Latest from Egypt Independent
Egypt Independent
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
An Indian family's fight to save this mother from execution in war-torn Yemen
CNN — Relatives of an Indian nurse on death row in war-torn Yemen are racing against time to commute her death sentence, in a case that has gripped India's media. Nimisha Priya was sentenced to death for the murder of her former business partner, a Yemeni national, whose body was discovered in a water tank in 2017. Her execution was initially scheduled for Wednesday, but Indian government sources said on Tuesday she had been given a last minute reprieve. She was given the death penalty by a court in capital Sanaa in 2020 and her family has been fighting for her release since, complicated by the lack of formal ties between New Delhi and the Huthis, who have controlled the city since the country's civil war broke out in 2014. India's media has devoted significant coverage to the case and human rights groups have called on the Huthis not to carry it out. Amnesty International on Monday urged the Huthis to 'establish a moratorium on all executions and commute (Priya's) and all existing death sentences as first steps.' It added: 'The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.' Priya's mother Prema Kumari, a domestic laborer from Kerala, who sold her home to fund her daughter's legal fees, has been in Yemen for more than one year to facilitate negotiations for her release. She last saw Priya on June 18, she told CNN. 'She looked tense,' Kumar said through tears. In accordance with Yemen's Islamic laws, Priya could be given clemency if the victim's family pardon her and accept her family's donation of 'diyah', often dubbed blood money, according to Samuel Joseph, a social worker assisting her family in the case. 'I am optimistic,' said Joseph, an Indian who has lived in Yemen since 1999. 'I'm spiriting the efforts here, and by god's grace, we got people who are helping. The government of India is directly involved and there's nothing more I can say at this point of time,' he told CNN. The Indian government sources said Tuesday the government has 'made concerted efforts in recent days to seek more time for the family of Ms. Nimishapriya to reach a mutually agreeable solution with the other party.' 'Despite the sensitivities involved, Indian officials have been in regular touch with the local jail authorities and the prosecutor's office, leading to securing this postponement.' Priya allegedly injected her business partner with a fatal overdose of sedatives, Joseph said. Her family maintain she was acting in self-defense and that her business partner was abusive and kept her passport from her after the country's civil war broke out. Her trial was held in Arabic and she was not provided with a translator, Joseph said. A group of activists and lawyers founded the Save Nimisha Priya Action Council in 2020 to raise money for Priya's release and negotiate with the victim's family. 'Negotiations have been a challenge,' said Rafeek Ravuthar, an activist and member of the council. 'The reality is that there is no Indian embassy, there is no mission in this country.' Rafeeq said about five million rupees (nearly $58,000) has been raised so far. In recent days, politicians from her home state of Kerala have requested India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and help secure Priya's release. 'Considering the fact this is a case deserving sympathy, I appeal to the Hon'ble Prime Minister to take up the matter,' Kerala's chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote in a letter to Modi. In February, Kirti Vardhan Singh, India's Minister of State for External Affairs told the upper house of parliament that the government 'accords the highest priority for the welfare of Indians abroad and provides all possible support to those who fall in distress including in the instant case.' He added: 'Government of India is providing all possible assistance in the case. The matter regarding any consideration towards the release of Ms. Nimisha Priya is between the family of the deceased and Ms. Nimisha Priya's family.' CNN has contacted India's foreign ministry for comment. View of Sanaa skyline, Yemen Jeremy Woodhouse/Move to Yemen Priya first arrived in Yemen in 2008, joining the ranks of more than two million people from Kerala who have sought better livelihoods across the Middle East. She found work as a nurse in a local hospital, nurturing hopes of establishing her own clinic and building a more secure future for her young daughter and husband, according to campaigners from the Save Nimisha Priya Council. Yemeni regulations, however, required foreign nationals to partner with a local to open a business. With the support of her husband, Priya borrowed from family and friends and in 2014 opened a clinic in Sanaa. 