The Egyptian movie “al-Feel al-Azraq 2” (The Blue Elephant – Part 2, 2019) ranked first in Egypt s box office after earning LE100 million total revenue since July 25, rocketing to become the highest-earning Egyptian movie so far. The movie was praised by critics and audiences alike, thanks to its usage of high definition visuals and audio and a professional crew. In the sequel Dr. Yehia marries Lobna and gets assigned a new case from the Eight-West Women s Ward. Soon, he realizes that someone is trying to manipulate his life as well as his family s. In an effort to solve the mysteries haunting him, Yehia turns to the “Blue Elephant” pills. Produced by Synergy Films, the movie stars Karim Abdel Aziz, Nelly Karim, Hind Sabri, Iyad Nassar, Khaled al-Sawy, Sherine Reda and Tarra Emad. The movie s story was originally adapted from an Arabic novel written by the famous Egyptian writer Ahmed Mourad, and directed by Marwan Hamed. “The Blue Elephant” is one of the highest-grossing Egyptian films in the last 10 years. The first film grossed more than LE35 million, and 1.2 million tickets sold during the Eid Al Adha season in 2014, achieving wide acclaim. The first film followed Dr. Yehia as he returned to work in the Abbaseya Mental Health Hospital, after spending five years in voluntary isolation. He works in the sector which examines the mental health of perpetrators, where he encounters an old friend who brings back bitter memories that he tried hard to forget, turning his life upside down as a result.

Egyptian theatre maker Hanaa Abdel-Fattah (1944-2012) will be honoured during the 26th edition of the Cairo International Festival for Contemporary and Experimental Theatre (CIFCET) during its closing ceremony on Thursday 19 September. During the same evening, a number of other artists will also receive the medals of honour. They include actors Sayed Ragab and Samira Abdel-Aziz, critic Abdel-Razik Hussein, director Ahmed Kamal, late director Mohamed Abou El-Soud, and critic Hazem Shehata. Abdel-Fattah dedicated his life to theatre,although he was also known for his appearances in film, television in radio programmes. OF his many activities, which included promoting Polish theatre in Egypt (and vice versa) – through directing plays and the translation of literary works – Abdel-Fattah s involvement in the CIFCET (Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre,or CIFET at the time of its founding) was among his most notable achievements. “The launching of CIFET in 1988 marked the beginning of a new line of activities for Abdel-Fattah, adding to his many roles – as experimental director, theatre promoter, critic and actor – a new one as cultural mediator. From the first edition until the very last in 2010, he was indefatigable in promoting Polish theatre in Egypt, suggesting the invitation of prominent figures as well as translating and moderating their presentations when they arrived. He assisted at workshops conducted by visiting Polish artists, translated Polish plays and important critical and theoretical works on theatre, and wrote illuminating reviews of guest Polish performances," late theatre critic Nehad Selaiha wrote about Abdel-Fattah in her obituary in 2012. Abdel-Fattah was known to Egyptian cinema and radio, which he abandoned upon his travel to Poland to continue his education and where he spent 20 years. He returned to teaching at the Academy of Theatrical Arts in early 1990s, taking the post of professor and dean of the directing department (early 2000s). It was in the last decade of his life that Abdel-Fattah made his return to Egyptian cinemas. Among his numerous roles were those in films such as El-Sefara fi El-Omara (2005), El-Shabah (2007), Cairo Time (2009), among others, as well as television series such as Ayza Atgawez (I want to get married) starring Hend Sabry. He played the role of Professor Badawi in Fair Game (2010) a USA drama directed by Doug Liman Abdel-Fattah passed away on 19 October 2012 in Cairo at the age of 68.

“The Voice: Ahla Sawt” returns on Saturday, September 21 with Lebanese singer Ragheb Alama and Moroccan-Egyptian diva Samira Said joining the show s judging panel for the first time. The show aims to discover talented new singers and propel them into fame. Would-be stars must pass through several stage, where only one competitor can make it through to earn “The Best Voice.” Alama and Said will be joining with two prominent judges; Egyptian singer Mohamed Hamaki and Emirati singer Ahlam. An unexpected surprise for this new season is the reunion between Alama and Ahlam, two stars known for their complicated relationship since their work as judges on “Arab Idol” between 2011 and 2013. The two disagreed often while judging or providing performers with feedback, and eventually Alama suddenly quit Arab Idol with many news outlets blaming his departure on Ahlam. Both stars have commented on their reunion in a press conference held in Beirut on September 15, with Alama denying that Ahlam was behind his exit from Arab Idol. “We may tease each other, but out of love”, he said. “You basically have your own team and none of the other judges can really interfere with what you are doing and cause trouble. That said, Ahlam can always do something to change that. She is creative,” Alama stated during the press conference on Ahlam. Ahlam shot a witty response back to Alama, who he considers a good friend, saying “What did you call me? Oh right, I am creative.” Alama seemed excited for his first comeback after a six-year-hiatus, saying that the performances ahead will surely be impressive. Said expressed deep enthusiasm towards her first experience as a jury member in “The Voice”, and that she knows well what moves her artistically. Hamaki as a jury member from last season s judge panel shared his thoughts on the process, saying “That is hard, because you do get emotionally attached. You are working with young people and it is sometimes very difficult to make those hard decisions. It can affect you at times.” Further modifications have been added to the show s usual rules such as that every jury member will be allowed to select 15 performer instead of 12 like the prior editions.

