Mena House: Cairo’s most legendary ‘family hotel’

Author:  Sherif El-Touny ID:  1559353164617406600 Sat, 2019-06-01 04:37 CAIRO: In the shadow of the great pyramids of Giza lies Cairo’s most historic hotel, Mena House.  This legendary hotel has played host to kings, queens and heads of state, including Empress Eugenie of France and Winston Churchill, as well as well-known figures such as Agatha Christie and Charlie Chaplin.  Mena House was originally a hunting...

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Where We Are Going Today: Leaves and Vines

Author:  Fri, 2019-05-31 04:40 The army of restaurants promoting healthy food in Jeddah has a new addition with Leaves and Vines offering a range of options for health-conscious people looking for a fulfilling meal. The eatery, located in Jeddah’s Al-Khalidiyah district, serves salads, juices, smoothie bowls and coffee, and includes gluten-free options on its menu. Ginger and lemon shots are a favorite with health-conscious diners,...

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What We Are Reading Today: The Making of a Justice by John Paul Stevens

Author:  Thu, 2019-05-30 23:43 The Making of a Justice: Reflections on My First 94 Years is a comprehensive memoir of Justice John Paul Stevens.  He offers an intimate and illuminating account of his service on the US Supreme Court.  It is a must read for those trying to better understand the US and the constitution, according to critics.  Justice Stevens witnessed so much American history as he sat on the top court...

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Mahmoud Labib — ‘the barber of presidents’

Author:  Thu, 2019-05-30 23:26 CAIRO: Mahmoud Labib, “the barber of presidents,” received this title under former Egyptian presidents Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak. “Once, I shaved Sadat’s son in my shop, and afterward his father asked him for my name,” Labib told Arab News. “The presidency called me to be the barber of Sadat and then Mubarak.” Over the decades, Labib has counted famous politicians, artists, writers, actors...

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Winnie Harlow heads to Saudi Arabia for magazine photo shoot

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Ordering in with Lugmety: Poke Bowl & Bon Bon

Thu, 2019-05-30 08:39 JEDDAH: As we approach the end of Ramadan, it’s time to ease off the carb-heavy fried foods and try something new — with a little bit of effort, I persuaded my family to order a few healthy dishes using food delivery app Lugmety. I scrolled through the wide-ranging list of restaurants and settled on Poke Bowl, a Jeddah-based hotspot specializing in the Hawaiian dish of diced seafood served with fresh accompaniments. To...

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Eateries serve up a taste of Ramadan with a twist

Author:  Wed, 2019-05-29 23:18 Along with the religious activities Ramadan also offers Saudis some of the tastiest food they will eat all year as restaurants seize the chance to introduce creative combinations and flavors. The process of developing mouth-watering flavors was highlighted by Melted, a Jeddah bakery that is winning a growing army of fans with a single product — brownies. “We wanted to bring the Ramadan spirit to our...

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Rude Uber riders could be booted from the app

Author:  Wed, 2019-05-29 22:47 SAN FRANCISCO: Uber riders prone to rude behavior such as leaving trash or urging drivers to speed may be booted from the app under a policy change that took effect here Wednesday. Uber riders in the US and Canada who have been consistently rated poorly by drivers will soon begin getting notices that they are at risk of losing access to the service. But before that happens they'll get tips on how to...

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What We Are Reading Today: The Moment Of Lift by Melinda Gates

Author:  Wed, 2019-05-29 22:15 For the last 20 years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission. Her goal, as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has been to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live.  Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: If you want to lift a society up, invest in women. In this candid and inspiring book, Gates traces her awakening...

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MUSE: Ruba Shamshoum talks trauma, pride, and ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’

Wed, 2019-05-29 17:20 DUBAI: My confidence was non-existent in high school. My parents went through a long and ugly separation when I was 10 years old, and that affected me a lot — for many years I was in a post-traumatic state. Music was definitely a key in my therapeutic journey. I used to look in the mirror and see an ugly person. Music — as cheesy as it may sound — helped me find my beauty and strength. There was a fire that...

