health.

5- Enhancing exports abroad by getting rid of pests and insects that infect many foods (fresh fruits and vegetables, dates, grains…etc), which facilitates and overcomes plant quarantine requirements when exporting them.

The number of companies that request this service is about 440 companies, of whom about 60% are medical supplies and 40% are food products.

The National Center for Radiation Research and Technology in Egypt also produces blood irradiation reagents, which are used in blood irradiation and some of its components for tumor patients.

These reagents are used by sticking them on blood bags or plasma or some of its other components during the irradiation process using gamma rays or x-rays in order to visually verify the irradiation process.

Source: Egypt Today Magazine

We can learn a lot about civilizations from studying their religion, and ancient Egypt is a good example of that.

The religion of ancient Egypt had a far-reaching influence on every aspect of daily life. If you want to know more about a religion, you better start with its priests. Ancient Egyptian priests lived a life dedicated to their gods. In ancient Egypt, unlike priests of most other religions, the sole duty of a priest was to look after the god of their temple.

Ancient Egyptian priests performing funerary rites – social media

We know that the priesthood actually originated in the Early Dynastic Period (3150-2613 BC) and underwent rapid development during the Old Kingdom (2613-2181 BC). The priests of ancient Egypt became very powerful. While their role was supposed to be to preserve religious beliefs and traditions, they amassed great wealth and political power.

Priests became important to the power of the pharaohs, and both men and women could join the clergy, thus receiving the same pay and performing the same duties, according to ancient-origins. The Egyptian priesthood had a hierarchy, and the duties they performed depended on where they were in that hierarchy.

The next rank of ancient Egyptian priests was the reading priest. Their job was to codify religious texts, teach other clergy, and recite the official speech in temples and during festivals. At the end of the hierarchy were the priests who served the gods in any way. There is no definitive list of the different types of ancient Egyptian priests, so their roles were varied. However, we do have a record of several types of mid-level priests.

Since there are so many different types of priests, each with their own duties, it is difficult to summarize the life of an ancient Egyptian priest. With the exception of the high priest, most priests worked only part-time. The priesthood was divided into “hours” and served only one month out of every four. The rest of the time, they lived their normal lives in society, often working as mid-level bureaucrats.

During their religious service, priests lived within the complex of the temples of their deity.

Source: Egypt Today Magazine

Egyptian megastar Mohamed Mounir will perform at North Coast on August 25.

Mounir performed in Alexandria on July 15.

Popular Egyptian band Black Theama performed alongside Mounir in the concert as guests of honor.

For Egyptians Mounir is not just a legendary singer but he is the melodious Nubian voice that they were grew up hearing it and strongly attached to.

Mounir was born in Aswan, and came to Cairo with his family after the immigration of Nubian people during the High Dam construction.

He graduated from the photography, cinema and TV department, Faculty of Applied Arts, Helwan University, and he started his musical career in the late 1970s.

He started his career by singing with his brother Fouad, who supported Mounir throughout his journey.

Mounir’s had his real debut when he met prominent Egyptian poet Abdel Reheem Mansour and Nubian musician and singer Ahmed Mounib.

The meeting heralded cooperation between international jazz legend Yehia Khalil, Mounir, Mansour and Mounib, who changed the shape of Egyptian music and constructed an influential chapter in Arabic music history.

Mixing Nubian music with the scale of fifths, which is also known in Arabic as “Al-Selem Al-Khomasy”, made Mounir the first Arab singer to introduce jazz music to Arab listeners.

“Shababik” was listed as one of the best Arabic/African music albums.

Singing in a mixed Egyptian/Nubian accent is one of the definitive features of Mounir’s musical style.

Mounir sang in a pure Nubian accent in the song “Shamandoura,” and in a Moroccan accent in “Hikmet Al-Aqdar” [The Wisdom of Fates].

