Various news reports: Morgan's legal dispute, Fadel Shaker's career, and El Gouna Festival preparations

British journalist Piers Morgan is committed to suing Earl Spencer, Princess Diana's brother, despite the latter's apology for a mistake related to Morgan mentioned in his new memoirs about his late sister. According to the Independent newspaper.

Charles Spencer had acknowledged that what he mentioned in his book “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister” regarding Morgan’s role in publishing private photos of Princess Diana while she was exercising was inaccurate, stressing that “accuracy is important to him as a historian,” and offering his apology to Morgan.

However, the apology did not end the dispute. Morgan said that he is continuing with the legal procedures, and that his lawyers have sent a letter to Spencer and Penguin, the book’s publisher, demanding that copies be withdrawn from the market and the rest of them destroyed, in addition to demanding compensation that he intends to direct to the King’s Trust charitable foundation.

The point of contention goes back to Spencer's indication that Morgan was responsible for publishing surreptitious photos of Diana inside a gym in 1993, at a time when Morgan was editor-in-chief of the Daily Mirror. But his work records show that he was then working at The Sun newspaper, and did not become editor of the Daily Mirror until 1995.

Morgan said that the error was “very easy to prove,” wondering how accurate the rest of the accounts in the book were if Spencer had made a mistake in an incident related to him personally.

The dispute was not limited to this incident, as Morgan also rejected Spencer's account of a phone call between them, during which he denied that he had behaved rudely or upset. He said that Earl Spencer's account of the call was "extremely misleading," stressing that he was respectful towards him and his family.

On the other hand, Earl Spencer's office said that his account of the call was accurate, and that Morgan was "rude and upset" when Spencer called him to inform him that he was not welcome at his sister's funeral.

As for the pictures of Diana, they were taken in 1993 with a hidden camera inside a gym in west London, and were first published by the Sunday Mirror, before the Daily Mirror later republished them. Diana filed a lawsuit against the owner of the hall and the Mirror Group, and the case ended in an out-of-court settlement in 1995.

As Morgan continues his legal move, it appears that Earl Spencer's apology was not enough to close one of the most controversial issues surrounding his new book about his sister.

In the taxi that was roaming the streets of Sidon looking for passengers, Fadel Shaker was sitting next to his father, Abdul Rahman. The latter is a fan of singing, and Umm Kulthum's tape is a regular guest on the record. Little Fadl is captivated by the music, and wanders away with his eyes outside the car window and the borders of the sea city.

This happened in the late 1970s, before poverty forced the family to send their son to an orphanage. Where he was raised like all other unprivileged children. He did not know at the time that great fortune would come to him in the form of a throat full of feeling.

Fadel Shaker, star of the camp parties

Umm Kulthum's voice never came out of his ears during the cold nights of the house. Neither her nor the giants of music, such as Abdel Halim and Warda. All the melodies that Fadel Shaker stored in his memory returned to him when he began performing at concerts and weddings at the age of 15, in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, and in the city of Sidon in southern Lebanon. There, the first threads of his relationship with listeners were woven. However, the path to reaching a wide audience was not easy, so Fadel Shaker had to wait another 15 years for his star to truly shine.

“When, my love, when?”

“When, my love, when,” Fadl asks. And fate answers: Now, now. It is 1998 and Fadel Shaker is on the verge of thirty. The spread has actually been delayed. But in the blink of an eye, and thanks to the song whose melody he personally composed, the goal was achieved. “Matta Habibi” flew from Sidon to every Lebanese and Arab city.

The song was a right choice and a good omen. Successes followed, the first of which was the album “Bayaa Al Qulub,” which was released in 1999. From “I Love You” to “Don’t Believe Me” and “His Eyes Are Black,” songs that established Fadel Shaker’s romantic artistic identity that blends classicism and modernity.

“O absent person”... the ambassador of feeling

The year 2000 came and brought with it another success with the album “Old Love,” which included a song that stuck in the minds and on the tongues, “Aash Min Shafik.” Fadel Shaker moved smoothly between Arabic dialects, and also adopted a white dialect that crossed borders. This accelerated its penetration into homes and screens from the ocean to the Gulf.

