Al-Bawaba News discusses 2015's most important events, both local and international, that highly affected the whole world. New Suez Canal: Egypt's Gift to the World Egypt's national achievements began with the "New Suez Canal: Egypt's Gift to the World" on 6 August in a bid to boost national economy and global standing with a canal that was Initially estimated to take up to three years to dig, but upon President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's orders, it was completed within only 12 months. It has been touted as a landmark achievement, rivaling the digging of the original 192-km (119-mile) canal, opened in 1869. The waterway is part of a comprehensive project to develop the area adjacent to the canal into an industrial hub. It involved 37 km of dry digging, creating a "second lane", and widening and deepening another 35 km of the existing canal. The new canal will cut the waiting period for vessels from 18 hours to 11 and by 2023, the number of ships using the canal will increase to 97 per day. Dabaa deal On November 19, 2015, Egypt and Russia had signed a deal to build a nuclear power plant as Egypt's first nuclear station. The project is currently being built at Dabaa, north of Cairo, and is expected to be completed by 2022. Egypt has secured two agreements, worth of 2 billion euros, signed by Siemens and El Sewedy Electric; the project is expected to start operation in 2016, with full production by April 2018. The 8-billion-euro deal was signed in June, and it is designed to boost Egypt's electricity generation by 50%. Egyptian-Israeli gas deal Israel was importing gas from Egypt under a 20-year-old deal but the pipelines became a target of militants and supplies were eventually halted, prompting State-run Israel Electric Corp (IEC) to win a compensation of $1.76 billion after claims of losses. Egypt said on 29 November it would appeal the ruling. Egypt also said it would freeze negotiations that involve Delek and its partners focused on plans to send gas the other way, from Israel's Leviathan and Tamar offshore fields to Egypt, beginning in around 2019. It said it would also decline to approve any import contracts. Russian plane crash A Russian airline plane crashed over Egypt's Sinai on Oct. 31 after a bomb had been planted on board by the Islamic State offshoot Province of Sinai. The plane was carrying 224 people, including 219 Russian citizens, four Ukrainians and one Belarus national. Of the 217 passengers, 17 were children. Most of the passengers were tourists. The crash had a negative impact on the Egyptian tourism after Russian president Vladimir Putin on 6 November suspended flights from and to Egypt, followed by a similar decision by the United Kingdom. A month after the cancellation of flights, Egypt said it had lost 2.2 billion Egyptian pounds ($280m) , according to the Egyptian tourism ministry. While the Uk stated on 6 November that no planes will leave Britain for Sharm El-Sheikh until at least 25 November, as the UK government continues to review security amid mounting certainty that a bomb brought down the Metro jet flight 23 minutes after take-off from airport at the Red Sea resort. Russia,UK and other European countries warned against travelling to Sharm El-Sheikh and brought holidaymakers home, increasing the likelihood of Egypt's most popular holiday resort remaining empty during peak season in December. Thousands of Russians were at the head of the exodus on Monday. Moscow said about 25,000 of its tourists had now returned, on more than 100 flights. Some travel firms and restaurant owners in Sharm are already considering closing down as tourists drain away from the resort, with bargain prices powerless to lure visitors while incoming flights are suspended. Tourism accounts for about 12% of Egypt's GDP, with one in nine Egyptians working in the industry, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. But that doesn't stop the Egyptian officials, ministers and intellectuals from creating cultural events to try to boost the Egyptian economy and tourism. Egyptian parliamentary elections Egyptian parliamentary elections 2015 were held in two phases, from 17 October to 2 December 2015. The elected parliament will be entrusted with the task of reviewing the laws that were passed while a parliament was not in session. The parliament will be made up of 596 seats, with 448 seats elected through the individual candidacy system, 120 elected through winner-take-all party lists and 28 selected by the president. First phase elections were held from 17 to 28 October 2015 in 14 governorates, while the second phase elections were held from 21 November to 2 December 2015 in 9 governorates. The run-off of the first phase of the parliamentary elections was held on October 27 and 28 in 14 governorates, while the run-off of the second phase was held on 1 December and 2 December in 13 governorates. KSA founded 34-state military alliance against terrorism Saudi Arabia (KSA) announced on Dec. 14 the formation of a 34-state Islamic military coalition to combat terrorism, including a long list of Arab countries such as Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, together with Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan and African states. The announcement cited on Tuesday "a duty to protect the Islamic nation from the evils of all terrorist groups and organizations, whatever their sect and name, which wreak death and corruption on earth and aim to terrorize the innocent." Saudi Arabia's crown prince and defense minister, Mohammed bin Salman, said in a rare press conference that the campaign would "coordinate" efforts to fight terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan, pointing out that the alliance would confront "any terrorist organization that appears in front of us". UN General Assembly Elects Egypt as a Non-Permanent Members of Security Council General Assembly elected Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine, Uruguay as Non-Permanent Members of Security Council for 2016-2017 in one round of voting on 15 October to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council. Those elected will fill seats to be vacated on 31 December by Chad, Chile, Jordan, Lithuania and Nigeria. Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela will continue to serve as elected Council members during 2016, completing the second year of their respective terms. All new Council members will take their seats on 1 January 2016. The five non-permanent members were elected according to the following pattern: three seats for African and Asia-Pacific States, one seat for Latin American and Caribbean States, and one seat for Eastern European States. All of the five new members met the required two-thirds majority and were elected in the first and only round of voting. The election was in the framework of a UN diplomacy overshadowed by the tensions with Russia and bloodshed in the Middle East. Renaissance Dam project Renaissance Dam is a project between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, the project aims to generate electricity and distribute water fairly, in addition to being beneficial for Egypt. On 15 September, Deltares announced its withdrawal from Renaissance Dam technical studies as it refuses the conditions set by the tripartite technical committee which include Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. The three countries' ministers often meet to try to reach an agreement between the three countries on the dam's issue, as well as reviewing disputes between Dutch Deltares and French BRL consultancy offices. On 30 August, Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hossam Moghazi said that the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam crisis did not witness any developments, and that the solution of this issue lies only in negotiations between Egypt and the other associated parties, namely Ethiopia and North Sudan. Relations between Egypt and Ethiopia witnessed tensions since the start of the GERD construction in 2011, however an initial agreement had been achieved after rounds of negotiations in August in Khartoum, only 45% of the dam is completed. Departure of brilliant Egyptian: Brilliant Egyptian masterminds had departed the world such as Faten Hamama,Omar Sharif,Nour El-Sherif,Edwar Al Kharat and Abdel Rahman al Abnudi. Lady of the Arabic screen, Faten Hamama death The Iconic Egyptian film star Faten Hamama, dubbed as "lady of the Arabic screen", passed away on Saturday, 17 January, at the age of 83. Weeks before her death, Hamama had suffered from a health condition that required hospital treatment. She was discharged from hospital only to be re-admitted because of a sudden illness before she passed away on17 January. Born in 1931, She married the Egyptian actor Omar el-Sherif for 20 years, making one of the Arab film industry's best couples. She had starred in almost 100 films and worked with the masters of Egypt's massive film industry, including Youssef Chahine. Some of her most famous works on the silver screen include "Struggle in the Valley" (1954), "The Nightingale's Prayer" (1959), "The Empire of M" (1972), "I Want a Solution" (1974), and "The Night of Fatima's Arrest" (1985). Lawrence of Arabia, Omar Sharif dies Omar Sharif passed away on 13 July at the age of 83 after suffering from a heart attack in Cairo on Friday. In May, his son revealed the star had been suffering from Alzheimer's. The Egyptian actor was born in 1932, and he was best known for his appearances in both British and American productions such as Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and Funny Girl (1968). He had starred in almost 118 films and worked with the masters of British' massive film industry such as David Lean, who Sharif had on Lawrence of Arabia stated ‘I was the only actor David Lean liked'. He was nominated for an Academy Award and won three Golden Globe Awards and a César Award. Son of Sayeda Zeinab, Nour El-Sherif death Iconic Egyptian actor, Nour El-Sherif, died on 11 August at the age of 69 after a long struggle with illness. Born Mohamed Gaber Abdullah in 1946, he went by the name "Nour" because of his grandfather. "El Sherif" was given to him by his sister after Omar Sharif, shortly after taking his first steps in the acting world. El-Sherif, one of Egypt's most prominent actors, had starred in almost 200 films, 17 plays and more than 20 television series, and he had worked with the masters of Egypt's massive film industry, including Youssef Chahine. The actor was married to the famous actress Bosy. They got separated in 2006 and got back together this year, the couple is considered to be as one of the Arab film industry's best couples. El-Sherif left behind a wife and 2 daughters. Leading author Edwar Kharat leaves Edwar Kharat passed away on 1 December at the age of 89 after a long struggle with illness; his health problems had increased in the past years, as a result of being isolated from his loved ones. Born in Alexandria in 1926, he was a prominent novelist in Egypt and the Arab world. His most important work was the short stories collection entitled "El-Hetan El-Alya" (High Walls) issued in 1959, as well as a number of novels: "Ramah wi El-Teneen" (Ramah and the Dragon),"El-Zaman El-Akhar" (The Other Time), "Adlaa El-Saharaa" (The Sides of Desert), "Yakeen El-Atash"(The Thirst Belief) and other high quality works. Egypt loses Abdel Rahman Al Abnudi Egyptian Poet Abdel Rahman al Abnudi passed away on 21 April at the age of 77 after a long struggle with illness. Abnudi wrote a number of movies and scripts, including "Something of fear", "Ring and Bracelet", and the series "Valley of Kings", In addition to lyrics for Arab musical symbols such as Sabah, Warda, Mohamed Mounir, and Majida El Roumi. President Sisi had dubbed Abnudi's death as a big loss for the nation.
