To escape the summer heat, worsened by the rolling blackouts that have plagued the daily lives of Egyptians since last summer, Cairo residents head to the city’s waterways every night for respite.
Young men spend the night at small makeshift cafes comprising of small tables and plastic chairs, set up on stretches of pavement around the Nile and irrigation canals branching from it, sipping sugarcane juice, tea or coffee and smoking cigarettes.
Meanwhile, at many of the city’s public parks, Egyptian families form small clusters who arrive after the final prayer of the day, Isha, and lay down rugs which they lounge on until after midnight, eating nuts and other snacks that they bring from home.
“I can only bear to be home at dawn in this heat. That’s when I can catch a few hours of sleep without sweating to the point where I have to wash my face and change my clothes every hour or two,” says Islam Mahmoud, 28, who on Wednesday night sat with a group of friends on the banks of the Ismailia Canal, a 130km-long waterway that connects the Nile to the Suez Canal.
“Out here, you can catch a breeze and there is fresh air. Who in their right mind would stay home in this weather?”
Since the start of summer in late April, the country has been hit by successive heatwaves, with temperatures reaching well over 40°C.
Enduring the heatwaves has been made even more difficult by daily blackouts that last up to six hours in some areas of Cairo.
The power cuts – which have been the talk of the town since April and are at the centre of the new government’s relaunch plan – are caused by natural gas shortages.
Blackouts, which take place at different times in different districts of Cairo, have made staying indoors even more unbearable, as people have to get by without fans or air conditioning for hours on end.
“I live in a very crowded area and when you have so many people in one place, the air doesn’t move,” says Alaa El Sayed, 33, a resident of Cairo’s working-class Mostorod district.
“You need a fan to create a breeze and move the air. Otherwise, it truly is unbearable.”
Mr El Sayed, along with his wife and four children, is one of the many who choose to spend their nights at a local park for some air. The family crosses the Ismailia Canal from Mostorod to a park at nearby Al Sawah Street, in Hadayek Al Qubba district.
On the other side of the park, Abdullah, 14, a mechanic’s apprentice by day, serves passers-by with tea he prepares on a small cart on the pavement outside the park. He sells a cup of tea for 10 Egyptian pounds ($0.21) and a cup of coffee for 12 pounds.
“I am new here. I only started earlier this week when police came and shut my boss’s workshop down for being open after 7pm. My brother owns this cart, so I came to work with him at night until the government allows the workshop to stay open past 7pm,” he told The National on Wednesday,
“My brother was looking for someone to help him on the cart because it’s summer and people are always out late.”
As part of a national plan to reduce power usage, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced on June 26 that all shops, restaurants and cafes must now close at 10pm until the end of September.
Pharmacies and grocery stores are allowed to stay open until 1am, while skilled traders are forced to close their business premises at 7pm.
The energy-saving scheme is unpopular with the country’s small business owners, already struggling with reduced revenue caused by higher operational costs.
While he enjoys the cooler air as he serves tea in the park, Abdullah makes less money each day than he did when the workshop stayed open throughout the night.
Although he continues to work as a mechanic by day, Abdullah says business hours have been seriously reduced, first by the power cuts that render essential tools unusable and now by the early closure.
So far, the police have not taken any steps to shut down the many tea and coffee carts that dot the sides of main streets in Cairo in the evening – something for which Abdullah is grateful.
“The other day, I sold a coffee to a police officer at one in the morning. When he walked up to my cart, I was very worried that he was going to ask me to close the coffee stand, especially after what happened with the workshop. But he just asked me for coffee, so I was very relieved,” he recounts.
Though tea and coffee are enjoyed by Egyptians during the summer months, juice shops are far more popular, because of the variety of cold and refreshing drinks they sell.
In summer, the country’s sugarcane and mangoes – which produce two of the juices most loved by Egyptians – are harvested.
“This juice bar has become a second home for me since summer started,” says Hussein Ali, 37, a resident of Cairo’s Al Zawya Al Hamra district.
“I probably spend half of my salary on sugarcane juice from this place. It’s a 10 minute walk from my house and I find myself going back and forth five or six times a day.
