Egypt
A Monastery in Turmoil
Sinai’s ancient Monastery of St. Catherine was recently stormed by force by its own abbot. After 15 centuries, its fate may be more uncertain than ever amid a spiraling dispute over landownership that has divided the monks and pitched them against the governments of Greece and Egypt.
A Gut Feeling
The “tayyibat” diet, devised by the late Egyptian medical influencer Diaa al-Awady and drawing on Quranic language, splits food into "pure" and "harmful" categories while urging followers to eat sugar and starch, quit poultry and vegetables, and abandon conventional medicine, including insulin. Its harm is still being felt.
Hany Shenouda, the Maestro Who Modernized Egypt’s Music
From Al Massrieen to Amr Diab, the composer, producer and bandleader Hany Shenouda helped transform Egyptian music, launching some of the Arab world's biggest stars and creating a soundtrack that continues to resonate far beyond the country that produced it.
Egypt’s Counterrevolution Erects a Monument to Its Own Survival
At the inauguration of the government’s new, centralized military headquarters, President Sisi linked the multimillion-dollar project to preventing a repeat of the 2011 uprising, validating long-standing criticisms that the New Administrative Capital was largely designed to insulate the state from popular unrest.
The Suicide Crisis Stalking Sudanese Refugees
Sudanese refugees in Cairo are confronting trauma and mental distress amid a severe international funding shortfall that has all but eliminated crucial mental healthcare and cash assistance programs. Stories of survivors, doctors and aid workers show how a generation scarred by war is being failed.
A Suicide Breaks Through the Silence
Passant Soliman was an Egyptian mother, blogger, model and law school graduate who ended her life while hundreds watched on her Facebook livestream. In a country where suicide is almost always shrouded in denial and moral condemnation, her death has sparked a wave of sympathy.
The End of Rent Controls Promises Disruption in Cairo
For nearly a century, Egypt maintained one of the most protective rent regimes in the world, shielding families from housing precarity and price shocks. Now, a law abolishing old contracts and liberalizing the market threatens millions of tenants with eviction, displacement and unaffordable new rents.