Damn! Looks like Egyptian government's paranoia has gotten much worse since my last visit couple years ago.

Thanks for sharing the video.

> Or is it just that they expected a bribe?

Probably. It's a common practice in Egypt to pay a bribe, overcharging foreigners.

Just look at what was happening during COP27 conference in Egypt:

> Instead, top officials from Europe and elsewhere have been investigating reports that youth delegates have been left without beds, subjected to extortion, forced to sleep in rooms with no locks and woken up in the night by arbitrary demands for documents — all as part of a program sponsored by the Egyptian Ministry of Youth and Sports.

> According to three people familiar with the situation, around 80 youth delegates who had paid around $700 each for their accommodation arrived at their hotel late on Saturday to find they either had no rooms, or were being asked to pay an additional fee of between $300 and $600 per night.

> According to Israel's Maariv, the Israelis received permission to land in Egypt but were asked to leave when the lack of visas was discovered. The Egyptian authorities cited "national security reasons".

> According to the newspaper, though, the pilots are out of fuel and are not being allowed to refuel. Moreover, the weather was too stormy for them to take off.

> "We received a request and we are trying to help with the authorities," Maariv quoted an Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson as saying. "From our inspection, the Israelis did receive permission to land the planes but did not receive visas for their entry into the country."

> The Israeli newspaper described the incident as "unusual". The Egyptian authorities had not issued any comment at the time of writing, said Anadolu.

"unusual" indeed.

> FTX was founded in 2019 and became one of the biggest and most well-known cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. But in recent weeks, the company has imploded, with upwards of $2 billion in customer funds reportedly missing and investigations underway by federal agencies. There has also been a great deal of scrutiny on Sam Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, the former CEO and co-founder of FTX.

> According to sources, the Amazon series will be based on “insider reporting” by a number of journalists who have covered FTX and Bankman-Fried, though exactly what source material the show will draw from is currently under wraps.

> It is also the latest limited series about a modern entrepreneur and the rapid collapse of their companies. Recently, Amanda Seyfried won the Emmy for best actress in a limited series for playing Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in Hulu’s “The Dropout,” while Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway starred in Apple’s “WeCrashed,” which chronicled the rise and fall of WeWork under Adam and Rebekah Neumann. Showtime also has the anthology series “Super Pumped,” with Joseph Gordon-Levitt starring in the first season as former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. A second season about Facebook is currently being prepped.

There is also an upcoming limited series ‘Hot Air’ about Richard Branson & his company Virgin Airways.

Must be Hollywood's hottest trend now!

It's a typo.

CNN: Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard in $68.7 billion deal

> Now that Disney CEO Bob Iger has regained the keys to the Magic Kingdom — less than three years after his chosen successor, Bob Chapek, took over — insiders suspect they know how the beloved executive will find a new way to go out on top during his final two-year stint.

> “He’s going to sell the company,” one Disney insider who has worked for Iger predicted. “This is the pinnacle deal for the ultimate dealmaker.”

> Landing a deal with Apple (or some other megabuyer) would also cement Iger’s legacy. “I think he’d welcome it — he’d be the last CEO of Disney,” a former top Disney executive told TheWrap, noting that the two companies have “similar brand identities” and could benefit from a merger.

> Acquisitions are in Iger’s DNA. Under Iger’s leadership, Disney went on a nearly $100 billion shopping spree to buy animation giant Pixar in 2006, superhero juggernaut Marvel in 2009, “Star Wars”-powered Lucasfilm in 2012 and Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox in 2019. But there was one acquisition he’s publicly lamented as a transformational deal that got away — a combination with the tech powerhouse Apple...

> A deal of that size is likely to draw stiff antitrust resistance at a moment when regulators have stepped up efforts to block other recently proposed media megadeals. Paramount Global this week scrapped the $2 billion sale of its Simon & Schuster division to book publishing giant Penguin Random House after a federal judge blocked the deal, while European regulators have launched a probe of Microsoft’s $69 million billion offer to purchase gaming giant Activision Blizzard.

> Apple CEO Tim Cook, known to be a safe player with relatively few acquisitions under his leadership, might have given Wall Street a big hint in April. During a call with investors, Cook said he would not rule out acquiring a large company, and that the main drive was to secure strong intellectual property and big names.

Edit: Fixed a typo.

CSI

Law & Order

Criminal Minds

The Walking Dead

NCIS

Star Trek

StarGate

Yeah, but each episode will be around 90 minutes.

THR:

> 'Continental', which is set in the unique hotel for assassins in the Wick movies, was initially envisioned as spinoff series but was redeveloped as a three-night event series with movie length and movie budgets. The installments are to run about 90 minutes in length and, according to sources, have budgets upwards of $20 million.

> The “John Wick” prequel series “The Continental” will stream on Amazon outside the U.S., Middle East, and Israel.

> It was previously announced that Lionsgate-produced series will air on Peacock in the U.S. rather than Starz as originally planned. The show does not yet have a premiere date, but it is expected to debut in 2023.

> The three-episode show follows a young Winston Scott, played by Ian McShane in the film franchise and by Colin Woodell in the series. Per the official logline, “Throughout the series, viewers will follow Winston through the underworld of ‘70’s New York, where he will battle demons from his past as he attempts to seize control of the iconic hotel – a hotel that serves as a meeting point for the world’s most dangerous criminals.”