Ramadan Arabian Nights 2026: The Tale of King Sajur and sons “The road of Which there is no return EP.6”

Ramadan Kareem to all Egyptian Chronicles readers.

Before we continue our tale and discover what happened to our third prince on the road from which there is no return, after knowing what happened to his eldest brothers, it is time for our usual pre-tale chitchat.

*Spoiler alert*

Unlike the previous two nights, tonight we will travel to a city that is very real: the legendary Samarkand.

Located in modern-day Uzbekistan, Samarkand was founded under the name Afrasiyab (circa the 7th or 8th century BCE, its location placing it at the heart of the famous Silk Road.

After the Arab conquest in the early 8th century, Samarkand blossomed into one of the greatest cities of Transoxiana (Ma Wara’ al-Nahr).

Medieval geographers, such as the legendary Al-Muqaddasi, described it as a wealthy, cultivated, and beautifully planned city—a 10th-century oasis of gardens, canals, and monumental walls.

However, Samarkand truly became a "Jewel of the East" in the late 14th century when the conqueror Timur (Tamerlane) made it his imperial capital. Timur transformed the city by bringing architects and artisans from Persia, India, Anatolia, and Syria. Together, they built massive, blue-tiled monuments that defined the Timurid style.

In Persian poetry and later storytelling, Samarkand became a universal symbol of beauty and unattainable splendor.

It appears in the Shahnameh and naturally found its way into the tales of the One Thousand and One Nights.

Today, the city is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site, officially titled "Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures."

Now, without further delay, I present the sixth episode of our story—The Tale of Sajur and his sons, or the 200th night of One Thousand and One Nights, as broadcast by the Egyptian State Radio.

When Valentina Tereshkova visited Egypt

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.

Ramadan Arabian Nights 2023: Tale of Mando “Prisoners of their fate” #EP7

Ramadan Karim😀

We continue our tale for this year, the tale of Mando.

But first I have to share something with you again.

I chose this year’s tale after listening to two other tales from the 1960s.

I think our tale could be recorded in the early 1960s.

At first, to be honest, I avoided the tales which were televised in the 1980s and 1990s because my generation still remembers them. 

I chose the tale of Mando because the other two tales were too politicalized. Unfortunately, Taher Abu Fasha could not escape the propaganda machine and yes we listened previously to Pro-Nasserite tales with metaphors of The Sauds and The Hashemites.

But those two tales were terrible. They were technically Pro-Soviet/Eastern Bloc against Pro-US/Western Bloc. I can say Abu Fasha was in his best imagination mood when he was not instructed to use his show as an instrument of propaganda.

Mansour meets the British Press over Russian connection

It seems that Mohamed Mansour is starting to know the meaning of being involved in politics in real democracy with transparency and accountability.

The British press is speaking that the man chosen by Conservative Party leader and current British PM Rishi Sunak and former Chairman Nadhim Zahawi as senior treasurer turned to own or co-own a subsidiary in Russia that is still active in the Russian oil and gas sector despite sanctions and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “The Mirror spoke about the matter too.”

Well the UK is not Egypt, and the Conservative Party with all its cons is not the National Democratic Party.

Mohamed Mansour, the British senior treasurer of the Conservative Party 

Last month, we know in Egypt from the British media that Sunak announced that Egyptian business tycoon Mohamed Mansour would be the senior treasurer of the Conservative Party in the UK. We knew back in Egypt that he had a US passport already, and that the British passport was new information.

According to the Guardian, the Conservative Party refused to comment on Mansour’s role stating that he was not “the party’s treasurer”, but sources told the famous newspaper that Mansour has actually a separate role as “the senior treasurer” and he is involved in fundraising in the run-up to the next general elections.

On the other hand, Mansour confirmed the news and issued a statement stating that it was a great honour and privilege to have been appointed as senior treasurer of the Conservative party and a member of the treasurer’s team of the party.

The dilemma of Russia Today and Sputnik; freedom of expression or misinformation

On Wednesday, the European Union “EU” issued sanctions of Russian media outlets “Russia Today” new website and Sputnik news agency banning them in the EU countries.

Social media networks began to suspend the English accounts of Russia Today “RT” and Sputnik, their Arabic services are still operating normally.

 A file photo of RT TV truck parked at the Red Square in Moscow
"AFP"

YouTube decided that RT and its subchannels are going to get revenues.

RT used to get millions of US dollars from the views considering the fact it was the “Most watched news network on YouTube in 2020” according to its own claim.

In the past 48 hours, I found my timeline whether on Egyptian and Arab Facebook or Twitter timelines discussing whether the sanctions on RT and Sputnik was unfair, an attack on freedom of expression and another sign of the West’s hypocrisy and double standards.

