As the dust of revolution settles in Egypt, the country is beginning to face some of its other challenges. Chief among these is a scarcity of water. In fact, by 2017, demand is projected to outpace the country’s supply. At the American University in Cairo (AUC) last week, dozens of water and technology experts convened […]
Green Prophet is crossing the desert in a bus to attend one of the most important renewable energy conferences on earth. Green Prophet is heading across the desert to attend the second annual Dii Conference being held at the swanky Semiramis InterContinental Hotel in Cairo. Part of a concerted push to develop wind and solar energy […]
Can urban agriculture save Cairo? We think it’s a pretty good start There has been an important spotlight on agriculture not only in Egypt, which is suspected by the EU of causing the E. coli outbreak in Germany earlier this year, but also other Middle Eastern and North African countries such as Morocco whose poor […]
If you buy vegetables in Cairo, they could be contaminated with human waste. Faced with a shortage of water for irrigation (and the fact it might lose its right to the Nile), Ahmed Osman, a farmer in his late thirties, opted to divert local sewage water to irrigate his two-hectare vegetable plot in the heart […]
Two city extensions East and West of Cairo are each expected to accommodate 2.5 million people within the next 10 years. Cairo feels and looks like an apocalypse zone. When I last traveled through the city, small children huddled in dirty doorways, a bloody-faced man groveled on the ground looking for money, and trash piled […]
The revolution has been great for Egyptian sovereignty, but hard on the economy. Fearful tourists should know that traveling through the country can be safe (and fascinating!) The cozy Felfela restaurant in downtown Cairo serves up delicious food with plenty of choices for both omnivores and vegetarians. Just one block from Tahrir Square, where hundreds […]
Poisoning hair to look “pretty.” Every four, five years, I get this crazy urge to do what some women find perfectly normal: put nasty stuff in my hair that will supposedly make me look “prettier.” Without fail, I regret it. Here’s how it went down: I was feeling a little bleh and out of it […]
A new initiative could put an end to this in Cairo! Nine million used rubber tires are dumped in Cairo every year, according to the Community Times. Egypt’s capital is in many ways defined by its pollution. Not only are the skies smoggy (well ahead of black cloud season), but waste is a veritable plague. […]
Despite its numerous environmental challenges, Egypt can go green, according to Dominique Gauzin-Müller. It’s hard not to compare Dubai and Cairo – two cities that occupy many of our worried green thoughts. Although different on so many levels, one thing stands out: despite being relatively young and stroppy, Dubai is definitely the cleaner city. Sure, […]
Abandoned dogs near Fukushima forced to roam in packs to find food Despite the sad tragedy of what are now being called the “Fukushima Dead Zone Pets” all is not completely lost for these poor animals: a number of concerned Japanese citizens are willing to risk radiation exposure to themselves in order to save and […]
As Egyptian struggles for human rights, animal rights activists speak for those who can’t. Egyptian animal welfare societies and activists are calling for a protest this Saturday outside the Cairo Zoo in Giza. According to animal rights activists Egypt has become a hub for international illegal trade in wildlife. We’ve reported earlier about the horses […]
A leading Muslim group denies the Cairo municipality’s request to relocate graves in the crowded city. Following the success of Al-Azhar park in Cairo, also known as the city’s lungs, the municipality looked to cemeteries as possible venues to develop more community parks in Egypt’s crowded capital. But Dar Al-Ifta, the research institute tasked with […]
Amnesty International has called on the Egyptian authorities to investigate serious allegations of torture, including forced ‘virginity tests’, inflicted by the army on women protesters (we've written about in Egypt) arrested in Tahrir Square earlier this month.
Istanbul – a major hub for train travel across the Middle East Survey results published this week reveal that the majority of international travelers would prefer to take trains instead of aeroplanes, if they had the opportunity. The poll of 300 consumers, conducted for train technology company Silverrail, showed that 79% would choose trains over […]
If bike riding or jogging in Tel Aviv, the sea front is less polluting Ever wonder why you feel dizzy or have acute shortage of breath when engaging in moderate outdoor exercise like bike riding or jogging in cities where air pollution is higher than normal – especially in heavily polluted Middle Eastern cities like […]