I happened to be in al-Duweir village, Assiut governorate, with friends and family when we heard the shocking news of the bombing of the two churches. We had just been exchanging well wishes for Palm Sunday and Easter, and suddenly everything changed as the magnitude of the crime and casualties became apparent. This isn’t the first terrorist crime or the first time our churches have been targeted. But coming on Palm Sunday, with the terrifying number of victims and speculation that Pope Tawadrus was a target in the Alexandria bombing, compounded the trauma and seemed to suggest we’re on the cusp of a new stage of violence and escalation, a readiness to overstep all religious, human, and even political red lines.

In October 2015, the Economist published a piece titled the Sad State of Egyptian Liberals. It said liberals in this country were in crisis and enumerated the reasons: internal divisions (most of them due to strong egos) lack of money, inexperience, and a terminology that proved alien to most Egyptians. More specifically, a “limited government” was a foreign idea the Egyptians did not understand. The alien terminology argument is debatable. I would rather say, for instance, that Egyptians (at least the elites and the urban and rural middle classes) understand quite well what constitutes a “limited government,” but they, rightly or wrongly, do not consider this to be a top priority.

In 1939, the relentless Nazi bombardment of Warsaw destroyed the city’s zoo. What the Nazis didn’t know, however, is that what they had destroyed was not an ordinary zoo, but the extraordinary creation of an unusual Christian Polish couple, Jan and Antonina Zabinski. Thanks to them and their son Ryszard’s efforts, approximately 300 Jewish women, men, and children were saved from certain death.

Often the media occupies itself with the minutiae of current events without giving the reader enough basic information. The ongoing dispute over laws governing the judiciary is a good example. So let me first outline the issue as I understand it before proposing an opinion. Several laws regulate judicial bodies in Egypt. Currently, the presidents of the Court of Cassation, the State Council, and the State Litigation Authority are appointed by presidential decree after consulting the general assembly or supreme council of each of these three bodies—that is, with the participation of senior members of those judicial bodies. Nominees for the position are customarily chosen on the basis of seniority.

Before the gates of a fascinating building overlooking Lake Geneva stand sculptures depicting the struggles of workers against exploitation and glorifying those who labour. This is somewhat perplexing as the statues now decorate the building of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)—the body that took over the premises of the International Labour Organisation in blunt symbolism of the path of the 20th century.

The whole region and the international sphere is flooded with suggestions aiming at exerting pressure on the Palestinian side while Netanyahu is attempting, through his usual machinations, to pass Israeli projects to gradually liquidate the Palestinian cause via regional and international channels. It is a must that the Palestinians or those speaking in their name stay alert to the dangerous propositions that are being propagated by diplomatic circles.

I have numerous memories that date back to the end of the 1990s in Jabal Al-Halal, located 60 kilometres south of Al-Arish. We visited the mountain a few days ago after the elimination of terrorists who used to take shelter in it until mid-February. It was named “Halal” because of the camels and sheep that used to graze in the pastures surrounding the mountain.

The talk about conspiracy is not new. For decades, all the rulers of the 1952 school of thinking talked about conspiracy. Sometimes it was an imperial plot, sometimes it was a communist one. The funny thing about conspiracies is that supporters of the regime believe that conspiracies have expanded over the past years to include several parties, ranging from the Islamic State (IS) to Germany, all the way through Qatar, Israel, Turkey, the US, Britain, Russia, and Italy.

After President Trump banned citizens of seven, now six, Muslim-majority, “terror-prone” countries from entering the US, all Muslims travelling to or even living in the US have become apprehensive. Some of these Muslims may have lived all their lives in the US, travelled to and from the US dozens of times, or even been born in the US. However, the concern related to how a Muslim will be treated or looked at when entering the US, even if he isn’t from the six identified countries, is real.

How do banks currently determine the exchange rate? If the Egyptian pound was tradable in the forex market like the dollar, euro or yen, it would have been much easier to grasp. Currencies listed in the forex market get bought ‎and sold by individuals, entities, investors, companies, banks, and central banks; accordingly the announced exchange rate is ‎a combination of several economic and financial views that leads to the depreciation, stability, and appreciation in the value of the ‎currency.

I guess it is perfectly normal for the government to halt distribution of school meals after thousands of students were thought poisoned by them and to request an immediate investigation into what happened and who is responsible. I fear, however, that we’ll end up pointing the finger at a few workers involved in making or storing the contaminated meals without taking the opportunity to reconsider this important issue in its entirety.

The photograph is the image of desolation. In a room that seems to have been devastated by a hurricane, shattered windows and furniture, debris everywhere, and a few torn and winding curtains that remain as mute witnesses to the disaster, a man sitting on his bedroom bed smokes a pipe while listening to a record.

US president Donald J. Trump’s vow to defeat what he terms radical Islamic terrorism forces the United States to maneuver the Middle East and North Africa’s murky world of ever shifting alliances and labyrinth of power struggles within power struggles.

The 18th century English writer, Alexander Pope, once said: “a little learning is a dangerous thing.” Much has changed in the 300 years since then, but our propensity to make decisions based on hunches and incomplete information has not.

I will reach you in just a few minutes,” a driver of one of the new transportation application companies told me recently—which concluded in my being picked up half an hour later. The dilemma of such applications is that most of the drivers don’t take into account the fact that the application technology determines their locations and the time required to reach their customers. The Uber and Careem applications transmit to customers a transparent image of what is happening behind the scenes within their companies, thus highlighting the deficiencies inherent in Egyptian work attitudes.

The recent spate of terrorist attacks on Copts in Sinai did not come as a surprise to those who have followed terrorist activities there during the last two years and who perceive the roots of the extremist groups that operate there.

Egypt now needs political liberalism, since social conditions, public opinion awareness and the complexification of its infrastructure call for it. And yet there is no serious prospect for a new try. There is more than a grain of truth in this. Nevertheless, like all sharp dichotomies, it rests on some exaggeration. Political liberalism, at its Egyptian birth, provided some great landowners and some new professions (lawyers, for example) with weapons targeting both khedivial autocracy and backwardness.

In the war against terrorism, it’s not just government agencies and military personnel who are on the front lines. Bankers can also play an important role in fighting terrorism. That’s because terrorism needs money to survive and thrive. Although terrorists are increasingly using alternative financial methods, the banking system continues to be the most reliable and efficient way to move funds internationally. Vigilant banks can hit terrorists where it hurts by preventing them from using the financial system to fund their operations.

Common wisdom has it that ultimately failed or troubled popular revolts in 2011 in the Middle East and North Africa have sparked bloody civil wars and violent extremism, and given autocracy a new lease on life. Indeed, there is no denying that a brutal civil war in Syria has killed hundreds of thousands and dislocated millions. Iraq, like Syria, is seeking to defeat the Islamic State (IS), the most vicious jihadist movement in recent history. Sectarianism and religious supremacism are ripping apart the fabric of societies in the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond.

A few days ago, the London-based Economist published a story on improvements in the Egyptian economy resulting from recent government decisions and the IMF deal. The venerable economics magazine saw the growth in demand on government bonds by foreign investors, increased remittances from Egyptians working abroad, a bump in exports, and higher dollar reserves with the Central Bank as signs of improvement.