Red Sea

Four Seasons Names Adrian Messerli President, Hotel Operations in the Europe, Middle East and Africa Region

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 23, 2023

DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading luxury hospitality company Four Seasons announces the promotion of Adrian Messerli to the role of President, Hotel Operations – Europe, Middle East and Africa. As a member of the company's operations leadership team, he now has responsibility for a region that includes more than 40 hotels, resorts and residences – and growing.

Key Points: 
  • A Four Seasons veteran of 18 years, Messerli takes on responsibility for a diverse region with a robust growth pipeline
    DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading luxury hospitality company Four Seasons announces the promotion of Adrian Messerli to the role of President, Hotel Operations – Europe, Middle East and Africa.
  • As a member of the company's operations leadership team, he now has responsibility for a region that includes more than 40 hotels, resorts and residences – and growing.
  • "Beyond his impressive experience, Adrian has always been a champion of his teams and of Four Seasons core values," notes Rainer Stampfer , Four Seasons President, Global Operations, Hotels and Resorts.
  • In addition to his strength in food and beverage operations, Messerli has been a member of the company's Global Spa Task Force.

Egyptian Ambassador to China: BRI offers vision for the development of all countries

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, October 19, 2023

Assem Hanafi, the Egyptian Ambassador to China, stated, "The Belt and Road Initiative is of great significance, offering a vision for the development of not just China, but also other countries in the 21st century."

Key Points: 
  • Assem Hanafi, the Egyptian Ambassador to China, stated, "The Belt and Road Initiative is of great significance, offering a vision for the development of not just China, but also other countries in the 21st century."
  • Discussing the importance of the BRI to Egypt, Ambassador Hanafi remarked, "Egypt was among the countries that actively engaged in this initiative from the outset.
  • Ambassador Hanafi expressed appreciation for Chinese companies operating in Egypt and urged more of them to invest and start business there.
  • "Egypt's strategic location, proximate to African, Arab, and European markets, offers a distinct advantage for Chinese investors and businesses.

SANY Witnesses the Birth of The Land of the Future

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, October 18, 2023

The name NEOM, derived from the Ancient Greek prefix "neo" and the first letter of the Arabic word "Mustaqbal", means "new future".

Key Points: 
  • The name NEOM, derived from the Ancient Greek prefix "neo" and the first letter of the Arabic word "Mustaqbal", means "new future".
  • Once completed, 9 million residents in the future city will have access to all daily necessities within a five-minute walk.
  • SANY, with its over 2,000 units of machines dotted on the land of the future, is proud to witness the birth of the intelligent city.
  • For more information about SANY Group, please visit www.sanyglobal.com or follow us on Facebook or YouTube .

SANY Witnesses the Birth of The Land of the Future

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, October 18, 2023

The name NEOM, derived from the Ancient Greek prefix "neo" and the first letter of the Arabic word "Mustaqbal", means "new future".

Key Points: 
  • The name NEOM, derived from the Ancient Greek prefix "neo" and the first letter of the Arabic word "Mustaqbal", means "new future".
  • Once completed, 9 million residents in the future city will have access to all daily necessities within a five-minute walk.
  • SANY has formed a service team with over 50 engineers on-site to make prompt responses and ensure construction progress.
  • SANY, with its over 2,000 units of machines dotted on the land of the future, is proud to witness the birth of the intelligent city.

Ancient Egypt had far more venomous snakes than the country today, according to our new study of a scroll

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Our latest research, based on the venomous snakes described in an ancient Egyptian papyrus, suggests more than you might think.

Key Points: 
  • Our latest research, based on the venomous snakes described in an ancient Egyptian papyrus, suggests more than you might think.
  • The venomous snakes described in the Brooklyn Papyrus are diverse: 37 species are listed, of which the descriptions for 13 have been lost.
  • This has led to much speculation among researchers as to which species are being described.

The four-fanged snake

    • For the great snake of Apophis, no reasonable contender currently lives within ancient Egypt’s borders.
    • Could the snake of Apophis be an early, detailed description of a boomslang?
    • And if so, how did the ancient Egyptians encounter a snake that now lives so far south of their borders?

On the trail of ancient snakes

    • Our study shows the much more humid climates of early ancient Egypt would have supported many snakes that don’t live there today.
    • These include some of Africa’s most notorious venomous snakes such as the black mamba, puff adder and boomslang.
    • We found that nine of our ten species could probably once have lived in ancient Egypt.
    • Modelling modern species’ ancient ranges can teach us a lot about how our ancestors’ ecosystems changed as a result of environmental change.

Somali piracy, once an unsolvable security threat, has almost completely stopped. Here's why

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Armed pirates hijacked ships as far away as 1,000 nautical miles from the Somali coast.

Key Points: 
  • Armed pirates hijacked ships as far away as 1,000 nautical miles from the Somali coast.
  • The World Bank estimates that Somali pirates received more than US$400 million in ransom payments between 2005 and 2012.
  • It was, therefore, generally held that the solution lay ashore: major state-building in Somalia to remove the root causes of piracy.
  • What makes the Somali case special is the international community’s ability to agree to them and pay for their implementation.
  • Further, Somali pirates were stopped even though the conditions onshore in Somalia didn’t improve in any major way.

Collective action

    • Theoretically, the international community’s collective effort shouldn’t have happened because safety from piracy is a costly public good.
    • The result is a collective action problem that’s rarely overcome in international politics.
    • Our study sought to understand how and why the collective action problem was overcome.

What worked

    • This induced France to take the lead in military action against the pirates.
    • The US subsequently led with respect to formulating a comprehensive strategy to implement the four factors presented earlier.
    • China and Russia supported the American-led strategy and launched their own naval operations because their ships were attacked as well.
    • Second, the US established an institution, the Contact Group on Somali Piracy, tailor-made to formulate and implement a broad anti-piracy strategy.