I have read in those hours that the West only picks the freedom of expression cards for its own interests but when it comes to its national security, it blocks RT and Sputnik. “You can guess who is saying and repeating this.”

Personally, I am facing a dilemma as someone who believes in freedom of expression as well as the fight against misinformation because I know there is a thin line between them, and some will use the fight against misinformation to crackdown on freedom of expression and freedom of information.

Should RT and Sputnik be banned or not?

On the sideline of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine : The double standards of the sports world

This is not “What about-ism” but about clear double standards when it comes to the sports world.

First of all, I must be clear. I am totally against the Russian invasion of Ukraine and I am totally against Russian propaganda or any other propaganda.

Yet, on the sideline of the awful invasion of Ukraine, there are certain issues that provoke me whether in the international media or the international reactions.

Among those international reactions, the decision of FIFA and UEFA to suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions on  Monday over the Russian invasion.

For years, we were told in the Arab world that politics should get involved with sports.

That’s what we are being told whenever we bring up similar demands to suspend clubs of countries involved in military attacks and invasions in the Arab world.

For instance Israel and Palestine or the biggest elephant in the room.

Thanks to Egyptian Football fans, I knew that FIFA ignored the demands of Palestinian activists to suspend the activities of 6 Israeli clubs built on occupied Palestinian West Bank territories in a clear violation of international laws and UN Security Council resolutions. 

The Syrian activists urged the international sports federation to ban the official Syrian sports federation and official national teams that follow the Al-Assad regime and the answer they get every time is a lecture about how we should not mix politics with sports.

Egypt and the invasion of Ukraine : More than a butterfly effect

In the past three days, I believe the whole world glued in front of the TV as well as the social media to follow the updates of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

I was more than glued in front of the TV because this war is not only alarming to the West but also alarming to Egypt and it is the usual butterfly effect.

It is not a big secret but Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer depend on both Ukraine and Russia mainly for its needs.

Ukrainian couple in Egypt once upon time, I hope 
they are fine now for real. Do not know the source though

Egypt imported last year 80% of its wheat needs from Ukraine and Russia together.

In 2021, Egypt imported 5.5 million tonnes of wheat, on top of the 3.5 million tonnes produced locally, according to data released by the supply ministry in December according to Ahram Online.

This is happening at the same time the Egyptian government states that it will raise the price of subsided bread for the first time in 30 years. 

#GERD and beyond : After the second filing , what is the next move for Egypt and Sudan ? "Updated"

Ethiopia’s Irrigation Ministry announced on Monday that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam “GERD” finished successfully its second filing despite the objections of both Egypt and Sudan.

From three weeks ago, Ethiopia notified both Egypt and Sudan that it started the second filing already as the two Nile Downstream countries were heading into the United Nations Security Council on GERD talks for the second time.

Ethiopian irrigation minister Seleshi Bekele announced on Monday that the GERD reservoir reached an overtopping water level.

A photo of GERD released by Ethiopian Broadcasting Cooperation "EBC"
on Monday

“Currently, the incoming flow passes through both bottom outlets and overtopping” Bekele added in his statement on social media.

He added that the Blue Nile experienced extreme rainfall, the GERD reservoir was filled rapidly.

He did not mention numbers related to the quantity of water they got now.

According to previous statements of Ethiopian irrigation officials in the past month, the second filling should collect around 18.4 billion cubic metres of Blue Nile water, up from the 4.9 billion cubic metres withheld during the first filling last year.

When Yuri Gagarin visited Egypt

From 60 years ago, a Russian young man called Yuri Gagarin succeeded in go into Space and the rest was a world-known history.

The Soviet Cosmonaut truly made history in Space despite his short life that ended in a tragic accident on earth

The first man to go to space in recorded history. It was a huge moment but unfortunately, it was covered or stained by politics, West/East Space race or rather the US/Soviet race

Only now we look to it beyond that stupid polarization and propaganda machine I suppose. Or not so much as the tensions are still there. 

Anyhow in Egyptian Chronicles, we will not look into Gagarin's historical trip to space but rather at his trip to Egypt.

Yuri Gagarin in one of his coolest poses ever
in front of the Sphinx

Yes, Yuri Gagarin visited Egypt in 1962 as part of that world tour following his historical space flight and he had a blast in Egypt visiting Cairo, Giza, Alexandria and Luxor. 

Egyptian Chronicles’ Shakers and Movers of 2019

Okay, I am trying to keep an annual event in Egyptian Chronicles.

Here is my list of those I believe that have been the shakers and movers of 2019.
I started writing down this post at 3:22 PM, yes it is my epic procrastination for the year. Since October I have been suffering this bloody procrastination

This is not the list of the top people but rather those made an impact whether positive or negative based on my own views
This list is without any order. These names were the ones that came into my mind in those few hours.

