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Varieties

El Gouna Film Festival Unveils Highlights of 6th Edition

Marianne Khoury, GFF artistic director, speaks during the press event. (El Gouna Film Festival).
Marianne Khoury, GFF artistic director, speaks during the press event. (El Gouna Film Festival).
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El Gouna Film Festival Unveils Highlights of 6th Edition

Marianne Khoury, GFF artistic director, speaks during the press event. (El Gouna Film Festival).
Marianne Khoury, GFF artistic director, speaks during the press event. (El Gouna Film Festival).

El Gouna Film Festival (GFF) unveiled the highlights of its sixth edition set to be held from 13 to 20 October. In a press event on Monday, the festival announced it is hosting a “film market”, for the first time, in addition to several new initiatives including the “CineGouna Emerge”.

The festival returns after a one-year hiatus, which according to Intishal al-Timimi, director of GFF, didn’t affect it, but highlighted its importance on the cinematic scene. He also noted that the void the festival left and its comeback reflected the success of its past five editions, and the sturdy foundations on which it stood since its debut in 2017.

Timimi said he’s committed to maintaining the power of GFF despite the serious competition among the Arabic film festivals, which start with the Gouna festival and ends with the Red Sea Film Festival separated by short time intervals.

This year, the Feature Narrative Competition includes 14 films. The jury of the competition is headed by Bosnian Director Jasmila Žbanić.

The GFF program also includes 12 films in the Feature Documentary Competition, 21 films in the Short Film Competition, and 17 films in the Official Selection Out of Competition section.

Also, 13 films compete for the GFF's annual Cinema for Humanity Audience Award, while five compete for El Gouna Green Star Award dedicated to the best work covering environmental causes.

Eng. Naguib Sawiris, the festival founder, said “the city of Gouna is the key behind the festival’s success. Cinema makes happiness and we need that,” noting that he’s passionate about movies and that he watches four films a day. Sawiris said the festival has succeeded since its first edition thanks to good intentions and teamwork.

Marianne Khoury, GFF artistic director, announced that 80 films are partaking in the festival, some of them won international awards. She also said that the festival received a total of 160 submissions, and the committee selected 20 projects — 13 in development and 7 in post-production, adding that 14 films will be screened simultaneously with the GFF as part of the “Zawya Cinema”, so the audience in Cairo can watch them. Yousra, the esteemed actress and member of the International Advisory Committee, called on the media to give the festival’s major segments, workshops and events the same attention usually given to the Red Carpet.

Amr Mansi, GFF executive director, said he is betting on a different edition that serves the cinema industry and puts it on par with tourism. “We were concerned about the economic situation and the lack of sponsor, but we saw a remarkable enthusiasm from the old sponsors and those who have joined as for the first time,” he added.

The press event was also attended by filmmaker Marwan Hamed, who will be handed the 2023 Career Achievement Award; and filmmaker Amr Salamah who partakes in the festival with his film “60 Pound” in the short film competition. El Gouna Film Bridge includes a panel with artist Hend Sabry, and a lecture on production with American producer Ted Hope, in addition to a number of discussion panels on topics like influential filmmaking, storytelling and climate, and the Egyptian cinema.

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Varieties

Wildlife Rescuers Help Birds Survive Pakistan’s Hotter Summers

This photograph taken on July 7, 2026 shows kites resting inside a cage at the Margallah Wildlife Rescue Center in Islamabad. (AFP)
This photograph taken on July 7, 2026 shows kites resting inside a cage at the Margallah Wildlife Rescue Center in Islamabad. (AFP)
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Wildlife Rescuers Help Birds Survive Pakistan’s Hotter Summers

This photograph taken on July 7, 2026 shows kites resting inside a cage at the Margallah Wildlife Rescue Center in Islamabad. (AFP)
This photograph taken on July 7, 2026 shows kites resting inside a cage at the Margallah Wildlife Rescue Center in Islamabad. (AFP)

Cradling an Asian koel in his hands, wildlife officer Zaheer Ahmed gently stretched its wings as part of a health checkup to rehabilitate birds hit with dehydration or heatstroke in Pakistan's capital.

Pakistan -- one of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change -- experienced its second-warmest year since 1960 in 2025, according to government data.

Temperatures in Islamabad this summer have pushed past 40C.

"In the past, because of kite flying, the string used to damage their wings," said Sakhawat Ali, director of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board which oversees the Margallah Wildlife Rescue Centre in Islamabad.

"But for the last one or two years, most of the cases we have been receiving involve birds that are dehydrated and suffering from heat stress."

The wildlife rescue center, located at the foot of the Margalla Hills, was once the site of the notorious Islamabad Zoo where neglected elephants and underfed lions were kept in cages.

The zoo was shuttered in 2020.

On the overgrown grounds where large dinosaur sculptures still stand, wild animals have been brought in for rehabilitation from across Pakistan, including bears and monkeys abused by their private owners.

Scientists warn that extreme weather events such as heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense as a result of human-induced climate change.

