Kodak Agfa Presents : Watches at Alexandria’s Royal Jewelry Museum

Egypt’s Royal Jewelry Museum got too many beautiful items and things that will make anyone blogger or journalist or photojournalist wonder which item or thing to post from it first.
Located in Alexandria, the museum got beautiful things to share whether its beautiful architecture or its history or its content from items that used to be owned by members of the Mohamed Ali Royal Family.
According to official statements, the Museum hosts 11,500 pieces or items previously owned by the members of the Mohamed Ali Royal Family that ruled Egypt from 1805 till 1952.
In May, Egyptian Chronicles presented a small post featuring the royal orders in the Museum.
Now, this post will feature a beautiful small collection of watches at that Museum.
Like for example, this beautiful watch owned once by King Farouk’s first wife Queen Farida.

Queen Farida's watch

Despite its black strap, that watch is encrusted with diamonds and emeralds.
That watch overshadowed the other watch on the left made off the leather strap and big golden body.

If you remember one of King Farouk’s watches, a-Patek Philippe watch was sold in a Christie’s auction in Dubai in March for US$ 912,500 ( LE 16.3 Million) to a phone buyer.
Most of the watches owned by members of the Egyptian Royal family had a similar fate. The few survived and made it to that small museum in Alexandria.
There are not too many wrist watches in the museum but there is a nice collection of gold pocket watches.

Golden pocket watches 

Some of those golden watches were made in the 19th century for a number of Egypt’s rulers and their wives.

Egypt’s Cybercrime law : Because one law is not enough to tame social media

The Egyptian House of Representatives has been very active in early June approving and passing several laws that technically kill any freedom of speech margin left in the country especially in the social media realm.

On 5 June “Special cursed date indeed”, Egypt’s parliament passed after many months the Cybercrime law which regulates social media and web content as well ISP surveillance.
If the law of Supreme Council of Media “SCM” puts popular social media network accounts, the newly approved Cybercrime law puts all Egyptians online under the law whether they are popular and have more than 5,000 followers or subscribers or not.“5000 followers out of 100 million Egyptians technically are a threat to the Egyptian national security.”
bloggers with 5,000 followers or subscribers under that law, the

Thanks Facebook banner in those days of January 2011
"Reuters" 

There are many articles in that law that technically can be described as loose and vague anti-freedom of speech articles directly based on what I have read in the past few days online.
Article No.7 stipulates that the authorities have the right to shut down or block any Egypt-based or foreign website that incites against the Egyptian state or threatens its national security through the use of digital content.

Seen in Cairo : Watching Egypt Vs. Saudi Arabia game in World Cup 2018

Watching the game between Egypt and KSA in the World Cup despite both teams are out of the 16th round.
Cafes in Cairo are full of customers watching the match. The cafe owners did not care if they broke the law and occupied the street as you can see
P.S : We lost the game as usual and it was a bitter loss. At least Salah scored a beautiful goal. 

World Refugee Day 2018 : Arabs are still leading no.1 world refugees

On Wednesday, the World commemorated the World Refugee Day and it seems that the situation of the refugees worldwide is not getting better but rather worse especially for Arab refugees.

The UN’s Refugees watchdog “UNHCR” says the number of refugees worldwide has reached at the end of 2017 in total to 68.5 million people displaced from their homes in its annual report.
This is the highest number of refugees the world has ever seen. Forget about the World Wars of the 20th century, the number of refugees has been increasing for the past 6 years and it does not want to stop.

According to the UNHCR’s numbers, 2.9 million people have become refugees in 2017 only worldwide.
The number of people forcibly displaced from their homes worldwide is 44,000 people every day. That’s an unfortunate record rate as well scary one.
The UNHCR is reporting that 31 people were newly displaced every minute in 2017
Unfortunately, that increase comes at the same time the World is witnessing an awful scary return of right-wing fascism that rejects refugees worldwide.
I do not think that the world has seen such hateful attitude against foreign refugees we are currently witnessing since the World War II.
Now out of those 68.5 refugees who are forced to their home because of conflicts, wars and human rights violations; only 25.4 million refugees are registered with the United Nations’ refugees agencies.
Arabs as in Palestinians and Syrians are still making the biggest group of refugees technically speaking.

