MENA House's ‘Moghul Room' Just Got a New Chef
May 09, 2025
Moghul Room at Marriott Mena House knows how to set a scene: parquet floors, gilded chairs, and a straight shot of the Pyramids from your paneer. It's a Cairo classic, long celebrated for its legacy of authentic Indian cuisine - the kind steeped in tandoor smoke, tempered spices, and
time-tested gravies that don't pander to the faint of palate.
And now, Chef Manoj Nautiyal is taking that legacy and dialling it up.
He's worked in kitchens across Delhi, Dubai, Nairobi, and Cairo. He's led brigades. He's served dignitaries. But more importantly, he's got an internal spice compass that doesn't miss. What he brings is refinement, not reinvention - a deeper precision to flavours that have always been at
Moghul Room's core.
The tandoor turns out char with real consequence. The gravies land with purpose - sour, heat, funk, fat. A new Lucknow-style lamb is simmered until it collapses; fish steeped in tamarind and coconut arrives glossy and bright. Even the dal - silky, earthy, impossible to stop eating - feels
like it's had its technique tightened, not tampered with.
In 2021, Nautiyal was formally recognized by the Egyptian Chefs Association - a tidy line for the CV. But the more convincing proof might be in the growing number of locals booking a second
dinner.
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Egypt Independent
2 days ago
- Egypt Independent
Apple just got a big win in Trump's tariff war. It may have bigger concerns
Apple CEO Tim Cook should be breathing a sigh of relief. The White House on Wednesday ratcheted tariffs on Indian imports up by an additional 25 percent, raising the total levies on one of the United States' most crucial trading partners to 50 percent when they kick in later this month. But smartphones are exempt from President Donald Trump's new levies on India, marking a crucial win for the tech giant as it approaches its most important time of the year: its annual September iPhone launch followed by the holiday season. Apple will also dodge incoming new tariffs on semiconductors, since it's committed to building iPhone components in the United States, Trump said Wednesday. That's not to say tariffs won't hurt; CEO Tim Cook said tariffs will likely cost the company $1.1 billion this quarter. But analysts say Apple has bigger concerns, such as its future product strategy and approach to artificial intelligence, a burgeoning field that the tech behemoth is perceived to be behind in. Under different circumstances, such high tariffs could have spelled trouble for Apple. The iPhone is Apple's most important product, making up the majority of its revenue. Most iPhones sold in America come from India. And the Americas, which includes the United States, is Apple's largest market. 'In terms of the longer-term issues, more than a year out, I would say tariffs are probably 20 percent of it,' said Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, who has covered Apple for decades. 'I think what's going on the regulatory environments (is) probably 25 percent, and 55 is related to how they're going to capitalize on AI.' Tariffs are a hurdle but manageable Tariffs are a challenge for Apple, but one that analysts seem confident the company can manage. A combination of Apple's diversified supply chain – which it partially shifted to areas like India and Vietnam around five years ago to reduce reliance on China during COVID – along with its high margins and Cook's operations expertise put the company in a strong position. Supply chain resilience is 'supposed to allow you to adjust tactically to any major changes that comes unexpected,' said Runar Bjørhovde, a research analyst for market research firm Canalys. That held true even before Apple committed to investing an additional $100 billion in the United States to manufacture iPhone parts domestically on Wednesday. While moves like these don't directly impact tariff policy, they do likely help Apple curry favor with the administration, especially as Trump has pressed Apple to build its iPhones domestically. 'Look, he's not making this kind of an investment anywhere in the world, not even close,' Trump said. 'He's coming back. I mean, Apple is coming back to America.' Some analysts already expected that the iPhone would be exempt from the upcoming levies on India ahead of Wednesday's tariff announcement. But the back-and-forth tariff policies, which have changed multiple times throughout the year, make it challenging to predict what could happen in the future. 'Because (smartphones are) such an important category, the relationship that Apple has with both administrations, and specifically, even the US administration, we do think that they will be able to maneuver against this threat,' said Nabila Popal, senior director with the International Data Corporation's data and analytics team. 'But it is important, of course. It does present a risk.' That said, analysts largely believe India and China are Apple's only two options for producing US-bound iPhones at scale. And since iPhone models available in the United States don't precisely match those sold elsewhere, Apple can't just redirect iPhones intended for different markets. New iPhones sold in America, for example, don't have physical SIM card slots anymore, and they support millimeter wave 5G, the kind of connection that provides faster, low-latency speeds but usually only at a short distance. 'It's a massive tactical nightmare to deal with,' said Bjørhovde. 'Because you have to try and find a sweet spot and figure out what comes next.' Cook said iPhones will continue to be assembled outside of the United States for 'a while' during an event at the Oval Office announcing the new $100 billion investment on Wednesday. But he pointed to the company's strategy of instead producing iPhone components stateside. 