Believing in the cultural role of music and cinema, Mounir acted in many films and series such as “Al-Youm Al-Sades” [The Sixth Day] and “Al-Maseer” [The Fate] with veteran late Egyptian director Youssef Shahin.

He also played the role of the singer in “Al-Malek Howa Al-Malek” play.

The last role Mounir played on screen was in 2016 in “Al-Moghani” [The Singer]; a documentary series tackling Mounir’s own biography.

Peace, love, hope, Egypt, and childhood are the main themes of Mounir’s songs.

“Al Ard Wal Salam” [The Land and Peace] was Mounir’s spiritual album, released in 2002; the album brought him CNN’s Prize of Peace. Mounir also won MEMA in 2008 for Best Singer.

It is worth mentioning that Mounir won the Platinum Award for Best Arab Egyptian singer from the international music production company Universal and was awarded the Diamond Award by BAMA Awards.

His song “Yasmina,” which featured Adel al-Tawel and Ich Und Ich band, sold 700,000 copies in Germany, while “El-Laila Ya Samra” was listed as one of the best 50 African songs of the 20th century by BBC.

Furthermore, Mounir sang the official theme song of one of the most famous Egyptian cartoons ever; “Bakkar.”

Acting spontaneously on stage, and using remarkable casual outfits are the distinguishing features of Mounir’s live concerts.

He released a number of music videos such as “Shetta” [Winter], “Belad Tiba” [Tiba’s Lands], “Madad Ya Rasoul Allah” [Help me, Prophet of God].

Mounir became the first voice of the January 25 Revolution through his song “Ezay” [How], which carried political innuendos.

He is one of the most beloved Egyptian artists by the Egyptian youth and elite alike.

Cooperating with a number of leading artists, Mounir released “Aa’lam Gadeed” [New World] with Hamid al-Sha’ery, “Belad Tiba” [Tiba Lands] with Anoushka, “Leh ya Donia El-Wahed” [Why Life] with Khaled Aggag, and “Al-Qahera” with Amr Diab.

In 2017, Mounir cooperated with Adel al-Tawil in “One World”. The German Ministry of Education has decided to teach ‘’One World’’ song to 4th, 5th and 6th grade students in German schools.

”One World” song tackles refugees’ crisis, and was released in 4 languages, Arabic, English, French and German. The aim behind this decision is teaching the children the idea of accepting others and how to be able to live together peacefully, despite coming from different backgrounds.

On the other hand, Mounir dubbed the king previously expressed his great pleasure as a result of this decision.

In general, the king explained that this decision proves the importance of music and art in enlightening societies and countering terrorism. He added that this is the true role of art, in dealing with the extremism in all aspects of life.

“One World” song is a trio by King Mounir, the German Egyptian singer Adel Tawil and the world Music Award winner Youssou N’Dour. The song was dedicated to the refugees.

It was released in 4 languages, to reach the largest number of audiences around the world. The song aims to destroy all the barriers between humans and strengthen the ties that connect them to each other.

Mounir previously announced that he was preparing for this song from a long time, especially that this song is about refugees’ crisis, which is considered a vital world-wide issue.

Mounir’s career comprises more than 30 albums including: “Momken” [Maybe], “Wist Al-Dayra” [In the Center of the Circle], “Shababik” [Windows], and “Etkalemi” [Speak Up]. He is still capable of introducing innovative music and performing live, and he is still enriching the music scene locally and internationally.

Born in Aswan, Mounir inherited a sense of love and belonging for the Nile. Even when he moved to Cairo, he took the Nubian culture with him.

Mounir’s music reflects his Nubian culture, and his contribution to the Arab music scene is almost unbelievable.

He was the first Arab/Middle Eastern singer to mix jazz with Nubian music, developing the inherited Nubian music scales and combining them with new, universal jazz music.

Furthermore, Mounir helped introduce many Nubian concepts into Arabic music, which is obvious in his song “Wist al-Dayra” (In the Circle’s Center).

