IN SEPTEMBER OF last year, we noted that Facebook representatives were meeting with the Israeli government to determine which Facebook accounts of Palestinians should be deleted on the ground that they constituted “incitement.” The meetings — called for and presided over by one of the most extremist and authoritarian Israeli officials, pro-settlement Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked — came after Israel threatened Facebook that its failure to voluntarily comply with Israeli deletion orders would result in the enactment of laws requiring Facebook to do so, upon pain of being severely fined or even blocked in the country.
The predictable results of those meetings are now clear and well-documented. Ever since, Facebook has been on a censorship rampage against Palestinian activists who protest the decades-long, illegal Israeli occupation, all directed and determined by Israeli officials. Indeed, Israeli officials have been publicly boasting about how obedient Facebook is when it comes to Israeli censorship orders:
Shortly after news broke earlier this month of the agreement between the Israeli government and Facebook, Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said Tel Aviv had submitted 158 requests to the social media giant over the previous four months asking it to remove content it deemed “incitement.” She said Facebook had granted 95 percent of the requests.
She’s right. The submission to Israeli dictates is hard to overstate: As the New York Times put it in December of last year, “Israeli security agencies monitor Facebook and send the company posts they consider incitement. Facebook has responded by removing most of them.”
What makes this censorship particularly consequential is that “96 percent of Palestinians said their primary use of Facebook was for following news.” That means that Israeli officials have virtually unfettered control over a key communications forum of Palestinians.
In the weeks following those Facebook-Israel meetings, reported The Independent, “the activist collective Palestinian Information Center reported that at least 10 of their administrators’ accounts for their Arabic and English Facebook pages — followed by more than 2 million people — have been suspended, seven of them permanently, which they say is a result of new measures put in place in the wake of Facebook’s meeting with Israel.” Last March, Facebook briefly shut down the Facebook page of the political party, Fatah, followed by millions, “because of an old photo posted of former leader Yasser Arafat holding a rifle.”
A 2016 report from the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms detailed how extensive the Facebook censorship was:
Pages and personal accounts that were filtered and blocked: Palestinian Dialogue Network (PALDF.net) Gaza now, Jerusalem News Network, Shihab agency, Radio Bethlehem 2000, Orient Radio Network, page Mesh Heck, Ramallah news, journalist Huzaifa Jamous from Abu Dis, activist Qassam Bedier, activist Mohammed Ghannam, journalist Kamel Jbeil, administrative accounts for Al Quds Page, administrative accounts Shihab agency, activist Abdel-Qader al-Titi, youth activist Hussein Shajaeih, Ramah Mubarak (account is activated), Ahmed Abdel Aal (account is activated), Mohammad Za’anin (still deleted), Amer Abu Arafa (still deleted), Abdulrahman al-Kahlout (still deleted).
Needless to say, Israelis have virtually free rein to post whatever they want about Palestinians. Calls by Israelis for the killing of Palestinians are commonplace on Facebook, and largely remain undisturbed.
The Egyptian has taken the Premier League by storm following his return to England this season, and his class seems to extend off the pitch too
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has impressed everyone on the pitch this season, and he's doing good things off it too.
Salah's status as a national hero back home in Egypt is only partly to do with his football ability - and the fact that he scored the goal that sent his nation to their first World Cup in 28 years back in October .
The forward is also revered for what he does for his country, with the Daily Mail reporting last week about the various good deeds he does for his hometown of Nagrig - including buying gym equipment, paying for couples to get married and presenting youth football trophies.
The forward has been in incredible form this season (Image: Liverpool FC)
Salah's goals sent Egypt to the World Cup in October (Image: REUTERS)
And according to a report in Egypt, he's now donated money to help veteran Egyptian footballers who may have fallen on hard times after retiring from the game.
Salah is loved in Egypt, with this image of him adorning a coffee shop in Cairo(Image: REUTERS)
The report from Egyptian football site King Fut cites radio host and former Zamalek player Khaled El-Ghandour's claim that Salah has given €30,000 (£26,612) to the Association of Veteran Egyptian Players.