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Video: Godzilla takes over the towering Burj Khalifa

Wed, 2019-05-29 11:57 DUBAI: As fans snap up their cinema tickets for “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” four of the film’s terrifying monsters took over the Burj Khalifa on Tuesday night in anticipation of the film’s release.  The tallest building in the world came to life as giant moving images of the three-headed Ghidorah, the winged Mothra, the fiery Rodan and, finally, the king himself, Godzilla, appeared on its soaring structure.   “Godzilla:...

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Netflix announces Egyptian horror series as their third Arabic original show

Tue, 2019-05-28 13:01 DUBAI: Netflix has announced its third Arabic original series, titled “Paranormal” (Ma Wara’a Al Tabiei). Netflix’s first Egyptian drama is based on the best-selling Arabic horror series by late Egyptian author Ahmed Khaled Towfik. The series will be set in the 1960s and will follow hematologist Dr. Refaat Ismaeil as supernatural forces take over his life. The series is set to be jointly produced by Cairo International...

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Mena Massoud’s Arabic message goes viral as the ‘Aladdin’ takes a magic carpet ride at the box office

Tue, 2019-05-28 10:23 DUBAI: The actor who plays Aladdin in Disney’s latest live-action movie, Mena Massoud, said he is excited for the public to watch the movie in a video posted on his Facebook page. Massoud, addressing viewers in Arabic, said he is proud of being part of the Disney franchise and hopes they love it as much as he did. The actor concluded the video by repeatedly saying “long live Egypt.” He was born in Egypt and then...

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Chef Ruby proves she can take the heat in any kitchen

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What We Are Reading Today: The Global Age by Ian Kershaw

Author:  Mon, 2019-05-27 23:46 This is the final chapter in the Penguin History of Europe series from the acclaimed scholar and author of To Hell and Back. In this remarkable book, Ian Kershaw has created a grand panorama of the world we live in and where it came from.  Drawing on examples from all across Europe, The Global Age is a fascinating portrait of the recent past and present, and a cautious look into our future. Kershaw’s...

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Dubai Sikh temple cooks Ramadan meals for Muslims

Author:  Mon, 2019-05-27 19:49 DUBAI: A Sikh temple in Dubai has opened its doors to Muslims during Islam’s fasting month of Ramadan, offering them room to pray and a free meal to break their daily fast. The Guru Nanak Darbar gurdwara — a place of worship in the Sikh religion — is building on Sikhism’s core principles of giving and eating together, which sees temples all over the world cook free meals, known as langar, for whoever...

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‘The Unknown Saint’ — lovingly executed with moments of satire

Author:  Mon, 2019-05-27 11:55 CANNES: A thief, running from the police, buries his money in the Moroccan desert, disguising it as a grave. Years later, after getting out of prison, he comes back to the same spot to retrieve it—only to find an elaborate tomb built over his buried treasure, an entire town built around it filled with people who view it as a blessed site. “The Unknown Saint,” directed by Alaa Eddine Aljem, a 30-year-old...

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Cannes winner ‘For Sama’ — a moving and vital documentary of Aleppo’s fall

Author:  Mon, 2019-05-27 11:38 DUBAI: At the heart of “For Sama” — the documentary about the fall of Aleppo by filmmakers Waad Al-Khataeb and Edward Watts that just won the Golden Eye Documentary Prize at Cannes — is a scene that brought me to tears. Doctors are forced to perform an emergency cesarean section on a young woman who has sustained injuries from an airstrike. When the baby’s lifeless body is pulled from his mother, the...

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Cannes winner Al-Jafari sheds light on his film

Author:  Mon, 2019-05-27 11:34 AMMAN: Palestinian film “Ambiance” just snagged the 3rd place prize at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéfondation Selection, which honors student films from around the world. Palestinian director Wisam Al-Jafari of the Dar Al-Kalima University College of Arts and Culture spoke to Arab News about why he decided to shoot the film in black-and-white. “The reason I chose black and white is to force the viewer...