Many of Mounir’s songs have an orchestral backing, enhanced with magnificent tunes of the Oud.

Songs such as “Borg Hamam” (Pigeons Tower, 1995) and “Shababek” (Windows, 1981) best demonstrate this unique aspect of his music.

Using oriental drum beats, Mounir performs dynamic songs based on folk tunes, such as “Al-Nawasy” (Sidewalks, 2001), in which the drum beat is reminiscent of the familiar beats of “Al-Zar”.

He also produced notably oriental-sounding songs such as “Eqrar” (Endorsement, 2004).

He frequently enriches his music with rock tunes, especially in live concerts. One of the best examples is his song “El-Kon Koloh Beydor” (The Universe is Spinning, 1981) or “Ezai” (How, 2011).

Mounir added female vocals to paint the music with more emotional and attractive colors in his song “Sheta” (winter) in 1995.

Mounir released his latest song entitled ‘’ Mahmoum’’ ( Careworn) on July.

‘’ Mahmoum’’ is written by Amir Teima, composed by Waleed Saad and distributed by Ahmed Ibrahim.

After 17 years of absence Mounir participated in Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts performing a concert on July 27, 2019..

Mounir performed at Family Park on the Cairo-Suez road on March 1, 2019 to celebrate the release of his latest album “Watan” (Homeland).

Mounir performed as well a massive concert at Global Village in Dubai on February 15, 2019..

He released his album “Watan” (Homeland) in December 2018. Mounir’s fans have been eagerly waiting for his album since the last single he released in 2017.

Mounir released his song “El-Nas fe Belady” at the end of June to celebrate June 30 revolution.

The song was written by late veteran poet Abdel Rahman el-Abnoudy and was dedicated to the Egyptian nation.

Mounir recently released his song titled “Elle Baky Men El Sohab” on YouTube.

The song is written by Ahmed Hassan Raoul, and composed by Ahmed Zaeem.

The Egyptian megastar participated in the Pharaohs Golden Parade with his song “Ana Masry” ( I Am Egyptian).

Mounir performed as well two songs inside ‘El Ekhteyar’ ( The Choice) series part 2.

Mounir released ” Abtal Regala” song on January 24,2021 celebrating National Police Day which falls every year on January 25.

“Abtal Regala” is written by Ahmed Hassan Raoul and composed by Madein.

Mounir recently released “ Bab el Gamal” song which was a sucessful hit.

Source: Egypt Today Magazine

Egypt’s Minister of Culture Nevine el-Kilany decided to open the Naguib Mahfouz Museum free-of-charge to the public for a week starting from August 27 to September 3. Visiting hours will be from 9 am to 5 pm.

This decision came to celebrate the 16th passing anniversary of Egypt’s Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz.

The Cultural Development Fund Sector will hold a number of artistic and cultural events to celebrate this occasion, and the Artistic Creativity Center at the Opera Square will host its monthly Culture and Creativity Forum on August 28 at 6 p.m. titled “Days with Naguib Mahfouz”.

On August 31 at 6 pm, the El-Hanager Cinema Hall of the Opera House will screen a number of Naguib Mahfouz’s films in cooperation with the National Center for Cinema.

Naguib Mahfouz is the first Arab writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born on December 11, 1911, and passed away on August 30, 2006.

Source: Egypt Today Magazine

Prominent Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass launched a petition to repatriate the Rosetta Stone to Egypt .

The petition also calls for the repatriation of numerous other Egyptian artifacts currently housed in European museums, including the bust of Queen Nefertiti in Berlin, and a sculpted Zodiac ceiling currently placed at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Hawass plans to get the petition signed by Egypt’s historians and intellectuals and send it to Europe in October, amid what he believes to be a global wave of re-considering the return of ancient colonial-era artifacts to their home countries.

The prominent Egyptian archeologist has previously succeeded in repatriating several looted Egyptian artifacts.

It is worth mentioning that Egypt will hold an unprecedented celebration of the centennial of the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s Tomb from November 4 to November 7.

