Rapper Travis Scott's Giza Pyramids Concert Banned Over Offence To "Traditions"

The musicians' union rarely opposes such events, but has spearheaded a fight against genres deemed improper in Egypt, with rap a frequent target.

The powerful musicians' union rarely opposes such events.

Cairo: 

The Egyptian musicians' syndicate announced Tuesday it would not allow a planned concert at the Giza pyramids by US rapper Travis Scott, in a rare move citing offence to "traditions".

International music stars often perform at the feet of Egypt's famed pyramids near the capital Cairo.

The powerful musicians' union rarely opposes such events, but in recent years has spearheaded a fight against musical genres deemed improper in Egypt, with rap a frequent target.

Egypt has also increasingly opposed what it views as a "rewriting" of its history, finding fault with African-American movements that claim cultural affiliation to the ancient pharaohs.

The musicians' syndicate, which oversees all matters relating to live or recorded music in the Arab world's most populous nation, said in a statement on Tuesday that Scott's concert would "go against our traditions".

The union said it does not intervene in any musical performances so long as they "do not undermine the ancestral customs and traditions of the Egyptian people".

After examining social media content and "the artist's positions, the syndicate found images and documented information on the strange rituals he practices, which go against our traditions," the statement said.

Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com

It however does not specify which "rituals" the union attributes to the hip-hop heavyweight, who is currently on a world tour.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Global builder Lendlease to slash 10 per cent of workforce amid five-year turnaround plan

 A major global builder with a base in Australia will slash hundreds of jobs, equating to roughly to 10 per cent of its international workforce.

Property giant Lendlease is slashing 10 per cent of its global workforce, with up to 740 jobs on the chopping block.

The shock announcement comes amid a five-year turnaround plan for the builder to deliver “more sustainable” performance following a bruising few years for the construction industry across Australia.

In an internal memo to staff, Lendlease chief Tony Lombardo said the Australian arm will be reduced by about 5 per cent as part of the recent cuts.

The bulk of the reductions, equating to 15 per cent of the global workforce, will be felt by overseas workers.

It is understood up to 740 jobs will be cut.

A Lendlease spokesman declined to comment on the total number of jobs being cut when contacted by NCA NewsWire.

Lendlease chief Tony Lombardo said the decision was “never easy” but necessary to generate more resilient returns. Picture: Supplied

In a statement, Mr Lombardo said: “It’s never easy making decisions that directly impact our people.”

“However, they’re absolutely necessary in order to generate more resilient returns for our securityholders and sustainable careers for our ongoing workforce.”

It is understood the headcount reduction will not impact the company’s project delivery or targets for work in progress, completions and funds under management.

Lendlease earlier this year took a bruising on the Australian sharemarket, falling 6 per cent after its first-half result missed market expectations.

Russians to Putin: No Nukes

 

A new poll shows dismal support for Putin’s use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine – a possibility Putin almost immediately reinforced he is considering.

A vast majority of the Russian population would not support their government’s use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine even as an act of desperation, undermining a deterrent President Vladimir Putin has used against Kyiv’s Western backers as recently as Friday.

Of the respondents to the new poll from the independent Levada Center, 86% said that nuclear weapons should not be used in Ukraine under any circumstances. Only 10% of the 1,600 respondents in both rural and urban environments queried at the end of May said that they could possibly condone the use of nuclear weapons.

Opposition to Putin’s threats of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine – which the U.S. for months has blasted “as irresponsible and reckless” and “cavalier” – is surprisingly universal across age groups in Russia, including among those who lived through Soviet times. More than 87% of both 18- to 24-year-olds and those above 55 oppose the use of nuclear weapons. The most accepting demographic is those between the ages of 40 and 55 of whom 84% opposed their use.

Levada assesses that overall the difference in opinion among the demographics is “minor.”

The polling center – considered the most accurate for insights regarding the public reaction to the Kremlin’s increasingly autocratic governance – left open-ended the main question it posed to respondents, who are typically wary of publicly criticizing Putin’s regime.

“Some believe that in order to win in Ukraine Russia must use nuclear weapons, others believe that it is impossible to use nuclear weapons under any circumstances,” it posed, according to a translation. “And which of these points of view do you most adhere to?”

Putin himself, however, expressed on Friday that he remains undeterred by any opposition to the use of any weapons in his arsenals.

“The use of extreme means is possible if there is a threat to Russian statehood. And in this case, of course, we will use all the forces and means at the disposal of the Russian state,” Putin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in response to a question about nuclear weapons use.

And, predictably, he referenced that the U.S. is the only nuclear-armed country to have employed them in battle.

“Such a precedent has been created – created by the United States,” he said, according to a translation.

Western officials and analysts have fretted in recent months about whether to take seriously Putin’s increasingly aggressive nuclear saber-rattling. He has ordered the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons to Belarus, one of its sole remaining loyal post-Soviet allies and has engaged in other provocative behavior, such as deploying ships armed with hypersonic missiles – which U.S. analysts believe could carry a nuclear warhead – into the Atlantic.

Less catastrophic, but equally perilous for Ukraine, others fear that the mere threats of using nuclear weapons could amount to enough to force Kyiv’s allies in Europe to begin backing away from staunch support for its military, particularly as it escalates its spring offensive.

Other analysts tell U.S. News the possibility Putin would use nuclear weapons is remote, but not impossible.