Palestinian refugees in a refugee camp in Jorda
in 1955 

The New Media and Press laws in Egypt : The end of social media by law

There are lots of economic and political updates and decisions that have taken place in Egypt in the past ten days and I am just trying to keep up with those decisions because they are all important and will affect Egypt on the short and long run.

I will start with the new controversial media and press laws which were approved in principle last week.
Last week the Egyptian House of Representatives approved in principal three draft laws to regulated media and press in the country.

Originally a draft law presented by the government “by Sherif Ismail’s cabinet”, the Media committee in the parliament decided to divide it into three separate draft laws.

The laws are regulating the three bodies currently regulating press and media in Egypt.
We got the Supreme Council of media “SCM” that regulates Private TV and radio channels as well private-owned newspapers and websites, the National Media authority “NMA” which regulates the activities of Egyptian Radio and TV Union “ERT” and National Press Authority “NPA” which regulates state-owned newspapers and press institutions according to the 2014 Constitution.

Head of Media committee Osama Heikal told journalists that those laws include unprecedented guarantees freedom of journalism and media in Egypt.

I could not believe what 201SCAF’s information minister said in his meeting with the journalists.
The Egyptian foreign ministry issued an infogram calling the new “Egyptian law regulating media and press” as a victory of freedom of expression highlighting the Pro-Freedom of expression articles in that law or laws.

Happy Eid Fitar and Good luck to Egypt and Morocco

Happy Eid Fitar from Egyptian Chronicles to Muslims celebrating the feast today.
May Allah accept your fasting in the holy month of Ramadan.
I know there are many things that happened this week in Egypt but let’s enjoy the short Eid holiday as well pray for Egypt and Morocco to win their matches in the World Cup later on Friday in Russia.

Happy Eid from my favorite ad in Ramadan this year
Dolceka Waffer nailed it 

Millions of Egyptians have not slept and it is not because Thursday or because it is Eid eve “God knows what it means in Egypt” but they worried about our first match in the Mondial.
It is a big deal.
Anyhow happy Eid Fitar ☺☺

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2018 : The amazing tales challenge Episode 29 & 30 “The Finale”

And we came to the end of the Holy blessed generous month of Ramadan.
According to the official calculations, tonight is the last night of Ramadan 1439 and tonight is the last night of our annual Ramadan Arabian Nights Podcast.
Just like the holy month, it ran too fast.
I can not thank enough Gramafon Radio for its help to make the show run for this year and hopefully for years to come inshallah.
Now after the break, you are going to listen to episode No.29 and No.30 or to be accurate episodes 290 and 291 of Egyptian State Radio classical show “One Thousand and One Nights” after the break.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2018 : The amazing tales challenge Episode 28 “A rejected lover”

Here we are, close to the finale of our Ramadan Arabian Nights Podcast for this year.
Tonight we will hear to episode no.289 of the Egyptian State Radio’s One Thousand and One Nights show in Arabic.
You can listen to the episode after the break.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2018 : The amazing tales challenge Episode 27 “A brass curse”

Okay take some rest from the World Cup preparations as well the so-called historical summit between two sick men in Singapore and listen to a new episode of Egyptian Chronicles’ Ramadan Arabian Nights podcast.
We are getting closer to our finale for our tale this year, only three episodes are left.
Now without further due, you can listen to episode no.288 from the Egyptian State radio’s Classical One Thousand and One Nights show in Arabic after the break

When Mo Salah met Kadryrov : What shall you do if you were in his shoes ?

Tonight I was wondering what shall I blog about.