The report claims that some of the families of the ex-players receive a monthly wage of just 400 Egyptian pounds, or £16.65.
Formerly of Chelsea, Salah has scored 21 goals in 28 Reds appearances since joining from Roma in the summer, and is behind only Harry Kane in the race for the Premier League's Golden Boot with 15 league strikes.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-12-29 23:32:56|Editor: Mu Xuequan
CAIRO, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) repaid about two billion U.S. dollars in debt to international bodies in December, state-run MENA news agency reported Friday.
"Of the total, 1.2 billion U.S. dollars were paid back to the African Export-Import Bank and about 920 million to other international bodies," Rami Abul-Naga, a deputy to the CBE governor, told MENA.
In early January next year, the CBE will pay back 700 million dollars out of the total debt of 3.2 billion dollars to the Paris Club, he said.
The Paris Club is a group of officials from major creditor countries whose role is to find solutions to the payment difficulties of debtor countries.
On Wednesday, the CBE received the first 2.03-billion-dollar disbursal of the second tranche of a 12-billion-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), bringing the total amount Egypt has received to 6.08 billion dollars.
In November 2016, Egypt accepted the three-year IMF loan program tied to its ambitious economic reforms such as subsidy cuts, tax hikes, value-added taxes, as well as the devaluation of its local currency.
CAIRO (AP) — The head of the Egyptian Exchange says its benchmark index has made significant gains in 2017 thanks to economic reforms deemed key to salvaging Egypt's economy.
Mohamed Farid told reporters Tuesday the EGX 30 has increased about 19 percent and annual trading has exceeded LE 292 billion (about $16.38 billion) this year.
Farid says the index has been the driving force behind making the Egyptian Exchange the top market in the Arab world. He says purchases by foreign investors registered LE 73 billion (about $4.1 billion) in 2017.
Farid added that the hikes reflect an improvement in the Egyptian economy.
Egypt has introduced economic reforms aimed at salvaging the country's economy, which has been struggling since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Preliminary Plan of New Mansoura City – File Photo
CAIRO - 26 December 2017: Egypt witnesses another new achievement on ground – New Mansoura City. Egypt Today brings all the updates to answer questions on the new national project.
New Mansoura City is a new national project built under the supervision of the Egyptian government with a total space of 5,104 acres. The first phase is already accomplished and built on 2,063 acres.
The first phase of New Mansoura City includes several projects: Sakan Masr with 4,704 units, Dar Masr with 11,000 units, a water desalination plant and a social housing project. Construction works are still proceeding, and 20 percent of Sakan Masr units are already accomplished. The first phase is expected to be finished in 18 months.
The Egyptian government gave direct instructions to construction companies so the national projects can be accomplished at the earliest time. The infrastructure facilities at New Mansoura City are slated to be finished within two weeks. The big city is said to house 680,000 people, which will alleviate the load on current cities that have become overpopulated.
"The foundation stone of New Mansoura City will be laid next week," Dakahlia Governor Ahmed al-Shaarawy told Egypt Today last Sunday. "The project will include developing Gamasa City in Dakahlia as well, at a cost of LE 100 billion ($5.6 billion)."
Last week, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi issued decree No. 378/2017 to establish New Mansoura City. Under that decree, a space of 5,104 feddans has been transferred from the state ownership to the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA). This decree stipulates that 15 percent of the project’s sales shall be to the benefit of Dakahlia governorate.
The city will comprise of tourist villages, as well as economic, average and above-average housing, abiding by the old city’s features in terms of the buildings’ height, color, designs, roads and infrastructure.
CAIRO – 23 December 2017: The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom, congratulated Egypt on its new Universal Health Insurance Law in a tweet on his official Twitter account on Saturday.
Adhanom tweeted, “This is a big step towards #HealthForAll. We need many more countries to follow your example and make universal health coverage a reality in all countries.”
Congratulations #Egypt 🇪🇬 on your new comprehensive health insurance law. This is a big step towards #HealthForAll. We need many more countries to follow your example and make universal health coverage a reality in all countries.