The celebration will be held in Luxor as part of a global conference titled “Transcending Eternity: The Centennial Tutankhamun.” This comes in a special collaboration with the American Research Center in Egypt.

The famous Rosetta Stone consists of a black granite slab inscribed with three ancient texts, two ancient Egyptian texts and one Greek.

This formula eventually helped researchers decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, whose meaning had eluded historians for centuries. But why did ancient scribes include three different types of writing or texts on this iconic stone in the first place?

The reason for the existence of three texts stems from the legacy of one of the generals of Alexander the Great, as the Greek text on the stone is related to the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt founded by Ptolemy I Soter. Soter was a Macedonian Greek-speaking general from the family of Alexander.

Alexander conquered Egypt in 332 BC and Ptolemy I Soter took over the country 9 years later after Alexander’s death, while Cleopatra, who died in 30 BC, was the last active female ruler of the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

The Rosetta Stone was revealed by the French expedition in 1799 during the construction of a fort in the town of Rosetta. The stone was not complete. It was a broken part of a larger slab, but although it was missing a large part of the hieroglyphs from the long lost upper section, the stone has the same messages carved into it in ancient Greek writing; Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Egyptian demotic script, which was a connecting script used by the ancient Egyptians between the 7th century BC, and the 5th century AD, according to Britannica.

“The Egyptian Demotic script was the contemporary language used in everyday speech as well as administrative documents,” Foy Scalf, head of research archives and research associate at the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute, told Live Science.

On the other hand, the “hieroglyphic grammar mimics the Middle Egyptian language,” which is the stage of the Egyptian language associated with the Middle Kingdom period in Egypt. It spanned from about 2044 BC until 1650 BC.

By the Ptolemaic period, Middle Egyptian was often used for very formal inscriptions, as Egyptian scribes considered it a classic version of their language whose tradition bestowed authority on the text.

Ancient Greek grew to become widely used in ancient Egypt among the literate class during the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Modern scholars were still trying to understand it at the time of the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. As such, the stone helped researchers decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs and Demotic script, two different scripts of the same language.

The use of hieroglyphs began to disappear after the Romans took over Egypt in 30 BC with the appearance of the last known Egyptian hieroglyphic writing in the fourth century AD, as indicated by Britannica.

Source: Egypt Today Magazine

August 22 marked the 223rd anniversary of the departure of Napoleon Bonaparte from Alexandria, Egypt to France, in an attempt to save his country from European attempts to control it.

The administrative government had in fact sent to Bonaparte asking him to return to France to fend off any possible attack or invasion of the country, but the message did not reach him due to the poor means of transportation and communication at that time.

During his stay in Egypt, Napoleon used to read the French newspapers and telegrams that he received intermittently to stay acquainted with the European affairs. He discovered that the European countries turned against France, defeated it in the Second Coalition War and reclaimed from it what it had gained.

On August 24, 1799, Bonaparte seized the opportunity of the temporary withdrawal of the British ships from the French coasts and set sail for France, despite receiving no orders from Paris to return.

According to the book “Napoleon Bonaparte in Egypt” by Ahmed Hafez Awad, Napoleon’s travel was a lot like fairy tales, given that the English ships were standing by on the Egyptian coasts, waiting to kill or arrest him.

According to the “The Count of Aeon Vigo”, Napoleon left the outskirts of Alexandria with his companions at night. When they came down from a point on the shore, they left the horses they were riding, and returned to a garrison in Alexandria, until the garrison panicked, the trumpets were raised, and the guards rose, thinking that there was a campaign that took them by surprise.

According to a confidant of Napoleon’s, he departed at night on board the ships “Lamubrun” and “La Carrier”, accompanying 400-500 individuals. The night was so dark, that they groped for access to the ships under the lights of the stars.

