In January next year, Egypt will begin its one-year stint as chair of the African Union (AU). It will be keen to leave an imprint on the organisation commensurate with its status, and Africa as a whole is looking forward to benefitting from the leadership of a country that it regards as a cornerstone of the continent with its wealth of resources, skills and expertise. What initiatives can we look forward to during Egypt s chairmanship of the AU? Some have been initiated earlier, and then abandoned, while others are ripe for revival, helping to make Egypt s year at the head of the AU a year of unprecedented achievements.

The French nation is no stranger to strikes and protests, and the French are among those nations whose citizens organise strikes on the most regular basis. The labour unions in France wield massive powers in rallying and executing major strikes that can hit vital economic sectors such as transportation and communications.

I first went to Russia in 1969 as an exchange student. I ve studied, lived, worked and traveled there ever since. I m now considered an "expert" on Russia, a word which always strikes me as an exaggeration when it comes to understanding a country as complex as this. I remember a friend of mine who studied Russian with me. He laughingly told me once that, as he heard little Russian kids speaking the language better than he did, that if he simply gave them a gentle kick, they d speak English.

The Giletts Jaunes (Yellow Vests) protests in Paris on Saturday saw violent acts (92 people were injured, including 14 policemen), but it didn’t prevent the French government and politicians from seeking dialogue with the protesters, even if these dialogues have yet to yield any tangible progress. Giletts Jaunes emerged abruptly as a popular protest movement without a leader or a boss, rejecting parties and unions. They took to the streets for the first time on Saturday, November 17 in a protest against the increase in the price of gasoline (14 percent). The number of protesters fell and rose in the following weeks because of the violence, until it reached 75,000 protesters on Saturday.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed when I listened to al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb’s speech celebrating the birth of the Prophet (Mohamed) before President Sisi. I was waiting for the announcement of a specific practical plan to purify the Islamic heritage and renew religious discourse, which has sharply deviated from rightness and dumped us in the black swamp of terrorism, producing a mutilated monster of the Islamic religion; in Islamic costume, Islamic economy, prophetic medicine and other manifestations of nominal despicable beliefs.

When it comes to education in the Arab world, more is never enough. Do we need more schools? Definitely. More teachers? Absolutely. More efforts to help more girls to enroll? It goes without saying. However, we also need to explore issues such as quality and the contemporary crisis in much education in the region. The Arab world, part of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, has achieved enormous gains in terms of schooling and education over the past two decades. But what was regarded yesterday as a huge achievement is looked upon today with a different eye.

To mark the 116th anniversary of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, the Ministry of Antiquities organised what, to me, was a landmark event that serves to demarcate the dividing line between this venerable establishment s over a century-long past and its future as a truly modern museum, employing the latest techniques to display a unique collection of antiquities that can be seen nowhere else. We are speaking of a rebirth of a major historic museum. For some time, news of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), due to open in 2020, overshadowed the old museum and the question of its fate. GEM will be the largest museum in the world.

It is common knowledge that international relations revolve round the great powers and their relations, and that all the rest is detail or, at least, less important than the main hegemonic system that governs the spread of political influence, rivalry in war and peace, and the deterrence of other powers. It is common practice to describe the main hegemonic system in terms of the number of its poles, as in the multipolar order that prevailed between the two world wars, or the bipolar order that followed World War II and the rise of the US and the USSR to global pre-eminence, or the monopolar order such as that which was dominated by Britain from the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 until the outbreak of World War I in 1914 or that which was dominated by the US from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 until the global financial crisis in 2008.

I want to call attention to an extremely important book by an Egyptian now living in Sweden, Sameh Egyptson. Holy White Lies: The Muslim Brotherhood in the West, which appears to have been published at the author s own expense by Dar Al-Maaref, is an exhaustive study of the Muslim Brotherhood organisation s designs to assert its influence over major governmental and non-governmental institutions in the West. Its plans and strategies towards this end rely on lies, deception and doublespeak. The author uses Sweden as a case study representative of other Western countries.