 Shall I write about those disastrous new media and press laws that can put an end to blogging and social media altogether ? or Shall I write about the fiascos of Egyptian Football Association "EFA" and its scandals on the sidelines of the World Cup 2018 as a light subject?

Well, I am writing this post now and I think it combines human rights and Egypt’s National Team in the World Cup.
No, I will not speak about the official suites fiasco but rather about a recent incident that happened on Sunday.

Yup, that's incident 

On Sunday, the Egyptian National team arrived Grozny in Chechnya where it is staying for the first round of the World Cup 2018.
The Egyptian Football association “EFA” chose Grozny because it is a Muslim city and I bet it was cheaper.
Later on that day, the team held its first training in Russia at Ahmed or Akhmad Kadryrov Stadium which is named after the late Chechen president and the father of the current Ramadan or Ramzan Kadryov.
A close-Putin ally, Kadryov is an original authentic Strongman whose human rights record is not the brightest worldwide.
Anyhow the Egyptian National Team was received warmly by the Chechen public.
A Muslim republic, I believe religion plays a role in that popularity.
When the Egyptian National team showed up at the stadium, they were surprised to find at least 5000 people cheering for them including president Ramzan Kadryrov himself.

Kadryrov was surprised to find that Mohamed Salah aka Mo Salah aka the Egyptian king was absent.
We knew already back in Cairo that Salah would not join the first training because of the injury of his shoulder “F*ck you Sergio Ramos” and the news did not reach Grozny as it seems.

As a strong man who does not take no for answer I suppose, Kadryov did not like the fact that Salah was not there. He decided to go to the hotel and bring him back to the public.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2018 : The amazing tales challenge Episode 26 “The King’s nightmare , the King’s daughter”

And here we continue our tale for this year, the tale of the amazing tales challenge.
Tonight we will complete listening to the tale of the city of bras and how its people reached that grim fate.
You can listen after the break to episode no.26 of our Ramadan Arabian Nights or episode No.287 of Egyptian State radio’s Classical One Thousand and One Nights Show.

RIP Anthony Bourdain : A look back to his visits to Egypt and to Palestine

The world was shocked earlier Friday to know that beloved and renowned chef Anthony Bourdain passed away.
According to news reports, the award-winning chef and TV personality died of apparent suicide in France.
Bourdain was a familiar face for me seeing his promos on CNN as well on Discovery and Travel channel.
To honest, I do not recall watching him and I feel sad that I only knew him after his death.
I feel angry that I allowed myself to watch old Rosanne episodes "they are not that funny" when I had a chance to see that guy roaming the earth tasting food in very faraway places.

I also found out that he recorded a beautiful episode in Egypt for his hit TV show “No reservation” on Travel TV channel.
It was episode 15 from season 4 and you can watch it here after the break.

Bourdain tried Egypt’s top breakfast “Ful Mamdas” from a street food cart and that’s an excellent choice.
The best and tasty ful you can get in Egypt is not from fancy baladi chic restaurants but from street food carts. Anthony Bourdain tried also stuffed pigeons from the famous Farahat restaurant in Al-Azhar quarter.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2018 : The amazing tales challenge Episode 25 “A tale of a curse”

We will continue tonight our tale for this year, the tale of The Amazing Tales Challenge.

Tonight we will return once again to the political indirect messages in our Egyptian State radio show.

Once again, we got the recurring theme on how important United countries and nations are referring indirectly to Pan Arabism which President Nasser called for.

I believe our tale for this Ramadan was aired after the 1956 Suez Crisis for sure and probably after the failure of the political Unity between Egypt and Syria that short-lived for three years only “1958 to 1960” according to tonight’s episode.

Also once again we are going to have a tale inside a tale so pay attention.