Scientists think they have found a way to stop the common cold and closely related viruses which can cause paralysis. Instead of trying to attack them directly, the researchers targeted an essential protein inside our cells which the viruses need to replicate. The approach gave "complete protection" in experiments on mice and human lung cells. However, the US-based researchers are not ready for trials in people. The common-cold challenge Tackling the common cold has been a massive problem in medicine. Most colds are caused by rhinoviruses, but there are around 160 different types and they mutate so easily they rapidly become resistant to drugs, or learn to hide from the immune system. This has led to the idea of "host-directed therapy" - essentially making our bodies inhospitable for the cold viruses. An individual virus does not have everything it needs to replicate. Instead, it is dependent on infecting another cell and stealing some of the parts inside. It is why scientists still argue whether viruses are truly alive. A team at Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco, found one of the components which the viruses were dependent upon. Viral dependency Scientists started with human cells and then used gene-editing to turn off instructions inside our DNA one-by-one. These modified cells were then exposed to a range of enteroviruses - this includes the rhinoviruses which cause the common cold, and more dangerous viruses that are closely related to polio and can cause paralysis. All the viruses were unable to replicate inside cells which had the instructions for a protein (called methyltransferase SETD3) switched off. The scientists then created genetically modified mice which were completely unable to produce that protein. "Lacking that gene protected the mice completely from viral infection," associate professor Jan Carette, from Stanford, told the BBC. "These mice would always die [without the mutation], but they survived and we saw a very strong reduction in viral replication and very strong protection." The protein these viruses were dependent upon normally has a role in the intricate "scaffolding" which organises the inside of the body s cells, called the cytoskeleton. The findings, published in the journal Nature Microbiology, showed the genetically modified mice were healthy, despite lacking the protein for their whole lives. When do we get a cure? The plan is not to produce genetically modified humans, but to find a drug which can temporarily suppress the protein, and provide protection. "We have identified a fantastic target that all enteroviruses and rhinoviruses require and depend on. Take that away and the virus really has no chance," said Prof Carette. He added: "This is a really good first step - the second step is to have a chemical that mimics this genetic deletion. "I think development can go relatively quickly." Exactly what role the protein plays in the viral replication is still uncertain, and will require further research. For most people the common cold is more of an inconvenience than a threat to their health, but in asthmatics it can make their symptoms much worse and some of the enteroviruses can causes paralysis if they spread to the brain. Prof Jonathan Ball, a virologist at the University of Nottingham, who was not involved in the work, said the study was "neat" but scientists would need to be certain the approach was safe. "There is increasing interest in developing treatments that target these host proteins, because it can potentially overcome virus mutation - one of the major barriers to developing effective broadly active antivirals. "But of course, viruses are very adaptable and it is conceivable that even a host-targeting treatment might not keep them at bay for long."

Egyptian pianist Eman Shaker and her troupe will perform a concert at the Cairo Opera House on Thursday 20 September, featuring singer Ihab Shawi. "We play different kinds of music and songs in different languages; Classic, Oldies, Jazz, Swing, Tango, Waltz in English, French, Arabic & Greek," reads a description on social media by the event s organisers. Shaker s "friends" include Wleed Allam on violin, Noha Elsaqqa (kanon), Karim Wassef (double bass) and Alexander Grechenko on the drums, Ahmed Gharib (table) and Mohamed El-Gendy (req). Besides Shawi, Sara Atef and Monika Youssef will perform vocals during the concert.

Egypt s first mango festival, “Festivango”, will be held in Cairo s Family Park, Rehab district, offering a wide-ranging variety of foods that all feature mango along with numerous delightful activities on Friday, September 13, according to the festival s Facebook event. The festival s organizers vowed to the participants that they will experience mango in entirely unusual ways. The fruit will be involved in diverse food recipes both sweet and sour. “You will enjoy mango in an amusingly cheerful environment packed with music, excitement, playing and more that you ve never seen,” the description indicated. The page also indicated all the mango types that would be available at the festival in numerous forms including Fons, Taymour, Sedika, Keet, and Naomi, among others. Unfamiliar Asian mango recipes will be introduced in Festivango, particularly the Indian mango, says the Facebook event. “Trying new food with mango, you will know that Konafa with mango is outdated now,” it added. The festival will offer a number of engaging activities including mango tasting services, mango food products vending booths, a market for festival souvenirs, air and water fight games, and face painting services for children. Music performances and a fire show will take place at the festival. Fast food meals will be available. The event will be fully equipped with requirements that enable people with disabilities to enjoy their time at there, as well. There will also be special chairs for elderly people. The event will be suitable for all ages.

Alaa al-Habashi was looking for ingredients for a Ramadan feast when he stumbled on an Ottoman-era mansion being used as a slaughterhouse and butcher s shop in Cairo s historic Islamic district. “I was blindsided by the beauty,” the US-trained architect said of the house which he first saw more than two decades ago. Built of brick and stone, it has a large inner courtyard and a number of rooms with decorative painted wooden ceilings. He struck up a friendship with the butcher, who owned the building, and received a call from him several years later saying a property developer wanted to buy it and tear it down. Determined to save the building, Habashi bought it in 2009, only to be told he could raze it but not restore it. He refused to give up and won the right to restore it in a two-year legal battle. A decade after he bought the building, the restoration is almost complete. His battle was part of a larger fight to save old buildings which some professional restorers and architects fear is being lost because of bureaucracy, official corruption and laws which they say do little to protect Egypt s architectural heritage. “I m not at all optimistic. I believe only 25 percent of the buildings will survive,” said May al-Ibrashy, a restorer who has been working in historic Cairo for about 25 years. Government officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this article. The five-square-kilometer (about two-square-mile) historic quarter, which has one of the world s biggest collections of Islamic architecture, has been declared a World Heritage site by the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO. But though its main monuments are not under threat, many houses and smaller buildings are being demolished. Government inspectors, fearing they could be held legally responsible for any problems, have declared many centuries-old buildings in danger of collapse since earthquakes in 1992 and 2005. Many have been demolished and replaced by cement and brick high-rise buildings that critics describe as garish. The demolitions appear at odds with government officials pledges to maintain Cairo s role as Egypt s “cultural, tourism and heritage capital”, despite work on building a new capital east of Cairo to ease pressure on the city of over 20 million. Those fighting to save old buildings in historic Cairo say the demolitions are destroying a potential stream of tourists and revenue from tourism, which earned Egypt US$11.6 billion in 2018, according to central bank figures. Habashi s bureaucratic nightmare began when he applied for a permit to begin restoring the house soon after he bought it. He said the government replied that the house was condemned as on the verge of collapse and that if he wanted to work at the site, he would have to demolish it and then rebuild it. Habashi appealed to two-state bodies: the Antiquities Authority, responsible for about 600 historic monuments, and the National Authority for Urban Harmony, tasked with preserving many other buildings. Inspectors from each agency came separately to look at his house, he said. “They stopped at the doorstep (and said): This is a crumbling building. What are you trying to save? ” Habashi said. Only after obtaining a letter from a UNESCO official confirming the building s historic importance was Habashi able in 2011 to secure a court ruling that he could restore it. Destruction of historic buildings since 2011 has been extensive, said a foreign restorer who studied historic Cairo s Darb al-Ahmar district, much of which is inside the old city walls. “My analysis is that approximately 15% of the urban fabric in al-Darb al-Ahmar has been replaced by newly built structures seven to 10 stories high,” he said. Official figures were not available. Nearly 100 historic buildings in Darb al-Ahmar were replaced with high-rise buildings as central authority collapsed after the 2011 uprising that ended autocratic president Hosni Mubarak s 30 years in power, said architect Tarek el-Murri, who has years of experience working in the district. For art historian Shahira Mehrez, and six others with whom she bought two dilapidated houses, it is convoluted rent control laws that have stymied restoration work. They hope to turn the houses into boutique hotels but have been blocked by people claiming usage rights to rooms and closets in the two houses. Yet other laws have frustrated Cherif Abdel-Meguid, a hotel developer who since 2007 has bought eight historic houses in the hillside Darb al-Labbana neighborhood near Cairo s citadel. When he applied for permission to restore them, authorities told him four were under demolition orders. To restore them, he must shave a meter or two off the facades to conform with a 1950s law designed to widen streets, he said. He has not done so. Instead, he has submitted plans to rebuild the insides while preserving the facades, and is awaiting a response.

