Cairo International Book Fair to Hit Record Number of Visitors

Visitors at the Cairo International Book Fair. (Photo: the official page of the Cairo Book Fair on Facebook)
Visitors at the Cairo International Book Fair. (Photo: the official page of the Cairo Book Fair on Facebook)
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Cairo International Book Fair to Hit Record Number of Visitors

Visitors at the Cairo International Book Fair. (Photo: the official page of the Cairo Book Fair on Facebook)
Visitors at the Cairo International Book Fair. (Photo: the official page of the Cairo Book Fair on Facebook)

The 55th edition of the Cairo International Book Fair is expected to hit a record number of visitors this year. Held at the Egypt International Exhibition Center, from January 25 to February 6, the event lured over 1.2 million visitors by Sunday.

Themed "We Create Knowledge, We Preserve the Word", the fair has hosted 1,200 publishers from 70 countries, and welcomed over one million visitors within its first days, a record compared to the previous years, according to a statement by the Egyptian Culture Ministry.

“The number of visitors reached 404,931 on the third day,” said Nevine el-Kilani, minister of Culture, noting in a statement that “this large audience indicates that this edition is exceptional and remarkable in the fair’s history.”

Dr. Ahmed Bahi El-Din, head of the General Egyptian Book Authority, stated that “the attendees of the fair were 404,931 within the three first days, and increased to 1,009,983 so far,” noting that “the visitors have taken part in many of the cultural and artistic activities included in the fair’s program.” On the fourth day, the Cairo International Book Fair hosted 254,190 visitors, according to a statement by the ministry of culture.

The past edition of the fair (2023) welcomed 3,609,395 visitors within 14 days.



Trump Says He Will Quickly Release JFK, Robert Kennedy, MLK Assassination Files 

People attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial marking MLK Day in Washington, Jan. 16, 2023. (AP)
People attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial marking MLK Day in Washington, Jan. 16, 2023. (AP)
TT

Trump Says He Will Quickly Release JFK, Robert Kennedy, MLK Assassination Files 

People attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial marking MLK Day in Washington, Jan. 16, 2023. (AP)
People attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial marking MLK Day in Washington, Jan. 16, 2023. (AP)

President-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday he would release classified documents in the coming days related to the assassinations of US President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Trump, who returns to the White House on Monday, promised on the campaign trail to release classified intelligence and law enforcement files on the 1963 assassination of JFK, as America's 35th president is widely known.

He had made a similar promise during his 2017 to 2021 term, and he did in fact release some documents related to JFK's 1963 slaying. But he ultimately bowed to pressure from the Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation, and kept a significant chunk of documents under wraps, citing national security concerns.

"In the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other topics of great public interest," Trump said at a rally in downtown Washington, the day before he takes office for a second, non-consecutive term.

Trump did not specify which documents would be released, and he did not promise a blanket declassification. King and Robert Kennedy were both assassinated in 1968.

The JFK assassination, in particular, is a source of enduring fascination in the United States. The murder has been attributed to a sole gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, and the Justice Department and other federal government bodies have reaffirmed that conclusion in the intervening decades. But polls show many Americans believe his death was a result of a wider conspiracy.

Trump's health and human services secretary-designate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of Robert Kennedy and nephew of JFK, has said he believes the CIA was involved in his uncle's death, an allegation the agency has described as baseless.

Kennedy Jr. has also said he believes his father was killed by multiple gunmen, an assertion that contradicts official accounts.