But the actual lucky year for the Lebanese artist was 2003. “Ya Ghayeb,” “The World Laughed,” and “Maqul.” Three songs were released consecutively within two months, and put Fadel Shaker’s name on every tongue.

These songs - especially “Ya Ghayeb” - represented a turning point in the path. Shaker went beyond local concerts and became a regular guest at major Arab music festivals. An ambassador of feeling, he traveled the world with one suitcase that could only accommodate quiet love songs.

With skill and feeling, Fadel Shaker chose his songs, which in 2003 also included “Oh My Beloved Almighty,” “My Day in a Year,” and “If You Remember.” Communicate it to the audience simply and without displaying vocal muscles or exaggerating the form and image. That simplicity, along with the burning feeling in the warm and unpretentious voice, was the first key to people's hearts.

Favorite... cassettes, CDs and audio recordings

Fadel Shaker did not receive the year 2004 alone. He added his voice to one of the most beautiful Arabic voices that resembled his feeling, and presented the surprise duet “New Year” alongside Sherine Abdel Wahab.

With each release, the audience flocked to something new. They accompanied it from the time of the cassette to the CD era, all the way to the era of digital platforms. They repeated with him: “If only on my heart” and “It has no effect on me,” and they memorized the album “God Knows Best” and “Sahharni Al-Shouq,” which included the songs “You Know Why” and “Oh Life of the Soul.” When he decided to collaborate with new female voices like Elissa and Yara, the audience applauded those choices.

And we parted...

10 years have passed since its launch, and the year 2008 was a test of continuity. On the verge of forty, Fadel Shaker released “And We Parted” and “Rooh.” Like all the previous works that filled his rich archive, these two songs constituted a milestone. Most importantly, they reaffirmed that Fadel Shaker adhered to his classic romantic identity, indifferent to the many trends that were plaguing Arabic music.

The picture was completed with the album “Baada Albal”, with its dreamy emotional style, and songs such as: “I Forgot to Forget You”, “I Think About Hours”, and “Do You Remember When You Tell Me”. No one expected that this album would herald a separation and a long break between Fadel Shaker and music.

Fadel Shaker... There is no escape from music

The sudden decision to retire in 2012 overlapped with Fadel Shaker’s political choices and loud positions, which caused him thorny lawsuits and judicial crises. The public, which has unanimously supported him for more than 10 years, was divided between supporters and opponents. As for Fadl, he took refuge in the camp that witnessed his beginnings, and there he maintained a musical silence that left a void on the Arab artistic scene.

Six years passed before Shaker recorded a shy appearance. But it is expressive, through the badge of the series “We Have Other Sayings,” entitled “We Are Satisfied with Acting.”

Six years is the maximum period during which Fadel Shaker did not speak to his fans. But during his forced stay in the camp, it became clear to him that music was the best companion, so he stuck to the organ and gradually returned to singing and composing. Starting in 2018, he began releasing singles again, including: “Why the Hurt,” “I Bidet Atyab,” “I Love You,” and “Good Morning, Lebanon.”

Despite the noise surrounding his case, Fadel Shaker maintained his usual calm on the music front, continuing to publish works on digital platforms. The audience became aware that the artist whose songs they had memorized in the 1990s and early 2000s was courting them from afar. “Keep meeting me”, “Where are you, Habib”, “Sit in a place”, and “The Days to Come”... Fadl continues to publish without getting tired.

Love does not know its depth until after separation

In 2025, it is time to tell the whole story through the documentary “Ya Ghayeb.” It became clear to viewers that they did not know much about this artist who stole the spotlight for years, but he suffered a lot during his early years. This personal story, surrounded by difficulties and reversals of fate, called for some sympathy.

Fadel Shaker's close relationship with the audience did not gain its depth until after the separation, specifically when the Arab world witnessed his new musical birth. 2025 was the year of Fadel Shaker.