I am not accustomed to attending embassy celebrations on the national days of different countries. There are more than 100 embassies in Cairo, as well as many international and regional organizations, and attending such events is not commensurate with many of the burdens. However, I was keen on attending the celebration of the Embassy of Latvia in Cairo with the centennial anniversary of the state. Latvia was one of the countries that came into existence in after World War I, on November 18, 1918. This was almost four years before the birth of the Egyptian state, which was based on the British declaration of February 28, 1922, following the Egyptian revolution of 1919, the centennial anniversary of which will be celebrated next year.

In October this year, 15 potentially explosive devices, or what are known as pipe bombs, were sent to prominent and high-ranking Americans including the Obamas and the Clintons. Film star Robert De Nero, former vice-president Joe Biden, Eric Holder, former US attorney-general, and billionaire George Soros were amongst those who received the bombs.

Many historians and political analysts view World War II as the most important event in modern world history, and few of them treat the First World War with the same respect. However, World War II had far greater impacts than are credited by these historians, and these have been pointed to as the world marks a century since the end of the First World War by the signing of the famous Armistice Agreement in November 1918. This marked the end of a bloody chapter in history that witnessed the deaths of 21 million people and paved the way for further bloodshed in World War Two.

Recent world events — take your pick — might have you wondering about where human history is headed, and by what route. You would not be alone. The fracturing of global alliances and the rise of hard-right movements like those in Hungary, Brazil and the United States have caused many of us to question the inevitability of what we generally call progress. Ecological disasters like the California wildfires, plausibly connected to climate change and suburban development, raise the specter of a human history moving inexorably toward self-destruction.

Former Culture Minister Farouk Hosni is used to responding to the accusations made against him. Since his first day at the ministry, everyone put him in the dock. He has been accused of destroying Egyptian culture, insulting intellectuals and exploiting his position to market his own paintings, which his critics see as just “children’s scrawls.” But these accusations do not bother the minister, who still considers the criticism as a proof of success; he loves the controversy surrounding his projects and works, because it increases its fame and success. So I was not surprised when I found he was holding a seminar in the salon of writer Ahsan Abdel Qoddous, which he titled “Farouk Hosni under attack”, where he called on the audience to bring accusations against him so that he could respond.

Egypt has embarked on the long-awaited mission of regaining its identity, which is a great relief to many. But relief is not enough, and embarking on a journey does not necessarily guarantee its accomplishment. Regaining a stolen identity requires a clear vision, strong will and the courage to confess, face and rebuild. Rebuilding an individual s identity can be a tough job, let alone rebuilding a whole country s distinctiveness and personality. Borrowing ideas, strategies and advice from human development experts is always a good starting point.

It was the last day of the business I had to attend to in the US during the past two months before flying back home to Cairo. I was in Rock Corner, Maine, where a retreat had been organised for post-doctorate students from Brandeis University s Crown Centre for Middle East Studies who were preparing their theses for publication as books for the general public.

He sat in the front row, next to President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, at the World Youth Forum (WYF) that opened in Sharm El-Sheikh on 3 November. The next day his picture was on the front pages of all Egyptian newspapers that were covering the event. He is Oliver Roy, a Canadian from Montreal who is currently completing his studies in Russia, in public policy.

We have a deal! Well, sort of. A mere 872 days since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, the text of the "withdrawal agreement" has been agreed on between the two sides negotiating teams. British Prime Minister Theresa May now has to persuade her Cabinet members to give her their blessing. Unfortunately for May, that s only where her headaches start. Selling the deal to the Cabinet It s long been acknowledged that the biggest problem May faces is the political reality in London. There is very little love on any side of the Brexit debate for her plan -- and that starts at Cabinet level. Draft Brexit deal reached more than two years since divisive vote

After last week s midterms, President Donald Trump faces a stark new political reality. Now that the House of Representatives has flipped to Democratic control, Trump -- for the first time -- must contend with a Congress that can and will seek to use its investigative authority to hold the administration accountable. House Democrats have formidable power and plenty of crucial oversight work to do. Most importantly, the new Congress must protect the Department of Justice from political interference -- particularly given Trump s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general. In doing so, however, House Democrats must proceed carefully to avoid (perhaps inadvertently) impeding the ongoing criminal probes being conducted by special counsel Robert Mueller and the US attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY). In short, House Democrats have a vital role to play in reining in abuses by the Trump administration, but they need to leave the prosecuting to the real prosecutors.