Napoleon ordered the captains of the ship to march along the African shores until he reached the south of the island of Sardinia. He believed that if the English attacked him while he was on the African coast, he could freely make his way inside Tunisia and Oran.

The book explains that Napoleon’s departure was a secret even to Kleber, his deputy and the leader of the French campaign after him. The news of the French general’s departure even surprised the French in Cairo, and the Egyptians.

Source: Egypt Today Magazine

The American University of Michigan said that the document, which was thought to be written by Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei in the 17th century, is in fact a fraud that dates back to the 20th century.

An investigation into the manuscript began earlier this year after Nick Wilding, a scholar working on Galileo’s biography, told them he believed the forged document was probably the product of Tobia Nicotra’s 1934 work, since this person forged the signatures of Christopher Columbus, Warren J. Harding, Lorenzo de’ Medici, and others, and was sentenced to 2 years in prison, according to ARTnews.

Until this year, the University of Michigan believed it was keeping Galileo’s notes of his 1610 discovery of Jupiter’s four moons. In a statement, the university said it believed the manuscript was ‘one of the jewels’ in the University of Michigan’s library.

Despite the firm belief that the document was a fraud, the university’s library said it was still valuable.

“In the future, the manuscript may serve the research, learning, and teaching interests of counterfeiting, forgery and deception,” said Lynn Rawley, an editor at the University of Michigan.

Source: Egypt Today Magazine

The killing of Ayman Al-Zawahri, the leader of Al-Qaeda terrorist group, last month will impede a large part of the group’s plan and weaken the morale of its elements, Egypt’s Al-Azhar Observatory for Combating Extremism (AOCE) expects.

In a report, the observatory expected the killing of Zawahri, the successor of Usama bin Laden, to cause a state of confusion among the ranks of the group, whose media strategy is based on the group leaders.

Zawahri, an Egyptian doctor and founder of Egypt’s terrorist Islamic Jihad group, was killed in a US drone strike in the Afghan capital, Kabul, late in July, a step that has been internationally hailed.

While specialists agree that the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization is the greatest threat to the West, some of them consider Al-Qaeda to be the most dangerous terrorist organization in the long run, the observatory said.

“Therefore, fighting terrorism and eliminating its leaders must be accompanied by a fight against ideology and drying up the sources of social, economic, political and media extremism,” the observatory added.

Killing of Zawahri in Kabul comes a year after the US administration’s highly criticized step to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.

The killing of Zawahiri demonstrates that the US is still able to carry out precision strikes in Afghanistan after last year’s troop withdrawal, The Washington Post quoted security experts as saying after the operation.

US President Joe Biden said in an address to the nation that Zawahri’s death — after he evaded capture for decades — sent a clear message: “No matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the United States will find you and take you out.”

Biden said Zawahri’s death should help ensure Afghanistan can no longer “become a terrorist safe haven” and a “launching pad” for attacks against the US.

Source: Egypt Today Magazine

The internationally-recognized blind women-only orchestra titled “Al Nour Wal Amal” (Light and Hope) will perform at Cairo Opera House on August 25 as part of the concerts of Salah El-Din Citadel Festival for Music and singing.

“Al Nour Wal Amal” performed at Cairo Opera House on September 17, 2021.

In 2018 Al Nour Wal Amal performed in the Mother’s day ceremony, attended by President Abdel Fatah al Sisi on Wednesday.

After the end of their performance, President Sisi gave a standing ovation to the orchestra, which is currently led by old-stager maestro Mohamed Saad Basha.

“You are bringing us a tremendous amount of joy and happiness, giving us a message of hope; we take pride in you all,” Sisi said while addressing the 45-member orchestra.

A number of ministers and senior senior officials were in attendance.

The group, which was named after the association of Al Nour wal Amal, has performed in more than 25 countries around the world and is hailed as the world’s first, and largest, visually impaired women- only band.

Mother’s Day is celebrated in Egypt on March 21 every year, as in much of the Arab World.

Source: Egypt Today Magazine