CAIRO/DUBAI: With steaming plates of rice and freshly sliced apples on the side, a group of Cairo-based food scientists work in their lab to decide whether the foreign grains will suit Egyptian palates.
The scientists cook and taste samples of rice on offer at state tenders before they are accepted. The process, which began late last year, has so far eliminated Indian origin rice and approved of Chinese and Vietnamese offers.
Egypt has spent $46.8 million on Chinese rice in two tenders since November. A third is ongoing.
Egyptians are major rice consumers and take pride in the quality of their local crop. But after planting less local rice in 2018 to conserve water, Egypt tapped the international market in November, requesting samples for a cooking test.
Rice is a heavily discounted staple on Egypt’s subsidy program, under which the state purchases foodstuffs that are offered to subsidy card holders, currently around 60 million people.
The scientists’ role is to ensure that the rice bought by the state is suited to familiar cooking methods and tastes.
“Here, as a unit, we are all (academic) doctors as well as mothers in our homes,” said Nahed Lotfy, director of the test kitchen. “We are all trained judges who have completed training courses.”
Samples are anonymized, said Nasra Ahmed, one of the taste testers. “We get a sample on which we have almost no information at all,” she said. “Everything arrives with a code.”
Researchers inspect grains for water absorption, color and smell. After cooking, the rice is presented to the tasters.
“We evaluate the product based on color, taste, aroma, flavor, as well as general response,” Lotfy said.
Researchers cannot wear perfume or smoke cigarettes. Sliced apples and water act as palate cleansers.
Traders say the taste test drives up costs by forcing them to keep their offers open indefinitely while it takes place. They say the testing process is unique to Egypt.
“It is something that doesn’t happen globally,” Mostafa Al-Naggari, a major Egyptian rice exporter and importer, told Reuters. “In other countries, the cooking instructions are simply written on the packet.”
On the private market, importers have contracted to bring in 150,000 tons of Indian rice from October until end April, with no complaints from Egyptian consumers.
Naggari, who buys Indian rice to supply Egypt’s private market, said he was not clear why Indian samples had failed the test.
“These are the rules of the tender and we will respect it, but I am happy selling rice on the private market.”
But Nomani, an adviser to the supply minister, said the cooking tests were necessary to avoid the rice piling up in subsidy stores like it did three years ago when Egyptians refused to buy it.
“Of course, if an Indian rice sample that suits Egyptian taste is presented, we will accept it, but the cooking test is necessary to make sure the rice we are importing suits consumers,” he told Reuters.
In Egypt, rice import samples are judged in the kitchen
In Egypt, rice import samples are judged in the kitchen
- The process has so far eliminated Indian origin rice and approved of Chinese and Vietnamese offers
- Egyptians are major rice consumers and take pride in the quality of their local crop
Biden says Israel must allow aid to Palestinians ‘without delay’
- “We’re going to immediately secure that aid and surge it,” Biden said
- “Israel must make sure all this aid reaches the Palestinians in Gaza without delay“
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Wednesday demanded that new humanitarian aid be allowed to immediately reach Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as key US ally Israel fights Hamas there.
“We’re going to immediately secure that aid and surge it... including food, medical supplies, clean water,” Biden said after signing a massive military aid bill for Israel and Ukraine, which also included $1 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza.
“Israel must make sure all this aid reaches the Palestinians in Gaza without delay,” he said.
US-Israel relations have been strained by Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to send troops into the southern Gazan city of Rafah, where 1.5 million people are sheltering, many in makeshift encampments.
“This bill significantly — significantly — increases humanitarian assistance we’re sending to the innocent people of Gaza who are suffering badly,” Biden said.
“They’re suffering the consequences of this war that Hamas started, and we’ve been working intently for months to get as much aid to Gaza as possible.”
Israel hits Lebanese border towns with 14 missiles
- Hezbollah targets Israeli settlements in retaliation for Hanin civilian deaths
- Hezbollah said it attacked the Shomera settlement with dozens of Katyusha rockets
BEIRUT: Clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces escalated sharply on Wednesday, the 200th day of conflict in southern Lebanon’s border area.
Israeli airstrikes created a ring of fire around Lebanese border towns, with at least 14 missiles hitting the area.
In the past two days, military activity in the border region has increased, with Hezbollah targeting areas in northern Acre for the first time in the conflict.
On Wednesday, Israeli strikes hit the outskirts of Aita Al-Shaab, Ramya, Jabal Balat, and Khallet Warda.
The Israeli military said it had destroyed a missile launching pad in Tair Harfa, and targeted Hezbollah infrastructure in Marqaba and Aita Al-Shaab.
Israeli artillery also struck areas of Kafar Shuba and Shehin “to eliminate a potential threat.”
Hezbollah also stepped up its operations, saying this was in retaliation for the “horrific massacre committed by the Israeli enemy in the town of Hanin, causing casualties and injuries among innocent civilians.”
A woman in her 50s and a 12-year-old girl, both members of the same family, were killed in the Israeli airstrike. Six other people were injured.
Hezbollah said it attacked the Shomera settlement with dozens of Katyusha rockets.