Locally

Mohamed Ali, Soroya Mohamed, Mohamed Salah, Alaa Abdel Fattah

• The few Egyptian protesters who surprised everybody including the Egyptians themselves and the world in September. 
• Mohamed Ali, the former 15-years-civilian army contractor/one-time actor and producer/real estate developer/self-exiled/whistleblower/opposition figure. From where shall I start? There is no doubt that the 45-years-old man whom many Egyptians did not know before shook and moved things in Cairo like none other. He was like the danger that the regime has not ever thought about. The street smart guy in self-exiled unleashed a shock wave that Egyptian activists are paying its price a crackdown. Yet on another popular level, some members of the working class look to him as the anti-hero who made enough noise to disturb the upper class and government as some said. Ali’s wave lessened in December but he returned back with some Document to bring together the Egyptian opposition allegedly. He got less audience than before but he is officially there and can’t be ignored or disregarded after all he reached segments revolutionary intelligentsia failed to reach.

• Wael Ghonim and his return as well his complete change representing what the last nine years of social and political bullying can turn you. Ghonim is having a comeback online with constant vlogging discussing his thoughts. He is not your old Wael Ghonim but rather a new version of that Egyptian activist the world knew. “P.S: in case you do not know Wael Ghonim’s brother apolitical dentist Hazem Ghonim was released from detention last week”.

• MP Ahmed Tantawy, the opposition voice in the Egyptian parliament whom many suspect to be another fake décor
• A group of Egyptian journalists who remind me that this profession is not dead yet in Egypt and there is more to present and I got many names starting with the Mada Masr team, investigative journalist Ahmed El-Shamy, videographer Mostafa Darwish and Egypt’s only Pulitzer winners AP journalist Maggie Michael and Nariman El-Mofty who have not been honored yet by the Egyptian journalists syndicate as far as I know.

• Egyptian basketballer Soroya Mohamed aka the new Queen Cleopatra who was chosen among the world's best players in 2019. She is also Rami Malak’s Muslim Twin sister.

Regarding Mada Masr's ordeal

Egyptian independent news website Mada Masr and its team had a very bad experience on Sunday.

Lina Attallah after the release
"Mada Masr"

It started at 1:30 PM when Mada Masr HQ in Giza’s Dokki was stormed by plain-clothed security personnel who detained the website’s journalists for several hours before releasing them and detaining for a couple of hours the website’s editor in chief Lina Attaallah and two of the website’s journalists.


Attallah along with journalist Mohamed Hamma and Rana Mamdouh were detained and transferred to Dokki police station where they stayed for a couple of hours before they were released.

The ordeal of Mada Masr on Sunday comes hours following the arrest of the website’s Arabic Shady Zalat on Saturday.
Zalat was released Sunday afternoon too.

It is unclear what Mada Masr’s team is accused of.
I have read the Journalists syndicate played a role in their release.

Once again the fate of Syria is determined by Non-Syrians

This photo is another indication that Sykes-Picot agreement is still alive and kicking and Arab as well Non Arab people who live in Syria still have no power over their own destiny.

Where are the Syrians? "France 24"

Leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Turkey met on Saturday in Istanbul where they called for a ceasefire and the formation of a committee to write down a new constitution.
There is no direct representative of Syrian people here in that photo.

Seen in Cairo : Celebrating Les Bleus' Victory in Russia

Cairo tower from October bridge

It seems that Egypt’s Cairo tower celebrated France’s victory in World Cup 2018 in Russia too.
I took that photo shortly after France was crowned for the second time in its history as the winner of the World Cup.

It seems that officially Egypt was supporting somehow the Les Bleus boys too as tourism minister Rania Al-Mashat saw the football match along with France's ambassador to Cairo Stephane Romatet at the French Culture Center in Downtown Cairo.

Al-Mashat was supporting France so enthusiastically to the level that I believe she was a graduate of some French high school in Cairo.

FYI currently Egypt and France have got very strong economic as well as political and military relations. France has become among the top sources of arms to the Egyptian armed.

Egypt has become one the biggest arms customers to France to the level that human rights' criticisms do not concern the French Republic anymore. 

The French investments in Egypt reached 4 billion Euros according to minister Saher Nasr of investment in June. 
France's President Macron is also expected to visit Cairo in the upcoming months

I was supporting France's too. My family cheered for it too. I like the Les Bleus and let's be frank, Les Bleus represent Africa too in the Mondial.😆

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. 

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 ☺☺

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.

Egypt's Dabaa Nuclear Plant : Sidi Abdel Rahman is safe for now

It is just safe for the time being !!!
The Sidi Abdel Rahman beaches and its crystal baby blue water and white sand have survived for the time being a nuclear apocalypse as Putin and Sisi did not sign the final agreement of Egypt’s Nuclear power plant in Dabaa, which is a couple kilometers away from Egypt's best North Coast beaches !!