'We lived a normal happy married life,' her husband Tomy Thomas told CNN. 'My wife was very loving, hardworking and faithful in all that she did.' But her aspirations were soon overshadowed by the political conflict and turmoil that has beset Yemen for decades. That same year, Huthi rebels seized the capital, ousting the internationally recognized Saudi-backed government. By 2015, the unrest had escalated into a devastating civil war, leaving the country fractured and unstable. For foreign nationals, the deteriorating security situation made Yemen an increasingly perilous place to live and work. Many chose to evacuate, but Priya decided to remain. Those supporting her family say that she stayed on, determined to salvage the life and business she had worked hard to build. India does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with the Huthis, nor does it have an operational embassy in Yemen. All consular and diplomatic affairs related to the country are instead handled through the Indian Embassy in Djibouti, across the Red Sea. CNN has contacted the Indian embassy in Djibouti. For those working to save Priya, that meant navigating complex communication channels and facing additional hurdles in seeking help, legal aid, or protection while stranded in a nation still wracked by conflict and instability. Yemen was among the top five countries in 2024 with the highest number of executions, according to Amnesty International. Amnesty said it confirmed the Huthis carried out at least one execution in areas they control in 2024 but added that it was possible more took place. Priya's mother, Kumari, said she was 'grateful for everyone's support,' adding she is happy has been able to see Priya over the course of this year. Priya's husband and daughter remain in Kerala, hopeful for her release. 'My wife is very good, she is very loving,' Thomas said. 'That is the sole reason I am with her, supporting her and will do so till the end.'
Egypt Independent
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
Trump flails as Epstein storm rages around his government
CNN — Donald Trump very rarely loses control of his own story. But the Jeffrey Epstein saga is beyond his powers to quell. It's a new twist for the president, being at odds with the loudest and most conspiratorial faction of his MAGA movement. For once, he's becoming the victim of an out-of-control conspiracy, not the initiator of one. He looks like the insider covering up, not the ultimate outsider and deep-state destroyer. Some of MAGA's most visible personalities are speaking up. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene warned Monday of 'significant' reverberations in the movement over what some Trump supporters see as a cover-up. 'It's just a red line that it crosses for many people,' she told CNN's Manu Raju. Tensions boiling between Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and Patel's deputy, Dan Bongino, are rekindling memories of the chaos and dysfunction that scarred Trump's first term but have been less obvious in his more prolific second presidency. If anyone ought to know that the government can't issue statements of reassurance and make conspiracy theories disappear, it's Trump. He spun some of the most notorious fake intrigues in the history of American politics, from the racist fantasy about President Barack Obama's birthplace to the democracy-corroding tale that he won the 2020 election — which helped vault him back to power in 2024. But Trump's mastery of the conspiratorial didn't help attempts to squelch the Epstein drama. The Justice Department last week issued a memo insisting that there was no evidence the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender kept a client list or that he was murdered in prison. But as the president could have told Bondi, telling people there is no there there only lights the fire of conspiracy. That left the president in a worse spot Monday, as CNN reported he was increasingly frustrated about a controversy that has now gone on for almost a week and is overshadowing what the White House sees as a growing list of wins at home and abroad. The political fallout One big question is whether Trump risks damage in his own political coalition if he can't quiet the furor over the Justice Department's Epstein memo. Trump has for a decade been the most dynamic right-wing figure in the country. He's built a brand by tearing things down and crushing Washington rules. But if even he can't end a MAGA media revolt, perhaps he's entering a rocky period with a force that has long sustained him. Still, it would be unwise to underestimate his power. Trump transformed the GOP in his populist, nationalist image. Lawmakers who challenge him are often excommunicated. At Trump campaign rallies, the trust and devotion he inspired among his followers was palpable. MAGA media influencers who criticize him seem to understand that their status in the movement relies on the reflected glory of its megastar: Before Trump's recent strikes on Iran, many of them warned that he risked splitting his base by launching foreign wars — but most fell back into line when the bombs started falling. Supporters hold signs as they attend a Trump campaign in Duluth, Georgia, on October 23, 2024. Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters 'Donald Trump has a very significant hold on the Republican Party, and I think anybody that thinks that this is the end of Donald Trump's hold on the GOP is wrong,' Kristen Soltis Anderson, a Republican strategist and CNN contributor, told Kasie Hunt on 'The Arena' on Monday. Still, Anderson added that this flap could be more problematic for Trump than the ideological battles that he's forced on the GOP because it involves the issue of trust with his supporters and his outsider status. But in next year's midterm elections, when Trump won't be on the ballot, any falloff in enthusiasm among grassroots Republicans could have an impact. Steve Bannon, a Trump first-term political adviser who now presents the 'War Room' podcast, argued at the Turning Point USA conference on Friday that it wouldn't take much erosion in the MAGA base to have a dramatic effect. He said that if 10% of the movement was disaffected, the party could lose 40 House seats. That would mean a Democratic majority. What will Trump do next? It's worth watching to see whether Trump senses he's under pressure. If so, a president who is an expert at distraction may seek to stage-manage new controversies. Trump has often returned to the issue embedded in the DNA of the MAGA movement — hardline positions on immigration — to bring the gang back together. So it was not surprising to see border czar Tom Homan and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem talking tough on Sunday news shows. But those MAGA administration favorites still couldn't disguise the rumblings over Epstein, which intensified all weekend. Those rumblings were initiated in the first place by Bondi hinting earlier this year on Fox News that there could be a big reveal in the case. Trump has made strong show of support for his AG in recent days, including appearing with her at the FIFA Club World Cup Final on Sunday. She is also valuable to him and has transformed her department into a de facto personal legal firm for the president. Trump gives a thumbs up to Attorney General Pam Bondi, far right, and her partner, John Wakefield, in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday. Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images Still, if she can't quell the noise from the political base, there will be more whispers in Trump's ear about her performance. The president has soured on his Cabinet picks in such circumstances in the past. Trump wrote on social media over the weekend that Bondi was 'great' and should be allowed to do her job. But loyalty usually only works one way in the Trump administration. And one way of getting on the right side of the story would be for the president to distance himself from Bondi. CNN's White House team reported, meanwhile, that while the president doesn't want to lose Bongino over this issue because it would make his Cabinet look split, some expect the deputy FBI director will not remain in his job long term. House Speaker Mike Johnson told Raju on Monday that he still had faith in Bondi and that he trusted the president to do the right thing about the Epstein issue. The fact that the Louisiana Republican is prepared to entertain such questions shows the attorney general is under pressure. The conspiracist-in-chief True to form, Trump sought to extricate himself from the mess by starting new conspiracy theories blaming Democrats for failing to release the files years ago. This has often worked in the past to bind his coalition together. But it's not working this time. The president merely opened the way for Democrats to heap scrutiny on his decisions. 'The American people deserve to know the truth, the whole trust and nothing but the truth as it relates to this whole sordid Jeffrey Epstein matter,' House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Monday as he tried to widen MAGA splits. 