Ahmed said the center can receive up to 30 calls a day in summer from locals about distressed wildlife, including birds, adding that their top priorities are to provide medical attention, food and water.

The feathered creatures are kept in quarantine, sometimes for several weeks, until they are fit to be released.

Birds face the heightened threat of forest fires, which can overlap with their breeding seasons, Ahmed said.

"Birds' nests also get burned. The birds themselves also get burned a little," says Ahmed. "So their entire habitat is being destroyed."

Ali encouraged residents to put out bowls of water for their friendly fowls to drink, bathe and keep cool.

The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, a government agency, is looking into whether climate change is disrupting birds' breeding seasons and food sources, which could diminish their populations.

Varieties

A Hidden Pipeline Brings Amazon and Walmart to African Shoppers

Djima Antaley organizes packages at Afrety headquarters in Dakar, Senegal, May 20, 2026. (Reuters)
Djima Antaley organizes packages at Afrety headquarters in Dakar, Senegal, May 20, 2026. (Reuters)
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A Hidden Pipeline Brings Amazon and Walmart to African Shoppers

Djima Antaley organizes packages at Afrety headquarters in Dakar, Senegal, May 20, 2026. (Reuters)
Djima Antaley organizes packages at Afrety headquarters in Dakar, Senegal, May 20, 2026. (Reuters)

No bank card? No address? No problem. Shoppers in Africa increasingly are buying online from big brands such as Amazon or Walmart even though they have no physical presence on much of the continent.

Among those benefiting from the shift are local and foreign package-forwarding companies that use technology and increasing internet penetration in Africa to overcome hurdles, including a lack of formal street addresses and customers with no access to traditional banks.

One is Senegalese startup, Afrety, which provides a snapshot of how Africa's shoppers can rely on intermediaries to buy from the United States, Europe and China and receive the package at their doorstep.

DELIVERING WITHOUT AN ADDRESS

Afrety's service provides shoppers with delivery addresses at warehouses in France, the United States and China. Multiple purchases can be consolidated for each customer and repackaged for dispatch to West Africa. On arrival, customs duties are paid, benefiting local governments.

Customers without bank cards can pay by digital, mobile money accounts that can be charged with cash at kiosks. Mobile money is used widely in Senegal, along with other parts of Africa, instead of conventional banking.

Once the packages arrive in Senegal, motorbikes and vans parked outside Afrety's depot deliver using GPS across a major city like Dakar.

"You have ‌to be very, very, ‌very flexible. That's the key word," Souane Diop, the 34-year-old CEO, told Reuters, outside his depot filled with ‌packages labelled ⁠Amazon and ⁠other international brands.

Diop said the company started in 2018 with the aim of connecting informal networks of air travelers between France and Senegal.

From small beginnings it has grown to four to five metric tons by air and two to three containers by sea each week. To keep costs low, Afrety rents its warehouse in France and uses partners in the US and China to handle trade there.

A REVOLUTION IN ONLINE SHOPPING IN AFRICA

Global logistics company Aramex is a much bigger rival, operating two platforms with overlapping services.

Whereas Afrety grew out of the deep connections between Senegal and former colonial power France, which has a large Senegalese diaspora population, Aramex in Sub-Saharan Africa relies on MyUS, which began by providing goods for US expatriates living in Africa.

Aramex acquired MyUS in 2022 and in addition runs a platform that it created, Shop and Ship, which ⁠also delivers to many countries on the continent.

Aramex Group Chief Executive Amadou Diallo told Reuters the company aims to ‌serve African customers that want choice and brands otherwise unavailable to them.

Angola is one of its ‌main destinations, but it also operates in difficult environments, notably Somalia, which has been riven by war for decades.

ONLINE GROWTH BUT FUNDS ARE FINITE

Aramex says Sub-Saharan Africa is one ‌of its fastest growing regions.

The products most in demand are electronics, apparel, toys and machinery for agriculture and auto parts. The company says it plans to ‌double revenue from shipping these and other goods there by 2030.

But constraints on growth remain. For Aramex and also Afrety, customers mostly live in or near major cities, where relative wealth is concentrated.

That is because e-commerce in Africa is largely driven by economic hubs, according to Tech Cabal Insights, a consultancy.

Internet penetration has reached around 43% of Africa's 1.5 billion people, but only a small fraction have enough income to shop online, it says. Even in Nigeria, West Africa's economic powerhouse, only 1 in 3 internet users shop ‌online.

In poorer regions like Central Africa, only about 1 in 20 people shop online, the consultancy says.

THE EXCEPTION OF SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa, the richest economy in sub-Saharan Africa, dominates the continent's internet use and stands alone ⁠in Africa for its level of online ⁠shopping.

Online retail volumes in South Africa have grown by close to 35% annually over the last five years to about 140 billion rand in 2025 ($7.26 billion), Mastercard figures show.

The growth has drawn big brands to set up their first operations in sub-Saharan Africa. Amazon launched its first online marketplace in South Africa in 2024, competing with local e-commerce giant Takealot.

The first Walmart-branded stores in Africa opened in Johannesburg last year.

When asked, neither Amazon nor Walmart commented on whether they were considering expanding to other parts of sub-Saharan Africa. They also did not respond to requests for data on sales volumes to intermediaries.

COMPETITION INTENSIFIES IN STRONG MARKETS

Even if the online giants remain absent from much of Africa, the intermediaries face other competition.

Nigerian retail company Jumia, often known colloquially as the Amazon of Africa, operates in eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa, selling consumer goods ranging from fashion to electronics to home appliances. It has yet to make a profit, but says it expects to break even this year.

Its Chief Executive Francis Dufay told Reuters that the company is fending off competition from Chinese retail giants including Temu and Shein by tailoring its services to each country, including opening local help centers and pick-up points in rural areas.

Executives at both Jumia and Aramex said Nigeria was among the African e-commerce markets with most potential.

The Nigerian government does not routinely publish e-commerce figures but has cited United Nations figures estimating the total at around $75 billion in 2025.

Aramex opened a warehouse in Nigeria in April this year. Jumia's Dufay said business there has grown by around 50% over the last quarter of 2025.

"It's still totally under-penetrated We're just at the beginning of our transformation In Nigeria," he said.

Varieties

Egg-free School Meals Scramble Politics in India

Students queue to receive lunch at a government-run primary school in Kolkata, India. Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP
Students queue to receive lunch at a government-run primary school in Kolkata, India. Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP
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Egg-free School Meals Scramble Politics in India

Students queue to receive lunch at a government-run primary school in Kolkata, India. Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP
Students queue to receive lunch at a government-run primary school in Kolkata, India. Dibyangshu SARKAR / AFP

Teacher Raja Dey fears attendance might drop now that government-run schools have stopped serving eggs for lunch in his eastern Indian state, a dietary change that has stirred a political storm.

The humble egg, a popular food in West Bengal, was taken off the menu after the state's recently elected Hindu nationalist government said a religious charity will provide free, vegetarian cooked meals in state-run schools.

The new arrangement has rekindled a long-running debate over food, faith and nutrition in the world's most populous country, with critics accusing the government of trying to turn schoolchildren vegetarian, said AFP.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, which swept to power in West Bengal for the first time in regional elections held in May, often promotes vegetarianism as a part of its nationalist agenda, although most Indian Hindus eat meat and fish.

Eggs, which Hindus generally consider non-vegetarian, are even more widely consumed.

Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, whose regional Trinamool Congress (TMC) lost May's vote after 15 years in power, has denounced the move to remove eggs from school meals as going "against the culture" of the state, home to more than 100 million people.

"The BJP government is trying to impose vegetarianism on school children," TMC lawmaker Dola Sen told AFP.

Some teachers have expressed concerns over attendance rates as well as good nutrition.

"The mid-day meals have been one of the biggest attractions in state-run primary schools," teacher Dey told AFP.

- World's largest school lunch scheme -

While there is no nationwide data linking eggs to attendance in government-run schools, Dey said that "students turn up in large numbers on days when eggs are provided".

In the southern state of Karnataka, official figures from last year showed that attendance rose from 93.5 to 98.97 percent after egg distribution had been expanded to six days a week.

In West Bengal, eggs, previously served once a week, were replaced last month with plant-based alternatives as the state government tapped the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) -- commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement -- as the new provider of school meals.

ISKCON is the leading provider of India's school lunches -- the largest such program in the world, according to the UN -- and serves only vegetarian food.

The lunch scheme is widely acknowledged to have improved enrolment rates across the country, with multiple peer-reviewed research papers identifying an increase of up to 15 percent.

There are also nutritional benefits.

A 2021 report by the International Food Policy Research Institute found that the scheme has played a key role in reducing stunting among Indian children.

With eggs off the menu, public health advocates have warned that children from poor families -- the primary target of the lunch scheme -- could lose an important source of protein and other nutrients.

- 'Gold standard' -

ISKCON has pushed back, arguing that soya chunks, cottage cheese and lentils were as nutritious.

"We will ensure that whatever nutrients a child gets from eggs will be matched or exceeded by superior quality protein and vitamins in our meals," Surovijoy Govinda Das, a senior member of ISKCON, told AFP.

The state's education minister, Dipak Barman, said that "there are many people in our country who lead a healthy life on a vegetarian diet."

Some nutritionists beg to differ.

Eggs are "the gold standard for protein quality", Sylvia Karpagam, a community health physician, told Frontline magazine.

Without "fact-based information... the country faces a looming crisis in nutrition and health outcomes", she said.

In the run-up to May's vote, TMC party members had accused Modi's BJP of seeking to ban fish and meat altogether.

The ruling party denied any such intention, but last month's menu change has revived concerns.

The matter has made it to the High Court, which has asked the state to clarify its position on handing over the lunch scheme to ISKCON. A hearing is slated for next month.