They only witnessed the signing an agreement to launch work on Egypt's first nuclear plant between the Egyptian government and Russia Rosatom despite the final contract concerning the financial as well technical details have not been signed yet.

According to Mada Masr, the Egyptian government, security bodies and State council's legislative committee have got serious concerns about the Russian offer' financially and technically but President Sisi decided to ignore all those concerns !!

It turned out the Russians made a loose ambiguous contract that did not detail for example the ways to dispose of nuclear wastes !!

And Egypt is heading to World Cup Russia 2018

Okay this is from the historical important moments that I love to post in my blog

Egypt has finally qualified for the World Cup Russia 2018

Yes, I need to say this again loud and clear that Egypt has been qualified for World Cup Russia 2018
After 28 years, Egyptian National Football/Soccer team succeeded reaching the World Cup since 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy.
This is the third time for our National football team to be qualified for the World Cup.
The first time was in 1934 FIFA World Cup in Italy. We were the first African and Arab country to play in the World Cup.
It took 56 years to be qualified again in 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy also.
This was the first football memory for me as a child. I remember that I cried a lot when Germany won the Cup and wondered why Egypt did not get it.
My family tried to explain the matter for me but I did not get it then.
Now after 28 years, Egypt is going yet again to the World Cup, this time in Russia next year.
I am now grown-up enough to know that we are not a candidate to win the World Cup itself but the honor is enough to reach the World Cup.

Mohamed Salah "AP" 

I think I am lucky enough along millions of Egyptians to witness being qualified to the World Cup twice.

Also, the young generation is lucky enough to see our squad going to the World Cup.

Yes, I am bit emotional because I witnessed the happiness of the people first hand and how they headed to Tahrir square automatically as soon as Mohamed Salah, our golden boy scored that penalty.
One night of happiness won’t change anything of the reality we know and live but it will just give hope.

Back to Mohamed Salah, well God bless him as he made a true history for real.
Mo Salah is now the most famous Egyptian abroad and he deserves it.

A side note: The AP photographer who took unforgotten shots from the football match with Congo is photographer Nariman El-Mufti, a woman photographer. 

Salah and the rest of the squad were born after 1990 ironically except El-Hadry, our goalkeeper.
If I am not mistaken, he is by far the oldest goalkeeper so far to participate in World Cup Russia 2018.
The best goalkeeper in Africa deserves to be despite his shitty political views.

Muchas gracias Spanish government and EU : Sincerely Mideast government

On Sunday, the people of Catalonia held an independence referendum in defiance to the Spanish government in Madrid and the current Spanish constitution.

Police arresting voters in Catalonia "AFP"

The referendum was held at the same time the Spanish police attacked voters at polling centers dragging them out as well taking the ballot boxes in a scene that shocked many people including myself.

According to Catalan authorities, not less than 900 people were injured including elderly.
It shocked me because that scene was too familiar for us in the Mideast, in Egypt in particular.
It reminded me with the violence of the Egyptian police during the 2010 parliamentary elections which considered by many as one of the trigger for the 25 January revolution.

It shocked me because that was happening in Europe. It shocked me because that was happening in Spain , a country that I and other Egyptians look to a successful example of democratic civilian transition.
Since the ouster of Mubarak in February 2011 and many Egyptians looked to the Spanish democratic civilian transition as an example to follow despite the difference between the two countries. Needless to say , I believe that one of the weakness of our Egyptian revolution is the lack of figures like  Adolfo Suarez.

Anyhow it seemed that the legacy of Franco is still deep-rooted in Madrid or at least in the Spanish police as the World has seen in the past two weeks.
Just as I and others felt sad to see that scene of Spanish police attacking Catalan voters and activists, others were happy in our sad miserable part of the world.

The unforgettable scene : Russian ambassador to Ankara's assassination

It was meant to be a scene to be remembered by the whole world when it was planned, it was meant to be a message heard in the whole world.
Thus Russian ambassador to Turkey 1954-born Andrei Karlov was shot down by 22-years old Turkish policeman Mevlut Mert Aydintas at the Contemporary Arts center in the Turkish capital where the Russian embassy was hosting "Russia in the eyes of Turks" exhibition.

Mevlut Mert Aydinatas killed the Russian ambassador because of Syria and Aleppo.

That moment captured by AP's Burhan Ozbilici

As we live the age of social media, the assassination was recorded and the whole world saw Aydinates standing like defocused black grim reaper behind Karlov minutes before he would pull his gun shooting him down.

It was a matter of minutes as captured by AP's Burhan Ozbilici

Moments AP photographer Burhan Ozbilici did not know that moment that he would snap a moment that would turn lives upside down.
The man went to the exhibition because it was on his way from work to home !!