'Well, if you look at the bulk of it, we're doing a lot of the semiconductors here, we're doing the glass here, we're doing the Face ID module here, and so there's a ton of it, and we're doing these for products sold elsewhere in the world,' Cook said. 'And so there's a lot of content in there from United States.' Apple's AI troubles The narrative that Apple is behind in AI has been looming over the company all year – and some analysts see it as a more challenging issue to overcome than tariffs. Apple delayed a high-profile upgrade to its Siri assistant that would have enabled it to provide more personalized answers and act across apps, bringing it up to speed with the agent-like capabilities that Google and OpenAI are pursuing with their digital helpers. And the company's rivals are still using that setback as ammunition to promote their own products over Apple's. Just this week, Google posted an ad for its upcoming Pixel 10 phone that said: 'If you buy a new phone because of a feature that's coming soon, but it's been coming soon for a full year, you could change your definition of soon.' Apple's initial batch of AI features also didn't launch in time for the iPhone 16's arrival last September. At the same time, many of Apple's peers are seeing booming returns from their AI investments. Nvidia (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT) both hit four trillion dollars in market capitalization in July, a milestone Wall Street previously thought Apple (AAPL) might reach first. That's partially because of their fundamentally different products and business models. Apple is a consumer hardware company. In contrast, Microsoft, Meta (META) and Nvidia also provide the tools that businesses rely on to support AI-powered services and features, like cloud computing, chips and AI models. Still, Apple saw stellar earnings results for the June quarter, surpassing expectations for iPhone sales – including in China – and overall revenue. But during Apple's earnings call, analysts pressed Cook about his perspective on AI and what it means for the company's products. Those questions ranged from whether AI services might be eating into search engine usage, whether the forthcoming Siri upgrade could drive future new products and whether Apple would consider acquiring AI companies to further its product roadmap. 'Taking a step back, we see AI as one of the most profound technologies of our lifetime,' Cook said in his opening remarks during the earnings call. 'We are embedding it across our devices and platforms and across the company. We are also significantly growing our investments.' But Apple can't risk falling too far behind when it comes to the iPhone's AI capabilities. By doing so, it could create an opportunity for Samsung, Google and Qualcomm – the three of which dominate the Android phone space – to pull ahead, says Ted Mortonson, managing director and technology sector strategist at financial services company Baird. 'What's more important with investors is, after the iPhone 17, what do they really do?' he said. 'I mean, as far as generative AI and AI functionality, that that's the real focus on Apple right now.'
See - Sada Elbalad
3 days ago
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India Freezes US Arms Purchases Amid Trump's Tariff Hike
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Egypt Independent
6 days ago
- Egypt Independent
Trump wants India to stop buying Russian oil. Why is Modi saying no?
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been performing a tricky balancing act – maintaining close partnerships with US President Donald Trump and Russia's leader Vladimir Putin while insisting his country is a neutral party in the Russia-Ukraine war, to the dismay of Western nations who have sanctioned Moscow. But now, it seems, Trump has lost his patience – demanding that Modi finally pick a side, and using India's continued purchases of cheap Russian oil as leverage in his trade war. The conundrum pits Trump and Modi, two nationalist leaders who have often described their friendship in warm terms, increasingly against each other. On Monday, Trump vowed in an interview with CNBC to 'substantially' raise tariffs on India 'over the next 24 hours' because it's still buying Russian oil. It's not clear what the new tariff rate would be – or why he is now taking issue with something India has done for years. But the fresh threat comes after he had already announced a minimum 25 percent tariff on goods coming from India last week. A crude oil tanker owned by Russia's leading tanker group Sovcomflot, transiting through the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey on April 4, 2024. Yoruk Isik/Reuters 'Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD!' Trump wrote on Truth Social last week. But for Modi, it's not so simple. While many other countries have scrambled to strike trade deals with the Trump administration, India – the world's fourth largest economy – has pushed back defiantly, saying it is being unfairly targeted and calling the measure 'unjustified.' The US and Europe, it pointed out, still trade with Russia on other products such as fertilizers and chemicals. Here's what you need to know about why India is reluctant to stop buying Russian oil. Why does India need Russian oil? India has long been reliant on Russia for crude oil to support its booming economy and growing population, now at more than 1.4 billion people. The world's most populous nation is already the third biggest consumer of oil globally, and with India's consumption rate still growing rapidly, it is expected to surpass China by 2030, according to Reuters. India's transformation into an economic superpower has uplifted