It was a standard question asked in a survey posted by an Egyptian talk show host on his Twitter account a few hours before he went live: how would you describe the first Netflix Arabic movie Ashab wala Aaz? The answers lifted the lid on social taboos in society and started a hard-hitting debate about the movie's main storylines. Without giving away too much – a man married to a woman but drawn to another, a woman who cheats on her husband, and a teenage daughter of a supposedly liberal mother who shows her conservative self when faced with evidence about her daughter's personal life.
Since its release on January 20, the coming-of-age remake of the Italian film Perfect Strangers has been portrayed by several Egyptian TV hosts as an allegory of the triumph of good, the overwhelming majority of the Egyptians in their views, over evil.
Their opinion has elicited a different response from many Egyptians on social media, who have said the uncomfortable scenes have exposed unspoken social changes. Others took to the extreme, comparing the jump on the movie and the stream of invective criticism of Egyptian actress Mona Zaki to the Spanish inquisition in the medieval ages, whose mission was persecuting the educated and literate under the pretext of fighting heresy. “It’s possible that Europe and the West are like that. But the Netflix movie hasn’t anything that’s like us. Let’s ban Netflix,” one celebrity presenter tweeted.
“They do exist in our society. Stop playing ostrich,” replied an Egyptian civil society activist with more than 400k followers.
The presenter thinks that the Egyptian characters in the movie are not real Egyptians. But his call for banning one of the most popular streaming entertainment platforms in the world with more than 200 million subscribers has been also met with derision and jokes among many Twitter users.
Netflix has broken American barriers and rank as one of the top subscription-based services in Egypt and the Arab world today. Diversity is also a central to the company’s strategy. Like many countries, Egypt, too, has its share of conspiracy theorists, on Facebook, in particular, who spread misinformation – characteristic of America’s QAnon cult that sees former US president Donald Trump as a hero.
It was this segment of people, who tend to inundate social media with falsehoods. So when Netflix’s shares crashed on January 21, one day after the controversial film premiered, they attributed it to an instant massive Egyptian boycott and cancellations. They even dismissed diversity and liberal thinking as imitations of the West and part of a conspiracy dating back to the British colonial era.
This is not the first time in Egypt that attempts at "cancel culture" have been seen. In 2018, Egyptian actress Rania Youssef was accused of “inciting debauchery” for wearing a revealing black gown to the Cairo Film Festival in which the fabric covering her legs was see-through. Some Egyptians were divided on whether it was an indecent act or Youssef had every right to wear whatever she wanted.
A year before that, there was heavy sarcasm in the social sphere, as a lawyer sued a puppet, depicted as a gossipy widow with rollers in her hair, and who used to be the public face of a popular satirical TV show known as Abla Fahita. The puppet had a great sense of humour who would discuss social issues that made headlines and went viral online thanks to the jokes that punctured tensions on both sides of any debate.
The lawyer said that the puppet was immoral and didn’t reflect the values of Egyptian society. He used the same charge against the show’s producers in his criminal complaint to a public prosecutor: “promoting debauchery”. But some argue that it is all fuss about nothing, as Egyptian cinema has produced several movies in the past seven decades that tackle real conundrums in society. In 1960, for example, director Salah Abu Seif's stellar Between Heaven and Earth, not to be confused with Najwa Najjar's film of the same name, captured Egyptians of different walks in life in 85 minutes. The characters were all trapped in a lift, which got stuck between two floors.
This film, based on a novel by Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, brilliantly depicted the very real issues of discrimination, sexual harassment, grinding poverty and the lives of the very rich, a world completely different from the impression created in certain circles that everything is OK. All the scenes of the movie were framed perfectly in one location.
It was described by critics as one of the great movies in the history of Arab cinema. What made that movie really matter to Egyptians? Perhaps that it made one think and expanded an understanding and lent perspective to aspects of society that resonate with audiences everywhere.
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Fixtures - Open Men 2pm: India v New Zealand, Malaysia v UAE, Singapore v South Africa, Sri Lanka v England; 8pm: Australia v Singapore, India v Sri Lanka, England v Malaysia, New Zealand v South Africa
Fixtures - Open Women Noon: New Zealand v England, UAE v Australia; 6pm: England v South Africa, New Zealand v Australia
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Manchester United v Barcelona, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
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
Company%20profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Score
Third Test, Day 2
New Zealand 274
Pakistan 139-3 (61 ov)
Pakistan trail by 135 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the innings
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
Australia squads
ODI: Tim Paine (capt), Aaron Finch (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye.
T20: Aaron Finch (capt), Alex Carey (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth.
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club
- 1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10
- 2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
- 3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
- 4th ODI, Sunday, April 16
Squads:
- UAE: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
- Zimbabwe: Peter Moor (captain), Solomon Mire, Brian Chari, Regis Chakabva, Sean Williams, Timycen Maruma, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Craig Ervine, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Tony Munyonga, Elton Chigumbura
Scoreline:
Everton 4
Richarlison 13'), Sigurdsson 28', Digne 56', Walcott 64'
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton)
Newcastle United 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2
Tottenham (Alli 61'), Davies (70')
Red card Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle)
