Lebanese soprano Majida El Roumi met French President Emmanuel Macron in Beirut this week. Instagram / Majida El Roumi
Lebanese soprano Majida El Roumi met French President Emmanuel Macron in Beirut this week. Instagram / Majida El Roumi
Lebanese soprano Majida El Roumi met French President Emmanuel Macron in Beirut this week. Instagram / Majida El Roumi
Lebanese soprano Majida El Roumi met French President Emmanuel Macron in Beirut this week. Instagram / Majida El Roumi

'I saw a tear in his eye': Emmanuel Macron meets Lebanese soprano Majida El Roumi


Emma Day
  • English
  • Arabic

Fairouz was not the only legendary Lebanese singer Emmanuel Macron met while visiting Beirut.

The French President also encountered famed soprano Majida El Roumi, 63, on the same day he met the Ana La Habibi singer.

Macron invited El Roumi to a reception held at the official residence of the French ambassador to Lebanon on Tuesday, the Kalimat singer revealed.

"The French President wanted to conclude his visit to Lebanon by meeting Majida El Roumi, stressing his desire to highlight Lebanon's artistic and civilised image," a post shared to the singer's Instagram account on Wednesday, stated.

El Roumi has built a career melding classical Arabic arrangements with modern and historical regional literature. Over the past three decades, she has broken ground for Arab artists by performing on the hallowed stages of New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1990, London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1995 and the Athens Concert Hall in Greece in 2009.

The singer's Instagram post was accompanied by a series of images of Macron and El Roumi's meeting, including the two sharing a poignant embrace.

"El Roumi thanked him for everything he has done and is doing to serve Lebanon, referring to his visit to Fairouz, who touches the spirit of the beautiful exiled Lebanon that we love," the singer's post continued.

"The French President was touched by the eloquent woman, who saw a tear in his eyes. He therefore hugged her as if he was hugging the Lebanese people saying, 'you will all be fine'."

El Roumi said Macron also expressed a desire to see Lebanese-French artistic collaboration "to help Lebanon recover from its ordeal".

The massive explosion in Beirut port on August 4 killed at least 190 people, injuring more than 6,000 as it destroyed parts of the city and rendered about 300,000 people homeless.

Macron, who arrived in Lebanon on Monday before travelling to Iraq on Wednesday, also made a visit to the home of reclusive singer Fairouz, 84, while in the capital city.

The President visited Fairouz to award her the Legion of Honour, France's highest order of merit.

Macron described his meeting with Fairouz, who as a figure has almost become synonymous with the country's pain and glory, as "very beautiful, very strong".

"I told her everything that she represented to me, of a Lebanon that we love and that many are expectant of, a nostalgia that many have," he said.

After his meeting with her, Macron said his favourite Fairouz song is Li Beirut, a piece that is considered a rallying cry for many Lebanese people.

“I love you Lebanon my country,” the song opens. “They said what goes on in the land of festivals, strewn as it is with fire and dynamite? / I said our land is being reborn / The Lebanon of dignity and a people that perseveres / How could I help loving you? / Even in your madness I love you.”

Panipat

Director Ashutosh Gowariker

Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment

Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman

Rating 3 /stars

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RESULT

Bayern Munich 3 Chelsea 2
Bayern: Rafinha (6'), Muller (12', 27')
Chelsea: Alonso (45' 3), Batshuayi (85')

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

Company profile

Name: Thndr

Started: October 2020

Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: FinTech

Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000

Funding stage: series A; $20 million

Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC,  Rabacap and MSA Capital

Company Profile

Company name: Yeepeey

Started: Soft launch in November, 2020

Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani

Based: Dubai

Industry: E-grocery

Initial investment: $150,000

Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year

While you're here
Family reunited

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.

She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.

She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.

The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.

She was held in her native country a year later.

Tree of Hell

Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

The Buckingham Murders

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Director: Hansal Mehta

Rating: 4 / 5

The burning issue

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Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

The President's Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem 

Rating: 4/5

Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015

- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France

Youth YouTuber Programme

The programme will be presented over two weeks and will cover the following topics:

- Learning, scripting, storytelling and basic shots

- Master on-camera presence and advanced script writing

- Beating the algorithm and reaching your core audience

Paatal Lok season two

Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5

Results:

Men’s wheelchair 200m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 27.14; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 27.81; 3. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 27.81.

F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

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What can victims do?

Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence