On 2 May, the London Theatre website announced that a musical adaptation of ‘The Prince of Egypt’ will be premiered at the Dominion Theatre early next year. With the musical’s world premiere having taken place at Theatre Works in Silicon Valley in 2017, this upcoming rendition promises to be a first for London’s popular West End. The opening night of ‘The Prince of Egypt’ is scheduled for 25 February 2020 and is set to run until 12 September of the same year. Tickets will go on sale at 10am on 3 June. The musical play is based on the 1998 DreamWorks animation film of the same name, which grossed over $218 million worldwide, making it the most successful non-Disney animation feature at the time. The film features the voices of prominent actors Ralph Fiennes, Sandra Bullock and Patrick Stewart as well as a score by Hans Zimmer and was nominated for 15 awards, winning Best Animated Feature at the Critics Choice Awards. An adaptation of the Book of Exodus, ‘The Prince of Egypt’ dramatises the life and journey of Moses growing up to become an Egyptian prince and lead the…
Qatar Threatens to Ban Entry Visas for Egyptian “Enemies”
At an event promoting a summer tourism campaign in Qatar, Secretary General of the Gulf state’s National Tourism Council and CEO of Qatar Airways, Akbar al-Baker, announced that Qatar would no longer grant visas to its “enemies”, referring to Egyptians. The comment was later retracted by the Qatari government’s communications office, which stated that al-Baker’s remarks did not reflect their official visa policy and that the state welcomes “all people of the world,” according to Reuters. https://youtu.be/AXOobvTYwgo Al-Baker’s comment, which has sparked outrage across Egypt, comes amid an ongoing political dispute between the two countries, and is the first made by a Qatari official since the rift began nearly two years ago. Since 2017, seven Arab countries including Egypt have cut ties with Qatar, accusing the latter of “supporting terrorism,” an allegation Qatar denies. Egyptians comprise the largest Arab minority in the small, yet wealthy Gulf state. A private consultancy report released in 2017 estimated their number at 200,000. Qatar has a population of 2.7 million, only 300,000 of which are nationals, according to al-Jazeera. In the wake of al-Baker’s comments, Egyptian MP Amr Sidqi, head of the parliamentary Foreign…
Nature In Crisis: One Million Species At Risk of Extinction, UN Warns
According to a recent United Nations biodiversity report developed by 145 expert authors from 50 countries, one million of the planet’s eight million species are threatened with extinction by humans, which scientists described as the most comprehensive assessment of global nature loss ever. “The evidence is crystal clear: Nature is in trouble. Therefore we are in trouble,” said Sandra Díaz, one of the co-chairs of the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. The global rate of species extinction “is already tens to hundreds of times higher than it has been, on average, over the last 10 million years,” according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The authors say they found overwhelming evidence that human activities are behind nature’s decline, as they ranked the major drivers of species decline to include deforestation; overfishing; climate change; and pollution. “Not only is our safety net shrinking, it’s becoming more threadbare and holes are appearing,” said Díaz, an ecologist at the National University of Cordoba in Argentina. Between 1980 and 2000, 100 million hectares of tropical forest were lost, mainly from cattle ranching in South America and palm oil…
Electric Car Owners Can Temporarily License Their Electric Cars According to Minister of Interior
In a bid to promote electric cars in Egypt, the Ministry of Interior has announced that it will grant electric car owners temporary license plates and insured licenses until the policies are fully administered. According to the ministry’s statement, this will make is easier for people to import electric cars from overseas. It has also informed all the traffic departments to facilitate the procedures of obtaining a temporary license for an electric car. Last week, Egypt struck a deal with China for the joint manufacture of electric cars and buses in Egypt, the State Information Service reported. In February 2018, Egypt’s first electric car charging unit was introduced in Cairo-Suez highway. The units are owned by the car manufacturer Revolta Egypt. For years Cairo has been considered as a home for miscellaneous pollutions such as air, water and even noise. It is Cairo’s air pollution, however, that is at the most critical level, with an estimated 43,000 Egyptians dying from diseases related to air pollution in 2012. Forbes released an article on a report done by The Eco Experts saying that Cairo is one of the most polluted cities in the…
Azza Fahmy Opens UK Store in London’s Harrods