You can hear the 25th episode of our Ramadan Arabian Nights podcast or to be accurate episode 286th of Classical One Thousand and One Nights Radio show after the break.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2018 : The amazing tales challenge Episode 24 “The City Key”

We continue our tale for this year, the tale of the Amazing tales challenge.
Tonight we will listen to episode No.285 of Egypt’s Classic One Thousand and One Nights Show written by Taher Abu Fasha and directed by Mahmoud Shaaban.
You can listen to our podcast after the break.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2018 : The amazing tales challenge Episode 23 “The City of Brass”

Dear friends, it is time for a new episode of our Ramadan Arabian Nights podcast for this year.
Tonight is a very special night because Egyptian State Radio’s “One Thousand Nights and One” show’s writer Taher Abu Fasha takes a cue from the original One Thousand Nights and One book in our tale.
The city of brass was from the unforgettable tales in that book.
Its first mention in the original book was in the 586th night and it was from the tales that mixed real historical figures from the Islamic Arab history with fictions.
Its main hero was Umayyad military commander Musa Bin Nusayr who was on a quest by the order of Caliph Abdel Malik Ibn Marwan.
In that quest, Bin Nusayr passes by Egypt and the city of Kairouan.
It is very interesting considering the fact we are speaking about a book that got originally Persian roots.
You can read that interesting adventure in English and in Arabic.
Without further delay go and listen to our episode which was no. 248 in the record of our Egyptian long show after the break.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2018 : The amazing tales challenge Episode 22 “The Garden in Cauldron”

And our original tale is getting interesting and interesting.
Tonight we will listen to episode No.22 of our Ramadan Arabian Nights podcast for this year or to be more accurate to episode No. 283 of the Egyptian State Radio’s One Thousand and One show.
You can hear the episode after the break.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2018 : The amazing tales challenge Episode 21 “The cauldron ”

And it is time to complete our tale for this year, the tale of the Amazing tales challenge.
Tonight episode was no. 282 in the long record of the Egyptian State radio’s One Thousand and One Nights radio show.
You listen to the episode after the break.

Ahmed Saeed is dead but his legacy lives on

No one would have thought that the man whose voice was an iconic feature of Nasser era’s propaganda machine would die on the eve of that day that put his end to his career from 51 years.
No one would have imagined it but sometimes life could be stranger than fiction.
Late Monday 4th of June, news came from Cairo that veteran and famous radio host Ahmed Saeed passed away in his house. He was 93 years old.

Born in August 1925, Saeed is considered the founder of “Sawt Al-Arab” radio station in 1953.
Founded by the Free Officers in Egypt and aimed to support Arab countries’ quest for independence, “Sawt Al-Arab” or “The Voice of the Arabs” radio station was the No.1 Nasserite Propaganda mouthpiece in the Middle East region through radio waves for a whole decade.
The epic moment of “Sawt Al-Arab” radio station when it supported and helped the Algerian independence activist in their quest that France wanted to be jammed in Algeria.

It supported the independence of other Arab and African countries and Saeed became its voice and face with inflammatory style reminding the world in Arabic that “Sawt Al-Arab or the Voice of the Arabs call the Arab Nations from the heart of Cairo”
There is nothing bad about independence or freedom or pan Arabism but they can’t be associated well with dictatorship and Totalitarianism as well media control.
Saeed was the director of “Sawt Al-Arab” from its launch July 1953 till his resignation in September 1967.

Ahmed Saeed at State-owned Sawt Al-Arab in 1958

The Defeat/setback radio host

The fifth of June 1967 changed the lives of millions in the Middle East directly including Ahmed Saeed.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2018 : The amazing tales challenge Episode 20 “United ”

