Watch the Avenue of Sphinxes parade live here
Residents of the Egyptian southern city of Luxor are waiting with bated breath for a spectacular ceremony that will inaugurate the newly renovated Avenue of Sphinxes, a 2.7-kilometre road connecting the city’s most prominent temples.
When Covid-19 stopped almost all tourists coming to the city, many in the city could not make ends meet. They say they are now heavily invested in the success of Thursday’s ceremony to revive the industry and bring money back to Luxor.
“Many of the city’s tour guides have been having a really tough time amid the dry spell brought on by the pandemic,” Luxor native Mohamed Fahmy, 34, told The National. He is a taxi driver who mainly makes a living transporting tourists from the airport into the city centre.
Many of the city’s residents will be involved in the procession and its associated performances, demonstrating the extent to which the city has got behind the event.
Parts of the city were closed on Thursday for security reasons in the run-up to President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s arrival.
“You have no idea how difficult it’s been for us to make ends meet here over the past couple of years. A friend of mine had to sell most of the furniture in his house after he was let go from his job at a local tour operating company,” said local bazaar owner Hassan Imam, 45.
Though many business owners were asked to stay at home on Thursday as security forces banned locals from the Nile’s front around the city centre, residents were more than happy to comply in the hope that the attention the event will bring helps the city’s tourism industry return to pre-pandemic levels.
The Nile in Luxor, which is usually crowded with boats ferrying passengers between the two banks of the river, was markedly empty on Thursday. One ferryman told The National that he and his colleagues were told to moor their boats at docks outside the city centre until the celebration was over.
Additionally, the city’s ferry, the main mode of transport between the Nile's banks, was halted on Wednesday night to ensure nothing gets in the way of the event, a part of which is expected to take place in the stretch of the river by both temples with pharaonic-style boats built especially for the occasion.
Ever since international stay-at-home orders due to Covid-19 abated earlier this year, the city’s tourism sector has shown signs of recovery. But, it has not been enough of an improvement for Luxor's inhabitants, who are pinning their hopes on Thursday’s ceremony.
“To me and a lot of the city’s workers, this event is a matter of life and death. If it succeeds and revamps tourism, I will be able to feed my children. If it doesn’t, I don’t know what I will do, to be honest,” Mr Fahmy said.
Tourist is the city's main trade, he said.
“Craftsmen can continue making pharaonic statues all day, but without someone here to buy them, what is the use? Without the tourist, there isn’t much we can do here,” he said.
A tourist city through and through, Luxor is not known for its own industries and aside from agriculture, locals have to leave the city to find work outside the tourism sector.
Throughout the city’s streets, people were eagerly cleaning their shopfronts and sweeping the streets outside.
Security forces were in place and the roofs of buildings overlooking both temples have been closed by officers stationed there.
Hotels on side streets running off the avenue were ordered not to let guests take pictures or interfere with the procession in any way.
On Wednesday, the country’s Tourism Ministry announced that all of Luxor’s hotels were fully booked for the first time in months, which cheered many of Luxor’s residents.
“Already the city is overrun with tourists and media personnel coming to witness the event. If things continue as they have been over the past week, then God has blessed us,” Mr Imam said.
Luxor is definitely the star of Thursday’s ceremony, as the ministry intends to highlight all the aspects that make the city unique, including flying a number of hot-air balloons – for which the city is known – over the procession and using a number of horse-drawn carriages, another of the city’s defining features, which have been redecorated for the parade.
The ceremony will be broadcast live on various local and international TV channels, as well as online through the ministry’s pages on various social media platforms. The National will be broadcasting the event live on its various social media pages.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
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Price, base: Dh69,900
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Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
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Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
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Neighbourhood Watch
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Where to donate in the UAE
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Tomorrow 2021
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