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‘Young Ahmed’: Cannes prize winner offers a harsh look at radicalization

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MUSE — Eman Abo Al-Nasr talks trust, motherhood, and emotional strength

Author:  Mon, 2019-05-27 09:06 DUBAI: The Dubai-based Egyptian actress and model offers Arab News her life lessons The most important thing in any relationship is trust. Quite simply, I’m allergic to fake people. I prefer the ugly truth, whatever it is. I respect it when people tell me to my face, ‘You did this. You’re horrible.’ I appreciate that much more than just smiling to my face and not meaning it. Just be truthful. To me,...

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What We Are Reading Today: John Adams by David McCullough

Author:  Sun, 2019-05-26 23:20 In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life-journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot — “the colossus of independence,” as Thomas Jefferson called him — who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution.  Like his masterly, Pulitzer Prize-winning biography Truman, David McCullough’s John...

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Bambah’s Ramadan 2019 edit is pastel perfection

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Ordering in with Lugmety: Try Twina & Baked in Jeddah for your seafood and sweet fix

Author:  Sun, 2019-05-26 13:01 JEDDAH: I found myself stuck at the office with iftar fast approaching this week. Instead of panicking, I reached for my phone and opened up food delivery app Lugmety. In Jeddah, we love our seafood, so my colleagues and I ordered in from Twina, which is known for its fresh, high quality options. We tapped out our orders and an estimated delivery time flashed up on screen, so we settled in to wait for...

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What We Are Reading Today: The River Ki by Sawako Ariyoshi

Author:  Sat, 2019-05-25 23:13 The River Ki, short and swift and broad like most Japanese rivers, flows into the sea not far south of Osaka. On its journey seaward, it passes through countryside that has long been at the heart of the Japanese tradition.  The River Ki dominates the lives of the people who live in its fertile valley and imparts a vital strength to the three women, mother, daughter and granddaughter, around whom...

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Bong d’Or: Korean director wins Cannes’ top prize

Author:  By JAKE COYLE | AP ID:  1558810856483179500 Sat, 2019-05-25 22:00 CANNES, France: South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s social satire “Parasite,” about a poor family of hustlers who find jobs with a wealthy family, won the Cannes Film Festival’s top award, the Palme d’Or, on Saturday. The win for “Parasite” marks the first Korean film to ever win the Palme. In the festival’s closing ceremony, jury president Alejandro...

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‘Walk with a statement:’ The Nou Project announces new sneaker designs

Sat, 2019-05-25 13:06 DUBAI: Tucked away in Dubai’s artistic and cultural Alserkal Avenue, Saudi-Lebanese brand The Nou Project announced the latest re-design of its classic sneakers — the all-new ultra-low tops. In a one-night only pop up in KAVE café, the brand’s founders, Nour Al-Tamimi and Basma Chidiac, announced the re-design that came in three new colorways: Grey, burgundy and navy. “We want people to be able to walk with a statement,”...

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Creative group in the UAE gives female artists a chance to tell their story

Author:  Matt Smith ID:  1558730581326078000 Fri, 2019-05-24 23:41 DUBAI: Sara bin Safwan founded the Banat Collective in 2016 to connect with other like-minded people, championing their art through the group’s website, banatcollective.com. The group aims to help society to rethink the way women of color are perceived by showcasing contemporary art, poetry and other writings. The collective publishes artistic works in print...

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Palestinian student film ‘Ambiance’ honored at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival

Author:  Fri, 2019-05-24 10:34 DUBAI: Palestinian film “Ambiance” headed into a podium finish at the 22nd Cinéfondation Selection, the Cannes Film Festival’s top film school shorts awards, beating out more than 2,000 submissions. The film, which is directed by Wisam al-Jafari of Palestine’s Dar Al-Kalima University College of Arts and Culture, landed third place with Polish entry “Duszyczka” by Barbara Rupik. Praised for its...

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SpaceX launches first satellites for Musk’s Starlink Internet service

Author:  Reuters ID:  1558673231081528900 Fri, 2019-05-24 03:10 CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: High-tech entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX company launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida on Thursday on a mission to carry the first batch of five dozen small satellites into low-Earth orbit for his new Starlink Internet service. The rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at about 10:30 p.m. local time (0230 GMT Friday),...

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