millions of households – which in turn have bought more cars and motorcycles, driving up the demand for gasoline. Russian crude oil accounts for 36 percent of India's overall imports, making Moscow the country's top supplier, according to Muyu Xu, a senior oil analyst at trade intelligence firm Kpler, who cited figures for the first six months of this year. Why can't India get oil somewhere else? After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, European nations largely stopped buying Russian oil. It now flows primarily into Asia – with China, India and Turkey among Russia's big clients and is a vital revenue stream for Moscow. Delhi is buying Russian oil at a heavy discount, 'which otherwise would not have been given by the traditional oil and gas suppliers,' said Amitabh Singh, associate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University's (JNU) Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies. He added that India's continuing purchases were 'a purely economic or commercial decision' – something Indian authorities have also argued, but which has been met with derision and anger from Ukraine and its supporters. While India has diversified its oil sources over the years, cutting out Russian oil entirely would leave a gaping hole that's hard to replace. India imports 80 percent of its oil needs, and its domestic oil production isn't enough to make up the difference. OPEC, the coalition of the world's top oil producers, may have 'some spare capacity, but it's difficult to ask them to pump 3.4 million barrels overnight,' said Xu when she spoke to CNN in July, referring to Russia's daily seaborne exports. Its choices have also been limited by other US actions – India was forced to stop buying oil from Iran and Venezuela after Trump imposed sanctions and threatened tariffs against countries that bought from those places. Before it halted its purchases, India had been one of Iran's biggest clients, buying up to 480,000 barrels per day, according to Reuters. 'We have our hands tied at the back,' said Singh. 'There is very limited space in which the Indian oil economy or market can operate.' For now, he added, it's unlikely Delhi will bow to Trump's demands. Modi's administration will continue navigating trade talks with the US and explore the 'traditional route' of Middle Eastern oil while it works to wean itself off Russian crude – but this it 'cannot do overnight,' said Singh. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Aylesbury, England, on July 24, 2025. Kin Cheung/Changes could spike global oil prices, including in US Russia's oil also feeds India's economy, which plays a key role in the global oil trade. India argues that its purchases from Russia have kept global oil prices lower, as it's not competing with Western nations for Middle Eastern oil. When the Ukraine-Russia war kicked off during the Biden administration, 'everyone knew that India is buying oil from Russia,' said Singh – but added that Western nations had tolerated it 'because they knew that if India is not buying oil from Russia, then inflation will go up.' If India switches to importing oil from somewhere else at a higher cost, American consumers will likely feel the hit, too. Some of the Russian crude oil sent to India is then refined and exported back out to other countries – because sanctions on Moscow don't include products refined outside Russia. It's a loophole that has benefited both India's economy and other recipient nations. In 2023, India exported $86.28 billion in refined oil products, making it the world's second-biggest exporter of petroleum products, according to the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR). Some of the biggest buyers of these refined products, made from Russian crude oil, include Europe, the US, and the UK, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). The independent organization has urged G7 nations to close this loophole, arguing it would disincentivize third countries – like India – to import Russian crude. Historic partnership and juggling ties India and Russia's partnership goes beyond just oil and stretches back decades – another reason it's not so easy to dismantle. India was officially nonaligned during the Cold War between the US and the USSR. However, India began to lean towards the Soviet Union in the 1970s when the US began providing military and financial assistance to India's neighbor and longtime rival Pakistan. This was when Russia started providing arms to India. In recent years, India has drawn closer to Washington, and ramped up arms purchases from America and its allies, including France and Israel. Still, India remains the top recipient of Russian arms, according to SIPRI. And Modi remains friendly with Putin – even paying a controversial visit to Moscow last year, with the Russian president greeting his counterpart with a hug and personally driving him around. Trump and Modi, too, have previously hailed their friendship, with Trump declaring at a 2019 rally that India had 'never had a better friend as President than President Donald Trump.' Singh, the professor, said it was expected the friendship 'would continue' when Trump arrived at the White House for his second term. But things have soured this time around; India isn't happy with Trump claiming credit for a ceasefire in the latest India-Pakistan conflict, or with his accusations that their oil purchases are helping 'prop up a Russian war machine,' he said. Trump has lashed out too, increasingly frustrated at his inability to end the Ukraine-Russia war – something he'd promised to do on his first day in office. 'I don't care what India does with Russia,' Trump wrote in an irate post on Truth Social last week. 'They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.'
