Latest in Tag: opinion Highlight
Latest in Tag: opinion
Iranian Arab football pitch emerges as flashpoint in Saudi-Iranian proxy war
By James M. Dorsey A football pitch in the Iranian city of Ahvaz, home to Iranâs Arab minority, has emerged as a flashpoint of anti-government protest, at a time of rising Arab-Iranian tensions over the status of Shiâa Muslim minorities in the Arab world, the crisis in Yemen, and the outlines of a multilateral agreement …
Notes from America: Muslim men and their beards
By Ahmed Tharwat âHe that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man.â â William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing Facial hair in Islam is complicated, and the politics of wearing a beard brings lots of heated debate and political wrangling. Besides the religious and Shariâa …
Broadband: A hidden treasure that could make every Egyptian $3,140 richer
By Bjørn Lomborg Where should the global community focus its attention over the next fifteen years? Health, nutrition and education may seem like obvious top priorities but, more surprisingly, there is also a strong case for broadband access to be considered. Tripling mobile internet access from 21% to 60% in developing countries over the next …
Gulf alliances: Regional states hedge their bets
By James M. Dorsey The current Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, designed to prevent Iranian-backed forces from gaining power, symbolises the Gulfâs new assertiveness. This is unfolding as the various Gulf states seek to hedge their bets with different strategies that complement rather than replace the regional US security umbrella. Qatar, this month, signed a military …
Yemen: Decisive storm or divisive storm?
By Waleed R. Derhem Ten days into the beginning of “Decisive Storm”, and we are still divided on who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. Led by Saudi Arabia, the coalition forces continue to strike the military facilities and the strategic locations under the control of the Houthis, and will continue to …
Better in Egypt: Starbucks talks about race campaign
By Ahmed Tharwat Howard Schultz is the CEO of Starbucks, a coffee company that as he describes it, âis a third place away from home and work where Americans can come and enjoy drinking a good cup of coffee sitting downâ. Before Starbucks, Americans usually drank coffee on the run and everyone drank the same …
The most deadly environmental issue
By Dr. Bjørn Lomborg Air quality has improved dramatically in rich countries over the past century. Around 1880, when the air was worst in London, it is estimated that 9,000 people died each year from air pollution, about one of every seven deaths. Today, London air is cleaner than it has been since medieval times. …
New momentum in response to the Syria crisis â we must seize the moment
By Sima Bahous We are entering the fifth year of crisis in Syria, with no end in sight. Instability is threatening neighbouring countries, and indeed the whole region. A political solution that could put an end to this unprecedented crisis remains on the distant horizon. Thus far, the crisis has profoundly scarred the lives of …
In India, women fighting for justice
By Dr Cesar Chelala In Bundelkhand, one of the poorest areas of the Uttar Pradesh region in Northern India, a 48-year-old woman is breaking stereotypes, and giving woman a chance to fight for their rights, and even for their survival. This is no small feat in a country plagued by discrimination against women and by inequality. …
Can the Arab League answer critical questions?
At first, the notion of Arabism appeared to liberate the Levant from the Ottoman Empire. However, after the 1952 revolution, [Gamal] Abdel Nasser re-defined the Arab nationalism to fight traditional colonialism following its retreat after the two great powers (UK and France) fell back as a result of World War II. The national ideologies presented …
My visit to the Family Court in Abshway
By Anita Nirody, UNDP Resident Representative This week, I visited Abshway district in the Fayoum Governorate for the launch of the Legal Aid Office in the Abshway Family court. My visit was within the context of a project that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Egypt is implementing with the Ministry of Justice. UNDP …
The New Capital: The Good, Bad and Cairo
By Ahmed El-Wahsh Over the past few days, the Egyptian government has unveiled to the world and surprisingly enough, its own Egyptian nationals, that there shall be a change of its capital state. It will be moving from Cairo to a patch of uninhabited land 50km to the East of the Fifth Settlement. According to …
Football riots reflect long-standing discontent in Iranâs predominantly Arab Khuzestan
By James M. Dorsey Long-simmering discontent in Ahwaz, the football-crazy, predominantly ethnic Arab capital of Iranâs Khuzestan province that Iraqi president Saddam Hussein unsuccessfully tried to exploit when he launched the Iran-Iraq war in 1980, exploded on the pitch earlier this month during an Asian championship League qualifier between the cityâs state-owned Foolad FC and …
Solar electricity: Contributing to grid stability
By Ahmed S. Nada, First Solar Governments, utility companies and private enterprises around the world have rapidly been embracing the potential to tap into our most abundant energy resource – the sun – and for good reason: the amount of sunlight that reaches the Earthâs surface every six minutes is sufficient to produce more electricity …
Notes from America: The man with big ideas
By Ahmed Tharwat Thomas Friedman, New York Times foreign affairs columnist, winner of three Pulitzer prizes, writer of several bestselling books, is a man known for his big ideas. Friedman never ceases to amaze us with a new âbig ideaâ every now and then, from the bizarre to the ridiculous. For example, Friedman created the …
