
Egypt's $1 billion marvel: Arts24's exclusive look inside the Grand Egyptian Museum
Join arts24 presenter Eve Jackson on an exclusive journey inside the Grand Egyptian Museum – a colossal cultural masterpiece just a mile from the Great Pyramids of Giza. The museum's grand debut has faced multiple delays and was set to open this July, but ongoing tensions in the Middle East have pushed back the opening once again, making this your rare opportunity to explore its wonders ahead of time.
After two decades and a billion-dollar build, this stunning museum showcases over 100,000 artefacts, including the full collection of Tutankhamun's treasures – reunited under one roof for the very first time.
With cutting-edge restoration labs, sustainable design that cuts energy use by 60 percent and panoramic views of the ancient pyramids, this is more than a museum — it's Egypt 's bold statement to the world, bridging 7,000 years of history with modern ambition.
Watch Eve uncover the stories behind colossal statues, revolutionary architecture and the experts bringing the past back to life.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Dubai airport logs record travellers in first half
The facility marked its busiest first half on record with a 2.3 percent year-on-year growth, Dubai Airports said in a statement, "despite temporary regional airspace disruptions in May and June". During the 12-day Iran-Israel war, airlines cancelled flights to many Middle East destinations as some governments closed their airspace. In the first six months of 2025, the average monthly traffic stood at around 7.7 million passengers or 254,000 daily travellers. "Based on our performance to date and a positive outlook, we expect the annual traffic to reach 96 million this year, bringing us closer to the symbolic 100 million milestone," said Dubai Airports chief executive Paul Griffiths. In 2024, Dubai International Airport recorded its highest annual passenger traffic in history, totalling 92.3 million. "January was the busiest month of the period and also set a new monthly record, with 8.5 million guests," said the statement. "As we enter the second half of the year, travel activity is expected to accelerate," it added. The top countries for passenger traffic to and from Dubai were India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. The Emirati city, located between Asia, Europe and Africa, has been ranked the world's busiest air hub for international passengers for a decade. Dubai is planning a $35 billion expansion and relocation of the airport to Al Maktoum International, on the city's outskirts, in 2032.


France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
Ziad Rahbani, enfant terrible of Lebanese stage and song, dies at 69
"On Saturday at 9:00 am (0600 GMT), the heart of the great artist and creator Ziad Rahbani stopped beating," said a statement from the Beirut hospital where he was being treated. He had long suffered from health problems. Tributes poured in for the enfant terrible of Lebanese music -- a musician, composer and theatre producer who made a huge mark on generations of Lebanese with his theatre pieces and songs, which many know by heart. Rebellious and visionary, his work evoked Lebanon's civil war even before it erupted in 1975, later reflecting the eventual conflict itself and the harsh realities of economic crisis. One of his most famous theatre pieces, the 1980 production "Film Ameriki Tawil" (The American Motion Picture), was a satirical depiction of Lebanon during the civil war, set in an asylum with characters who represented facets of society. Ziad Rahbani was the son of Arab musical icon Fairuz, who turned 90 last year, and the late Lebanese composer Assi Rahbani who along with his brother Mansour modernised Arab music by blending Western, Russian and Latin American sounds with Eastern rhythms. Already adored by older generations, Fairuz became a youth idol when her son began composing jazz-influenced songs for her, calling it "Oriental jazz". While Fairuz transcended Lebanon's deep sectarian divides, her son was fiercely left-wing and secular, and spent his life decrying the divisions that ruined his country. "I feel like everything has gone. I feel like Lebanon has become empty," Lebanese actress Carmen Lebbos, his former partner, wrote on X. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a statement that Rahbani was "a voice that rebelled against injustice, an honest mirror for the oppressed and marginalised". Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said that "Lebanon has lost an exceptional artist and creative, a free voice who stayed faithful to the values of justice and dignity" and who said "what many don't dare to say". Culture Minister Ghassan Salame wrote on X that "we dreaded this day as we knew his health was worsening and that his desire for treatment was dwindling".


France 24
19-07-2025
- France 24
West Bank 'plane chalet' helps aviation dreams take off
"So many kids want to come," said 27-year-old Harsha, who built the guest house in the hills of the northern West Bank, within view of the separation barrier between Israel and the Palestinian territory. "And that's the goal: since we don't have planes or airports, people come here instead," he told AFP. Harsha said he designed the concrete plane himself, with a master bedroom in the cockpit and a children's bedroom in the tail. The price tag, between 1,000 and 2,000 shekels (about $300-$600) per night, is out of reach for most Palestinians, particularly as unemployment soars due to the war in Gaza. He has nonetheless been pleased with the reactions to his chalet, having initially faced scepticism. "I wanted to bring something unique, something new to the area and to Palestine," Harsha said of the unit, which opened a month ago. Since its launch, his red and white concrete plane has become a local landmark, featuring in local media and on social networks. Harsha said he originally wanted to place a Palestinian flag on his chalet and call it the "Palestinian Queen", but avoided such signs out of caution. The guest house is located in the West Bank's Area C, which covers more than 60 percent of the territory and is under full Israeli control. "I just made it look like a plane. I avoided politics entirely because of the hardships our people are going through," he said. "We're a people who are constantly losing things -- our land, our rights, our lives." Using the land Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and frequently demolishes homes it says are built without permission in the mostly rural Area C. Though no airport currently services the Palestinian territories, both the West Bank and Gaza once had their own terminals, in east Jerusalem and the southern Gaza city of Rafah, respectively. Both were closed during the Second Intifada, the Palestinian uprising of the early 2000s, and what remains of east Jerusalem's airport is now isolated from the rest of the West Bank by Israel's separation barrier. Despite difficulties and threats of demolition, Harsha believes that Palestinians can find freedom and fulfilment in projects like his. "I encourage everyone who has land to work on it and invest in it -- with creativity and ambition," he said, flanked by his two brothers who helped him build the unit. Harsha himself has more plans for his land. "After this aeroplane, we'll build a ship next year," he said. "It will be something unique and beautiful," he said, pointing out that while many West Bank Palestinians have seen planes flying overhead, a large number of people from the landlocked territory have never seen a real ship at all. © 2025 AFP