Latest Stories
Mar 8, 2016
Chicken Farms Another Casualty of ISIS Takeover in Iraq
On returning home after a year hiding in the mountains, Ahmed Hussein Hamad had braced himself for the worst.
ISIS had occupied his village and appropriated his house after a lightning summer…
Mar 6, 2016
Troubled Egypt Dreams of the Old Monarchy
King Farouk, deposed in 1952, may have gone down in history as a lousy ruler. But these days Egyptians are inclined to say, ‘Compared to what?’
Feb 26, 2016
If Climate Change Doesn’t Sink Alexandria, Egypt’s Official Incompetence Will
It's not alone among World Heritage Sites facing encroaching seas.
Jan 31, 2016
The climate-change refugee crisis is only just beginning
The Amhara Plateau is no one’s idea of a gloomy landscape. Rich fields blossom as far as the eye can see; bountiful rivers zigzag through the region’s rolling hills. It isn’t hard to see why local…
Jan 8, 2016
Farming the Sahara
Its population soaring, Egypt is facing a food-supply crisis. Can the government make a desert bloom?
Dec 27, 2015
US diplomacy shackled by security concerns
How forceful embassy security contributes to Washington’s helter-skelter policy in the Middle East.
Dec 11, 2015
The 21st-century gold rush where people work in 19th-century conditions
It’s a little before 7am on a bright, airless August morning, and already Abdullah Idriss Isaac has been hard at work for hours.
Swishing his aluminum pan back and forth through a waist-deep…
Nov 27, 2015
Egyptian Camel Traders and Butchers Are Facing Tough Times
For over a week now, Ahmed Awni has struggled to offload any of the “prime” cuts of camel haunch that dangle on bloodied hooks outside his Cairo butcher’s stall. He’s tried a few gimmicks—“Buy…
Nov 12, 2015
Possible Chambers in Pyramid Hold Hopes for Egypt's Tourism
Desperate to win back tourists, Egypt has ramped up efforts to solve the mysteries of the Great Pyramids of Giza.