“The Sweetest Drawing,” “And He Overcame Me,” “How Are You When I Parted,” “Wake Up Longing,” and “Rouh Al-Bahr”… Fadel Shaker’s releases in 2025 are coming one after the other, and tens of millions of listens are accumulating.

It is the true awakening that awakened the public’s nostalgia; Not only to the artist's voice and songs; Rather, it was a feeling they were missing in their lives. Fadl 2025's songs were like a space of safety and a dream about a time that does not know romance and does not recognize true love. Not only did it take them back to the cassette era; Rather, to a version of themselves that they wish would remain even after the song stopped.

As it prepares for its ninth edition scheduled from October 15 to 23, the El Gouna Film Festival is relying on institutional work within its administration, away from its founders, the businessmen Samih and Naguib Sawiris, while expanding activities and events, and designing a new identity for the film festival.

The festival, which includes the screening of more than 70 films, witnesses a remarkable presence of Palestinian cinema among the various events, with a number of films concerned with Palestine, which participated in a number of international festivals, being screened within the festival’s various competitions.

During the press conference held in Cairo, on Tuesday, to announce the details of the new session, businessman Samih Sawiris said that they hope that, with the holding of the tenth session of the festival, the association of the festival’s name with its founders will end, similar to what happened with the Cannes Film Festival, indicating that they have already begun working on this matter, with the launch of a new visual identity during the ninth session of the festival.

The festival's artistic director, Andrew Mohsen, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the festival's founders began, a long time ago, to give more space to the younger generation in management, in addition to the role played by the festival's executive director, Amr Mansy, on several levels, indicating that they are studying several matters at the present time.

He added that work on this vision has already begun in preparation for its implementation after the tenth edition of the festival, which will be held in October 2027, with many proposals and implementation mechanisms studied, including holding many events throughout the year to support filmmakers, whether through training or workshops.

The festival program, which was announced, will witness the screening of about 70 films from the latest Arab and international productions, distributed among 3 official competitions for feature-length, documentary and short films, in addition to screenings outside the competition and special screenings, while the value of the financial prizes is 230 thousand dollars.

This year's edition includes works that arrived in El Gouna after participation and awards in major festivals, such as Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance, and Karlovy Vary. The festival also continues to expand the industrial aspect through “CineGouna”, which receives projects in the development and post-production stages, in addition to professional and training programmes.

The Palestinian presence in the “documentary competition” is highlighted through the film “Citizen Osama” by director Ahmed Hassouna, which follows a photographer who documents life, loss, and survival in Gaza over the course of a year, in an attempt to monitor the daily experience of residents from within the events.

The film “An American Doctor” is also participating, which deals with the experience of 3 American doctors entering the Gaza Strip during the war. The program also includes the film “Who Killed Alex Odeh?”, which reopens the file of the assassination of Alex Odeh, a leader in the Palestinian-American community, decades after the crime occurred. Meanwhile, Palestine’s presence in the short film competition extends through the film “Kentucky Gaza” by Jordanian director Omar Rammal, which deals with Gaza under siege through an imaginary story linked to the legend of a fast food restaurant.

The festival's press conference witnessed the announcement of honoring artist Mona Zaki with the "Creative Achievement" award, in addition to celebrating the 10th anniversary of the passing of director Mohamed Khan, in addition to holding a "Master Class" by Egyptian director Yousry Nasrallah among the events.

Art critic Khaled Mahmoud told Asharq Al-Awsat, “The El Gouna Film Festival’s move towards building an entity more independent of its association with the Sawiris family name represents a step in support of the festival’s stability. Because the goal is linked to transforming (El Gouna) into an independent cinematic institution.”

At the same time, he praised the festival’s ability to attract award-winning films from important international film festivals, considering that the new program has a good artistic level and a clear diversity of choices, especially with regard to the expansion of support for projects and filmmakers through “CineGouna”, which opens the door for project owners to obtain opportunities for development and communication with workers in the industry, in a way that enhances the professional aspect of the festival, in addition to film screenings.