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Dear Egyptian Chronicles subscribers,

First of all, thank you so much for your trust and support in subscribing to my newsletter. It is truly an honour that you have shared your email address with me so you don't miss my latest posts.

Second, I sincerely apologize for the empty newsletter emails you have been receiving since June. It turned out there was a technical glitch during my setup process when migrating from Mailchimp to Brevo.

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Warm regards,

Yours truly,

Zeinobia

Why Doesn't Egypt — or an Egyptian Billionaire — Buy Pharos's Assets?

On Friday, Israel's Ratio Petroleum Energy announced that it had raised its offer to acquire Pharos Energy — which owns assets in Egypt and Vietnam — to around £146.4 million ($196.97 million), outbidding rival oil producer Serica Energy and thereby regaining the board's recommendation in favour of its offer.

So, what are Pharos Energy's assets in Egypt?

British company Pharos Energy holds a 45% stake in two oil and gas concessions in Egypt's Western Desert. The company originally held a much larger share — full 100% ownership. Still, in 2022 it farmed out 55% of its stake, along with operatorship, to a company called IPR Lake Qarun Petroleum, a subsidiary of multi-national Swiss-registered IPR Energy AG.

The first concession is El Fayum. Pharos Energy — then still operating as SOCO International — entered Egypt in 2019, when it completed its acquisition of Merlon Petroleum El Fayum for approximately $215 million, paid through roughly $136 million in cash and the issuance of new SOCO shares.

El Fayum is an active production asset located roughly 80 km southwest of Cairo, containing around 11 producing oil fields spread across a development area of approximately 256 square kilometres.

The second is North Beni Suef. Originally an exploration licence, it's now in active production following a commercial discovery.

2026 World Cup: Egypt made real Mondial history, and we have every right to celebrate it

"He had once fallen under the spell of a dream, and from that moment on, the memory of that beautiful transgression would pursue him forever—a moment of freedom, of a lightness too exquisite to endure. It would remain, forever haunting him, like conscience itself."
— Arwa Saleh, The Stillborn

I doubt that when leftist activist and writer Arwa Saleh wrote these lines, she imagined she was describing how millions of Egyptians would feel for three unforgettable weeks — or perhaps for the past four decades, if not throughout much of modern Egyptian history.

Little Egyptian boy wearing Salah's jersey
watching a game between older kids on the banks
of the Nile in Upper Egypt's Al-Minya
"Ahmed Mostafa" 

Egypt's 2026 World Cup campaign was that beautiful dream, and Egyptians could not help but fall under its spell.

Egypt was eliminated in the Round of 16 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after an epic, deeply controversial match against Argentina. The rest is history.

Eleven days later, I can finally finish this post, which I began writing on 8 July 2026.

Since then, Argentina has defeated Switzerland in another match that raised eyebrows and renewed questions about refereeing decisions, advancing to the semi-finals. It then overcame England in the showdown many football fans had been waiting years to see.

No one could have imagined that so many Egyptians would find themselves supporting England against Argentina.

Yet the impossible happened. 

England, too, experienced the same bitter final minutes, marked by controversial refereeing decisions and an unusually physical game. 

I cannot imagine how Egyptian and English fans who witnessed both matches felt as they watched history seemingly repeat itself.

It was painful to watch because — bias aside — Egypt played better against Argentina than either team did. That only deepened the inevitable question: What if?

In a few hours, Argentina will face Spain in the World Cup final and will most likely lift the trophy.

It has been a week filled with reactions, endless "what ifs," and the familiar chorus of "Stop being dramatic, you filthy Egyptian sore losers."

But we are not sore losers.

2026 World Cup: New Football History by Egypt Again, Pharaohs to Round of 16

It is Friday, and Egypt will not sleep tonight. Neither will the Arab world.

It feels as though we, the Egyptians, have won the World Cup. In reality, we only defeated Australia and advanced to the Round of 16.

Our boys wheen Hossam Abdel Maguid scored the last penalty

Yet this was the biggest match in the history of the Egyptian national team—at least until the next one.

Egypt defeated Australia in another dramatic, nerve-racking match, and the Arab world is celebrating as if we have already lifted the trophy.

I did not believe we could do it.

The Australian players were taller and physically stronger, while our Egyptian squad looked smaller, exhausted, and battered by injuries.

Mohamed Salah played all 120 minutes despite everything and even converted his penalty in the shootout.

Gaza Genocide in Numbers: 1000 Days of Genocide

Thursday 2/7/2026 marks the 1000th day following the genocidal war launched by Israel following the 7 October attack.

1000 days passed, and we saw the live genocide in the 21^st century taking place live in Gaza and other occupied areas in Palestine, Lebanon, Iran and Syria.

Now that is what has happened in Gaza and its 2.5 million population after 1000 days of an Israeli war and world silence.

More than 90% of the Gaza Strip has been destroyed, and Israeli forces are in control of 80% of the besieged enclave. Over 200,000 tons of explosive dropped by the Israeli occupation on Gaza

According to the Palestinian official numbers, 73,066 is the total number of people killed whose bodies have reached hospitals since the start of the genocidal war in Gaza, whereas there are 9,500 Missing persons, including those believed to be trapped under the rubble or whose fate remains unknown.

Based on a pre-war population of approximately 2.5 million, the 73,066 confirmed deaths represent about 2.9% of Gaza's population.

When 9,500 missing persons—including those believed trapped beneath the rubble or whose fate remains unknown—are included, the toll rises to 82,566 people, or roughly 3.3% of the population.

In other words, about 1 in every 34 Gazans has been confirmed killed (2.9%) and about 1 in every 30 Gazans is either confirmed dead or missing (3.3%).

A Lancet Global Health study published in April 2026 estimated that approximately 75,200 violent deaths occurred in Gaza between October 7, 2023, and January 5, 2025, using a capture-recapture method.

2026 World Cup: Egypt Makes History Again, Advances to Round of 32

Egypt has barely made it, but it made it officially.

Egypt's National Football Team is through to the Round of 32 of the World Cup 2026, for the first time in our football history — and for the first time in World Cup history after a tie with Iran in a football match to remember.

Mahmoud Trezeguet and Ramin Rezaeian

There are many firsts here.

Egypt's qualification for the Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup has already become a landmark achievement in our national team's history, setting a series of unprecedented records.

For the first time, Egypt progressed beyond the World Cup group stage, completed the group phase unbeaten, secured a 3-1 victory over New Zealand, and finished second in its group on goal difference behind Belgium.

The Pharaohs also scored a record five goals in a single World Cup group stage, netted their earliest-ever World Cup goal in the sixth minute of a match, and entered their final group game with qualification already guaranteed.

2026 World Cup: The Pharaohs broke the curse, Egypt won its first WC match after 92 years.

When I saw the Egyptian national team's first-half performance against New Zealand at the 2026 World Cup, I decided to turn off the TV and get some sleep.

It was nearly 5 a.m. Cairo time, and after watching the Kiwis take the lead, it seemed that the old-World Cup curse haunting Egypt was still very much alive.

But my sleep was cut short by screams and cheers coming from the streets.

We had scored a historic equalizer.

The rest is history.

Since its first World Cup appearance in 1934, Egypt not only won its first-ever match in the tournament but also produced a stunning comeback, aka remontada, to go top of its group.