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Egypt Bans Niqab For Cairo University Teaching Staff

This file photo shows a woman standing outside Cairo University where women staff are banned from wearing the niqab (AFP)
This file photo shows a woman standing outside Cairo University where women staff are banned from wearing the niqab (AFP)
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Egypt Bans Niqab For Cairo University Teaching Staff

This file photo shows a woman standing outside Cairo University where women staff are banned from wearing the niqab (AFP)
This file photo shows a woman standing outside Cairo University where women staff are banned from wearing the niqab (AFP)

A top Egyptian court backed a decision introduced in 2015 by a previous head of Cairo University to ban female academic staff from wearing the niqab. The ruling is final and cannot be subject to appeal.

Egypt’s official news agency said on Monday the Administrative Judiciary Court rejected an appeal, filed by 80 niqabi researchers at Cairo University, against a previous decision banning them from the face veil on campus.

Niqab, a piece of cloth worn by some Muslim women, covers the entire face except for the eyes.

Egypt's State Commissioners Authority (SCA) has recommended upholding the ban decision.

It said niqab affects the education process and communication between students and the teaching staff.

Accordingly, the Administrative Judiciary Court rejected appeals against a 2016 lower court verdict banning the niqab on grounds that it impeded interaction between students and teachers.

The court based its ruling on article 96 of the law regulating universities and which obliges teaching staff to adhere to university traditions.

It said, “If the general principle is that the public employee has the freedom to choose the dress he wears during his work provided that the dress has appropriate respect for the dignity of the job, then this freedom may carry restrictions stipulated by laws and regulations, administrative decisions, administrative custom or traditions of the job."

The court concluded that some female faculty members wearing the niqab during lectures do not achieve direct communication with students, in violation of the law.

The case goes back to 2015, when the ban was introduced by a previous head of Cairo University, two years after the 2013 military ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Cairo University current head Mohamed Othman Elkhosht was quoted by local media on Monday as saying his institution respected decisions taken by the judiciary but did not specify if the ban would be enforced.

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Arab World

Lebanon’s Berri Rejects ‘Buffer Zones,’ Warns Against Negotiating ‘Under Fire’

People check debris of a destroyed house that was hit on Thursday in an Israeli airstrike in Arab Salim village, southern Lebanon, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP)
People check debris of a destroyed house that was hit on Thursday in an Israeli airstrike in Arab Salim village, southern Lebanon, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP)
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Lebanon’s Berri Rejects ‘Buffer Zones,’ Warns Against Negotiating ‘Under Fire’

People check debris of a destroyed house that was hit on Thursday in an Israeli airstrike in Arab Salim village, southern Lebanon, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP)
People check debris of a destroyed house that was hit on Thursday in an Israeli airstrike in Arab Salim village, southern Lebanon, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP)

Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri rejected the establishment of any “buffer zones or security belts” in South Lebanon, stressing that the state bears responsibility for protecting and defending the area and rebuilding what has been destroyed by Israeli attacks.

He also renewed his opposition to direct negotiations with Israel “under fire,” arguing that previous rounds of talks had produced no results.

In a speech marking the 48th anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Moussa al-Sadr, Berri declared that “civil peace, national unity and the Lebanese Army are red lines that must not be crossed or undermined,” reaffirming his commitment to the army’s authority in the South, alongside UN peacekeeping forces.

He rejected attempts to cast doubt on the army’s role and called for it to be provided with all necessary support.

“The South is an integral part of Lebanon, and responsibility for protecting and defending it alongside its people, and for rebuilding what Israeli aggression has destroyed, rests with the state,” Berri declared. “We will not accept buffer zones or security belts in the South.”

Turning to negotiations with Israel, he reiterated his warning against direct talks while hostilities continue.

“We warned against direct negotiations with Israel under fire, while the rounds of negotiations have yielded no results,” he noted.

He also renewed his opposition to the “framework agreement” between Lebanon and Israel, declaring: “We had exercised our democratic right to reject the agreement, and we maintain that position.”

He said that the current stage, given “existential risks facing South Lebanon and the country as a whole, does not give anyone the right to act on any sovereign issue under any designation, whether a framework agreement or secret articles.”

Berri also stressed his opposition to relinquishing Lebanon’s right to prosecute Israel over “crimes of genocide” committed against South Lebanon.

He argued that the war with Israel “requires a national approach removed from any regional, partisan, sectarian or confessional considerations,” warning against attempts to push Lebanon toward internal divisions.

“What Israel seeks is not Hezbollah, its weapons, the Amal Movement or the Shiite community. Israel wants strife,” he asserted, adding that “Lebanon represents the antithesis of Israel’s racism.”

He urged the Lebanese to avoid internal conflict, saying: “Do not lose Lebanon to internal wars, divisions, or fatal political or security missteps.”

