Elissa has released a song for the times.
After teasing fans last week by announcing a new single was on the way, the Lebanese singer dropped her latest track, Hanaghani Kaman Wa Kaman, on YouTube on Saturday, April 11.
Translated as “we shall sing again and again", the song acts as both a message of encouragement as well as a plea for people to stay home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Presented in the style of a video conference by Lebanese filmmaker and visual artist Eli Rezkallah, the accompanying music video begins with Elissa at home – complete in pink pyjamas – reaching out to friend and fellow pop star Haifa Wehbe, who is also isolating at home.
Concerned at her bored state, Elissa consoles her by singing the song. As the track develops, the screen splits into video-conference mode with family members and fans tuning in and dancing along from their respective homes.
While Elissa has yet to comment on whether the track was inspired by the present pandemic, the lyrics act as a rallying cry for fans to stay the course during these challenging times.
The resonant lines are found in the soothing chorus, where she declares: “We shall live under any circumstances / We'll live and see / We will live, let's go and live.”
With the pandemic forcing Elissa to adopt a virtual option of creating her music video, she said the allotted budget for production was given to charity.
"We hope it will put a smile on your faces during these times as we get through it together," she said on Instagram. "All the allocated budget for this project was donated to charity. Stay home and stay safe."
The song confirms new pop direction
Hanaghani Kaman Wa Kaman also confirms Elissa's previous assertion that her upcoming album will have a decidedly Egyptian pop flavour.
In addition to being sung in the country’s dialect, the track also features the work of a top Egyptian songwriting trio: composer Mohammed Yeyha, lyricist Shady Nour and arranger Elhamy Dheima.
It was the latter, in an interview with Egyptian newspaper Al Watan, who confirmed Hanaghani Kaman Wa Kaman is the first single from Elissa's upcoming album.
In addition to its release later in the year, what we do know about the new project is that it will comprise 20 songs and feature the work of Egyptian composers Mohammed Rahim and Nader Abdullah, as well as lyricist Amir Teima.
However, Elissa’s fans are keen to know if she intends to commit to an earlier statement that the new album would be her last.
Elissa shocked fans last year by stating her next project would be her final album, due to the creative constraints placed upon her by a regional music industry she described as a "mafia".
Elissa’s songs are on point
Whatever the case may be, Hanaghani Kaman Wa Kaman continues Elissa's streak of releasing topical songs and videos.
In 2018 she opened up about her breast cancer diagnosis through the release of the single Ila Kol Elli Bihebbouni (To Those Who Love Me), with an accompanying music video re-enacting the scene where she received the news from the doctor.
In 2015 she released the powerful Ye Meryati (My Mirror) which tackles under-reported cases of domestic violence in Lebanese homes, and in 2017's A'aks Elli Shayfenya (The Opposite of What We See), she details the life of Lebanese dancer Dany Bustros, who committed suicide in 1998 after the death of her only son.
"I have never been concerned about discussing tough subjects. The key is finding the best way to talk about them," she told The National last year. "While I am glad people enjoy my songs, I try to make sure that each one of them has a purpose."
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
