It is Orthodox Easter, and tomorrow is Sham El-Nassim, our ancient spring festival in Egypt — but it does not feel like a time for celebration, given the relentless grim news of wars and a troubling wave of suicides in Egypt.
Tonight, people — mostly OSINT armchair analysts — discovered that the Apple Maps app, on both iOS and desktop, does not display the names of cities and villages in South Lebanon. At the same time, it does show place names in North Lebanon, northern Israel, and southern Syria.
Some are attributing this to a glitch, but I have my doubts. If Apple Maps can display the names of alleyways in Cairo and neighborhoods in Gaza, it should certainly be able to show village names in South Lebanon.
Several Lebanese users have also noted that those names were visible until as recently as last week.
I checked both the iOS and desktop versions and compared them with Google Maps — the difference is striking.
Happy Easter to all those celebrating today—especially
Egyptian and Sudanese Coptic Orthodox Christians, as well as Palestinian and
Lebanese Orthodox communities.
On this occasion, I’m sharing a photo of the Church of the
Martyr St. Philopater Mercurius in Mohandessin, Giza—commonly known as “Abu
Sefein,” or “the man of two swords.”
This interview was likely one of the most-viewed videos in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates over the past week.
The interview is in Arabic. I wish I could remember the name of the AI service that translates YouTube videos and provides English subtitles. I came across one but forgot the name. If you know it, please drop it in the comments.
The podcast is produced by Alternative Policy Solutions (APS), a public policy research project at the American University in Cairo (AUC).
For me, “El-Hal Eah?” has been one of the most important interview podcasts in Egypt in recent years, tackling a wide range of issues—from politics and economics to history and law. This episode marks the opening of the podcast’s seventh season.
The interview was recorded in Cairo during Ramadan, just days before the outbreak of the Israeli-American war on Iran. It runs for over an hour.
For those unfamiliar with him, Dr. Abdulkhaleq Abdulla is one of the UAE’s most prominent political science professors and commentators on social media.
Most notably, he previously served as an advisor to Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed (MBZ), the president of the United Arab Emirates.
Abdulla is also known for his book The Gulf’s Moment, in which he argues that leadership in the Arab world has shifted from traditional powers—such as Egypt, Syria, and Iraq—to rising Gulf states, particularly the UAE.
He appeared on the show to address accusations that the UAE has become the “Sparta of the Middle East.”
Rabab El-Mahdi is an associate professor of political science at the American University in Cairo (AUC). She currently leads AUC’s Alternative Policy Solutions (APS) research project.
Al-Mahdy succeeded in bringing into mainstream Arabic media discussions that had largely been circulating informally on social media—particularly regarding the evolving rivalry, or “frenemy” relationship, between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Khamaseen sandstorms were recorded in ancient Egypt under the name “Resut,” or “south wind,” and were associated with Set — the lord of the desert, chaos, and storms. Yes, the same Set from the myth of Isis and Osiris, where Osiris was the lord of the Nile and the fertile valley.
The Pyramids of Giza during the storm on Thursday Ibrahim Kandel
They are mentioned in the Book of the Dead, where the south wind is described as “the breath that burns the lungs,” prompting the use of protective amulets or prayers to Thoth, the god of wisdom and knowledge, to temper Set’s ferocity.
But why were they called “south winds” when they often seem today to come from the west, sweeping in from the Sahara?
The gates of our city will never be sealed— For I am going there to pray.
I will knock on every door— And the doors will open, one by one.
And you, O River Jordan, will wash my face With waters holy and pure.
And you, O River Jordan, will wipe away The footprints of the savage passing through.
When I saw the photos of Cardinal Pizzaballa standing in prayer outside the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City—barred from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to mark Western Palm Sunday—I was reminded of the words of the Rahbani Brothers, immortalized in 1967 by Fairuz, the Lady of Lebanon, in “Zahrat al-Mada’en” (زهرة المدائن), meaning “The Flower of Cities.”
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa holding the Palm Sunday Mass outside the walls of old Jerusalem "AFP"
Jerusalem’s doors were, indeed, closed to worshippers on Palm Sunday 2026—for the first time in centuries—under the Israeli occupation of the Old City.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land said in a joint statement that, on the morning of Palm Sunday, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Francesco Ielpo —also the official guardian of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre—were prevented from entering the church as they headed to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass.
And so, it turned out to be one last winter storm—not the beginning of a nuclear winter, as many online in Egypt feared on Tuesday.
In case you missed it, Egypt is currently experiencing a brief period of unstable weather, including thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.
The Egyptian Meteorological Authority (EMA) had issued early warnings, stating that the wave would begin on Tuesday evening, bringing rain, slightly cooler temperatures, and stronger winds across several regions before gradually improving by the weekend.
According to the EMA, the instability would start along the northwestern coast—including Salloum, Matrouh, and Alamein—before spreading to the Nile Valley and Sinai.
Rainfall was expected to intensify on Wednesday and Thursday, becoming more widespread and occasionally accompanied by thunderstorms, particularly along the northern coast, the northern Delta, and parts of Sinai. Lighter showers were forecast to reach Greater Cairo and the Canal cities.
For once, the Egyptian government took a proactive step, suspending classes in schools and universities on Wednesday and Thursday to spare millions of Egyptians the usual traffic chaos.
Ironically, Tuesday itself felt like a calm, early-spring day across the country.
That calm, however, fueled suspicion. Some began to believe something more sinister was coming—and within hours, that suspicion evolved into a full-blown conspiracy theory, amplified by a video from the Kuwait National Guard.
Watch this interview with Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, former Vice President of Egypt and former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in which he discusses Iran and the current war.
ElBaradei speaks with David Hearst of Middle East Eye.
Mohamed ElBaradei was heading the IAEA when it began talks with Iran in 2009. He was also leading the UN’s nuclear watchdog in 2003 when he stated explicitly that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction.
What is happening to Iran, the Nobel Peace award laureate says, reminds him of Iraq—perhaps even worse, to be honest.
