On the occasion of Easter, here is a photo taken during Christmas of Our Lady of Heliopolis Co-Cathedral — also known as the Latin Cathedral of Our Lady of Heliopolis, the Basilica of the Holy Virgin, Basilique de Notre-Dame d'Héliopolis, or simply El Basilica in Cairo.
El-Basilica or Basilique de Notre-Dame d'Heliopolis
A Little Break Post – Escaping the Depressing News from the Middle East and Beyond
In case you missed it, American pop star Katy Perry, journalist Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez (Jeff Bezos’ fiancée), and three other women travelled on Monday aboard a Blue Origin suborbital space tourism flight.
Blue Origin, owned and operated by Bezos, launched this all-female crew on a short journey beyond Earth's atmosphere. According to media reports, Sánchez personally selected the crew members for this flight.
This “trip” reached the Kármán line — the commonly accepted boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space — which lies at an altitude of 100 kilometres (62 miles).
As expected, the 10-minute flight — filled with awkwardly staged moments, especially those featuring Katy Perry — quickly turned into a meme fest online.
Some U.S. mainstream media outlets and social media users even went so far as to claim it was the first all-female trip to space.
That’s not only factually incorrect — it's also a bit offensive.
So, to set the record straight: the first "all-female space mission" wasn't in 2024. It happened in 1963, and the entire crew was Valentina Tereshkova.
Valentina Tereshkova and the Pyramids generated by Chat-GPT as risograph print
The real pioneer of an all-female spaceflight was Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who made history in June 1963.
We stopped last time at the Ramadan Saint Patrons in Egypt: Bogy and Tamtam
Bogy and Tamtam, the saint patrons of Ramadan in Egypt
Their facial expression may reflect many things in our time whether domestically or regionally or internationally.
Their statues on the street were like two ancient Egyptian statues guarding some ancient Egyptian King's tomb in some irony.
Despite the younger generations did not watch their shows in Ramadan as my generation had, many of them stopped and took photos with Ramadan’s most famous duo.
Ramadan lanterns in the shadow of Mosque of Sultan al-Muayyad Sheikh and Bab Zuweila
Bab Zuwayla or Bab Zuweila (Arabic: باب زويلة) is one of three remaining gates in the city walls of historic Cairo in Egypt. It was also known as Bawabat al-Mitwali or as Bab al-Mitwali or Bab al-Qus.
For the second year in a row, Palestinian mothers and children in Gaza celebrate it under the Israeli shelling as the Israeli government broke the ceasefire “it broke it since day one” and resumed the war.
We are back to see those scenes where a mother mourns her only child or her children or a child mourns his or her child.
Mother and Child by Palestinian renowned artist Silman Mansour
Those videos were filmed in Gaza in the past five days.
From Khan Younes, a mother woke up to find out that her children and husband were killed in an Israeli airstrike. They were already sleeping without Suhoor.
Tonight, we will know what happened to Karima when she returned to the realm of Jinn thanks to her auntie Reema.
But first, our little chitchat.
We can’t escape politics, as it seems, because we live in the Middle East. This is what I realised when I heard the name of “Golan”, which Taher Abu Fasha used as the name of the great Sultan of Jinn in our tale for this Ramadan.The
The Golan Heights of Syria has a very rich history, and it does not start with the Israeli invasion and occupation in 1967 nor even with the migration of the Israelite tribes as mentioned in the Bible, where it acquired the name of Golan.
The Golan Heights has a long and rich history of human settlement dating back to prehistoric times.
Archaeological evidence shows that the area was inhabited by hunter-gatherers as early as the Palaeolithic period.
The Venus of Berekhat Ram (280,000–250,000 BP) is a figurine found at Berekhat Ram on the northeastern Golan Heights. The pebble has been modified by early humans and is believed to represent a female human figure. It is one of the oldest artefacts ever discovered in the Middle East, with an estimated age of 280,000–250,000 BP. The figurine was found by archaeologists from the Hebrew University and is currently on display at the Israel Museum.
By the Bronze Age, the Golan was part of the broader ancient Near East, home to various Canaanite and Amorite groups. These early inhabitants were followed by Israelite tribes during the conquest of Canaan, as mentioned in biblical texts.
Over the centuries, the region saw the rise of various kingdoms and empires, including the Amorites, the Arameans, and later the Romans, who built several cities in the Golan.
The ancient Egyptians also passed through the Golan, as it lay along key trade and military routes connecting Egypt to the Levant and Mesopotamia.
Egyptian forces, traders, and officials likely traversed the area during military campaigns in the Levant, and their influence can be seen in the Egyptian-style pottery found in ancient Levantine sites.
Unlike other heights and due to its unique plateau region, the Golan was an open battlefield. It is part of the Levant that has witnessed little peace.
It is Syrian, and it will be Syrian
We will leave it for now and escape to the land of fantasy.
So, without further delay, here is the 691st episode of our Arabian Nights Egyptian radio show—or the 19th night in this year’s tale, The Tale of Fatima, Halima, and Karima
In the radio version, Fatima, Halima, and Karima are portrayed by three different actresses, as you can tell from their distinct voices. However, in the television adaptation, all three characters are played by the same actress—the diva herself, Sherihan. She presents them as triplets with personalities reminiscent of the Powerpuff Girls, but without the superpowers: Fatima is the serious one, Halima is bubbly, and Karima is prideful.
That would be the most successful and popular season of the TV One Thousand and One Nights Sherihan had presented on screen.
So, without further delay, here is the 690th episode of our Arabian Nights Egyptian radio show—or the 18th night in this year’s tale, The Tale of Fatima, Halima, and Karima
Episode 18: The token of gratitude
When the six hundred and ninety-first night had arrived, King Shahryar took his seat as he had the previous evening, and Scheherazade entered at her usual time. The king welcomed her warmly, admired her beauty, and seated her in the place of highest honor. Then, Scheherazade began to recount her tale:
"It has reached me, O wise and fortunate king, that when Reema fell back into her old ways, overcome by her criminal instincts, she fabricated a tale and told it to King Golan, claiming it as her own. The king grew furious and wished to verify Reema’s words—if she spoke the truth, he would reward her generously, but if she had lied, she would face her punishment.
Thus, Sultan Golan seized her and carried her off to the Land of the Jinn, where he hid her in his chambers while setting his plan in motion. His suspicions soon proved correct, and he uncovered the conspiracy. Justice was served—the treacherous Sultan was punished, and the ghoul Bahloul met his end.
Believing that Reema had exposed the crime, saving his life and reuniting him with his sons, the Sultan was filled with gratitude. Prince Zahran had returned, the people of the Jinn rejoiced, and the Sultan wished to repay kindness with kindness. He summoned Reema to the royal court, and thus, the events now unfold before us."