Attempts to ban Egyptian militant football fan group gather momentum
By James M. Dorsey An Egyptian prosecutor has set the stage for the banning of a group of hard-core, militant football fans by charging them with accepting money and explosives from the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to stage last monthâs Cairo football riot in which 22 people were killed. The Prosecutor General, Hisham Barakat, said the …
Post-2015: Over 14 million newborns can be saved with smart targets
By Dr. Bjørn Lomborg In a world where there are so many worthwhile targets demanding our attention, we need to focus on those where we have the best chance of doing the most good. How about saving more than 14 million newborn by 2030? Thatâs a pretty eye-catching figure, but one which the author of a …
Doctors are targets in brutal Syrian war
By Dr Cesar Chelala After four years of hostilities, the Syrian war doesnât show any signs of abating, and the needs for all kind of assistance grow more urgent every day. The situation is even more complex as medical and paramedical personnel have become targets of repression by the government. As a result, thousands of …
FIFA president Blatter signals mounting pressure on Qatar to tackle migrant worker problems
By James M. Dorsey A warning by world soccer body FIFA president Sepp Blatter following talks this weekend with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani that Qatar needs to do more to improve the working and living conditions of its migrant workers is the latest signal that Qatar will have to take …
On the urgency of stopping recruitment of European and North African girls and women to jihad
By Moha Ennaji There have been several reports of European and North African women travelling to Syria to join up with jihadists there. The precise number of girls and women seeking to join the terrorist groups is unclear, but some analysts estimate that roughly 20% of recruits from Europe and North Africa are women, often …
Netanyahuâs Congress Speech: Manipulating the Middle Eastâs security architectureÂ
By James M. Dorsey A satirical video of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahuâs speech to the US Congress captures the essence of his message and his political strategy on the eve of Israeli elections. âThere are three things we must always remember: First Iran, and second Iran, and third Iran, Iran, Iran, again and again; …
International sports associations caught between dollar signs and human rights ideals
By James M. Dorsey A just published study highlights how commerce and glitz are reinforcing support for autocracy by international sports associations, and undermining the International Olympic Committeeâs (IOC) newly found resolve to hold potential host cities to human rights standards to which world football body FIFA pays. The study by Andrew Zimbalist, Circus Maximus: The Economic …
Good nutrition makes healthy children and productive adults
By Bjørn Lomborg The world faces many problems, and feeding a growing population adequately is certainly one of them. The good news is that we are well on track to halving the proportion of people suffering chronic hunger between 1990 and 2015. The bad news is that still leaves over 800 million people who go …
Blatterâs call on Iran to allow women into stadia reeks of opportunism
By James M. Dorsey Campaigning for re-election, world football body FIFA president Sepp Blatter seems never to miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. In an article in a FIFA magazine, Blatter commemorated International Womenâs Day by calling on Iran to lift its ban on women attending male sports events in stadia. In doing so, …
Egyptâs worst fear: The UN
By Semanur Karaman The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a rather unique and quite technical process of the UN Human Rights Council, where each member-stateâs human rights record is reviewed every four years. It is an important mechanism, as all member states go through this examination without discrimination. Civil society is provided an opportunity to …
Notes from America: Sex, lies and videotape?
By Ahmed Tharwat On 18 February 2015, the White House hosted the summit on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE). The purpose of the summit according to a statement issued by the White House was, âto highlight domestic and international efforts to prevent violent extremists and their supporters from radicalising, recruiting, or inspiring individuals or groups in …
Meeting Egyptâs impressive women
By Caroline Alcock, British Consul General in Alexandria International Womenâs Day on 8 March is a good opportunity to reflect on the inspirational women I have met during my 18 months in Alexandria, and the important role they play in this in this wonderful city. I have been privileged throughout my time in Alexandria to …
Empowering women benefits all, from the individual to the nation
By Dr. Bjørn Lomborg Even if we believe we have come a long way regarding gender equality, the fact is that up to today, women tend to hold lower-paying jobs, are under-represented in politics and the upper levels of business, and bear the brunt of domestic violence. In parts of the developing world, women have …
The global impact of neglected tropical diseases
By Dr Cesar Chelala Every year, a group of 17 diseases makes life âmiserableâ for more than 1 billion people, reports the World Health Organization (WHO.) The group of diseases is called Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), and it includes tropical infections that affect predominantly low-income populations in developing regions in Africa, Asia and the Americas. The …
Economic Summit: Egypt’s economy in dire straits
The touchstone here is what comes after the conference, especially in the nature of companies that can invest in a country like Egypt, one that is on the brink of a political explosion