Bikya Masr on the move

We are moving from the blog format, but you can still have the best news, analysis and opinion from Egypt and the region that you loved so much these past few months. Plus, you will see over the next months, the development of the blogumnist idea. We welcome all questions and concerns.

We are now at: http://bikyamasr.com

or CLICK HERE

BM

Egypt: Climate change sees dark future

Please click here to read the post on the new website

Egypt: Activists found election fraud movement

Click here to read the story on the new website

Folk, Hip-hop and a Brit in Israel, Palestine

Click here to read the story on the new website

Egypt: Sexual harassment hits during holiday … again

Click here to read the article on the new website

Egypt: Farouk Hosni not to resign despite UNESCO loss

Click here to read the story on the new website

NFL Week 3 Preview

Click here to read the story on the new website

The world won with UNESCO … and lost

Click here to read the story on the new website

Egypt: 50 million mobile users

Click here to read the story on the new website

Egypt: Security detains student, refuses to release him after 17 court rulings

Click here to read the story on the new website

Egypt: Giza Zoo under attack

Click here to read the story on the new website

U-20 World Cup: Teams to watch

Click here to read the story on the new website

Egypt: New Sufi women’s association

Click here to read the story on the new website

Egypt: Sinai’s Bedouin given $10.8 million grant to improve the standard of living

Click here to read the story on the new website

Boycotting: the new black

Click here to read the story on the new website

Censorship in Egypt out of control

click here to read the story on the new website

Egypt: Demining efforts get a boost

Click here to read the story on the new website

Bulgaria’s Bokova outduels Egypt’s Hosni for UNESCO top spot

Click here to read the story on the new website

Egypt increases exports to United States

click here to read the story on the new website

Farouk Hosni suprises detractors, in final pairing for UNESCO chief

Farouk Hosni suprises detractors, in final pairing for UNESCO chief

Bikya Masr staff

22 September 2009

A smear campaign against Hosni has left the minister on the UNESCO outs, but now he is likely to win. -archive

CAIRO: It is down to two. Bulgaria and Egypt. The vote for UNESCO’s top spot is in its final climax, with Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni and Bulgarian ex-Foreign Minister Irina Bokova expected to fight it out on Tuesday afternoon in Paris. For Hosni, it is the culmination of nearly two years of battling against the media, Jewish organizations and the widespread campaign to defeat his chances. It doesn’t seem to have worked.

The fifth round of balloting is to be held in Paris and sources inside UNESCO say that Hosni has the upper hand due to his role as culture minister for two decades in Egypt.

“I expect the Egyptian will win because of a number of reasons, but most importantly Hosni’s role within culture throughout the years. He understands the role politics often play in cultural developments and many here understand this,” said an official who asked not to be named.

HRW: Italy fails refugee test

Click here to read the story on the new website

Tough life for bloggers in Egypt

Tough life for bloggers in Egypt

Tom Trewinnard

Bikya Masr

21 September 2009

Egypt bloggers struggle with government crackdowns. -courtesy

Life can be tough for bloggers in Egypt. The threats of imprisonment and interrogation have, for a long time, loomed large as authorities clamp down on “offensive”, controversial, or overtly critical material. Earlier this month, however, one Egyptian blogger ran into a new problem.

On September 3, Khaled el-Balshy – Editor-In-Chief of Al-Badeel newspaper, who also runs a personal blog at elbalshy.blogspot.com – was unofficially interrogated by members of the Interior Ministry’s Internet Crimes unit. The interrogation was not, however, over anything he had posted online, but over an anonymous comment that one user had left responding to a post. This is the first reported case of a blogger being held responsible for user comments on his site in Egypt, but other such stories have been reported in Syria and Malaysia, raising questions over where the responsibility lies for comments published on blogs.

Egypt: activists are not journalists

Egypt: activists are not journalists

Joseph Mayton

Bikya Masr

21 September 2009

Can these protesters be journalists? -archive

An activist can be a journalist. Sure, it is possible and happens across the globe, but that means they cannot report or write a “news” report on a demonstration or activity in which they participate in or organization. This debate continues to rage and has been for many years. On Twitter this week, a number of Egyptian journalists and activists were incensed by an article written by Lawrence Pintak and Yousri Fouda in the Columbia Journalism Review where they say international press groups should be careful not to label activists and bloggers as journalists in their statements.

Many, arguably most, Egyptians were not too pleased by their assertions, saying that individuals who write “what happened” at a demonstration or “report” on a strike or whatnot are “citizen journalists.” This belies all norms of what it means to be a journalist. If an organizer of a demonstration writes on his blog about what he saw happened at a given protest makes him an eyewitness, not a journalist. The simple rule here is conflict of interest.

Egypt: Web development on the ups

Egypt: Web development on the ups

Joseph Mayton

Bikya Masr

21 September 2009

In Egypt, technology is moving fast, but some are being left behind. -archive

CAIRO: Less than ten years ago, the Egyptian government established the ministry of technology and has been showing its teeth in new and innovative projects that are pushing the country into the Internet age. Although it has been somewhat of a teetering ride, as of August 2007, six million Egyptians were regular Internet users. The number seems small, that is only 8.3 percent of the population, but optimistically speaking, that is a major increase from the 450,000 users only seven years ago.

Government ministries are currently in the process of conducting major makeovers to their Web sites in an effort to reel in more clients and make access easier, despite the pessimism across the web.

Officials admit that e-commerce and Internet activity is low for a nation of Egypt’s size. According to the ministry of communication and technology, of that 8.3 percent, 53 percent of the users reside in the capital Cairo, and another 32 percent live in the northern Delta region, which has left much of Upper Egypt disconnected.

Egypt: Mufti okays pants for women, but not too tight

Egypt: Mufti okays pants for women, but not too tight

Bikya Masr

21 September 2009

Egypt's Grand Mufti says women can wear pants. -Dar al-Ifta

CAIRO: It has become a pants controversy in the Islamic world, after Sudan sentenced a female journalist to six months in prison for wearing trousers. Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein, a journalist, refused to pay a fine for her release in protest, but the country’s journalist syndicate intervened, much to her anger. Egypt’s Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa has chimed into the debate, saying that women have the right to wear pants.

He cited a hadith – saying of the Prophet Mohamed – that proves the right of women to wear these clothes. He added that “if this Hadith wasn’t proven correct, Islamic Sharia laws didn’t forbid women from wearing pants, as there are outfits worn by Pakistani women where it includes pants.”

It was not the first time Sudanese women have been under attack for what they wear. In July, at least 13 Sudanese women received public lashes for wearing tight clothes, which sparked widespread outrage among activists in Sudan and abroad.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) in Cairo said that the Sudanese authorities are “continuing further to persecute reporters and oppress all voices defending freedom of expression.”