On domestic affairs, Berri reaffirmed his commitment to the Taif Agreement, maintaining that “all partition and federalism projects are incompatible with this accord.”

His remarks come amid growing domestic political debate over sovereign and security issues and the future of South Lebanon, as Israeli attacks continue and the negotiating track remains deadlocked.

On regional developments, Berri expressed “support for all Arab and Pakistani efforts to end tensions and establish stability in the Gulf region.”

He also paid tribute to “all brotherly and friendly countries that have stood and continue to stand by Lebanon.”

Arab World

Iraq PM Rejects Proposal to Maintain Coalition Troops Beyond Sept. 30 Deadline

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi. (INA)
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi. (INA)
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Iraq PM Rejects Proposal to Maintain Coalition Troops Beyond Sept. 30 Deadline

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi. (INA)
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi. (INA)

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has rejected a proposal to keep some international anti-ISIS coalition forces in Iraq beyond the September 30 deadline for their withdrawal, announced government spokesman Haider al-Aboudi.

He also stressed that Baghdad was closely monitoring regional developments but would not become part of the conflict.

Speaking at a news conference Monday, al-Aboudi confirmed that the withdrawal of coalition forces and the handover of their positions to Iraqi forces were proceeding as planned.

“The government is looking ahead to September 30, which represents an important milestone for the sovereignty of the Iraqi state and people,” he told Iraq's state news agency INA, adding that the date would mark “the complete end of the international coalition mission’s presence on Iraqi territory.”

On efforts to bring all weapons under state control, al-Aboudi stressed that the government was moving ahead with measures to regulate arms and unify decision-making, describing the issue as a top priority and a cornerstone of national sovereignty.

He noted that the Iraqi Constitution grants the armed forces exclusive authority over arms and prohibits the formation of armed groups outside the official security establishment.

Talks with armed factions were progressing positively and within the designated timetable, he added, indicating that the issue would be resolved before September 30.

Government decisions were based on national interests, he said.

Al-Aboudi announced that al-Zaidi would visit Paris and Berlin in the first half of September at the invitation of European officials, with security among the issues on the agenda.

Turning to the economy, the spokesman outlined the government’s strategy to diversify revenue sources and secure essential requirements. Iraqi exports were proceeding normally at more than 2 million barrels per day, he added.

The cabinet is expected to vote on the 2027 budget in September.

The government is continuing its campaign against corruption, pursuing suspects and seeking to cut off its sources, al-Aboudi underlined. He pointed to the value of recovered funds as evidence of unprecedented progress.

Arab World

10 Syria Security Personnel Wounded in Clashes in Sweida

A Syrian army officer puts on his blast suit during a demining operation, by the Syrian Ministry of Defense's military engineering department, to clear land mines in Qarah in the Damascus countryside on August 23, 2026. (AFP)
A Syrian army officer puts on his blast suit during a demining operation, by the Syrian Ministry of Defense's military engineering department, to clear land mines in Qarah in the Damascus countryside on August 23, 2026. (AFP)
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10 Syria Security Personnel Wounded in Clashes in Sweida

A Syrian army officer puts on his blast suit during a demining operation, by the Syrian Ministry of Defense's military engineering department, to clear land mines in Qarah in the Damascus countryside on August 23, 2026. (AFP)
A Syrian army officer puts on his blast suit during a demining operation, by the Syrian Ministry of Defense's military engineering department, to clear land mines in Qarah in the Damascus countryside on August 23, 2026. (AFP)

Clashes with local armed groups in Syria's Druze-majority province of Sweida left 10 government security personnel wounded, state media reported Tuesday.

The unrest, which took place on Monday, came after two civilians were killed in similar clashes west of Sweida city, according to two local security sources.

Syrian state television, citing the Internal Security Command in Sweida province, said the number of wounded personnel had risen to 10 after "outlaw groups" targeted points in the Tal Hadid area and the Walgha axis.

State media had previously reported that four were wounded "while confronting attacks by outlaw groups in the western countryside of Sweida".

Sweida city and other parts of the southern province are under the control of local armed groups and constitute the last areas outside the power of Syria's new authorities, who are seeking to extend their rule across the entire country after toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024.

Among those groups is the so-called National Guard, which is affiliated with Druze Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri.

In a statement on Monday night, the group accused government forces of "firing a number of mortar shells and indiscriminately firing 23mm machine guns... with the aim of harming civilians", adding that a child was wounded as a result.

The group said it was "responding to the sources of fire with appropriate means".

Government forces and Druze armed groups had been exchanging fire since Saturday night, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday.

A Druze security source told AFP on condition of anonymity that a shell launched Sunday from a government-controlled area "targeted the outskirts of the city of Sweida, striking a tractor and killing two people on board, the driver and a woman who was with him".

Tensions have been high in Sweida since clashes between Druze and government-aligned forces last year led to some of the worst communal violence since the fall of Assad.