A cancer-stricken four-year-old boy in Florida has been ordered to live with his grandmother after his parents prevented him from having chemotherapy. The custody ruling on Monday against parents Taylor Bland and Joshua McAdams came after their bid for alternative treatment garnered national attention. The boy was taken from his parents in April after they skipped chemotherapy and left the state. The parents are "obviously devastated," their lawyer told US media. Brooke Elvington also said the boy was "going through an absolutely traumatic medical experience and he is doing so without his parents". After the boy, who the BBC is not naming, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in April his parents opted to treat him using cannabis, oxygen therapy, herbs and alkaline water. Medical cannabis is legal in Florida. US parents told boy must have chemotherapy What is chemotherapy? In May, they lost custody after they skipped a chemotherapy session and "refused to follow up with life saving medical care," according to police. They were found in Kentucky after a multi-state hunt. The boy was ordered to live with his grandmother and receive standard medical treatment. On Monday, Hillsborough County circuit court Judge Thomas Palermo said that the child would face "substantial risk of imminent neglect" if he were returned to his parents. Keeping the boy in the custody of his maternal grandmother was the only way to ensure his "health, safety and well-being," NBC News reported. Chemotherapy is often associated with debilitating side effects, but many types of modern chemotherapy cause only mild problems. According to St Jude s Children s Research Hospital, about 98% of children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia go into remission within weeks of beginning treatment, and about 90% of child patients are eventually cured. Reality Check: When are parents denied the final say? Alternative cancer therapy survival risk The lawyer for Ms Bland and Mr McAdams said the couple is considering filing an appeal. "[He] belongs at home with his parents," she said.

Spain s ambassador to Cairo Ramon Gil Casares attended Monday a symposium at the Cervantes Institute in Cairo on the films by contemporary Egyptian female directors that will be screened at the next edition of the Valencia Festival of Mediterranean Cinema. The Ambassador of Spain to Egypt, Ramon Gill Casares, opened the event at the Instituto Cervantes in Cairo. Director of the Cervantes Institute in Cairo Silvia Grijalba and the festival s artistic director Eduardo Guillot led the panel discussion. The symposium discussed the current situation of Egyptian cinema, works presented by female directors, and difficulties faced by filmmakers when they begin a new work of art. Egyptian directors Aiten Amin, Hala Khalil and Amal Ramsis attended the symposium. Guillot said that the Valencia Festival of Mediterranean Cinema is interested in Egyptian artistic works as well as those from other Arab countries overlooking the Mediterranean. Egypt was selected for this year s edition as it offers a cinematic tradition famous in all Arab countries and also features abundant production, Guillot added. Recent years have witnessed films by several female directors offering diverse and distinctive perspectives. Several were selected for the festival, he said. Director Sandra Nashaat directed action films, for example, while others presented very different genres. The next edition of the Valencia Festival will take place between October 24 and November 3 in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia. The festival is a meeting point between various cultures across Mediterranean countries. Among its selections, it will screen films by the most important Egyptian contemporary female directors, including Kamela Abu Zekri, Sandra Nashaat, Ayten Amin, Mariam Abu Ouf, Hala Khalil, Hala Lotfy and Amal Ramsis, whose films have become central to the feminist discourse in Egypt.

"Joker", a daring take on the comic book villain starring Joaquin Phoenix, won the Golden Lion for best film at the Venice film festival Saturday with Roman Polanski controversially taking second prize. It is the first superhero film ever to get this kind of arthouse kudos, and could now be on its way to Oscar glory. The last two Venice winners -- "Roma" and "The Shape of Water" -- have gone on to lift the best picture Academy Award. US director Todd Phillips -- best known up to now for the slapstick comedy "Very Bad Trip" -- paid tribute to Phoenix s intense performance, saying he was "the fiercest, bravest and most open-minded lion that I know". "Thank you for trusting me with your insane talents," he said. The movie, which The Guardian had described as "one of the boldest Hollywood productions for some time", has already sparked a heated debate. And there were audible gasps when French-Polish director Polanski -- a pariah in Hollywood after his rape conviction -- was handed the Grand Prix second prize for his Dreyfus Affair drama, "An Officer and a Spy". Irresponsible propaganda? Within hours of the "Joker" premiere, some warned that Phoenix s full-throttle portrait of a needy, embittered clown who lives with his mother could empower incels (or involuntary celibates) -- the angry, misogynist young men who have been blamed for so much far-right and white supremacist violence. Vanity Fair s Richard Lawson worried that it was "exhilarating in the most prurient of ways, a snuff film about the death of order, about the rot of a governing ethos". He feared that it "may be irresponsible propaganda for the very men it pathologises". But most critics disagreed, with Variety s Owen Gleiberman saying Phoenix has remade Batman s arch-enemy as a "Method psycho, a troublemaker so intense in his cuckoo hostility that even as you re gawking at his violence, you still feel his pain". Other reviews were equally ecstatic, and a sequel with Robert Pattinson playing the Joker s nemesis Batman is said to be in the offing. Phoenix reportedly lost more than 23 kilos (52 pounds) to play the part. Phillips defended his film saying the jury "understood what we were trying to say, and I hope that translates". Polanski wins second prize But almost as many headlines are likely to be made by Polanski s win. Having spent most of his life as a fugitive from American justice, he was accused of drawing "obscene" parallels between himself and the persecuted French Jewish army officer Alfred Dreyfus, who was the victim of anti-semitism and a miscarriage of justice around the turn of the 20th century. Polanski, 86, has been shunned by the big studios for decades after he was convicted of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl. His inclusion in the main Venice competition, which included only two female directors, sparked fury from feminists. The French-Polish auteur and Holocaust survivor did not show up at the festival, leaving his wife, French actress Emmanuelle Seigner -- who also appears in the film -- to pick up his prize to muted applause and a few isolated boos. She later told reporters that her husband was "very happy" with his win, saying the "film was very important to him". The head of the Venice jury, Argentinian director Lucrecia Martel, had boycotted a gala dinner for Polanski, only to be forced to clarify that she was not prejudiced against his film. Jagger blasts Trump, Johnson In a year fraught with controversy over sexual politics, festival director Alberto Barbera was also accused of being "tone deaf" for his inclusion of a Black Lives Matter drama by the American Nate Parker, who was embroiled in a rape trail while at university, as well as the director s cut of Gasper Noe s 2002 rape shocker "Irreversible". Politics also dominated the awards ceremony with the best actor and actress winners -- Italy s Luca Marinelli ("Martin Eden") and France s Ariane Ascaride ("Gloria Mundi") dedicating their awards to the migrants who "rest forever at the bottom of the Mediterranean sea". Both films contained references to people fleeing poverty and persecution. Donald Sutherland, the star of the festival s closing film, "The Burnt Orange Heresy", had earlier appealed to reporters to support the migrants cause. His co-star, Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, made a rare foray into politics to attack US President Donald Trump for his rudeness, lies and tearing up environmental controls in the US. He also bewailed "the polarisation and incivility in public life" in his native Britain, pointing the finger at its rookie prime minister, Boris Johnson. Sudanese director Amjad Abu Alala wins Lion of the future award for his debut " You Will Die aT 20".

