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Egypt Provides Digital Transformation Training to Mosque Preachers

The Egyptian Minister of Endowments leads the activities of an “educational camp”, organized by the ministry in Alexandria. (Photo: Egyptian Endowments website)
The Egyptian Minister of Endowments leads the activities of an “educational camp”, organized by the ministry in Alexandria. (Photo: Egyptian Endowments website)
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Egypt Provides Digital Transformation Training to Mosque Preachers

The Egyptian Minister of Endowments leads the activities of an “educational camp”, organized by the ministry in Alexandria. (Photo: Egyptian Endowments website)
The Egyptian Minister of Endowments leads the activities of an “educational camp”, organized by the ministry in Alexandria. (Photo: Egyptian Endowments website)

Egypt will train mosque imams and preachers on digital transformation and cyberspace, in an endeavor to improve their capabilities and maximize their communication skills.

The training on computer and digital transformation will kick off on Saturday at the International Endowment Academy for Training and Rehabilitation of Imams in Giza.

The Egyptian Ministry of Endowments (Awqaf) said that the program was aimed at enhancing scientific excellence and knowledge among the imams and the ministry’s employees.

Egyptian Minister of Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa inaugurated in January the International Awqaf Academy (IAA), a training institute for imams and preachers in the governorate of Giza.

In a speech on the occasion, the minister said that the Academy was a starting point toward moving forward with the call “to renew Islamic discourse to face an intellectual stalemate and extremism.”

The IAA was built on an area of 11,000 square meters for 100 million Egyptian pounds ($5.6 million), funded by the Ministry of Endowments, and fitted with modern equipment and computer rooms.

The initiative came upon the directives of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, who had called for developing training programs for imams and preachers, to improve their capabilities and communication skills.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.