Much to the surprise of thousands, the organizers of Jeddah World Fest, a festival taking place in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, have announced the headlining performance of acclaimed US rapper Nicki Minaj. Minaj, who is known for provocative dances and explicit lyrics, will be sharing the stage with other top international performers such as DJ Steve Aoki and British artist Liam Payne. Jeddah World Fest, intended to be “one of the biggest music events ever staged in the Middle East”, will take place on July 18 at King Abdullah Sports stadium, in the coastal city. It seeks to attract an audience of concert-goes aged 16 and older, both from the country and from around the world. For the sole purpose of the concert, the festival is also marketing and promising faster visa issuance. Covered by television giant MTV, the concert will also be broadcasted worldwide, as per the organizers. In the last year, Saudi Arabia has hosted a throng of artists who have given concerts such as the Black-Eyed Peas, Mariah Carey, Sean Paul, Enrique Iglesias and David Guetta. It has also witnessed massive concerts by famous Egyptians artists…
Exploring the History of Stadiums and Egypt’s Three Oldest AFCON 2019 Venues
Stadiums or stadia are event venues – mostly for sports or concerts – designed to host and allow a large audience to watch a spectacle unfold on the field or stage below. While every stadium has its unique design, and varies in shape and size, all of them share certain capacities but also pose certain risks. Several tragic accidents, for example, have occurred due to large numbers of people congregating in an enclosed space, within a competitive environment and under the watchful eye of authorities. Nowadays football stadiums often come with a profit-driven dimension, embodying mega-projects funded by the government, large corporations or wealthy individuals that are interested in hosting large scale events such as AFCON to attract global attention and national wealth. Indeed, prestigious football stadiums across the world have become important landmarks and are oftentimes iconic within their host cities. With football games attracting millions of local and international spectators, stadiums become both sites for communal excitement and for displaying expert skills. Egypt was chosen by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to host this year’s 32nd African Cup of Nations (AFCON), the main international association football competition…
Egyptian Woman Inas Helal Honored by Queen Elizabeth II for Community Work
Egypt’s Ministry of Emigration has congratulated Inas Ibrahim Helal on being honored by UK’s Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of her community work and role in promoting better relations between different cultures. According to a statement issued by the ministry on Tuesday, Minister Nabila Makram Abdel-Shaheed contacted Helal to congratulate her for receiving the honor at the Royal Buckingham Palace, and expressed her pride in Helal’s work, noting that she is a great representative of the young Egyptian spirit. The Egyptian Consulate General in London also praised Helal’s distinguished activities that served the community in London in the fields of education and physical health and by bringing religions and cultures together, asserting that her efforts help reinforce the positive image of the Egyptian community in Britain. Helal expressed her pride and happiness for the honor and praise she received back home, stressing the important role of her parents and the Egyptian community living in the UK in supporting her. https://www.facebook.com/BarnetCouncil/videos/597255420784798/?__xts__[0]=68.ARAvU2O5env_EcrI1rdGOjAkWY9CthvbOSAQDYQmAKWLAvxOgxxejBWur5iYZ27dgSfDOQuGrpLOJ68zKXM_R2NkKpwAhQu4E3H4iP5YzLwCUtQN2fP6t1JF2_-Qtdio7T6RwqCKMMqBoVxFoUKi_enFcoY42BLfiVE2KoojnSWXUg1F7HaOgvcPmJMCDpRp3gRam_psNSyahprUQicopgRWq_JGwKQDg2mPKQ_SXY2RNG7wgOG3dDNeWchtcFwYxiaT76ULMRRnfuiakjRsJ2zzzYb_GkHWNXAt8c4Dpwlqpcmtb82Bl4fXbHL00ifKHjzDZlvmnHMR6rWlebtl8Xz7QV2qAdN1OvJHmYCuspbEQUIQsTnnyThnOgqQtGjkuwJmQcCVCaJFotA44x9YtCVNz8_NvoIzXTInNmRiCg&__tn__=H-R The Queen hosted a reception to celebrate various faith groups in the UK in late June, which included volunteers, community workers, and those promoting social cohesion within their neighbourhood. In…
Journey of Entrepreneurship: A Curriculum Teaching Children Entrepreneurial Skills in Egypt
Many people are probably familiar with the line “children are the future” from the song ‘Greatest Love of All’ by the iconic singer Whitney Huston, which sheds light on the impact young ones will have on the future of the world. Following this train of thought, the educational start-up ‘Journey of Entrepreneurship’ or JOE for short, introduces young children aged 8 to 18 to entrepreneurship with the hope of having a positive impact on the Egyptian community. JOE is a four-phase program that teaches entrepreneurial skills to children and teens, allowing them to develop business skills such as pitching, negotiating, creativity, risk taking and character building, to name a few. “Entrepreneurial qualities are already present in every individual and can be developed further through education. JOE serves to realize this belief. At the age of 8 to 18, children’s personalities are known to be malleable, which allows education to play an important role in developing personality traits and acquiring entrepreneurial skills,” JOE’s Facebook page reads. The curriculum is a Singaporean program and was developed and piloted in the country that is known for having one of the strongest educational curricula…
Book Review: A Field Guide to the Street Names of Central Cairo