The Egyptian film Ward Masmoum (Poisonous Roses - 2018) was chosen on Thursday by the Cinematic Professions Syndicate to represent the country in the 2020 Academy Awards competition for Best Foreign Language Film category. The selection was made by a committee appointed by the syndicate, which comprised prominent film critics. Ward Masmoum, directed by Ahmed Fawzi Saleh, is based on Ahmed Zaghloul Al-Shiti s 1990 novel Saqr s Poisonous Roses. The film has already participated in dozens of film festivals across the globe, winning three awards at the 40th Cairo International Film Festival (21-29 November). The cast includes Ibrahim El-Nagari (playing the main character Saqr), Merihan Magdi (Taheya), Mahmoud Hemeida (in the role of the magician), Mohamed Berakaa (the imam), Safaa El-Toukhy (in the role of the mother). The film s main character Saqr lives and works in a tanning district, but dreams to escape the area. Last year, the syndicate nominated Yomeddine (Judgment Day), directed by Abu Bakr Shawky and produced by Dina Emam, for the prestigious festival.

Cancer has become the leading cause of death in rich nations, overtaking heart disease, according to the results of two landmark, decade-long global surveys of health trends released Tuesday. Heart disease remains the leading cause of mortality among middle-aged adults globally, accounting for more than 40 percent of deaths, the data showed. It was thought to have been responsible for around 17.7 million deaths in 2017. But in richer countries, cancer now kills more people than heart disease, according to the twin studies published in The Lancet medical journal. “The world is witnessing a new epidemiologic transition among the different categories of non-communicable diseases, with cardiovascular disease no longer the leading cause of death in high-income countries,” said Gilles Deganais, emeritus professor at Laval University, in Quebec. He said his team s study showed that cancer was the second most common cause of death globally in 2017, accounting for just over a quarter (26 percent) of all deaths. Deganais said that as heart disease rates fell globally, cancer could become the leading cause of death worldwide “within just a few decades”. The study followed more than 160,000 adults, in high-, middle-, and low-income countries over the course of decade. It determined that people in poorer nations were on average 2.5 times more likely to die from heart disease than those in richer ones. It conversely found that non-infectious diseases such as cancer and pneumonia were less common in low-income states than in richer ones. A second study, also by researchers in Canada, and looking at data from patients in the same 21 countries, found that so-called “modifiable risk factors” accounted for 70 percent of heart disease cases globally. These included diet, behavioral and socioeconomic factors, they said. Metabolic risk factors — high cholesterol, obesity or diabetes — caused more than 40 percent of all heart disease, and were by far the biggest determinant of disease in richer nations. But there was also a strong link between heart disease in developing countries and household air pollution, poor diet and low education levels. “A change in tack is required to alleviate the disproportionately high impact of cardiovascular disease in low- and middle-income countries,” said Salim Yusuf, professor of medicine at McMaster University. “Governments in these countries need to start investing a greater portion of their gross domestic product in preventing and managing non-communicable diseases including cardiovascular disease, rather than focusing largely on infectious diseases.”

Minister of Education Tarek Shawky signed a cooperation protocol with Egypt Gold on Tuesday to establish the first technical school specialized in making jewelry and accessories in Egypt. Shawky said that technical education serves the same interest as general education and Egypt is witnessing a shift in educational focus toward applied technology schools. Ten new schools of this kind have been established to change society s perception of technical education and keep up with the modern education systems of the world. He added that these types of schools teach new specialties for the industrial, agricultural and commercial labor market. He stressed that jewelry industry schools have become necessary due to the labor market s need for this specialization, pointing out that students who attend these schools are allotted a salary from the first day they begin taking courses. Shawky said that admission to the school is open until mid-September for those who have a preparatory certificate from schools in Greater Cairo. He added that the school is located in Obour City and that students will undergo tests in Arabic and English. Four to five branches of this school will be opened in a short time, Shawky said. For his part, Mostafa Nassar, representative of Egypt Gold, said that the company has hired students who dropped out of former educational institutions and are now completing rehabilitation training. An estimated 2,000 students work fully in the jewelry industry. Nassar stressed that the Middle East lacks technicians specializing in the manufacturing of gold and jewelry. “It is a dream for me to carry out my projects in Egypt after a successful 11-year experience in Germany,” he said. Nassar, too, underscored the importance of the stipulation that students in the school receive a monthly salary from the first day of school to make study more sustainable. He added that study in the school will be six days a week, two theoretical and four practical, because the specialization requires intense labor.

The Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) has announced the opening of registration for filmmakers and TV makers in the second edition of the Cairo Industry Days, held from November 21 to 26. Registration at the Cairo Industry Day allows film and television professionals to attend seminars and lectures that provide opportunities for partnership and networking with the international film community. Filmmakers also have access to three daily tickets to watch the festival s film screenings in all competitions and screening locations. The head of Cairo Industry Days Aliaa Zaky said: “We are delighted to be launching the second edition of the Cairo Industry Days, which brings together filmmakers from inside and outside the Arab world to promote, develop, and celebrate storytelling from around the world.” According to Zaky, promising talents and filmmaking students can learn and engage with key influencers in the entertainment industry through the event. Under Cairo Film Connection (CFC), a panel of experts in the film industry selects films that will receive financial awards. The awards granted to winners last year was worth more than US$120,000. “In its 41st edition, the Cairo International Film Festival will host the 6th edition of the Cairo Film Connection (CFC), the festival s co-production platform,” said the CIFF official website. “Cairo Film Connection will invite international producers, film financiers and film distributors as well as representatives from funding bodies, sales agents and TV channels to come together to initiate international co-productions and partnerships with films from the Arab world,” it added. The festival also announced the opening registration for the five-day Screen Buzz Workshop, which focuses on screenwriting for television projects in the Arab world, and gives the opportunity for participants to develop their scenarios with leading industry experts in Hollywood. A four-day workshop on cinema scenarios was announced as well in partnership with EAVE ON DEMAND, covering all aspects of the development of feature films, which includes screenwriting strategies and the role of the producer, marketing, international sales, and budget and financial planning. The Cairo International Film Festival festival launched the first edition of Cairo Industry Days at the 40th edition of the festival, which witnessed remarkable success, being attended by more than 200 significant filmmakers from around the world. Two workshops to develop film and television scenarios were established under last year s Cairo Industry Day. Seven film lectures, eight seminars and four discussion sessions with the participation of international experts from inside and outside the Arab world were also held.

Egypt s Ministry of Health launched on Sunday President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi s initiative to diagnose and treat newborns infected with hearing impairments nationwide as part of the “100 million healthy lives” initiative, said Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed. Hearing impairment is a partial or total inability to hear and may occur in one or both ears. A deaf person has little to no hearing. Hearing problems can impact children s ability to learn spoken languages. In adults, they can create difficulties with social interaction and at work. Zayed clarified that the ministry will examine the three- to seven-day-old newborns in 1,300 health units nationwide to discover whether they are infected with hearing impairment or they are normal. She said that the ministry trained 3,500 nurses nationwide on how to conduct a survey, use an audiometry device, and read and record the results. Zayed asserted that the units will transfer individuals suspected to be impacted by the disease to hospitals for treatment free of charge. She noted that the ministry distributed audiometry devices to 1,300 units nationwide. Egypt launched the “100 million healthy lives” screening campaign in 2018, targeting people aged 19 to 59 for scanning through PCR tests. Those testing positive for the disease are expected to undergo further check-ups and will be provided free medication.

here was never a better laugh line in all of sitcomania and, in her signature role as Rhoda, Valerie Harper nailed it. Eyeing a piece of candy with desire yet trepidation, Rhoda cracks, ``I don t know why I m putting this in my mouth. I should just apply it directly to my hips. That was in 1970 in the first weeks of ``The Mary Tyler Moore Show, as Rhoda _ and Harper _ first stole viewers hearts. Rhoda was lovely and adorable but she had relatable issues with her weight and took refuge in self-deprecating jokes. Rhoda was for everyone, and she would prove it in back-to-back hit sitcoms that made Harper a breakout star on ``The Mary Tyler Moore Show, then established her as a funny leading lady in her own series, ``Rhoda, scoring guffaws and busting TV taboos as an overweight, brash, Jewish version of the girl next door. Harper, who died Friday in Los Angeles days after she turned 80 after a long battle with cancer, won three consecutive Emmys (1971-73) as supporting actress on ``The Mary Tyler Moore Show plus another for outstanding lead actress for ``Rhoda, which ran from 1974-78. She was immortalized _ and typecast _ for playing one of television s most beloved characters, who as Mary s best friend was the equal of Ethel Mertz and Ed Norton in TV s sidekick pantheon. Harper s career cooled after ``Rhoda. Maybe she had done her job too well, becoming indelibly connected with the woman she played. In recent years, her appearances were mostly limited to voice work on the animated shows ``The Simpsons and ``American Dad. But for years, Harper s appearances had been mostly in the occasional stage and guest-star TV role. Then in 2013, she was back in the news, and all over TV, when she revealed that just a few weeks earlier she was diagnosed with brain cancer. This rare condition, leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, occurs when cancer cells spread into the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the brain. (She had battled lung cancer in 2009.) Harper said she had been told by her doctors she had as little as three months to live. Fans responded as if a family member were in peril. But while the diagnosis might have seemed like a death sentence, ``I m not dying until I do, Harper said in a TV interview. ``I promise I won t. She continued to work, with guest shots in 2015 on ``2 Broke Girls and ``Melissa & Joey as well as her stage dates. And she outlived her famous co-star: Mary Tyler Moore died in January 2017. Harper was a chorus dancer on Broadway as a teen before moving into comedy and improv when, in 1970, she auditioned for the part of a Bronx-born Jewish girl who would be a neighbor and pal of Minneapolis news gal Mary Richards on a new sitcom for CBS. It seemed a long shot for the young, unknown actress. As she recalled, ``I m not Jewish, not from New York, and I have a small shiksa nose. And she had almost no TV experience. But Harper, who, even as a dancer had battled plumpness and who arrived for her audition packing a couple of dozen extra pounds, may have clinched the role when she blurted out in admiration to the ``Mary Tyler Moore Show s reed-thin star: ``Look at you in white pants without a long jacket to cover your behind! It was exactly the sort of thing Rhoda would say to ``Mar, as Harper recalled in her 2013 memoir, ``I, Rhoda. Harper was signed without a screen test. Of course, if CBS had gotten its way, Rhoda might have been a very different woman with a much different actress in place. As ``The Mary Tyler Moore Show was being developed, its producers were battling a four-point decree from the network, which insisted that the nation s TV viewers would not accept series characters who were (1) divorced, (2) from New York, (3) Jewish or (4) have mustaches. The producers lost on having Mary Richards divorced (instead, she had been dumped by her long-time boyfriend). But with Rhoda they overrode the network on two other counts. The show that resulted was a groundbreaking hit, with comically relatable Rhoda one big reason. Item: ``What am I? I m not married, I m not engaged. I m not even pinned. I bet Hallmark doesn t even have a card for me! Item: ``I came to Minneapolis because of the cold. I figured if I was frozen I d keep better. ``Women really identified with Rhoda because her problems and fears were theirs, Harper theorized in her book. ``Despite the fact that she was the butt of most of her own jokes, so to speak ... her confident swagger masked her insecurity. Rhoda never gave up. Neither did Harper, who confronted her own insecurities with similar moxie. ``I was always a little overweight, she once told The Associated Press. ``I d say, `Hello, I m Valerie Harper and I m overweight. I d say it quickly before they could. ... I always got called Chubby, my nose was too wide, my hair was too kinky. But as ``The Mary Tyler Moore Show evolved, so did Rhoda. At first, she made jokes about her weight, famously cracking that she the candy she was eating should be applied ``directly to her hips. But Rhoda (and Harper) trimmed down and glammed up, while never losing her comic step. The audience loved her more than ever. Then, in fall of 1974, the ``The Mary Tyler Moore Show producers spun the character off. Rhoda was dispatched from Minneapolis back home to New York City ( This is your last chance, she told New York in the opening titles), where she was reunited with her parents and younger sister in a new sitcom that costarred Nancy Walker, Harold Gould and Julie Kavner. She also met and fell in love with the hunky owner of a demolition firm. The premiere of ``Rhoda that September was the week s top-rated show, getting a 42% share of audience against competition including Monday Night Football on ABC. And a few weeks later, when Rhoda and her fiance, Joe, were wed in a one-hour special episode, more than 52 million people _ half of the U.S. viewing audience _ tuned in. But ``Rhoda couldn t maintain those comic or popular heights. A domesticated, lucky-in-love Rhoda wasn t a funny Rhoda _ not the Rhoda who could claim ``I had a bad puberty. It lasted 17 years; not the Rhoda who before a date had been hungry but refused to eat, explaining, ``I ve got to lose 10 pounds by 8:30. By the end of the third season, the show s writers had taken a desperate step to shake things up: Rhoda divorced Joe. Thus had Rhoda (and Harper) defied a third CBS taboo. The series ended in 1978 with Harper having played Rhoda for a total of nine seasons. She had captured the character by studying her Italian stepmother. But Harper s own ethnicity _ neither Jewish nor Italian _ was summed up in a New York Times profile as ``an exotic mixture of Spanish-English-Scotch-Irish-Welsh-French-Canadian. And she was not a New Yorker. Born in Suffern, New York, into a family headed by a peripatetic sales executive, she spent her early years in Oregon, Michigan and California before settling in Jersey City, N.J. By high school, she was taking dance lessons in Manhattan several times a week. By the time was 15, she was dancing specialty numbers at Radio City Music Hall. By 18 she was in the chorus of the Broadway musical ``Li l Abner (then appeared in the film adaptation a year later). She also danced in the musicals ``Take Me Along (starring Jackie Gleason) and ``Wildcat (starring Lucille Ball). She found comedy when she fell in with a group of Second City players from Chicago who had taken up residence in Greenwich Village. One of these improv players was Richard Schaal, whom she wed in 1964 (and would divorce in 1978). Harper and Schaal moved to Los Angeles in 1968, and in a theater production there in 1970, she was spotted by a casting agent for the role of Rhoda. During ``The Mary Tyler Moore, Harper appeared in her first major film, the comedy ``Freebie and the Bean, and later appeared in ``Chapter Two and ``Blame It on Rio. In 1986, she returned to series TV with a family sitcom called ``Valerie. While not matching her past critical successes, the series proved popular. But in the summer of 1987, Harper and her manager, Tony Cacciotti, whom she had married a few months earlier, were embroiled in a highly publicized feud with Lorimar Telepictures, the show s production company, and its network, NBC. In a dispute over salary demands, Harper had refused to report for work, missing one episode. The episode was filmed without her. She was back on duty the following week, only to be abruptly dumped and replaced by actress Sandy Duncan. The show was renamed ``Valerie s Family and then ``The Hogan Family. Meanwhile, lawsuits and countersuits flew. In September 1988, a jury decided that Harper was wrongfully fired. She was awarded $1.4 million compensation plus profit participation in the show (which continued without Harper until 1991). ``I felt vindicated, Harper wrote in her memoir. ``I had beaten Lorimar and reclaimed my reputation. During the 1990s, Harper starred in a pair of short-lived sitcoms (one of which, ``City, was created by future Oscar-winner Paul Haggis) and made guest appearances on series including ``Melrose Place, ``Sex and the City and ``Desperate Housewives. She reunited with Moore in a 2000 TV film, ``Mary and Rhoda. And in April 2013, there was an even grander reunion: Harper and Moore were back together along with fellow ``The Mary Tyler Moore Show alumnae Leachman, White and Georgia Engel to tape an episode of White s hit comedy, ``Hot in Cleveland. It was the ensemble s first acting job together in some 36 years. The character of Rhoda ``taught me to thank your lucky stars for a fabulous friend, Harper noted during a news conference, referring to Mary Richards and pointing to Moore and laughing. Harper is survived by her husband, Tony Cacciotti, and daughter, Cristina Cacciotti.

