Ethiopia says a controversial power dam on the Nile that's opposed by Egypt has been completed
Egypt has long opposed the dam because of concerns it would deplete its share of Nile River waters. Egypt has referred to the dam, known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, as an existential threat because the Arab world's most populous country relies almost entirely on the Nile to supply water for agriculture and its more than 100 million people.
Ethiopia disputes that suggestion, and insists it doesn't need authorization from a foreign country to build the dam it views as key to its development needs.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his address to lawmakers Thursday, said his government is 'preparing for its official inauguration" in September.
'While there are those who believe it should be disrupted before that moment, we reaffirm our commitment: the dam will be inaugurated,' he said.
Abiy said his country 'remains committed to ensuring that our growth does not come at the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters.'
Ethiopia and Egypt have been trying to find an agreement for years over the $4 billion dam, which Ethiopia began building in 2011.
The dam, on the Blue Nile near the Sudan border, began producing power in 2022. The project is expected to ultimately produce over 6,000 megawatts of electricity, which is double Ethiopia's current output and enough to make the East African nation of 120 million a net energy exporter.
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Times
17 hours ago
- Times
The hidden history of slavery in the Islamic world
Beshir Agha was born in Abyssinia in 1655, seized by slave traders, castrated as a boy and sold for 30 piastres. When he died in 1746 he left a fortune of 30 million piastres, 800 jewel-studded watches and 160 horses. When he was a slave to the Ottoman governor of Egypt, he received an education. He was clearly gifted; he soon found a berth at the Topkapi Palace, the main residence of the Ottoman sultan. There he proved an adept functionary, particularly good at organising lavish entertainments, and a skilful palace politician, rising through the ranks to serve as chief harem eunuch to two sultans. Beshir is one of the many fascinating characters in Captives and Companions, Justin Marozzi's history of slavery in the Islamic world. Marozzi starts his account in the 7th century, during the life of Muhammad. Marozzi quotes one of the most famous Quranic pronouncements on slavery, one that treats inequality between master and slave as a fact of life: 'Allah has favoured some of you over others in provision.' Allah had evidently favoured the Prophet Muhammad, whose tastes were ecumenical — his 70 slaves included Copts, Syrians, Persians and Ethiopians. The sexual exploitation of female slaves by their male owners is permissible too, counsels the Quran. This furnished the Ottoman sultans with an alibi for their harem of enslaved concubines — and in our time armed Islamic State with a sanction for the rape and enslavement of Yazidi women in northern Iraq. As Marozzi rightly argues in this history of slavery in the Islamic world, it is disingenuous to deny the Islamic State its Islamic character, as Barack Obama once attempted. These are not secular fanatics but Muslim fundamentalists. For centuries Quranic justifications were invoked to defend slavery as a cultural tradition — as if it were no more troubling than morris dancing. Small wonder, then, that Muslim nations were among the last to abolish it — Saudi Arabia in 1962, Oman in 1970, Mauritania in 1981. But the practice persists. In Saudi Arabia, according to the Global Slavery Index, there are 740,000 people living in modern slavery. Marozzi opens his book in the Kayes region of western Mali, where hereditary slavery persists, as does the right of masters to rape the wives and daughters of their slaves. Despite its long history and continued presence, however, slavery in the Islamic world remains woefully underresearched. Western parochialism bears some blame; James Walvin's A Short History of Slavery, for example, devotes 201 of its 235 pages to the Atlantic trade. But so does western timidity. The historian Bernard Lewis once lamented that, thanks to contemporary sensibilities, it had become 'professionally hazardous' for bright young things to probe slavery in Muslim societies. • Read more of the latest religion news, views and analysis. Thankfully Marozzi is unencumbered by such PC pretensions. He is careful with words, preferring 'the slave trade in the Islamic world' to 'Muslim slavery' — as we do not, after all, call the Atlantic trade 'Christian slavery'. Likewise, he never deserts perspective. While discussing the million or so European Christian captives taken by Barbary corsairs, he reminds us that Christendom enslaved twice as many Muslims in the early modern period. If the Arabs enslaved 17 million souls between AD650 and 1905, Marozzi says that we would do well to remember that nearly as many — perhaps 14 million — Africans