The new universal health insurance law, considered to be the first health system covering all citizens in Egypt, will provide services to suit all citizens in accordance with international quality standards.
The law provides free health care for citizens who cannot afford to pay, 30 to 40 percent of the Egyptian population. Subscription would be obligatory for those who can afford covering treatment costs. The sources of funding include fees paid by citizens, donations, tax on cigarettes and several others sources.
Scenic cruises' Nile tour is on Sanctuary Sun Boat III, which has cabanas on the pool deck. (Scenic)
Step into the land of the pharaohs and explore the wonders of Egypt on a five-day Nile cruise combined with a six-day land tour.
The Scenic cruise departs Cairo and sails past villages and temples on the way to Luxor and Aswan.
Excursions include visits to the open-air temple complex of Karnak, Cairo’s Egyptian Museum, the pyramids and sphinx, the Valley of the Kings and the temples of Ramses II and his wife Nefertari.
On-board entertainment includes belly dancing and whirling dervishes, and other Egyptian entertainment and music.
Dates: August through November, and dates in 2019
Price: $6,395 per person, double occupancy. Includes cabin, meals and excursions. International airfare not included.
A picture taken on December 12, 2017 shows an elevated view of al-Attaba District on the edge of downtown Cairo, Egypt. Egypt is the most populated country in the Arab world. PHOTO | MOHAMED EL-SHAHED | AFP
CAIRO,
Ali Abdelaziz sees children as a "gift from God", so much so that he has 10 of his own, even as Egypt's government struggles to stem a "catastrophic" population boom.
Abdelaziz works in the capital as a doorman, but his children stay in a village with their mother in the southern province of Minya where life is cheaper.
96 MILLION
Egypt's overpopulation is adding pressure on the economy, already reeling from the political and security turmoil since the 2011 uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.
With 96 million inhabitants — and 9.4 million expatriates — the Arab world's most populous country adds 1.6 million people every year to its population.
At the current rate, Egypt's population will reach 119 million in 2030, according to a May report by the United Nations Population Fund.
With 95 percent of Egypt's land uninhabitable desert, the population is concentrated around the narrow Nile valley and Nile Delta, with smaller numbers along the Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts.
A fall in mortality rates in the early 1970s further boosted the population growth.
In Cairo, a megalopolis of nearly 20 million inhabitants, the population density is around 50,000 inhabitants per square kilometre, or nearly 10 times that of London.
FAMILY PLANNING
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said population growth is "a challenge as critical as that of terrorism".
The government launched a new family planning campaign this year under the slogan "two are enough", to try to contain the phenomenon.
"Children are protection: they care for their parents when they grow older," said Abdelaziz, the doorman, unconvinced of the campaign.
But Hayam Mohamed, a mother of three, does not want more children and uses a government family planning centre in Umm Khenan village of Giza province.
"I don't want my children to feel deprived," Mohamed, 32, said after receiving her contraception pills, free of charge, from the centre's doctor, like many others in her village.
"Education is expensive, and life has become difficult with the rising prices."
2005-2014
Fardous Hamed, a doctor at the centre, told AFP that the number of people seeking its services has risen with the latest round of price increases since authorities floated the pound in November 2016.
"Awareness grew among people here," said Hamed.
Following the currency flotation, the pound lost more than half its value and inflation jumped to 33 percent in September.
"If I give birth to five or six children, I won't even be able to provide them food," said Mohamed.
Abu Bakr el-Gendy, the head of Egypt's state statistics bureau which carried out the latest census, described the current rate of population growth as a "catastrophe".
He said the annual rate accelerated between 2005 and 2014, before stabilising in 2016 at around 2.6 percent.
The rate must be at least three times lower than economic growth for people's living standards not to deteriorate, according to Gendy.
CAMPAIGNS
But "the more poverty increases, the more the reproduction rate increases because parents consider children as a source of income," with many children joining the labour market at an early age, he said.
Magued Osman, the head of Baseera, a private public opinion research centre, said Egypt's population growth amounts to "collective suicide".