Shared interests

    • Somali piracy aligned great power, as well as private sector, regional and local state interests to an unusual degree.
    • It was the high degree of shared interests among the many actors involved that made the Somali anti-piracy campaign so effective.

MarineMax To Expand Superyacht Services in Greece

Retrieved on: 
Monday, September 25, 2023

MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE: HZO), the world’s largest recreational boat, yacht, and superyacht services company, today announced that Fraser Yachts, its wholly owned subsidiary, has executed a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest of Atalanta Golden Yachts, a leading charter management agency based in Athens, Greece.

Key Points: 
  • MarineMax, Inc. (NYSE: HZO), the world’s largest recreational boat, yacht, and superyacht services company, today announced that Fraser Yachts, its wholly owned subsidiary, has executed a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest of Atalanta Golden Yachts, a leading charter management agency based in Athens, Greece.
  • John Dragnis, principal shareholder of Atalanta Golden Yachts, maintains a significant stake and will remain involved in the growth and development of Fraser’s operations in Greece.
  • Brett McGill, MarineMax Chief Executive Officer and President, stated, “The addition of Atalanta Golden Yachts complements our leading superyacht brokerage and luxury yacht offerings and is a testament to our continued expansion into higher-margin businesses with global reach.
  • We are thrilled that the Atalanta Golden Yachts team will be joining our Fraser team in Greece and look forward to further solidifying our position in this attractive and growing market.”

Orascom Development Holding AG: Welcomes Stuart Leven as New Chief Executive Officer of Hotels Management Division

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, September 6, 2023

(Altdorf, Switzerland, 6 September 2023): Orascom Development announces the appointment of Stuart Leven as Chief Executive Officer of Orascom Hotels Management (OHM), the wholly owned subsidiary responsible for most hotel operations of the leading international developer of vibrant, integrated communities in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Key Points: 
  • (Altdorf, Switzerland, 6 September 2023): Orascom Development announces the appointment of Stuart Leven as Chief Executive Officer of Orascom Hotels Management (OHM), the wholly owned subsidiary responsible for most hotel operations of the leading international developer of vibrant, integrated communities in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
  • Stuart will work closely with Joachim Schmitt, who retains operational leadership of Orascom Development’s portfolio of 33 hotels across three continents, along with responsibility for future new openings.
  • Joachim will take on the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer at OHM.
  • Supported by Joachim’s operational leadership, I’m confident that our hotels business is well positioned to continue building on the impressive growth achieved.”
    Stuart Leven, Chief Executive Officer of Orascom Hotels Management, said: “The visionary scale and masterful complexity of Orascom Development’s integrated towns are remarkable.

Russia in Africa: Prigozhin's death exposes Putin's real motives on the continent

Retrieved on: 
Monday, September 4, 2023

Prigozhin, as leader of the notorious Wagner Group, had been the point man for Russia in Africa since Wagner first began operations on the continent in 2017.

Key Points: 
  • Prigozhin, as leader of the notorious Wagner Group, had been the point man for Russia in Africa since Wagner first began operations on the continent in 2017.
  • More than a single entity, the Wagner Group is an amalgamation of shell companies deploying paramilitary forces, disinformation and political interference in Ukraine, Syria and Africa.
  • Its leaders have been sanctioned by 30 countries for the group’s destabilising activities.
  • Prigozhin advanced Russian influence in Africa by propping up politically isolated and unpopular authoritarian leaders.

Maintaining Wagner without Prigozhin

    • It is no surprise that Russia would want to keep the Wagner enterprise going.
    • In Mali, Wagner is linked to more than 320 incidents of human rights abuses and hundreds of civilian deaths.
    • Wagner has also been accused of driving away local communities where it has secured mining concessions, effectively annexing African territory.
    • But this will change when it owns the repressive tactics Wagner has deployed.

Reassessments in Africa

    • Russia’s reach in Africa may be exceeding its grasp, however.
    • There is a growing awakening on the continent of how little Russia actually brings to Africa in terms of investment, trade, jobs creation or security.
    • Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal that had enabled 33 million tonnes of grain to get from Ukraine to Africa and other parts of the world.
    • This disregard, coupled with recognition that Russia offers relatively little to Africa, contributed to only 17 African heads of state attending the St. Petersburg summit.
    • Russia’s lawlessness at home and abroad is bringing into sharp focus what his world order would look like.

Equinox Hotels and Red Sea Global Announce Plans To Bring Luxury Resort to Amaala

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Equinox Hotels, a revolutionary luxury hospitality brand, has been selected by Red Sea Global, the developer behind the world’s most ambitious regenerative tourism destinations, to unveil Equinox Resort Amaala, an unparalleled luxury resort experience in Amaala along the Red Sea coast in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Key Points: 
  • Equinox Hotels, a revolutionary luxury hospitality brand, has been selected by Red Sea Global, the developer behind the world’s most ambitious regenerative tourism destinations, to unveil Equinox Resort Amaala, an unparalleled luxury resort experience in Amaala along the Red Sea coast in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
  • View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230725292771/en/
    An integrated wellness haven being developed by Red Sea Global, this destination will evolve the concept of luxury travel, with an exceptional well-being offering inspired by the purity of the Red Sea.
  • Equinox Hotels CEO, Christopher Norton, said, “Amaala is a destination that perfectly aligns with our mission of redefining luxury hospitality.
  • Designed by Foster + Partners, Equinox Resort Amaala is focused on high-performance living including programming and amenities around movement, nutrition, and regeneration.