were claimed by the Atlantic trade in a much shorter period. Captives and Companions, then, is an unsentimental unveiling of a subject that has long been enshrouded in scholarly purdah. To be sure, Marozzi breaks no new ground in these pages, drawing heavily on recent work by North African, Turkish and a handful of western scholars. Yet the result is an elegant and ambitious synthesis, serving up a scintillating compendium of potted lives. We meet Bilal ibn Rabah, the Ethiopian slave who in AD610 'had his head turned' by the self-styled Prophet Muhammad, rejecting the old gods to become one of his first followers. For this Bilal was tortured by his master, Umayya ibn Khalaf — who met his end at the Battle of Badr in AD624, cut down by his former slave after the prophet's fledgling army routed the Quraysh tribe. Muhammad then appointed Bilal the voice of Islam; as the first muezzin (the caller to prayer), his voice — a resonant baritone — was the one the earliest Muslims heard five times daily, beckoning them to prayer. • The 21 best history books of the past year to read next That was Islam in its radical infancy. Later Arabs, Marozzi shows, shed Muhammad's colour-blindness and took up trafficking darker-skinned Africans. Racism ran deep. Even an intelligent fellow like the 10th-century historian Masudi could be dismayingly provincial and downright racist in his descriptions of black Africans. The Zanj, as they were called, had ten qualities, he wrote: 'Kinky hair, thin eyebrows, broad noses, thick lips, sharp teeth, malodorous skin, dark pupils, clefty hands and feet, elongated penises, and excessive merriment.' Chafing under the Arab yoke, they struck back in AD869, launching what may have been history's largest slave revolt. For 14 years they flattened cities, torching mosques and enslaving their former slaveholders. Something like a million lives were lost before the Zanj Rebellion was quelled. If male slaves could pose a physical threat, female slaves were another kind of risk. The Nestorian physician Ibn Butlan, writing in the 11th century, offered cautionary counsel: resist lustful impulse purchases 'for the tumescent has no judgment, since he decides at first glance, and there is magic in the first glance'. The concubine Arib beguiled no fewer than eight caliphs over seven decades. Al-Amin, clearly a paedophile, adored her when she was still in her early teens, and Mutamid, surely a gerontophile, loved her in her seventies. Even into her nineties she was propositioned, although she demurred: 'Ah, my sons, the lust is present, but the limbs are helpless.' Less threatening were enslaved eunuchs. Although the Quran forbade castration, the enterprising Abbasids found a workaround since their ever-expanding harems needed a steady supply of unthreatening men. Infidels in sub-Saharan Africa did the dirty work of sourcing and exporting eunuchs. It was a gruesome business. Even as late as in the 19th century, nine in ten boys put under the knife died. Western visitors were horrified by the presence of eunuchs in the holy places, although Marozzi might have noted that Christianity, too, had its eunuchs — the Sistine Chapel's last castrato wasn't retired until 1903. Gliding through the ages, dropping a metaphor here and a maxim there, Marozzi's prose recalls an older tradition of history writing — the effortless fluidity of a John Julius Norwich or Jan Morris. Reading him, one thinks of Tintoretto: vast canvases, mannered style, high drama, narrative drive. But it has its drawbacks. Marozzi, whose previous books include The Arab Conquests and Islamic Empires, delights in the zany and lurid. He loves his lobbed heads and unruly libidos, his swivel-eyed slavers and concupiscent concubines. Consider the tale of Thomas Pellow, 'an eleven-year-old Cornish lad' who, in 1715, ignored his parents' warnings and set sail from Falmouth in search of adventure. 'If only he had listened to them,' Marozzi sighs. Snatched by Moroccan corsairs off Cape Finisterre, Pellow landed in Meknes, where beatings and bastinadings — feet flayed while strung upside down — quickly dulled his taste for colourful exploits. To save his skin he 'turned Turk', although he later insisted it was all for show: 'I always abominated them and their accursed principle of Mahometism.' • Read more book reviews and interviews — and see what's top of the Sunday Times Bestsellers List As slaves go, he did well. He climbed the ranks, led a 30,000-man slave raid into Guinea and did as he was told, 'stripping the poor negroes of all they had, killing many of them, and bringing off their children into the bargain'. Then came the compulsory marriage in order to sire more slaves for his master: eight African women were paraded before him, but Pellow, bigoted fellow that he was, turned them down, 'not at all liking their colour'. He demanded a wife 'of my colour' and was duly granted one, although by now he was hardly a pasty Cornishman. When he escaped he was briefly mistaken for a 'Moor'. Back in London, he felt alienated from his homeland — until he ended up at dinner at the Moroccan ambassador's, who offered him 'my favourite dish': a big bowl of couscous. Captives and Companions: A History of Slavery and the Slave Trade in the Islamic World by Justin Marozzi (Allen Lane £35 pp560). To order a copy go to Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members
Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
Players to have social media screened before entering US for World Cup
Foreign players competing in next year's World Cup in the US will have their social media screened for posts supporting terrorism. Around 1,000 players from 31 competing nations – the US will be exempt – require a P-1 visa to enter the country and take part in sports' biggest global event. The visa requires them to give details of any social media platform they have used in the past five years, including their username or handle, on a form known as a DS-160. Similar requirements will be imposed on the media, including commentators, entering on what is known as an I-visa. The screening of social media, which began in 2019, has been ramped up by the Trump administration, with officials looking for what they regard as anti-Semitism and pro-Palestinian postings. This could raise problems for stars like Egypt's Mohamed Salah, who in 2023 posted a video on X calling for the attacks on Gaza to stop. 'The people of Gaza need food, water and medical supplies urgently,' he said. 'All lives are sacred and must be protected. The massacres need to stop. Families are being torn apart.' Egypt is highly likely to qualify for the tournament in the US next year. Algeria, which currently leads its qualification group, has been outspoken on the issue, offering to host Palestinian matches in its territory. Former Arsenal midfielder and Egyptian international, Mohamed Elneny, has also supported Palestine on social media. In 2021, he tweeted pictures of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam, accompanied by the caption: 'My heart and my soul and my support for you Palestine.' Turkey, which has a strong chance of qualifying for next year's tournament, has also seen leading players, including winger Kerem Aktürkoğlu, speak out in favour of Palestinians in Gaza. A planned clash between Turkey's two leading clubs, Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe, in Saudi Arabia was cancelled after the teams wanted to wear shirts highlighting Gaza's plight. Other high-profile supporters of the Palestinian cause include French international Wesley Fofana, who paraded the Palestinian flag across Wembley in 2021 after his team at the time, Leicester City, won the FA Cup. Gary Lineker who, following his departure from the BBC is widely tipped to join broadcaster TNT, could also face problems after he posted a pro-Palestinian video on Instagram, featuring a rat – a symbol associated with anti-Semitism. Although Linker apologised, he remained unrepentant over his right to speak out on the issue. 'If you are silent on Gaza, you are complicit,' he said. As things stand, the strictest controls are being imposed on students and those on cultural exchange visas, with applicants obliged to make their social media settings 'public' – which means they can be read at the time they apply for a visa. Lawyers expect this requirement to be extended to other classes of visas in the next few months. 'The focus is all about anti-Semitism and pro-Palestine, commentary that caused a lot of students to get caught out. And I think it's probably sending a bit further to anti-Trump sentiments, anti-government sentiments,' immigration lawyer Christi Hufford Jackson told The Telegraph. Even under the current arrangements, footballers will have to make their phones and computers open for inspection when entering the US, which means their social media activity will be available to immigration officers at airports. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed to The Telegraph that the requirement applies to all travellers. Visitors turned away at US border While such searches are extremely rare, there have been anecdotal reports of visitors to the US being turned away at the border because of anti-Trump material found on their phones. 'The Department of State has announced expanded social media vetting for visa applicants,' Sharvari Dalal-Dheini, the senior director of Government Relations at the American Immigration Lawyers told The Telegraph. 'While their current targets are students who are politically active, a consular officer has broad discretion and could use that to force other visa applicants, including athletes coming to compete in the World Cup, to undergo extreme social media vetting.' Fifa, which is running the World Cup, did persuade the Trump administration to lift restrictions on teams and officials from countries subject to Mr Trump's sweeping travel ban. The ban extends to those travelling to the US from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. However, it accepts that players and officials will be subject to the normal screening process.
Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
Five things to know before you board a Uniworld Boutique River Cruises ship
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises (to give the company its full title) is the stately doyenne of the river cruise world, known for its fleet of lavish ships brimming with extravagant touches and decorative themes inspired by the countries they sail through. The Los Angeles-based line revels in its reputation for flamboyant luxury: original artworks by Picasso, Chagall and Matisse adorn elaborately decorated walls, while immaculately uniformed staff and white-gloved butlers add to an ambience of exquisite exclusivity. To some, such ostentation may seem over the top, but impressive attention to detail and haute cuisine dining add flair to sailings, which are described as the most all-inclusive on the rivers. Having been founded in 1976, Uniworld is one of the longest-established river cruise operators and claims to have been the first American company to debut on Europe's waterways that same year. In 2004, Uniworld joined the Tollman-family owned The Travel Corporation (TTC) and launched new Super Ships, whose décor was inspired by its then sister company Red Carnation Hotel Collection. As the company grew, Uniworld expanded geographically and added the rivers of Egypt, Asia and South America to its portfolio in addition to adding zing to itineraries with mystery cruises, river and rail combinations, plus cruise-and-stay holidays. The line has even launched its own river equivalent of a world cruise. Uniworld was one of the first to offer family-friendly river voyages with its Generations family programme aimed at tempting younger guests onboard. The outfit also debuted a Make Travel Matter programme of sustainable shore experiences for guests as part of an overall eco-friendly strategy that also involved cutting food waste and eliminating single use plastics. In summer 2024, TTC and brands, including Uniworld and sister companies Trafalgar Tours and Insight Vacations, were sold to asset management firm Apollo. A few months later the line announced plans to expand its fleet further with three new Super Ships set to debut in 2027. 1. Where does Uniworld sail? It covers 17 rivers in 26 countries, though European heavyweights the Rhine and the Danube are the mainstay of Uniworld's programme, with classic sailings between Amsterdam and Basel that take in the castles of the spectacular Rhine Gorge along the former. On the Danube, Uniworld offers quintessential cruises between Budapest and Passau that feature the European capitals of Vienna and Bratislava, and sail beyond Budapest to follow the Danube's eastern stretch through Serbia and Bulgaria to Romanian capital Bucharest. Some sailings feature the Main and Moselle rivers, following routes between Belgrade and Nuremberg or Vienna. There are also voyages to the Dutch bulb fields and Christmas markets. In France, Uniworld cruises the Seine on round-trip voyages from Paris to Normandy, and the Rhone between Lyon and Arles and the wine-rich waterways around Bordeaux. Elsewhere in Portugal, voyages through port country are offered along the Douro. Uniworld is one of the few lines to offer sailings through the Venetian lagoon, visiting its lesser-known corners among the islands of Chioggia, Burano and Mazzorbo. In India, Ganges cruises are combined with the Golden Triangle tours or the Maharajas' Express train, while Nile cruises are twinned with stays in Cairo. Uniworld also cruises the Mekong through Vietnam and Cambodia – with sailings between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi – and in South America there are packages that combine the Peruvian Amazon with Machu Picchu. Themed cruises focus on golf, music, families and Jewish heritage, and there are women-only sailings too. There are also themed experiences on regular voyages with Village Days (whereby guests can meet locals); Let's Go, an active programme of pursuits including hiking, biking and kayaking; and Nights Out with evening entertainment ashore. Uniworld is increasingly adding tours and hotel stays to river cruises for its 'Spectacular Journeys' series and is twinning more cruises with trains for luxury rail-and-sail packages. Its Rivers of the World cruises generally last around 50 nights, and incorporate at least four rivers across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. 