Culture

(VIDEO) Meet Sara Sabry, the first Egyptian to fly to space

Published

3 weeks ago

July 25, 2022

An Egyptian female engineer, Sara Sabry, has made history as she becomes the first Egyptian citizen astronaunt to fly to be chosen to fly to space.

Sabry was selected on Monday by Space for Humanity, a nonprofit organisation whose mission is to “expand access to space for all of humanity,” as their Citizen Astronaunt-2 to go to space on the New Shepard’s flight number 22 from Blue Origin.

The Egyptian Space Agency (EGSA) in its congratulatory message to Sabry, expressed its pride and support for her as she will be flying for the first time to space along with five others from the US, Portugal, and the UK.

In her response, Sabry said:

“I am incredibly honored to have been selected by Space for Humanity to go to Space with Blue Origin. I’m even more honored to be representing my country by making history for Egyptians, for African women, and for Arabs.

“My ancestors have always dreamt big and achieved the impossible, and I plan on bringing that back. This is my origin story. Follow me as I take you on my first journey to space!” said Sara on her Instagram account.

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A post shared by Sara Sabry (@astrosarasabry)

According to her profile on social media, Sara Sabry is an Egyptian mechanical and biomedical engineer, and founder of Deep Space Initiative (DSI), a nonprofit organisation aiming to increase accessibility for space research.

She became Egypt’s first female analog astronaut in 2021 after completing a two-week Moon mission simulating the extreme conditions astronauts experience in orbital space.

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Culture

Anger in Morocco after France denied visa to rapper El Grande Toto for concert

Published

3 days ago

August 12, 2022

Akanimoh Etim

A cross section of Moroccans have expressed anger following the French Immigration Services denying the visa application of Morocco’s biggest rapper, El Grande Toto, who was scheduled for a concert at the Semi Festival in Sete, France.

Toto who is unarguably the biggest rap artiste in North Africa, was lined up for the concert which was to hold on Thursday, but could not make it due to the Visa denial by the French authorities.

As a result of the development, the Moroccan rapper’s entire European tour scheduled for August and September has now been canceled as he became another victim of France’s decision to limit the amount of Schengen visas it issues to Moroccans.

El Grande Toto who posted the news on his official Instagram account on Friday, stated that “having a visa today is like playing the lottery. It’s like a game of chance. I’m really getting tired of it.”

The news has also caused consternation in the North African country as many have called for the country to reciprocate the action and deny French diplomats from coming into the country till the music act gets justice.

El Grande Toto is facing a familiar terrain as he was denied visa for an event in Egypt last year on account of “his status as a rapper,” he had posted on his Facebook page.

Culture

Kenyan Oscar-winning actress, Lupita Nyong’o, celebrates father as he wins governorship election

Published

4 days ago

August 11, 2022

Akanimoh Etim

Kenyan Oscar-winning actress, Lupita Nyong’o, has celebrated her father, Prof. Peter Anyang Nyong’o, after he was declared the winner of the governorship election for the Kisumu county for a second and final term.

Lupita’s father was announced winner on Wednesday following Kenya’s general elections held on Tuesday.

Following the announcement, the US-based multiple award winning actress took to her verified Twiter handle to congratulate her father, and also thanked the people of the Kisumu county for voting for him.

“ABICH MORO! Congratulations to my Daddy and THANK YOU to the people of Kisumu for their overwhelming support at the polls. @AnyangNyongo #5moro #TichTire,” she wrote.

ABICH MORO! Congratulations to my Daddy and THANK YOU to the people of Kisumu for their overwhelming support at the polls. @AnyangNyongo #5moro #TichTire pic.twitter.com/FEmgmGhB3j

— Lupita Nyong'o (@Lupita_Nyongo) August 10, 2022

Prof. Nyong’o was a former Senator representing Kisumu County from 2013 to 2017, before he contested and became the county’s governor on the ticket of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

He was also a Member of Parliament for Kisumu Rural constituency, having been elected on a NARC ticket in December 2002.

Prof. Nyongo’o began his political career in 1992 when he was first elected to parliament and served as a nominated MP from 1998 to 2002.