'This was a conspiracy theory that Donald Trump, Pam Bondi and these MAGA extremists have been fanning the flames of for the last several years, and now the chickens are coming home to roost.' House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on Monday. J. Scott Applewhite/AP Top conservative influencers at the Turning Point conference and on Monday podcasts continued to demand answers about Epstein, where he got his money, who he was linked to and who was covering for him. All this shows that the Epstein controversy is unlikely to go away quickly. One reason why is that it's become central to an argument that Trump and his aides promoted for years that the United States is under the control of a 'deep state' of intelligence agencies, billionaire financiers and shady political forces that are orchestrating events behind the scenes. Trump tapped into this false mythology to build his own power — portraying himself as a victim of CIA and FBI plots and weaponized justice because he was the avatar of the hopes of MAGA followers across the country. Now it looks like he's siding with such supposedly rotten institutions, not bringing them down. How the Epstein storm could hurt the country But this is not just about the president and his movement. Given his position, and the chaos gripping the Justice Department, there are implications for the country. The controversy is offering a damning insight into modern politics and the contribution of a fractured media environment to the shattering of the concept of truth. The refusal of MAGA media personalities to accept that the facts do not support a cover-up around Epstein's alleged client list and his death in prison reflects an extreme version of a powerful trend — the desire of increasing numbers of citizens to choose curated truths that support what they want to believe. Trump has done more than any other politician to promote this. The corrosive nature of Trump's conspiracy-consumed government also threatens to damage the Justice Department and FBI. Vitriol ricocheting through the management suite risks detracting from the core missions of the DOJ and the bureau — which include the fair administration of justice and the protection of Americans against violent crime and terrorism. It also shows that when the purpose of such agencies is tainted by politics — as it has been under Trump — the ramifications can sometimes spin out of control. And no one in MAGA media is talking about one key issue. Many of those who voted for Trump in his more-diverse-than-usual Republican coalition last year weren't hardcore MAGA conspiracists. They were Americans frustrated with the cost-of-living crisis: the price of groceries, rent, child care and education. How is this political saga over a wild conspiracy about a dead and accused sex offender going over with them? It seems unlikely it will be top of mind when they show up at the polls next November to decide the fate of Republican congressional majorities.
Egypt Independent
17 hours ago
- Business
- Egypt Independent
Tesla to hold shareholder vote on whether to invest in xAI
New York CNN — Tesla will hold a shareholder vote on whether Elon Musk's carmaker should invest in his artificial intelligence startup xAI, the billionaire said Sunday. 'If it was up to me, Tesla would have invested in xAI long ago,' Musk said in a post on his social media platform X, which itself is a part of xAI. 'We will have a shareholder vote on the matter.' Musk has been pouring resources from his other companies into xAI as he seeks to compete with AI leaders like OpenAI, Meta and Google. In March, xAI acquired X, which it already used for training data and to distribute its chatbot, Grok. And on Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk's space company, SpaceX, is set to invest $2 billion into xAI. Securing an investment for xAI from Tesla could be somewhat more complicated, given that it is a publicly traded company, and one whose investors have already been antsy about Musk's priorities in recent months. Tesla shareholders concerned with the scale of Musk's political involvement — as well as his leadership role in at least three other companies — have called for him to dedicate at least 40 hours per week to his role as Tesla CEO, or for the board to set 'ground rules' around his outside activities. Musk previously pushed back on the idea that Tesla could merge with xAI. Shares of Tesla (TSLA) ticked up slightly early Monday but remain down more than 16% from the start of the year. Tesla said last week that it will hold its annual shareholder meeting on November 6 — an announcement that came after dozens of angry shareholders demanded to know why it was taking so long to schedule the event. xAI has rapidly racked up significant investment, and not just from Musk's own companies. Last May, it raised $6 billion from investors including Sequoia Capital, Andreesen Horowitz, and Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, boosting its valuation to $24 billion. When xAI bought X in March, Musk said the value of the combined company was $80 billion. More recently, xAI has sought to raise $10 billion at a valuation of $200 billion, Bloomberg has reported.
