Raphael Cormack News Today

We know how white people in London, Paris and New York viewed the discovery of Tutankhamun - but much less attention is paid to the contemporary Egyptian reaction

Join us for a book discussion of "Midnight in Cairo: The Female Stars of Egypt's Roaring '20s" with author Raphael Cormack on Thursday 17 March 2022, 6-7pm at AUC Tahrir Bookstore in the Tahrir Cul...

Writers to look forward to include Akwaeke Emezi and Lizzie Namilola.

Enjoy reading in the garden this summer. Picture: Getty HOLIDAYS will feel slightly different this year with foreign jaunts looking unlikely (at least at present). Whether you are heading off to explore Scotland at large – or relaxing in your own back garden – our round-up of recent fiction and non-fiction releases is designed to help you while away a lazy afternoon (or two). THRILLERS Hostage by Clare Mackintosh (Sphere, £14.99) Fasten your seatbelts. Hostage is a white-knuckle ride t...

  Shuttle diplomacy picks up: US Horn of Africa envoy Jeffrey Feltman was in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates last week to de-escalate a potential conflict between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).  Samuel Ramani has the background here on why the UAE — which has strong ties with all three countries — is emerging as a key diplomatic broker and partner in this effort. Why it matters: For Ethiopia, the GERD offers hope of a boost ...

Skip the pyramids, hit the nightclubs: Badia Masabni with her cabaret troupe Credit: © Collection of Lucie Ryzova After the Revolution of 1919, when Egypt gained her sovereignty, the new kingdom bristled with possibility. Egypt was now, as one American jazz musician put it, “a country where the Egyptians reign, the English rule, and everybody does as he pleases”. By 1922, when Tutankhamun’s tomb was being uncovered in the Valley of the Kings, Cairo had become, says Raphael Cormack, “on...

The dancehall divas who set the pace in Egypt’s roaring 20s Midnight in Cairo tells how the city’s vibrant nightlife was driven by female cabaret entertainers and club entrepreneurs Cairo entertainer and nightclub owner Badia Masabni, centre, with her troupe. Photograph: Courtesy of Lucie Ryzova Cairo entertainer and nightclub owner Badia Masabni, centre, with her troupe. Photograph: Courtesy of Lucie Ryzova Sun 2 May 2021 07.00 EDT The birth of the women’s movement in Egypt is ...

The dancehall divas who set the pace in Egypt’s roaring 20s Donna Ferguson The birth of the women’s movement in Egypt is not usually associated with music hall singers, dancers and actresses. But it was on the stages of theatres and nightclubs in Cairo, in the roaring 20s, that early feminists first asserted themselves, a new book will argue. The capital’s biggest stars were independent, transgressive Arabic-speaking women who, in the 1920s, were seeking to redefine their ...

-Aziz Street has become a cinema, while its shell is now used as storage for many of the shops around. Dubai of the 1920s: during the second half of the 19th century, Mohammed Ali’s grandson Ismail the Magnificent turned Azbakeya into Egypt’s modern nightlife and entertainment district, opening Egypt’s first opera house there in 1869, as well as other theatres and a circus. By the 1920s, Cairo was a boom town, full of new investment and new development – one of the most cosmopolitan pla...

What to do this weekend, from World Puppetry Day to the Pittsburgh New Works Festival Friday, March 19: Spring Designer Days at Thriftique 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Shop for a cause during the National Council of Jewish Women Pittsburgh Section’s signature event in Lawrenceville. The curated collection includes new and gently-worn clothing, shoes, accessories and jewelry — and you can score great deals on top designer labels like Armani, Pucci, Michael Kors and many more. Proceeds from the four-day ev...