The group said it also targeted Israeli troops in Horsh Natawa, and struck the Al-Raheb site with artillery.
It also claimed to have killed and wounded Israeli soldiers in an attack on the Avivim settlement.
Israeli news outlets said that a rocket-propelled grenade hit a house in the settlement, setting the dwelling ablaze.
Hezbollah’s military media said that in the past 200 days of fighting with Israel, 1,998 operations had been carried out from Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq, including 1,637 staged by Hezbollah.
Egypt denies any discussions with Israel over Rafah offensive
- Egypt reiterates opposition to any move on Rafah
- Warnings tell of expected losses and negative repercussions
CAIRO: Egypt has denied any discussions with Israel regarding an offensive in the Palestinian city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Service, has refuted what has been claimed in one of the major American newspapers: that Egypt has discussed with the Israeli side its plans for an offensive in Rafah.
Rashwan has affirmed the Egyptian stance — announced several times by its political leadership — of complete opposition to the operation, which it is thought will lead to further massacres, massive human losses, and widespread destruction.
He added that Egypt’s repeated warnings have reached the Israeli side, from all channels, since Israel proposed carrying out a military operation in Rafah. These warnings tell of expected losses and the negative repercussions on the stability of the entire region.
Rashwan added that while Israel is contemplating its operation — which Egypt and most of the world and its international institutions stand against — Egyptian efforts since the beginning of the Israeli aggression had focused on reaching a ceasefire agreement and the exchange of prisoners and detainees.
He said Egypt was seeking the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, especially the north and Gaza City, and the evacuation of wounded and sick people for treatment outside the area.
Egypt has repeatedly opposed the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and is warning against any military operation in Rafah.
UAE announces $544m for repairs after record rains
- Wednesday's announcement comes more than a week after the unprecedented deluge lashed the desert country
- “The situation was unprecedented in its severity but we are a country that learns from every experience,” Sheikh Mohammed said
DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates announced $544 million to repair the homes of Emirati families on Wednesday after last week’s record rains caused widespread flooding and brought the Gulf state to a standstill.
“We learned great lessons in dealing with severe rains,” said Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum after a cabinet meeting, adding that ministers approved “two billion dirhams to deal with damage to the homes of citizens.”
Wednesday’s announcement comes more than a week after the unprecedented deluge lashed the desert country, where it turned streets into rivers and hobbled Dubai airport, the world’s busiest for international passengers.
“A ministerial committee was assigned to follow up on this file... and disburse compensation in cooperation with the rest of the federal and local authorities,” said Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the ruler of Dubai, which was one of the worst hit of the UAE’s seven sheikhdoms.
The rainfall was the UAE’s heaviest since records began 75 years ago.
Cabinet ministers also formed a second committee to log infrastructure damage and propose solutions, Sheikh Mohammed said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“The situation was unprecedented in its severity but we are a country that learns from every experience,” he said.
The storm, which dumped up to two years’ worth of rain on the UAE, had subsided by last Wednesday.
But Dubai faced severe disruption for days later, with water-clogged roads and flooded homes.
Dubai airport canceled 2,155 flights, diverted 115 and did not return to full capacity until Tuesday.
Tunisia law professors call for release of detained opposition figures
- Since a flurry of arrests in February 2023, around 40 critics of President Kais Saied have been facing charges of “conspiracy against the state“
- Eight of the critics have been detained since, and have yet to see trial
TUNIS: More than 30 Tunisian law professors on Wednesday called for the release of several political opposition figures arrested last year, pointing out that the 14-month legal limit for pre-trial detention had passed.
Since a flurry of arrests in February 2023, around 40 critics of President Kais Saied have been facing charges of “conspiracy against the state.”
Eight of the critics have been detained since, and have yet to see trial.
They were expected to be released earlier this month after their detention was extended twice — four months each time — following an initial six-month stint, their lawyers said.
Yet all eight remain in detention after a court hearing on their case was put off until May 2.
This means they have been detained for more than 14 months without trial, which is the limit under Tunisian law.
“Keeping them in prison beyond the period of preventive detention is a violation (of Tunisian law),” read a statement signed by 33 law professors, including three deans.
The professors said the eight must be released, accusing the Tunisian authorities of putting them in what they called “forced detention.”
The country’s anti-terrorism court is investigating the political opponents for trying to “change the nature of the state” under Tunisia’s penal code.
In a letter addressed to President Saied last month, rights group Amnesty International called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of the detainees.
“I call on you to cease your targeted arrests of critics for the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of expression,” the letter read.
Saied, a former law professor, has ruled by decree since orchestrating a sweeping power grab in July 2021 in Tunisia, which saw the onset of what came to be known as the Arab Spring a decade earlier.
The eight detainees include former Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party figure Abdelhamid Jelassi, co-founder of the left-wing National Salvation Front coalition Jawhar Ben Mbarek and political activist Khayam Turki.
After the wave of arrests last year, the United Nations voiced alarm over “the deepening crackdown against perceived political opponents and civil society in Tunisia, including attacks on the independence of the judiciary.”
Critics have denounced Saied’s crackdown on opponents, accusing him of exploiting Tunisia’s judiciary as the country prepares for presidential elections set to take place later this year.