Egypt Independent
17 hours ago
- General
- Egypt Independent
This Abu Dhabi photographer is on a mission to define his country's ‘architectural identity'
CNN — When Hussain AlMoosawi arrived home, he didn't recognize anything. The Emirati photographer, who had spent eight years studying in Australia, returned to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2013. He'd missed a real estate boom of dizzying proportions: not just new buildings, but new districts. More than that, the buildings of his childhood were disappearing, replaced by shiny new skyscrapers. But for AlMoosawi, these international icons were not the urban fabric of his home: it was the oft-overlooked, mid-century office towers and residential blocks squeezed between new highways and overshadowed by luxury developments that felt most familiar. It sparked a desire to 'understand the urban context of the UAE,' and AlMoosawi set out to meticulously document and capture these underappreciated buildings, 'and reimagine the city as if it were the '80s, the time when I was born.' Initially focusing on industrial landscapes, temporary structures and air conditioning units, he began to notice symmetry in many of the buildings he was photographing, inspiring his current project: facades. 'Facades are like a face,' said AlMoosawi. 'It's something that people connect with.' His bold, geometric images strip away context to spotlight the character and diversity of everyday buildings. Using a telephoto lens to shoot close-ups from the ground or elevated positions, AlMoosawi carefully frames out distractions and sometimes removes minor obstructions like lampposts in post-processing. So far, the 41-year-old, who is editor-in-chief for National Geographic AlArabiya Magazine, has photographed over 600 buildings across the UAE, and next year hopes to complete his collection in Abu Dhabi, where he lives. In the long term, he hopes to turn the 'lifetime project' into an interactive archive that both preserves urban heritage and invites viewers to rediscover their own city. 'Our cities aren't big, in terms of scale, compared to many other cities,' said AlMoosawi. 'But then they have a story to tell, they have things between the lines that we don't see, and my quest is to see these things.' A 'hybrid' design history The AlOmaira Building, built in the 1980s, has a minimalist, modern facade that hides sunken windows between protruding rectangles to provide privacy and shade. Hussain AlMoosawi The glass facade of the AlJazeera Tower, completed in 2014, features recurring geometric patterns. Hussain AlMoosawi Born in 1984, AlMoosawi grew up during a period of rapid development: the UAE was formed a little over a decade earlier, and the discovery of oil in 1958 had led to significant urban expansion and an influx of foreign workers. While many early buildings were designed by Western architects, the 1970s and '80s saw more Middle Eastern and South Asian architects moving to the UAE, particularly from Egypt and India, said George Katodrytis, a professor of architecture at the American University of Sharjah, who has lived in the UAE for 25 years. This multicultural history is reflected in its architectural identity, 'which is different than the West and is not completely Islamic, in its patterns and formal language,' he added. Buildings from the early days of the UAE fused modernist forms — like precast concrete facades — with climate adaptations, social customs, and Arabian and Islamic design features like arches and domes, creating a 'hybrid' identity, said Katodrytis. Katodrytis sees a distinctive style emerging in Emirati facades of the 1970s and '80s, with features like recessed balconies creating a 'jigsaw puzzle' effect that reflects cultural preferences for privacy and heavily shaded outdoor space. 'It's not what we expect Islamic architecture to be, from a textbook or history, but it's more of an informal interpretation,' said Katodrytis. The twin AlBahr towers in Abu Dhabi, completed in 2012, put a contemporary spin on the traditional shading methods of mashrabiya. AlMoosawi points to its 'traditional' ochre hues, which he says are rarely seen in buildings after the 1980s, as a call back to the city's mid-century architecture. Hussain AlMoosawi Like the rest of the UAE, Abu Dhabi has continued to expand over the past few decades. Between 1975 and 2019, its urban area grew from just 54 square kilometers to 758 square kilometers, and according to government data, the city saw a 66% increase in the number of residential and non-residential units between 2011 and 2023. In recent years, 'mega projects' such as Yas Island and Saadiyat Island have added new residential and business hubs to the ever-evolving city. Construction methods, materials and styles have changed significantly in the past 30 years, but Katodrytis can see an 'indirect' legacy in some of the city's recent structures, which have some similarities to designs from the 1980s, rather than those from the 2000s: 'The facades have more thickness, less glass, and it's a little bit more three-dimensional.' Projects like the Abrahamic Family