“Life is really difficult right now. No one has any money to spare and the power goes out and the weather is like the fires of hell.
“What can I say? God help us all.”
The government’s power-saving strategy includes switching off street lights in certain districts, said the Transport Ministry on June 27. Stretches of the Ismailia Canal, which divides the provinces of Cairo and Qalyubia, were barely illuminated on Wednesday night.
Despite this, groups of people could be seen sitting on plastic chairs in the dark, some with their mobile phone torches lit up, all to escape the sweltering heat that has taken over the Egyptian capital this summer.
As Egypt’s population deals with what Mr Madbouly called “an unprecedented crisis” at a press conference on Thursday to introduce his newly formed cabinet's priorities, many are looking towards the future with pessimism.
However, perhaps the biggest testimony to the resilience of the Egyptian people is that despite economic hardships, sweltering heat and uncertainty about the future, they can still take a moment to savour a cold glass of sugarcane juice.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE
Sector: Online rental marketplace
Size: 40 employees
Investment: $2 million
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Traits of Chinese zodiac animals
Tiger:independent, successful, volatile
Rat:witty, creative, charming
Ox:diligent, perseverent, conservative
Rabbit:gracious, considerate, sensitive
Dragon:prosperous, brave, rash
Snake:calm, thoughtful, stubborn
Horse:faithful, energetic, carefree
Sheep:easy-going, peacemaker, curious
Monkey:family-orientated, clever, playful
Rooster:honest, confident, pompous
Dog:loyal, kind, perfectionist
Boar:loving, tolerant, indulgent
Reading List
Practitioners of mindful eating recommend the following books to get you started:
Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr Lilian Cheung
How to Eat by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Mindful Diet by Dr Ruth Wolever
Mindful Eating by Dr Jan Bays
How to Raise a Mindful Eaterby Maryann Jacobsen
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP
Group A
Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA
Group B
Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti
Group C
Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia
Group D
Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
more from Janine di Giovanni
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph
Forwards: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck
The line up
Friday: Giggs, Sho Madjozi and Masego
Saturday: Nas, Lion Bbae, Roxanne Shante and DaniLeigh
Sole DXB runs from December 6 to 8 at Dubai Design District. Weekend pass is Dh295 while a one day pass is Dh195. Tickets are available from www.soledxb.com
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
TALE OF THE TAPE
Floyd Mayweather
- Height
- Weight
- Reach
- Record
Conor McGregor
- Height
- Weight
- Reach
- Record
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COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Results
2.30pm Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m
Winner Lamia, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
3pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m
Winner Jap Al Afreet, Elione Chaves, Irfan Ellahi.
3.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m
Winner MH Tawag, Bernardo Pinheiro, Elise Jeanne.
4pm Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 2,000m
Winner Skygazer, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
4.30pm The Ruler of Sharjah Cup Prestige (PA) Dh250,000 1,700m
Winner AF Kal Noor, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
5pm Sharjah Marathon (PA) Dh70,000 2,700m
Winner RB Grynade, Bernardo Pinheiro, Eric Lemartinel.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
INFO
Everton 0
Arsenal 0
Man of the Match: Djibril Sidibe (Everton)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Zayed Sustainability Prize
More from Neighbourhood Watch
SQUADS
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (capt), Azhar Ali, Shan Masood, Sami Aslam, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Usman Salahuddin, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Asghar, Bilal Asif, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Abbas, Wahab Riaz
Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (capt), Lahiru Thirimanne (vice-capt), Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Rangana Herath, Lakshan Sandakan, Dilruwan Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Gamage
Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG) and Nigel Llong (ENG)
TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG)
ICC match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)
How to increase your savings
- Have a plan for your savings.
- Decide on your emergency fund target and once that's achieved, assign your savings to another financial goal such as saving for a house or investing for retirement.
- Decide on a financial goal that is important to you and put your savings to work for you.
- It's important to have a purpose for your savings as it helps to keep you motivated to continue while also reducing the temptation to spend your savings.
- Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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Copa del Rey final
Sevilla v Barcelona, Saturday, 11.30pm (UAE), match on Bein Sports
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final (first-leg score):
Juventus (1) v Ajax (1), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Match will be shown on BeIN Sports
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