2. Who does Uniworld appeal to? Its upscale ambience appeals to a sophisticated and moneyed set of mainly Americans, followed by a growing number of British and Australian cruisers. Guests are generally retired (the average age of British guests is 65), well-travelled couples, but this mix changes on family-friendly Generations departures when the age range varies from four years upwards with a number of multi-generational family groups. The line is also increasingly popular with solo travellers. 3. The fleet This currently stands at 17 with the lion's share accounted for by Uniworld's Super Ships. These are described as floating boutique hotels but are arguably more reminiscent of pocket-size palaces owing to their grand chandeliers, elegant antiques, voluminous drapes and marble-swathed staircases. Super Ships Sails to: Europe and Egypt (SS Sphinx) SS Antoinette (152 passengers) SS Beatrice (148 passengers) SS Bon Voyage (124 passengers) SS Catherine (158 passengers) SS Elisabeth (110 passengers) SS Joie de Vivre (128 passengers) SS La Venezia (126 passengers) SS Maria Theresa (150 passengers) SS Sao Gabriel (98 passengers) SS Victoria (110 passengers) SS Sphinx (84 passengers) There are currently 11 Super Ships (with a 12 th, SS Emilie, due in 2026), representing what Uniworld terms as 'unsurpassed luxury.' Hallmark features include larger public areas, multiple dining venues and lavish décor that is inspired by the style of the destinations they sail through. Some Super Ships have ornate swimming pools; others have pocket-size spas or small cinemas. When it comes to show-stopping features, SS Antionette's reception is dominated by a stunning chandelier that used to hang in New York's famous Tavern on the Green restaurant, while the SS Maria Theresa is said to be the only ship on the rivers with hand-painted ceiling frescos. Rest of the fleet Sails to: Europe (River Duchess and River Princess); Egypt (River Tosca); Vietnam and Cambodia (Mekong Jewel); India (Ganges Voyager II); South America (Aria Amazon) River Duchess (130 passengers) River Princess (128 passengers) River Tosca (82 passengers) Mekong Jewel (68 passengers) Ganges Voyager II (56 passengers) Aria Amazon (32 passengers) These smaller ships in Uniworld's fleet are similarly luxurious and imaginatively decorated with the River Duchess and River Princess in particular having striking colour palettes. River Tosca and Mekong Jewel both have more of an exotic flavour, each with a sun-deck and swimming pool, while Ganges Voyager II and Aria Amazon are equally luxurious, reflecting the countries they sail through. All four are chartered by Uniworld. 4. Loyalty scheme Guests are automatically enrolled into the River Heritage Club after their first sailing where, following a welcome gift, they are eligible for special savings on all sailings and other perks that include an invitation to the captain's cocktail party, complimentary laundry and savings with TTC sister brands. 5. Access for guests with disabilities Some Uniworld ships have elevators and the line does its best to accommodate guests with varying medical and mobility needs. Passengers are asked to contact Uniworld on 0808 168 9231 to discuss their needs prior to booking. About our expert After finding her sea legs 20 years ago, Sarah has gone with the flow on around 200 voyages across the world's oceans and rivers, with Antarctica and the Galapagos Islands scoring as her all-time favourites.