It is the result of "politicians neglecting the issue since the middle of the previous decade", said Mona Abu el-Ghar, an obstetrics and gynaecology professor at Cairo University.
"The problem needs to be taken more seriously with constant media campaigns on radio and television to raise awareness on the importance of family planning," said Abu el-Ghar.
These campaigns, she said, need to be sponsored by the authorities as well as by the Al-Azhar institution, Egypt's top Islamic authority.
Abbas Shuman, deputy to Al-Azhar's grand imam, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, has said that "family planning is halal" or allowed in Islam.
His comments came after the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, wrote to about 180 of 193 member states warning that she will be “taking names” of countries that vote for a general assembly resolution on Thursday critical of the announcement which overturned decades of US foreign policy.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump amplified Haley’s threat.
“Let them vote against us,” he said.
“We’ll save a lot. We don’t care. But this isn’t like it used to be where they could vote against you and then you pay them hundreds of millions of dollars,” he said. “We’re not going to be taken advantage of any longer.”
The warning appeared aimed largely at UN members in Africa, Asia and Latin America who are regarded as more vulnerable to US pressure.
Egypt, which drafted Monday’s UN security council resolution which the US vetoed, is particularly vulnerable, receiving $1.2bn in US aid last year.
But Trump’s comments may also resonate elsewhere – including in the UK, which is hoping to negotiate a quick post-Brexit trade deal with Washington.
The emergency UN general assembly meeting was called for Thursday to protest against the US veto at Monday’s security council meeting on a resolution the Jerusalem issue – which was supported by all other 14 members.
The security council resolution demanded that all countries comply with pre-existing UN security council resolutions on Jerusalem, dating back to 1967, including requirements that the city’s final status be decided in direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Key US allies Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Ukraine were among the 14 countries in the 15-member council that voted in favour on Monday, and were expected to do the same at the assembly on Thursday.
Diplomats expect strong support for the resolution, which is non-binding, despite the US pressure to either abstain or vote against it. However, a council diplomat said Canada, Hungary and the Czech Republic might bow to US pressure and not support the draft resolution.
Critics point out the the Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem – as well as the US veto – are both in opposition to numerous security council resolutions.
Trump’s extraordinary intervention marked the latest escalation of diplomatic tensions over a decision that has seen the US widely criticised and isolated. It came after a day of high drama.
In a letter to UN ambassadors, Haley told countries – including European delegations – that she will report back to the US president with the names of those who support a draft resolution rejecting the US move at the UN general assembly on Thursday, adding that Trump took the issue personally.
The new draft resolution for Thursday’s general assembly is very similar to Monday’s defeated security council resolution. Unlike the security council, however, where permanent members can wield a veto, there are no veto rights in the general assembly.
The resolution reaffirms 10 security council resolutions on Jerusalem, dating back to 1967, including requirements that the city’s final status must be decided in direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
It “affirms that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered, the character, status or demographic composition of the holy city of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded”.
The draft resolution “demands that all states comply with Security Council resolutions regarding the holy city of Jerusalem, and not to recognize any actions or measures contrary to those resolutions”.
Referring to Haley’s letter, which was disclosed by the Guardian and other media organisations on Wednesday morning, Trump said: “I like the message that Nikki sent yesterday at the United Nations.
“Our great citizens who love this country are tired of this country being taken advantage of – we’re not going to be taken advantage of any longer.”
In her letter, Haley wrote: “As you consider your vote, I encourage you to know the president and the US take this vote personally.
“The president will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those who voted against us,” she continued.
Haley followed the letter by tweeting: “At the UN we’re always asked to do more & give more. So, when we make a decision, at the will of the American ppl, abt where to locate OUR embassy, we don’t expect those we’ve helped to target us. On Thurs there’ll be a vote criticizing our choice. The US will be taking names.”
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The forward has been in incredible form this season (Image: Liverpool FC)
Salah's goals sent Egypt to the World Cup in October (Image: REUTERS)
Preliminary Plan of New Mansoura City – File Photo
Scenic cruises' Nile tour is on Sanctuary Sun Boat III, which has cabanas on the pool deck. (Scenic)