News features

Path to women’s equality passes through Constitution

A group of activist women belonging to NGO's, standing in front of State Council, Giza, February 18, 2010, in protest of State's General Assembly's decision not to appoint women as judges by a landslide majority of 89%. The assembly justified decision referring to unsuccessful experience of women judges in Family Courts.
17 Apr 2011
Countless women actively participated in the 25 January revolution, which seemed to signal a major shift in women’s role in Egyptian society. But activists say there is still a long way to go toward eradicating gender inequality,...
Yes

Assad faces toughest test from Syrian unrest

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma al-Assad.
15 Apr 2011
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad trained to be an ophthalmologist because, he said, eye surgery involves few emergencies and not much blood is spilled. Now Assad, who abandoned his medical studies and inherited power when his father...
Yes

Labor activists organize despite legal hurdles

Mahalla Textile Worker Kamal al-Fayoumi Speaks at conference
15 Apr 2011
Egypt has not had a workers' party since the 1940s, but, like many other things the revolution has revived, these entities are coming back to life. Over the past five years, workers and labor activists nationwide have loudly advocated...
Yes

Military-civilian relations on the brink?

جنود الجيش يقفون أمام لجنة مدرسة الأورمان الابتدائية، لتأمين عملية التصويت في الاستفتاء علي التعديلات الدستورية، الدقي، الجيزة، 19 مارس 2011. تفتح لجان الاقتراع أبوابها أمام الناخبين للإدلاء بأصواتهم في الاستفتاء على التعديلات التي أُجريت علي تسع مواد من دستور 1971، والتي أقرتها اللجنة المُشكلة من قبل المجلس الأعلى للقوات المسلحة، علي أن يتم التصويت -لأول مرة- ببطاقة الرقم القومي دون غيرها من المستندات.
11 Apr 2011
On 28 January, tanks and military personnel were deployed across Egypt after massive protests swept away the police apparatus of former President Hosni Mubarak. The first encounters between the armed forces and civilians were quite warm:...
Yes

Fearing Islamists and chaos, some Christians opt to flee

Coptic man wears a cross & national flag around his head, during Coptic protest in front of Radio & Television headquarters in Maspero, Cairo, March, 25,2011, as hundreds of Copts gather to assure their demands.
11 Apr 2011
Since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak in February, many Coptic Christians have begun making plans to leave the country, fearing instability and the rising power of Islamist political groups. Lawyers who specialize in working with Coptic...
Yes

An uncertain future for burned-out NDP building

A file photo of the National Democratic Party's Headquarter in downtown Cairo which was put ablaze on 28 Jan. 2011.
07 Apr 2011
When the headquarters of the National Democratic Party (NDP) were set ablaze in the early days of anti-government protests in Tahrir Square, the event was seen as symbolic of the collapse of the old order. Now, as if a metaphor for the...
Yes

Looking beyond protests, 6 April to form NGO

A group of 6 April activists in protest at General Prosecutor's Office, Cairo, April 10, 2001. The protest comes in response to state's security arrest of a group of 6 April activists on April 6 in commemoration of 6 April launch few years ago. Protesters demand General Prosecutor's immediate intervention to release detainees.
07 Apr 2011
In front of an enthusiastic crowd of hundreds at Cairo’s Journalists' Syndicate Wednesday night, Ahmed Mahir, the founder of the 6 April Youth Movement, announced the group’s future plans. 6 April had been engaged in...
Yes

Sufis feel pressure as Salafi power grows

A Sufi shouting against Salafis, Hussein Mosque, Cairo, April 2, 2011. A huge rally of Sufis gathered in historical Azhar area condemning Salafi's demolition of shrines in different governorates. Meanwhile, Islamic Research Center of Azhar issued a fatwa prohibiting shrine demolition. 
05 Apr 2011
Adherents of Sufism, a mystical sect of Islam that has long been popular in Egypt, now see their tolerant traditions threatened by the growth of hard-line Salafism, an Islamic sect that claims to hearken back to the earliest form of Islam...
Yes

Muslim Brotherhood-Coptic relations: A dubious rapprochement

An Egyptian man holds a Koran, Islam's holy book, as others raise crosses during a protest, central Cairo, March 11, 2011, as hundreds of Egyptians gathered to demonstrate against sectarianism, following religious clashes that left at least 13 people dead.
04 Apr 2011
As the Muslim Brotherhood begins its life as an official political player, it is attempting to revamp its image to appeal to all Egyptians, particularly the Coptic Christian minority that has long been skeptical of the Islamist group. But...
Yes

Students revolt at private universities

03 Apr 2011
Egyptian society has been under the influence of revolutionary fever since the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak. Now, that fever has spread to private universities. While some private universities, such as the non-profit American...
Yes

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