Renowned Egyptian pianist and composer Omar Khairat and his orchestra will conclude the 28th Citadel Festival for Music and Singing with a concert on Sunday 1 September. One of the most popular and celebrated contemporary composers in the region, Khairat has composed the scores for over 50 Egyptian films, including The Sixth Day (1984), The Terrorist (1993), Mafia (2002), Girl s Love (2003), The Embassy in the Building (2005) and Deer s Blood (2006). In television, his memorable works include Lailat El-Qabd Ala Fatma (1984) and Dameer Abla Hekmat (1991). Khairat, 70, also composes music for theatre and special ceremonies, such as the opening of important Egyptian and regional cultural festivals. Khairat has also arranged compositions by celebrated Egyptian musician Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, releasing them as Wahabiat 1 and 2. His arrangements of Oum Kalthoum s songs have also brought him acclaim. Organized by the Ministry of Culture, 45 concerts is being held at the 28th Citadel Festival for Music and Singing between 18 August and 1 September hosting three concerts everyday at the historical venue. Cairo Steps, Massar Egbari, Nesma Abdel Aziz, Ali El-Haggar, Hani Shaker, Medhat Saleh, Dina El-Wedidi and Ghalia Ben Ali were among the performers at the event that is also hoting performances from Algeria, China, Namibian and Venezuela.

