20 North African Women on Most Powerful Arabs list

It was good to see that the North African countries were not neglected when Arabian Business chose its 100 Most powerful Women in the Arab World list. Here are the twenty ladies from the northern countries of Africa that made the list:

Rank Name Company Industry Country

6 Dalia Mogahed White House Office Culture & Society USA/Egypt

18 Hynd Bouhia Casablanca Stock Exchange Banking & Finance Morocco/Morocco

23 Soha Nashaat Barclays Wealth Middle East Banking & Finance UAE/Egypt

31 Fatema Mernissi Media Morocco/Morocco

32 Hala El Saiud Egyptian Banking Institute Banking & Finance Egypt/Egypt

38 Nashaw Al Ruwani Middle East Film Festival Culture & Society UAE/Egypt

41 Nezha Hayat Société Générale Marocaine de Banques Banking & Finance Morocco/Morocco

43 Leila Abouzeid Media Morocco/Morocco

51 Mona Eltahawy Media USA/Egypt

65 Dr Maha ElShinnawy The American University in Cairo Culture & Society Egypt/Egypt

66 Lamiaa Fakhry YouGov Siraj Culture & Society Saudi Arabia /Egypt

69 Sahar Sallab HitekNOFAL Science & IT Egypt/Egypt

73 Israa Abdel Fattah Culture & Society Egypt/Egypt

76 Farida Mohammed Farid Khamis Oriental Carpet Weavers Construction & Industry Egypt/Egypt

78 Lubna Azabal Culture & Society Belguim/Morocco

80 Cherifa Khaddar Culture & Society Algeria/Algeria

84 Lilia Labidi Minister of Women, Family, Children and Senior Citizens, Tunisia Government Tunisia/Tunisia

88 Laila Abid Media Holland /Morocco

90 Khadija Ben Ghanna Al Jazeera Media Algeria (Qatar)

96 Heba Raouf Ezzat Culture & Society Egypt/Egypt




Full Arab Business magazine list of one hundred most powerful Arab women globally

Toronto's Caribana a festive, musical August event

Caribana Parade Weekend: Thurs July 28th-Mon August 1st

Every August in Toronto, Canada, there is an annual festival and parade (in 2011, parade is on Saturday, July 31st) called Caribana, celebrating the music and culture of Canadians with Caribbean origins, particularly Trinidad and Jamaica but also Barbados, St. Kitts and the whole Caribbean region including Guyana in South America. the most similar festiovals are Carnival in Rio, Brazil and Carnival in Port of Spain, Trinidad, which the Toronto fest was originally based upon.



Enjoy some photos of Caribana from recent years!!!

Ivory Coast debacle may be nearing end

Laurent Gbago reign almost over, army Chief of Staff flees

After four months of sanctions, financial collapse, and civil war, it finally appears that the reign of Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo is about to end. Troops loyal to his opponent, Alassane Ouattara, the man recognized by the U.N. and the African Union to have defeated Gbagbo in the election, are closing in on Gbagbo's residence.

After steadfastly refusing to leave the presidential palace despite losing an election four months ago — a refusal that has led to hundreds of deaths, international condemnation and sanctions, the financial collapse of what had been West Africa’s economic star and the country’s being plunged back into civil war — Mr. Gbagbo faced the gravest threat yet to his rule.

Alassane Ouattara to lead country out of morass

The head of the army has resigned and fled to the South African embassy with his family, and Gbagbo's security forces, who have terrorized civilians in Ouattara-supporting neighborhoods for months, have mostly given up without a fight, leaving the road open for Ouattara's advance to Abidgan. It seems that only Gbagbo's elite presidential guard is holding firm, however, trying to defend Gbagbo's fortified compound. 

Ivory Coast news on BBC.co.uk

New York Times article on rebellion in Ivory Coast