CAIRO // A huge painting in the living room of Ayman Nour goes to the heart of why he is one of the more intriguing and controversial politicians in Egypt today.
The 3.5-metre tableau shows groups of famous liberal politicians from the past 100 years, many of them now deceased, standing in front of Egypt's parliament building. It features Saad Zaghloul, the founder of the Al Wafd Party and a former prime minister, and Fuad Serag Eddin, another veteran Wafd politician.
In the centre is Mr Nour leaning close and whispering to Fathi Sorour, one of Hosni Mubarak's closest aides and the very man that revoked Mr Nour's parliamentary immunity in 2005 so that he could be jailed.
"I kept it because it shows history," Mr Nour, 48, said during an interview on Thursday. "I may not agree with some of the characters in it, but it helps me to remember what has happened in my life, the ups and downs. Sometimes it helps me see things clearer."
Lately, Mr Nour has been in one of the down periods. He has been accused by liberal media and political groups as being a Muslim Brotherhood sympathiser and a fair-weather politician on the hunt for greater power, no matter how he achieves it.
The most polarising example of what his opponents describe as his chameleon nature was his hosting of a secret dinner at his penthouse apartment this month on the tiny island of Zamalek with Khairat Al Shater, the deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Amr Moussa, a liberal opposition leader and former foreign minister of Egypt.
The meeting was controversial because the National Salvation Front, an umbrella group of political parties that oppose President Mohammed Morsi and his Islamist supporters, has refused meetings with the Brotherhood and officials until the government meets demands for a new unity government, amendments to the constitution and more political openness.
When media reports of the meeting emerged, Mr Moussa lashed out at Mr Nour as the source of the leak.
Mr Nour was also among the politicians embroiled in a diplomatic incident over a hydroelectric dam being built by Ethiopia that Egypt fears will reduce the flow of the Nile. During a meeting that was inadvertently broadcast on Egyptian television, he called for Egypt to leak plans for a military strike on Ethiopia to pressure Addis Ababa to scale the project back.
Nonplussed in his trademark outfit - all black save for a white seersucker jacket, Cohiba cigar and rectangular glasses - Mr Nour described the accusations against him as part of a conspiracy wrought by remnants the Mubarak regime.
"They say I am a Muslim Brotherhood supporter, but I criticise the president all the time," he said. "There is a group of people who were servants of the old regime who still want to take revenge on me. What is being written about me is not just lies, but terrible, awful contradictions to the truth."
Mr Nour is no stranger to Egyptian politics. The son and grandson of Egyptian parliamentarians, he entered politics in the early 1990s with the New Wafd Party. He broke away in 2001 to create Al Ghad Party, or Tomorrow Party. But his true entry into the limelight came in 2005 when he became the first person to run against Mubarak in presidential elections.
He placed a distant second, winning just 7 per cent of the vote in elections widely believed to have been fixed by the Mubarak regime, but what came next assured his place in Egypt's troubled history with democracy. Soon after Mr Nour's defeat, Mubarak's government accused him of forging signatures on election documents. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, losing control of the Al Ghad party in the process.
He spent two years in prison, securing a medical release because of his diabetes, but when he came home to his Zamalek apartment he was confronted with the same huge painting in his living room. There he was talking to Mr Sorour, the man who helped send him to prison.
Expecting to feel anger, he instead found himself "cleansed of hate" by his prison experience, Mr Nour said.
"The crisis of prison made it possible for me to see things better and not hold onto negative things."
He applies the same lesson to Egypt's latest problems. When listening to Mr Morsi's speech on Wednesday night, he felt that the president "was full of anger and unforgiveness".
The whole country was wracked by this kind of debilitating emotional turbulence, he said.
"The January 25th revolution was a beautiful dream, but now it has turned into a nightmare," he said. "The most disturbing thing is everyone has become more extreme and more willing to break the law. The rhetoric is filled with insults. Even families are split. It's like a dialogue between deaf people."
Eight months after Mubarak's resignation, Mr Nour appeared on course to finally take a greater role in Egyptian politics with a new party, Al Ghad Al Thawra, but the group only won two of the 498 seats in the new parliament because many liberals were suspicious of his associations with Brotherhood figures.
Nonetheless, Mr Nour remains a frequent commentator in the media, sometimes for controversy but also for his pithy predictions.
A month before the 2011 uprising, Mr Nour remembers saying that "Egypt was pregnant in its eighth month" and that the baby would be a "revolution".
On Thursday afternoon, before the mass protests scheduled for tomorrow, he said that "Egypt has a false pregnancy and its possible that it will lead to the death of the mother and the child".
bhope@thenational.ae
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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SPECS
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The years Ramadan fell in May
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Sun jukebox
Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)
This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.
Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)
The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.
Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)
Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.
Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)
Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.
Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)
An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.
Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)
Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The design
The protective shell is covered in solar panels to make use of light and produce energy. This will drastically reduce energy loss.
More than 80 per cent of the energy consumed by the French pavilion will be produced by the sun.
The architecture will control light sources to provide a highly insulated and airtight building.
The forecourt is protected from the sun and the plants will refresh the inner spaces.
A micro water treatment plant will recycle used water to supply the irrigation for the plants and to flush the toilets. This will reduce the pavilion’s need for fresh water by 30 per cent.
Energy-saving equipment will be used for all lighting and projections.
Beyond its use for the expo, the pavilion will be easy to dismantle and reuse the material.
Some elements of the metal frame can be prefabricated in a factory.
From architects to sound technicians and construction companies, a group of experts from 10 companies have created the pavilion.
Work will begin in May; the first stone will be laid in Dubai in the second quarter of 2019.
Construction of the pavilion will take 17 months from May 2019 to September 2020.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Hydrogen: Market potential
Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.
"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.
Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.
The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.
if you go
The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.
The trip
Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
Read more about the coronavirus
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Company%20Profile
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