Egypt’s first female judge, Tahany El Gebali, died on Sunday aged 71 after contracting Covid-19.
The former vice president of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court died at a hospital in Giza, where she was being treated for the disease.
A funeral for El Gebali was held on Sunday in her home town of Tanta, the largest city in Egypt’s Gharbia province. Thousands attended the funeral, which was televised on local television channels.
An outspoken critic of Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, El Gebali in 2003 became the first Egyptian woman to be appointed to a judiciary position, by then president Hosni Mubarak.
She was the only woman on the bench until the induction of 32 others into the judiciary in 2007.
Born on November 20, 1950, El Gebali graduated from the faculty of law at Mansoura University in 1973.
After news of her death emerged, Egyptian social media users were markedly divided on her legacy.
Some lamented the loss of one of the country’s most prominent feminists, while others criticised her for controversial constitutional amendments that she approved after the 2011 popular uprising that removed Mubarak.
Her rulings were widely criticised for undermining the power of the people during the uprising and handing it to the military-led interim government that preceded the brief rule of Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi.
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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ICC Women's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier 2025, Thailand
UAE fixtures
May 9, v Malaysia
May 10, v Qatar
May 13, v Malaysia
May 15, v Qatar
May 18 and 19, semi-finals
May 20, final