From matcha ice cream to cake and chocolate, producers of traditional Japanese green tea are capitalizing on growing global interest in its flavor — even as demand for the drink declines at home. At Shigehiko Suzuki s tea shop in central Japan, adorned with a traditional “noren” drape, the customers are flooding in but more to scoop up gelato or cake than to sip the bright-green tea. In 1998, Suzuki s company Marushichi Seicha started making powdered matcha green tea — traditionally made using a bamboo whisk in a tiny room. The firm now exports 30 tonnes of green tea to the US, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. “The demand for matcha is rapidly growing in the world… There s demand for ice cream, desserts and coffee,” Suzuki told AFP at his shop in Fujieda, 170 kilometers (105 miles) southwest of Tokyo. Japan exported more than 5,000 tonnes of green tea — mainly to the United States — last year, 10 times more than two decades ago. But in Japan, the consumption of green tea leaves for drinking dropped from 1,174 grammes per household in 2001 to 844 grammes in 2015, according to the latest government data — a trend Suzuki puts down to a more westernized diet. “The number of Japanese who regularly drink tea is decreasing while there are more Japanese who enjoy various kinds of food, so tea doesn t sell like before,” said the 55-year-old. Japanese traditionally drink green tea with rice but are doing so less as the diet becomes less dependent on the grain. Sensing the shift, Suzuki branched into matcha-flavoured ice cream nine years ago, opening a shop where customers can choose gelato from seven levels of bitterness. It became so popular, he opened two stores in Tokyo and one in Kyoto, matcha s traditional home. Not many successors Tea growers like 67-year-old Yoshio Shoji are also jumping on the bandwagon to grow matcha leaves — as they command a higher price than “sencha”, needle-shaped leaves used to make the traditional Japanese drink. The matcha leaves sell for 3,100 yen ($30) per kilo on average, compared to 1,400 yen for sencha, according to the Japanese Association of Tea Production. But Shoji said tea fields are shrinking as farmers get too old for the physically demanding work. “The oldest one is over 80. There are not many successors,” he told AFP as he gazed out over his tea fields on the mountain slopes. “The tea price is dwindling and the work is tough.” Tea leaves were first brought from China to Japan in the early ninth century and the tea was treated more as a medicine at that time. Matcha developed in 16th-century Kyoto when tea master Sen no Rikyu established the traditional tea ceremony known as “chanoyu.” Sencha was invented two centuries later and its manufacturing method spread quickly. Now, sencha accounts for half of 80,242 tonnes of green tea produced annually in Japan, compared to 3.3 percent for matcha tea leaves — although production of the latter is growing. Unfashionable Traditional Japanese tea also suffers from something of an image problem, argues Suzuki, as it is considered the preserve of older generations. “It is mainly the over-60s who drink tea. The younger people are, the more they drink coffee… Tea is no longer attractive to customers. Our priority is to boost its appeal,” he said. Some tea rooms are trying to modernize the traditional drink to pull in younger punters. At Tokyo Saryo, a stark-white zen-style space in a quiet neighborhood, “barista” Yuka Ihara brews Japanese tea in special glass cups. “There s the cultural tea ceremony and practical bottled tea. But something in-between, like a cafe where customers can enjoy tea in comfortable surroundings, didn t really exist before,” Ihara said. “It s important to come up with new ways to present and taste tea, as well as new recipes to let people rediscover the value of Japanese tea.” Mikito Tanimoto, creative director who founded Tokyo Saryo in 2017, said Japanese tea is regarded as “unfashionable.” “But we can make it more cool.” But despite these innovative efforts, there is widespread skepticism that the decline can be stemmed. “The Japanese sell kimonos and tea ceremonies — the cultural side — overseas but in the meantime, farmers are crying” because they cannot survive, said Stephane Danton, the French owner of a Japanese tea shop in Tokyo. Danton infuses green tea with various flavors from mango to plum to cater to the palate of foreigners not used to the bitterness of Japanese tea. And while Suzuki has enjoyed some success in expanding his matcha products, he doubts whether the industry can be saved given intense global competition. “As matcha is popular around the world, it s now made everywhere in the world. Japan is no longer the only country making it. We ll face global competition.”

On Monday 26 August, El-Gouna Film Festival (GFF) held a press conference at the Ritz Carlton Hotel announcing the launch of its third edition that will run through 19-27 September. This edition will be attended by festival founder Naguib Sawiris, El-Gouna founder Samih Sawiris, CEO and co-founder of the festival Amr Mansi, COO and festival co-founder Bushra Abdallah Rozza, CFO and festival co-founder Kamal Zadeh, CEO of Orascom Development Holding Khaled Bichara, and festival director Intishal Al-Timimi. The festival aims at showcasing a wide variety of films from around the globe, it also seeks cooperation and cultural exchange through connecting filmmakers from the region with their international counterparts through the CineGouna Platform to help Arab filmmakers find artistic and financial support. The festival comprises three official competitions; the Feature Narrative Competition, the Feature Documentary Competition and the Short Film Competition, in addition to the Official Selection Out of Competition and Special Presentations with a total of 80 films in the festival. In the third edition, CineGouna SpringBoard received 133 submissions (92 projects in development and 41 films in post-production), and like every year the CineGouna Bridge will present roundtable discussions, workshops, presentations and master classes with key industry professionals and experts on a wide range of subjects related to the social and business aspects of cinema. Engineer Naguib Sawiris said, "The festival is now an accomplished event around the world despite being only three years old. It has embraced the film scene and its key players. El-Gouna has become a platform that allows civilisations to get closer and dialogue through the exchange of arts and culture.” "Since its inception in 2017, the festival has rapidly built success as one of the leading cultural events in the region.” Engineer Samih Sawiris said, “With Orascom Development s relentless efforts to make El-Gouna a cultural and artistic hub, we are pleased to announce the construction of El-Gouna Convention and Culture Center,” announcing that a new building will host the fourth edition of the festival as well as major orchestras from around the world. COO and co-founder of the festival Bushra Abdallah Rozza said, "One of the names that will be honoured this year is a leading figure of the comedy genre and one of the most influential of his generation, Mohamed Henedy," who will receive GFF Career Achievement Award. "Usually festivals don t honour comedians despite the fact that the comedy genre is very influential in the box office," she said. Festival director Intishal Al-Timimi said, "The GFF will grant the Creative Achievement Award to the acclaimed Palestinian filmmaker Mai Masri alongside the Egyptian star Mohamed Henedy." This year, 12 films are participating in the Feature Narrative Competition, nine films in the Feature Documentary Competition, 23 films in the Short Film Competition, as well as three films in GFF s Special Presentations programme. The festival will be screening 21 films in its Out of Competition section, which brings the present total count to 68 confirmed titles. The Official Selection Out of Competition includes; Parasite, winner of the Palme d Or at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival, Bacurau and Les Misérables, the joint winners of the Jury Prize at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival; Once in Trubchevsk, which was part of the Un Certain Regard section of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival; Pedro Almodóvar s latest film Pain and Glory starring Antonio Banderas, who was awarded Best Actor at the 72ndCannes Film Festival; and acclaimed filmmaker Karim Aïnouz s latest film The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão, winner of the Un Certain Regard Prize at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival. The jury of the Feature Narrative Competition will include Egyptian film star Sawsan Badr, while the Feature Documentary jury will include Egyptian costume designer Nahed Nasrallah. Film director Marwan Hamed will head the Short Film Competition jury, with Tunisian star Dorra Zarrouk. Celebrating the centennial birth of the late acclaimed Egyptian writer and journalist Ihsan Abdel-Quddous, the GFF will host an exhibition honouring his memory. The exhibition will include his handwritten notes of both fiction and journalistic pieces, representing a large collection of his works as well as certificates of appreciation, exquisite furniture, magnificent paintings, and rare photographs. In the official press release, Al-Timimi said, "This year, we will host retrospective screenings of some newly restored film classics, such as Stolen Kisses (1968) by French auteur François Truffaut and Caméra d Afrique (1983) by Tunisian director Férid Boughedir. Additionally, we have the Egyptian classic The Well of Deprivation (1969) by Kamal El Sheikh, celebrating the centennial of the birth of renowned Egyptian screenwriter and novelist Ihsan Abdel Quddous.” He also commented on the budget decrease in comparison to the first edition, saying, "Budget sustainability is one of GFF s main objectives. In spite of the expansion of the festival activities and programmes, we are not looking forward to having a bigger budget that turns into a burden. In the first edition, up to 85 percent of the budget was provided by the founders, the Sawiris family. In the second edition, however, they contributed 55 percent of the budget. This year, they are contributing around 45 to 50 percent. The rest of the budget is secured by the growing number of companies and entities that are very enthusiastic to be part of the event. “There is also a growing interest from the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, as well as other governmental entities, in the festival s activities, and they contribute with logistical support. In this edition, we received support from Orascom Development, Beltone Financial, O West, Orange, Euronews, Carrier, Makadi Heights, This is Egypt, Mercedes-Benz, SIXT, dstore, Concrete, Pepsi and Egypt Air. Generally speaking, there is a growing interest in supporting the festival by many new organisations."