Dear all, from 51 years ago on that day the world had changed forever … for worse I am afraid when Israel attacked and invaded Arab territories creating a bigger mess than the one it had originally made in 1948.
Revising the history and what led to the defeat of the Six days war politically before militarily we know that that defeat did not happen because had military geniuses or better armies but rather number of factors including how the Arab countries were fighting each literality and figuratively speaking just like the heroes of our tale, the Amazing tales challenge.
Divided, as usual, Arab leaders reconciled too late after that defeat and it did not take too many years to find them also divided plotting against each other.
“The Arabs agreed to disagree,” We say in our sad part of the world.
Arab people pray for truthful and rightful unity but it never comes.
Anyhow, we go back to our tale and our fantasy world which is a good escape from the cruel reality.
Tonight we are going to listen to the 20th episode of our Ramadan Arabian Nights Podcast.
You can listen to the episode after the break.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2018 : The amazing tales challenge Episode 19 “Remorse ”

It is time for a new episode from our Ramadan Arabian Nights Podcast for this year.
We continue with our tale “The Amazing tales challenge” which was aired in the Egyptian State Radio’s One Thousands and One Nights” in the late 1950s.
Interesting events will happen in the magical realm of Djinn in the 19th episode of our podcast.
You can listen to the tale in Arabic after the break after

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2018 : The amazing tales challenge Episode 18 “The Young , The Old ”

And we will continue our tale for this year, the tale of the Amazing tale challenge.
Tonight in the 18th episode of our Ramadan Arabian Nights Podcast in Arabic this year we will return shortly to out original tale for short time.
If you remember, our tale is inside a tale inside a tale itself.
The original tale is the One Thousand and One nights and inside we hear the Amazing tales challenge tale which is about the tale of King Saeed and brothers against the evil realm of Ifrits.
You can hear episode no. 270 from the original Egyptian State Radio’s One Thousand and One Nights show after the break.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2018 : The amazing tales challenge Episode 17 “The hooded knight ”

We continue our tale for this, the tale of the Amazing tales challenge.
Tonight, we will continue listening to the 17th episode of our Ramadan Arabian Nights Podcast and know the fate of that war that started in the Djinn Realm.
Though it is named after the legendary tales book, our take for this year was inspired by the 1956 war and its events.
You can listen to the 278th episode of the original Egyptian state radio’s “One Thousand and One Nights” after the break.

A Princess on a Cover of a magazine ; it is Vogue

Vogue Arabia has not made such noise since its launch in March 2017 in the World as what meant to be a huge positive image for the Saudi Kingdom is turning into a negative move in a very wrong time.

Vogue Arabia's Controversial cover 

June issue of Vogue Arabia features Princes Hayfa Bin Abdullah Al Saud on its cover behinds of a red convertible car with the big headline “Driving force” in bold
.
The fashion magazine which is based in Dubai is celebrating “the trailblazing women of Saudi Arabia” and how they are granted the right to drive their own cars in summer 2018 at last after years of fighting for this simple right.

The issue features an interview with Princess Hayfa who has been an advocate for women’s rights since the days of her father late King Abdullah with a glamorous photo shoot along with features about rising Saudi women stars in various fields whether sports or modeling or acting.
Now there is one problem regarding that cover and that special file about Saudi women’s progress in the era of Prince Mohamed Ibn Salman “MBS”.

It comes at the same time Saudi women activists who worked hard for women’s rights in the Kingdom are being arrested, imprisoned as well humiliated in the worst inhuman way every.

Just as the Holy month of Ramadan was starting from two weeks ago, Saudi authorities launched a new crackdown campaign against women activists who have worked for decades to grant Saudi women’s basic rights including the right to drive.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2018 : The amazing tales challenge Episode 16 “The war ”

We continue our tale for this year, the tale of the Amazing tales challenge.
Tonight, we will listen to the 16th episode of our Ramadan Arabian Nights Podcast this year and just like last night’s episode, it was inspired by true events that changed the course of history.
Taher Abu Fasha was inspired by the Suez war events in 1956 to write the 277th episode of the Egyptian Radio state’s One Thousands Nights and One.
There is nationalization or support to Algerian rebels and their great revolution here but you will below what I mean.
I believe that that tale was written and aired following the war.
You can hear the episode after the break.