Premier luxury jewellery design house, Azza Fahmy, is invited to open its first London pop up shop in the world famous Knightsbridge Department Store, Harrods. The month long pop up which opens on June 1st forms part of Harrods new and exclusive showcase presentation of unique jewellery from around the world, including a limited edition collection that will be available exclusively for the duration of the pop-up shop. The collection is a recreation of our most iconic pieces that will be touring the world, making a stop at Harrods after having been displayed at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills. Fatma Ghali, Managing Director of the Egyptian brand says: “We are delighted to be invited to join Harrods in June, a time that coincides with an important part of London’s Middle Eastern shopping calendar. In addition to our Burlington Arcade store, Harrods, a key luxury destination stop will provide a further opportunity to shop specially curated collections of Azza Fahmy’s new and most popular iconic pieces together with a range exclusive to Harrods.” Synonymous for creatively translating cultural and historic references to modern, contemporary hand-crafted luxury jewellery Azza Fahmy will…
Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan to Be Revealed After Ramadan: Kushner
Senior White House advisor Jared Kushner revealed that the Trump administration will put forward its ‘deal of the century’ for peace in the Middle East after the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in early June. Kushner, who is also the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, assured that the proposal itself is “very detailed” and will represent a “comprehensive vision” for peace. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a great victory, and he’s in the middle of forming his coalition, and once that’s done we’ll probably be in the middle of Ramadan, so we’ll wait until after Ramadan and then we’ll put our plan out,” Kushner said. “There will be tough compromises for both,” he added, when asked about whether it is a ‘two state’ solution. “You can say two state, I realized that means different things to different people,” Kushner said. “So we said let’s just not say it, let’s just work on the details of what this means.” Kushner also expressed hope that the economic components of the plan will be a starting point for progress, so that “we can break the cycle and get focused on betterment…
Egypt’s Parliament Approves the Presidential Decree to Extend the State of Emergency
Egypt’s parliament approved on Saturday El-Sisi’s presidential decree to extend the country’s state of emergency, that has been in effect for two years, for three more months on the grounds of fighting terrorism. Ahram Online reported “a comfortable majority” of the parliament members voted in favor of the decree. The state of emergency began last week and will continue until July 24. The state is now allowed to ”“take [measures] necessary to confront the dangers and funding of terrorism and safeguard security in all parts of the country.” The emergency law can only be implemented for three months, after which it has to be renewed by the president and should be approved by the parliament. It grants Egyptian authorities the right to intercept all forms of communications including social media. Civilians can also be referred to State Security Emergency Courts where they are unable to appeal verdicts, as such, it has been routinely criticized by human rights advocates. The already-in-effect state of emergency was announced last year by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi when two churches were bombed in Tanta and Alexandria on Palm Sunday in 2017 killing 47 people. A…
19 Middle Eastern Desserts to Remember this Ramadan
With Ramadan gracing us with its presence, one cannot deny the very culinary experiences that remind us of a part of this holy month. Ramadan, a month of worship and giving, is also a month full of flavour and wondrous gastronomic experiences. From sweet honey syrups and pistachio flavoured ice creams, to crust-less pumpkin pies, Ramadan truly knows how to excite our taste buds. Here’s a sample of Ramadan’s most delectable sweets. 1. Umm Ali Umm Ali, literally the mother of Ali, is perhaps one of Egypt’s most favored desserts. Easy-to-make and economical, Umm Ali dates back to the Ayyubid dynasty. A purely Egyptian dessert, it is said that Umm Ali came about after the wife of Ezz El-Din Aybek, the ruler of Egypt at the time, Shagaret El Dorr ordered for her rival Umm Ali to be killed upon the death of her husband. After the death of Umm Ali, to celebrate, Shagaret el Dorr requested that her cooks create the most delicious dessert ever made and to distribute it throughout Egypt. This Egyptian dessert staple is made of phyllo pastry, milk, double cream, nuts and is sometimes topped…
Egypt Receives Third German Type-209 Submarine
Egypt received on Friday in Kiel, Germany received the third of four submarine German-made Type-209/1400 submarine. During an official ceremony attended by Commander of Naval Forces Ahmed Khaled at the shipyards of shipbuilding company Thyssenkrupp in Kiel, the Commander announced the third submarine would officially join Egypt’s naval forces under the name ‘S43’. Manufactured by Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, the Type-209 submarine is able to sail in a range of 11,000 nautical miles and a top speed of 21.5 knots. It is equipped with the latest navigation and communication systems and is considered as a highly advanced model. Egypt’s purchase is part of the Navy’s efforts to develop its forces to ensure an ability to face various regional challenges and dangers while strengthening its control of Egypt’s coastlines. Navy forces are being provided with extensive military training and simulation, and the Type 209 submarine will undergo testing before arriving in Egypt later this year. Egypt received its first submarine from Germany in December 2015 and its second in August 2017. Egypt had initially signed a deal with Germany to buy just two submarines in 2011, before ordering two more in 2014….