Disney on Saturday released plans for a dozen upcoming movies, ranging from Marvel superhero films and Star Wars blockbusters to Pixar and Disney animations. Here is a run-through of everything newly announced at the D23 fan fest s movies panel in Anaheim, California: - Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Lucasfilm is "hard at work" finishing an official new trailer, but unseen footage and a new poster showed Rey and Kylo Ren locked in a duel. The final seconds showed Rey wielding a red, double-sided lightsaber -- immediately dubbed "Sith Rey" online. Naomi Ackie and Keri Russell join the cast. - Black Panther 2 Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige and returning "Black Panther" director Ryan Coogler would not even confirm the hotly anticipated sequel s title, but did set a release date -- May 6, 2022. - The Eternals "Game of Thrones" star Kit Harington and "Crazy Rich Asians" actress Gemma Chan will join an ensemble cast already boasting Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek. Harington will play a "non-eternal." - Black Widow An extended version of last month s Comic-Con footage featuring Scarlett Johansson locked in a fight in a Budapest apartment was shown. New clips showed motorcycle chases, mountains and Rachel Weisz. - Jungle Cruise Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Emily Blunt rode into D23 on a riverboat and a vintage car to promote their live-action film based on Disney s theme park ride. In a good-humored takedown of alpha-male action heroes, Blunt introduced her own trailer telling the story from her character s perspective -- with Johnson s name in comically tiny font. - Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Michelle Pfeiffer and Chiwetel Ejiofor join the cast for the sequel to the live-action 2014 hit centered on Snow White s villain. A lengthy clip showed Aurora preparing to marry Prince Phillip -- leading to an extremely frosty dinner between her godmother Maleficent and his parents which quickly descends into conflict. - Mulan The panel for Disney s live-action remake was notable for the absence of Chinese-American star Liu Yifei, who triggered the #BoycottMulan movement with her criticism of Hong Kong protests. Film footage showed a young Mulan s disastrous meeting with a highly-strung matchmaker, before teasing fight scenes as she takes the place of her ailing father in the Imperial Army. - Cruella This live-action "101 Dalmatians" prequel will be set in "punk rock" 1970s London. Emma Stone sent a video from the British capital, where filming has begun, and shared a first image of herself in character sporting a Vivienne Westwood-esque shock of black and white hair. Emma Thompson joins the cast. - Soul Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey were announced as the lead voices of metaphysical jazz adventure "Soul." Prominent musicians including Jon Batiste and Nine Inch Nails Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross will feature in the film, where souls are trained at an otherworldly "You Seminar" before being dispatched to Earth. - Onward Julia-Louis Dreyfus was revealed as the mother of protagonists Ian and Barley. Tom Holland and Chris Pratt introduced footage setting out plot details of their characters botched quest to bring back their dead father with a magical spell in a faded fantasy world. - Raya and the Last Dragon Cassie Steele and Awkwafina lead the voice cast in this animated fantasy featuring the search for dragons in a fictional, Southeast Asian-inspired world. - Frozen 2 The sequel will explore where Elsa got her powers, and a mysterious past involving her parents. Evan Rachel Wood ("Westworld") and Sterling K. Brown ("This Is Us") join the cast, with original songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Bobby Lopez returning. Footage showed flashbacks of sisters Elsa and Anna with their mother, an enchanted forest, and a new song for Elsa (Idina Menzel.)

Egypt s Media Syndicate announced on Saturday that it has banned controversial TV host Riham Saeed from appearing on TV for violating syndicate rules. In a statement, the syndicate added that since Saeed, host of the show “Sabaya al-Kheir”, is not a syndicate member she has been banned until she can sort out her legal situation. The syndicate s decision comes just a day after the Supreme Council for Media Regulation summoned Saeed for investigation regarding offensive remarks made against overweight people during her show. On the latest episode of her show on Wednesday, Saeed discussed obese people and decried them as a burden on the state. The remarks sparked outrage, with Saeed accused of seriously insulting overweight people, especially woman. The union informed the Public Prosecution against Saeed for practicing her profession without a license, a violation of the union s rules of registration. It also warned the Al-Hayat satellite channel to not air anyone unregistered in the syndicate. The Al-Hayat network said that it has suspended Saeed s show, responding to social media fury over her latest episode. The channel said in a statement that the suspension will continue until the conclusion of the Supreme Council for Media Regulation s investigation with Saeed, with the program s future situation to be determined. Al-Hayat stressed that it respects its audience and is committed to providing them with quality and appropriate content. Saeed has been suspended multiple times before. She was suspended for three months in August 2017 for hosting a married woman and her lover on her show, during which guests shared their story of infidelity. Saeed was also suspended for one month in 2016, after she stated that a woman had brought sexual harassment upon herself by wearing “inappropriate clothing.” Her show had earlier been suspended for one month in 2015 after Saeed ignited public fury for insensitive behavior towards an alleged victim of sexual harassment.