Welcome to The National's weekly newsletter Beshara, where we share the most positive stories of the week.
A light show depicts the funerary mask of Tutankhamun over the Grand Egyptian Museum, in Giza. AFP
Dear reader,
All eyes were on Giza this weekend, with crowds watching in awe and admiration as the Grand Egyptian Museum finally opened its doors to the world.
Saturday was a "night to remember", Egypt's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy said, as the country marked a new chapter in its cultural history.
The museum's long-awaited opening was a moment of celebration and grandeur, not just for Egyptians but for the entire Middle East and North Africa. The inauguration of the museum showed off Egypt’s rich ancient history, offering the world a renewed glimpse into its timeless legacy.
Meanwhile, in Syria, another cultural landmark is set to rise again, after being severely damaged during the civil war. The Palmyra archaeological museum was built in 1961 and was the country's most visited and cherished heritage site. It made headlines in 2015 when ISIS blew up some of its key monuments and destroyed its artefacts.
A decade later, an international, Switzerland-based foundation has pledged generous funds to rehabilitate and restore the site to its former glory.
On the surface, the cultural sites in Giza and Palmyra may seem to be mere museums. But in truth, they stand as testaments to our region’s rich history, resilience and its ability to rise, rebuild and remind the world of the civilisations that shaped it.
A coffee server at Abu Al Soud sweet shop in Gaza city. The shop serves free coffee to customers. Photo: Abu Al-Soud
After a two-year absence, the scent of syrup and roasted nuts is drifting through Gaza city’s streets once more.
A popular sweet shop that was burnt and destroyed by the Israeli military is up and running again – a small act of revival in a city still surrounded by rubble. For decades, Abu Al Soud has been renowned as a symbol of the enclave’s culture and flavours. Khaled Abu Ouda, who has worked at the sweet shop for more than 15 years, smiled as he spoke of its return.
“We’ve finally returned to work to offer people the sweets they’ve loved for generations,” he told The National.
He said reopening the shop was not just about selling desserts but restoring a cherished part of Gaza’s soul. “We’re trying to bring back the old days, to remind people of the beautiful past they lived here,” he added.
When Abu Al Soud reopened, the response was overwhelming. Ragheb Abu Hwaishal, 27, was among the first customers to walk in. “The reopening of Abu Al Soud gave me hope that Gaza can live again,” he said. "It was a message that we can still find happiness."
Quoted
'It feels like history is unfolding on streets I’ve walked my entire life'
– The National's Doaa Farid reflects on the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, just 10 minutes from her family home in Giza. Read her op-ed here.
A team at the Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Centre achieved a medical milestone by isolating tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) from breast and lung cancers for the first time in the UAE.
The treatment could serve as an alternative to chemotherapy, which affects healthy and cancerous cells. TIL therapy involves extracting immune cells from a tumour sample, multiplying them in a controlled laboratory environment and administering them to the patient to attack cancer cells directly.
This treatment turns a patient’s tumour into a personalised cancer-fighting system, serving it as a “living therapy tailored to the individual”, said Dr Zaima Mazorra Herrera, lead scientist at the Abu Dhabi centre.
"For some patients globally, this has led to tumour shrinkage even after standard therapies failed," she added. "Our ambition is to offer that level of possibility here, where 'no more options' is no longer the final conversation."
Snapshot
A lioness inspects a pumpkin in her enclosure at Five Sisters Zoo in West Calder, Scotland. Getty Images
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
Name: Thndr Started: 2019 Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr Sector: FinTech Headquarters: Egypt UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi Current number of staff: More than 150 Funds raised: $22 million
How to invest in gold
Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.
A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.
Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”
Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”
Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”
By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.
You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.
You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
Travel distance: Limited
Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
Duration: Can linger for days
Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
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.
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
