Egypt’s 2011 uprising has become synonymous with the successful use of social media to overthrow an entrenched authoritarian regime. Popular and academic literature hold it up as the paradigm of social media’s effects on contentious politics. Activists from Bahrain and Turkey to Ukraine and St. Louis learned and applied Egyptian protest tactics. 

The 1st River Nile Dragon Boat Festival, a unique event ever held in Egypt that combines sport and culture together, kicked off on Saturday. "The event is a new chapter in the Egyptian-Chinese cultural and civilization intermingling," said Atef Abdel Hamid, Governor of Cairo.

In an attempt to enrich relationships between Egypt and Tunisia, the Ministry of Youth and Sports organised a cultural exchange between groups of youth in both countries under the title: “The Egyptian-Tunisian brotherhood week.” Starting in September, the Tunisian group travelled to Egypt for a week to learn about Egyptian heritage and culture. By visiting the most famous touristic places, the group was able to see a glorified picture of Egypt.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is in Delhi for talks, his second visit since he attended the India-Africa conference last October. In an e-mail interview to The Hindu’s Diplomatic Editor Suhasini Haidar, he speaks of cooperating with India on regional challenges from terror, indicating a shift from the critical line adopted by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Masafat (Distances) is a two-part international festival held in London and Cairo and organized by London’s Thirty Three Thirty Three in partnership with the ICA and Cairo’s VENT. In September, both cities will see four days of music, film, talks and events showcasing “the best in forward-thinking underground culture, promoting cultural and artistic exchange between the two regions,” according to the event description. 

Representatives from Egypt, other African nations and Japan met in Nairobi, Kenya, for the launch of the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Summit. According to TICAD’s official website, the conference aims to highlight the importance and urgency of development issues in the African continent, as well as to “promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners.”

Etihad Airways and Arab Film Festival Australia are joining forces again in 2016 to bring the best of contemporary Arab cinema to Australian audiences. The 13th annual Arab Film Festival Australia opened in Sydney showcasing diverse films from Australia, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine and Syria. [...] The festival will travel to Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Perth over the next three weeks.

“But contrary to the cliche ‘the importance of the visit is the visit itself,'” he says, nearly quoting Peri verbatim, “it would seem that Sissi decided to open a public diplomatic channel with Israel, at the end of which he’s likely to invite Netanyahu for a visit to Cairo. Because Egypt and Israel have joint interests, only some of which are in the defense department.”