Bulldozers tear into Cairo’s historic Islamic cemeteries
Cairo, EgyptReuters A project to expand roads and bridges to ease congestion in Cairo has put thousands of tombs in a vast and ancient Islamic cemetery under threat, causing outcry among conservationists and family members. Known as the City of the Dead, the cemeteries along the eastern edge of Historic Cairo have been a resting […]
Archaeologist hails possibly ‘oldest’ mummy yet found in Egypt
Cairo, EgyptReuters Egyptologists have uncovered a Pharaonic tomb near the capital Cairo containing what may be the oldest and “most complete” mummy yet to be discovered in the country, the excavation team leader said on Thursday. The 4,300-year-old mummy was found at the bottom of a 15-metre shaft in a recently uncovered group of fifth […]
Owners distraught as historic Nile houseboats are removed
Cairo, Egypt Reuters Owners of the Nile’s famous houseboats in the heart of Egypt’s capital are having their homes demolished and towed away as authorities impound what they say are unlicensed dwellings. The boats, many of them elegant two-story structures with verandas, have been moored for decades along the tree-lined banks of the Nile between […]
Egypt: Cairo’s street trees fall foul of urban development drive
MENNA A FAROUK, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on protests by Cairo residents and environmentalists over tree-felling, which come as Egypt’s government prepares to host the COP27 climate summit in November…
The challenge of greener transport: Egypt’s tuk-tuk drivers wary of plans for green streets
As Egypt launches an ambitious greening of its transport ahead of COP27, Cairo’s tuk-tuk drivers fear they’ll lose out. MENNA A FAROUK, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…
Egypt: New bridge spells end to life in Old Cairo’s City of the Dead
The Thomson Reuters Foundation report on concerns over the impacts of a major bridge project in the sprawling Egyptian capital…
Postcards: Egyptian mummies paraded through Cairo on way to new museum
NADEEN EBRAHIM, of Reuters, reports on last week’s unusual procession through the streets of Cairo…
Egypt fights sexual harassment on the train with commuter campaign
Cairo, EgyptThomson Reuters Foundation Sexual harassment is so common on Egypt’s railways that many women avoid travelling by train, but a new initiative aims to make female passengers feel safer and embolden victims of abuse to report it. Billboards reading “The Railway is Safe” have been installed at Cairo’s main rail terminus, a complaints hotline […]
Egypt: Cautious hopes for slum dwellers relocated in housing project
MENNA A FAROUK, writing for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, looks at an initiative to rehouse slum dwellers in new social housing units…
In Egypt, volunteers make meals with love for virus patients
AP Fatma Youssef stuffs rice, chicken or meat and vegetables into boxes spread on her dining table – tens of them in the last few weeks. On some, she scribbles “Be well” in Arabic; on others, she writes “Together, we will get through this.” Youssef doesn’t know who will eat her food. Still, she says, […]