“The likelihood of Russia choosing – or Putin choosing – to use nuclear weapons directly against the West is astronomically low. It should not even be seriously considered at this stage,” Katherine Lawlor, senior intelligence analyst at the independent Institute for the Study of War, which has fastidiously tracked Russia’s military movements since it first invaded Ukraine, said in February.

“Putin would love it if Western leaders believed that he might. He is many things, but he is not suicidal,” Lawlor said. She adds that Putin ultimately does not want war with NATO – particularly given the current state of the Russian army. “He couldn’t even win a conventional war in Ukraine.”

Lawlor adds these circumstances could change if Russia feels it is squarely in a defensive position and needs to prevent “all-out disaster” – a scenario with renewed significance in light of Ukraine’s offensive.

“You have to think about the human response to nuclear use,” she said, describing the effect on a Ukrainian soldier who witnesses a rising mushroom cloud several miles away toward the front lines. “The Russians may assume it would have a devastating effect on the morale of the surviving Ukrainian forces.”

Tags: Vladimir Putin, Russia, polls, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, Ukraine

Turkey Overcomes Objections, Allows Sweden to Join NATO

 

The White House hailed the move – after considering new forms of pressure on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – and said it would bolster the alliance.

Turkey on Monday dropped its months-long opposition to Sweden becoming a member of NATO, a move the White House hailed and said will bolster the alliance.

For more than a year, the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had blocked the ascension of Sweden to the alliance – which requires unanimous support for new membership – largely over concerns about Stockholm’s willingness to harbor Kurdish dissidents that Erdogan considers terrorists.

President Joe Biden, who was touring the U.K. on Monday ahead of traveling to Lithuania for a NATO summit beginning Tuesday, said in a statement that he welcomed the development and the commitment by Turkey to a “swift ratification.”

“I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Kristersson and Sweden as our 32nd NATO Ally,” he said.

Biden also thanked NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, whose tenure was just extended for an extra year.

In a statement issued by Stoltenberg, Sweden and Erdogan, the two countries agreed that they would establish a “new bilateral security compact” and that Sweden will present a “roadmap as the basis of its continued fight against terrorism in all its forms.”

The statement also noted that Sweden had changed its laws, expanded cooperation efforts regarding counterterrorism against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and would restart arms exports to Turkey had it suspended in 2019 after Turkey’s incursion into Syria to target Kurdish militia.

Sweden, a member of the EU, also suggested it would support Erdogan’s aspirations of Turkey joining the economic bloc.

The U.S. was reportedly considering holding up planned shipments of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey if it continued stonewalling Sweden’s membership in NATO. Only Hungary under the leadership of Viktor Oban – who has also faced criticisms for troubling moves toward autocracy – joined Erdogan in holding out support.

Supporters see their membership as an unparalleled condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in which previously non-aligned countries now seek to join the alliance originally formed to offset the Soviet Union.

Following the surprising willingness of Sweden to break from its traditional policy of non-alignment and join the alliance – a move matched by Finland, which joined in April – most analysts believed the new membership would be swiftly advanced by the Cold War-era bloc.

“They will bring substantial new military capabilities, including advanced air and submarine capabilities, that will alter the security architecture of northern Europe and help deter further Russian aggression,” former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt wrote in Foreign Affairs magazine last year.

“Finland and Sweden are right to have concluded from the tragic war being waged in Ukraine that they need more security,” The Economist noted in an analysis in May 2020. “Putin is dangerous and unpredictable not because of NATO, but because of the way he has chosen to govern Russia.”

Putin almost immediately issued thinly veiled threats, saying that same month that Russia would study the potential threats the new membership would pose and “react accordingly.”

More recently, Russian officials have attempted to downplay the significance of the new members. Dmitry Medvedev, former president and current deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, pushed back on claims last week that Russia sought to contain NATO, including Sweden and Finland’s joining.

“It is not in our power and capabilities, and these two Scandinavian countries were already associated with the alliance,” Medvedev said on July 4, according to a translation.

He added, “We always asked for only one thing – to take into account our concerns” regarding former Soviet countries’ potentially joining NATO – one of the fears that the Kremlin uses to justify its invasion of Ukraine.

NATO, Sweden, Turkey

Miss Netherlands contestant makes history

 

Rikkie Kollé was crowned Miss Netherlands 2023 on Saturday.

CNN — 

Rikkie Kollé became the first openly trans pageant contestant to win the title of Miss Netherlands on Saturday, and she will go on to represent her country in Miss Universe later this year.

“I did it!” Kollé wrote in a joyous Instagram post after her win at the AFAS Theater in Leusden. “I made my community proud and showed it can be done,” she added in Dutch with an emoji of the light blue, light pink and white-striped trans flag.

Throughout the competition, which narrowed down hundreds of entrants to 10 finalists in April, Kollé has used her platform to promote a more inclusive vision of the pageant world, and to encourage others to feel inspired.

“Miss Universe asked us to describe ourselves in one word,” Kollé shared in a video posted to her Instagram page last month. “The word I’m choosing is ‘victory,’ because as a little boy I conquered all the things that came through my path — and look at me now, standing here as a strong, empowering and confident trans woman.”

“Never forget that we can do this together, you’re not alone on this planet. Never stop dreaming of being your ultimate and confident YOU!” she wrote in the accompanying caption. “Never let someone tell you what’s good for you, because the only thing that matters is that you become the best version of yourself.”