House, an interfaith complex featuring a mosque, church, and synagogue, and Louvre Abu Dhabi, offer more subtle inflections of Arabian design, focusing more on the geometry and abstract shapes often seen in the city's 20th-century architecture. The buildings also reflect the city's distant past, when low-rise settlements centered around shared courtyards. And while many buildings from the 20th century have been seen as outdated, and even demolished to make way for new construction, there's been some changing sentiment around modern heritage. At the 2014 Venice Biennale, the UAE's exhibition highlighted 1970s-1980s residential architecture and its connection to the country's cultural identity. Since then, each Emirate has started to review its approach to urban conservation: in Abu Dhabi, 64 sites were given 'unconditional protection' in 2023, including the Cultural Foundation, a 1980s building that was earmarked for demolition in 2010 before it was ultimately refurbished. 'The interesting thing is that (many of) these buildings are not necessarily big, iconic buildings. They're middle class, even workers' housing from the '60s and '70s. So it's a different social, cultural value, which now has been elevated,' said Katodrytis. In 2024, this was formalized in a national policy that focuses on identifying, documenting, and protecting modern architectural heritage in the UAE. 'In urban planning, if the value of the land supersedes the value of the building, then the building has no relevant value, and so it's demolished to be replaced by another building,' said Katodrytis. 'Now, the historic value of the building supersedes the economic value.' A fresh perspective Many of the buildings on Airport Road in Abu Dhabi date back to the 1970s and '80s, and feature Arabian arches and repeating, symmetrical geometries. Hussain AlMoosawi Other photographers have also been documenting the Emirates' urban history: two European expatriates, known by their Instagram handle @abudhabistreets, are showcasing a side of the city beyond well-known landmarks, in a bid to reveal the cultural fabric and the city's ever-evolving identity; and architecture professor and photographer Apostolos Kyriazis spent two years documenting Abu Dhabi's public spaces for a joint research project. For AlMoosawi, buildings from the '70s and '80s are deeply nostalgic, evoking memories of his grandmother's low-rise home in Old Dubai, now a commercial center. The project has revealed to him 'a clear architectural identity' that he's found resonates with others, too. His next challenge is working out how to organize and categorize the buildings. Finding information on buildings, like the architect or even the construction date, can be tricky, especially for older and less well-known residences, AlMoosawi said. 'I had the idea to put it out there as an interactive archive,' he said. 'What I want is people to interact with these pictures. We have many people who lived in these buildings. They might have old pictures of them. So they could add more information, add more visual data, and you never know what you might get.' By the end of the project, he expects to have photographed around 2,000 buildings — and hopes the project will inspire people to look again at the urban landscapes close to home that many of us take for granted. 'I have many people who tell me, 'We've always lived here, we've never seen that,'' he added. This story has been updated to reflect how long Hussain AlMoosawi studied in Australia.
Egypt Independent
20 hours ago
- Business
- Egypt Independent
FM praises strategic, comprehensive partnership between Egypt, EU
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptians Abroad Badr Abdelatty praised the positive developments in Egypt-European Union (EU) relations, emphasizing the strategic and comprehensive partnership between the two sides. He highlighted the recent approval by the European Parliament and the European Council of the second tranche of the EU's macro-financial assistance package to Egypt, valued at €4 billion, as a reflection of this partnership. This came during Abdelatty's meeting on Monday, July 14th, 2025, with European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica, on the sidelines of the 5th Ministerial Meeting between EU Foreign Ministers and their Southern Neighborhood counterparts, held in Brussels. Abdelatty said Egypt holds it as a priority to enhance economic, trade, and investment relations with the EU and to follow up on the outcomes of the EU-Egypt Investment Conference held in June 2024. The meeting also featured a discussion on the upcoming Mediterranean Charter, which the EU plans to launch by the end of this year to promote political dialogue and stronger partnerships with Southern Mediterranean countries. Additionally, he called for enhancing free trade by removing barriers to Egyptian exports entering European markets, establishing legal migration channels, and facilitating access to the European labor market. He also stressed the need to work collectively toward de-escalating tensions in the region to foster peace and stability.
