Entertainment
With presidents and royalty in attendance, Egypt unveils $1bn cultural ‘GEM’
Prime ministers, presidents and royalty descended on Cairo on Saturday to attend the spectacle-laden inauguration of a sprawling new museum built near the Pyramids to house one of the world’s richest collections of antiquities.
The inauguration of the $1 billion Grand Egyptian Museum, or GEM, marks the end of a two-decade construction effort hampered by the Arab Spring uprisings, pandemic and wars in neighbouring countries.
“We’ve all dreamed of this project and whether it would really come true,” Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told a press conference, calling the museum a “gift from Egypt to the whole world from a country whose history goes back more than 7,000 years.”
Spectators, including President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, gathered late on Saturday before an enormous screen outside the museum, which projected images of the country’s most famous cultural sites as dancers in glittering pharaonic-style garb waved glowing orbs and sceptres.
‘New chapter for Egypt’
They were accompanied by Egyptian pop stars and an international orchestra decked out in white beneath a sky lit with lasers, fireworks and hovering lights that formed into moving hieroglyphics.
By opening the museum, Egypt was “writing a new chapter in the story of this ancient nation’s present and future,” Sisi said at the opening.
The audience included German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, and the crown princes of Oman and Bahrain.
The museum’s most heavily promoted attraction is the expansive collection of treasures from Tutankhamun’s tomb, uncovered in 1922, including the boy-king’s golden burial mask, throne and sarcophagus, and thousands of other objects.
A colossal statue of Ramses II that sat for decades in a downtown Cairo square bearing the pharaoh’s name now adorns the grand entry hall.
The complex’s sleek design, evoking the Pyramids, cuts a marked contrast to the dusty and often outmoded displays in the neoclassical Egyptian Museum that opened over a century ago in central Cairo overlooking Tahrir Square.
Old museum looted
The old museum suffered indignities in recent years, including the looting of several display cases during Egypt’s 2011 uprising, when antiquities theft was rife.
In 2014, the beard of Tutankhamun’s burial mask broke off when workers were changing the lights in the display case, then was clumsily glued back on. The following year, the mask was more properly restored and put back on display.
Officials hope the new museum can end a perception fueled by such events that Egypt has been remiss in caring for its priceless treasures, and add weight to its claims for Egyptian objects held in museums abroad to be returned.
“Is it a national shrine or a global showcase? A gesture of cultural sovereignty or a tool of soft power?” read an article in a special edition of state-run Al-Ahram Weekly devoted to the museum, which it called “a philosophy as much as it is a building.”
“The GEM is not a replica of the Louvre or the British Museum. It is Egypt’s response to both. Those museums were born of empire; this one is born of authenticity.”
The museum’s more than $1 billion price tag was funded in large part by Japanese development loans. Designed by an Irish firm, Heneghan Peng Architects, it covers some 120 acres, making it roughly the same size as Vatican City.
Officials are also betting that the museum, the latest in a series of mega-projects launched or completed since 2014, can accelerate a revival of tourism, a vital source of foreign currency for an economy battered by years of regional conflicts and economic uncertainty.
A series of galleries had been opened late last year, but many exhibits were not accessible to the public.
Shawn Levy celebrated the filming wrap-up of Star Wars: Firefighter with a behind-the-scenes glimpse.
The Deadpool & Wolverine director took to Instagram to mark the end of the shoot for the upcoming hit.
In the post, Levy is seen jogging along the set. He captioned the post, “That’s a wrap! Headed into #Starfighter post-production like…”
The plot details are still kept under wraps, although the stand-alone movie is set roughly five years after the events of 2019’s Rise of the Skywalker.
“The reality is that this script is just so good. It has such a great story with great and original characters,” Gosling told the audience earlier this year at Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo.
He continued, “It’s filled with so much heart and adventure, and there just really is not a more perfect filmmaker for this particular story than Shawn.”
Jonathan Tropper wrote the script for the movie that Levy has been developing since 2022. Levy and Kathleen Kennedy serve as producers.
In addition to Gosling and Gray, the cast includes Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings and Amy Adams.
Star Wars: Firefighter is slated for release on May 28, 2027.
Meanwhile, Director Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian & Grogu is set for theatrical release on May 22, 2026, as a spinoff to the Disney+ series The Mandalorian.
Not exactly the post-birth plan Pete Davidson and Elsie Hewitt had in mind, but the new mother found herself making an unexpected trip to the hospital after giving birth.
Just hours after announcing that she had welcomed her first baby with the former Saturday Night Live star, Hewitt shared a painful update with fans.
Taking to her Instagram Stories on Early Friday, December 19, the model posted a selfie while seated in a car alongside her newborn’s car seat.
The little one’s face was covered with text that read, “Who else had to get a wisdom tooth removed directly from the hospital the day after they gave birth?”
In the next image, she appeared to be recovering after the brief but painful procedure, posing with her face wrapped in what looked like an ice-pack head wrap commonly used to reduce swelling and discomfort following wisdom tooth removal.
The updates came just a couple of hours after the new parents introduced their daughter to the world.
“Our perfect angel girl arrived 12/12/2025,” she wrote, revealing her baby’s gender, birthdate, and full name. “Scottie Rose Hewitt Davidson [red heart emoji].”
“My best work yet. I am absolutely overflowing with love, gratitude, and disbelief,” the sweet message continued with first statements from both parents. “Wu Tang forever,” Davidson wrote.
The delightful announcement was accompanied by a series of heart melting photos of the new family of three soaking in the moment.
The carousel included snapshots of Davidson feeding his daughter from a bottle, planting a gentle kiss on her head as Hewitt cradled her in her arms and many more adorbale images.
While the parents were generous enough to share the glimpse of their little bundle of joy, they kept their daughter’s face concealed to ensure privacy.
Keira Knightly’s has made a surprising admission about the beloved Christmas classic Love Actually.
The 40-year-old, who played the newlywed Juliet in Richard Curtis’ 2003 romcom, revealed she has watched the film only once and has forgotten her lines.
The Pride and Prejudice star revealed she has what she calls a ‘delete button’ in her head.
“I’ve definitely got a delete button in my head for every single line I’ve ever said in any film I’ve done,” Knightley explained on her recent appearance on The Dish podcast.
She added that even if she had to redo a scene, she’d need to relearn it from scratch.
Her lack of ability to recall her dialogues often leaves her puzzled and confused when fans quote her iconic lines back to her.
She mentioned the Juliet’s ‘I look quite pretty’ moment from the wedding video which has now became a viral TikTok meme.
Pirates of the Caribbean actress admitted she gets a “particular look” from fans when they’re quoting her, but she rarely recognizes the dialogue.
“I get the look, but I have no idea what the line is,” she added. “It’s actually quoting me at me, but I don’t realise that.”
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