Whenever we walk the streets of Cairo or any other city, for that matter, how often do we stop to ask ourselves, “Why is this street called XY?” Or if we do hear or see a street name, what associations spring to mind? Why are certain streets in Zamalek named after other countries (Brazil Street) or cities (Berlin Street)? Why do some sources refer solely to Tal’at Harb Street, while others might insist on adding Seliman Basha Street, its former name? And do we ever consciously reflect on the meanings of specific place designations such as ‘bustan’ (‘plantation’), ‘darb’ (‘side street’), ‘manshiya’ (‘housing compound’) or the specific titles of Basha, Sheikh, Duktur, Beih that grace many of the capital’s street signs named after individual figures? Published by AUC Press, A Field Guide to the Street Names of Central Cairo (2018) provides thoroughly researched and original answers to these questions and more. Although it starts out with the following disclaimer: ‘This is not a guidebook, or at least not one that will help the reader to get from A to B (let alone from A to Z).’ Collaboratively written by renowned…
West African Nations Choose New Single Currency ‘ECO’
In an effort for a more integrated continent, leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have adopted the name ‘ECO’ for a planned single currency to be used in the region. ECOWAS is made up of 15-member countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo. Discussed for almost thirty years, the African 15-nation bloc hope to launch it by 2020. Supporters argue that the decision would be a ‘strong political symbol’ and could significantly boost cross border trade in West Africa. Tokunbo Afikuyomi, economic analyst, told CNN that countries across the region will be able to spend money without worrying about the exchange rate costs. The single currency can also help solve monetary problems like the difficulty in converting currencies and the lack of independence of central banks. Though analysts remain skeptical about its benefits, as there still remains lack of integration policies among member countries in the region. Economists question whether disparate economies with varying levels of debt and deficits can successfully share the same currency, referring to the multi-year eurozone debt crisis as…
Beloved Egyptian Actor Ezzat Abou Ouf Passes Away
Famed Egyptian actor Ezzat Abu Ouf, aged 71, died in the early hours of Monday morning in a private Cairene hospital as per local news outlets. The actor, who suffered from liver and heart complications, had been confined to the hospital for over a month before succumbing. Following the death of his wife Fatima in 2015, Abou Ouf’s health deteriorated as the artist confessed suffering from bouts of breakdowns. Additional reports of his deteriorating health circulated last year, especially when he contracted pneumonia. Nonetheless, the veteran actor’s last appearance was in a commercial featuring Amr Diab during the month of Ramadan 2019. Abu Ouf was born into a family with a strong legacy in the field of arts and culture in 1948; his father was the well-known composer Ahmed Shafiq Abu Ouf, the former dean of the Arab Music Institute. Although he completed his Bachelor’s degree in medicine, Abu Ouf’s passion lay in music and arts which he actively nurtured throughout his life. Abu Ouf’s career started first in music. He belonged to Les Petits Chats, a rock band in the 1960s prior to starting 4M, a band featuring him…
Germany Lifts Taba Travel Ban
Germany announced that the country lifted its 2014 travel ban that forbade Germans from visiting the eastern Sinai town of Taba for five years. As a result of rising security concerns, many European countries restricted their flights to the Red Sea resort destination, Sharm El Sheikh, and other parts of Egypt. These concerns were brought forth in 2015 after the Russian jet bomb incident that killed 224 on-board tourists and vacationers. Badr Abdel-Ati, Egypt’s Ambassador to Germany, revealed an amended travel guides created by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 28 June for Germans tourists interested in visiting the country. This is said to increase the number of German tourists in the Sinai district stressing that this decision reflects the stability and security of Egypt. The Egyptian Embassy based in Berlin worked to increase the number of direct flights flying over to Sharm el-Sheikh. “The German decision will greatly contribute to increasing the number of German tourists, especially those flocking to tourist destinations in South Sinai,” the Minister of Tourism Rania Al-Mashat told MENA news agency on Saturday.. Following the 25 January 2011 revolution, the Egyptian economy had suffered…
Egypt Wins 2-0 Against Uganda, Secure Top Spot in Group A
Egypt take the win and top spot in Group A after finishing the match with 2-0 against Uganda, moving on to the next round with three wins from three matches. Mohamed Salah opened the scoring for Egypt in the 36th minute from a 25 yards free-kick, followed by Ahmed Elmohamady stunning goal just before the break. Uganda will still join Egypt in the next round (last 16) after finishing second in the group. The other Group A match between DR Congo and Zimbabwe finished 4-0 in favour of DR Congo. Other teams moving on to the next round are Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco, Mali, Cameroon and Madagascar. Though it is their first time playing in the African cup, Madagascar shocked audiences today as it beat two times champions Nigeria in the final Group B game. They ended up topping the group with Nigeria coming second. …