Latest news with #Mathilde
News18
3 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Princess Elisabeth, Belgium's Future Queen, Returns Home Amid Doubtful Harvard Future
Last Updated: Elisabeth is on her summer vacation in Belgium and was recently spotted accompanying her mother, Queen Mathilde, to the Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition at the Bozar in Brussels Princess Elisabeth, the 23-year-old heir apparent to the Belgian throne, has returned to Belgium after completing her first year in a two-year master's programme in public policy at Harvard University amid growing uncertainty over her future at the Ivy League institution after the Trump administration's crackdown on international students. The Hindustan Times, quoting media outlet 'Het Laatste Nieuws', said Elisabeth is on her summer vacation in Belgium and was recently spotted accompanying her mother, Queen Mathilde, to the Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition at the Bozar in Brussels. She has reportedly also joined an internship related to international relations and human rights. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had demanded that Harvard provide detailed records of its international students, including information on any 'illegal and violent activities". Failure to comply could have resulted in the university losing its eligibility to enroll foreign students under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). In response, Harvard refused to turn over the requested records, citing concerns over academic freedom and student privacy. Subsequently, the administration froze over $2 billion in federal grants and contracts to the university. In the face of these developments, a Massachusetts judge issued a preliminary injunction temporarily preventing changes to Harvard's visa programme, offering a glimmer of hope to international students like Princess Elisabeth. Nonetheless, the situation remains fluid, and the Belgian Royal Palace has acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding the princess's ability to continue her studies in the US. Born in 2001, Elisabeth is the eldest of the four children of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium. She is the heir to the Belgian throne and will one day make history as Belgium's first-ever Queen regnant. According to New York Post, before enrolling at Harvard, Princess Elisabeth earned a degree in history and politics from the University of Oxford. She has also undergone military training at the Royal Military Academy in Belgium. Fluent in Dutch, French, German, and English, she is considered a promising future leader. When the ban was announced last month, Belgian Royal Palace's spokesperson Lore Vandoorne was quoted by Reuters as saying: 'Princess Elisabeth has just completed her first year. The impact of (the Trump administration's) decision will only become clearer in the coming days/weeks. We are currently investigating the situation". A report in the Times of India highlighted how the uncertainty surrounding US policies on international students has had a ripple effect on global education trends. Traditional academic powerhouses, particularly in the United States, are facing challenges that threaten their dominance in global education. A combination of restrictive visa policies, stricter immigration laws, and rising educational costs are diminishing their appeal to international students. This volatility has spurred a shift in global student mobility, with countries offering more favourable immigration policies and affordable education becoming attractive alternatives. First Published: June 02, 2025, 11:13 IST
San Francisco Chronicle
20-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Acclaimed restaurant tucked away inside an S.F. mall is expanding
A popular Indian-Pakistani downtown lunch favorite is ready to break beyond the sometimes glum food court at San Francisco Centre mall with a second, substantially larger location. Mohammad and Rabia Waqar confirmed with the Chronicle their restaurant, Mashaallah Halal Pakistani Food, will open a second location at 315 Fifth St., just a few blocks away from the mall inside the former space occupied by French bistro Mathilde. Mohammad said the address will get an interior revamp before it serves its tandoor cooked meats, rich stews and biryani plates and hot chai for customers. He anticipates opening in around eight to 10 weeks. The move comes after the departure of anchor tenant Bloomingdales and as food court operators increasingly rely on e-bike delivery to counter sinking foot traffic. Mohammad Waqar said the mall can be challenging, but convention traffic has improved and business has been steady recently. Ultimately he and his wife are thankful for finding a location that's brought them success. 'We signed a long lease. As long as the mall remains open we'll be here,' he said. The menu will be mostly the same at the new, 50-seat restaurant with a patio. Expect Mashaallah favorites to feature at the new space such as seekh kebab cooked in a tandoor and tender lamb chops, marinated in a garlic-ginger paste for two days. The co-owner said he plans to introduce a couple of new dishes like chicken karahi, tossed in a spicy sauce inside a wok-shaped pot, along with a traditional chicken curry. Quick lunch platters will still be available, with a variety of stews served from cafeteria-style steam trays that include a surprisingly rich palak paneer — made by boiling spinach in milk before the addition of butter and cheese cubes — and a superstar lamb korma which staff simmer to render juicy and tender. The Chronicle's restaurant critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan praised the restaurant's ' impressive ' cooking and non-standardized, humble feel with hand-written menu additions and photos of dishes. 'If the physical attributes plant the suspicion that Mashaallah Halal is not your typical food court tenant, a few bites will confirm it,' Fegan wrote. The Waqars, who work closely together and have moments where their mutual admiration and love shines through, are hopeful for their next chapter for their restaurant. For Mohammad, growing the business from a food truck to a second restaurant is validating. 'I've been in the industry for 38 years. Now I'm finally seeing the payoff,' he said.
Extra.ie
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Extra.ie
Exclusive group of women don white at Pope's inauguration
Just four women wore white at the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV while the colour code was black for the majority of female attendees. The inauguration of the American pope took place over the weekend with Queen Mathilde of Belgium; Queen Letizia of Spain; Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg and Charlene, Princess of Monaco all donning white for the occasion. The women have been granted an exception to the traditional requirement that women wear black garments as a result of le privilège du blanc (the privilege of the white). King Felipe VI of Spain and Queen Letizia of Spain arrive ahead of the Inauguration Mass of Pope Leo XIV in St Peter's Square. Pic:Le privilège du blanc allows a Catholic queen or princess to wear white in the company of the Pope, though all non-Catholic royal women must wear black. Just seven women have the privilege at the moment. Along with the four women who wore white over the weekend, Queen Sofía of Spain; Queen Paola of Belgium and Princess Marina of Savoy are all eligible for the privilege. Dr Taylor Marshall explained via X that black garments signifies 'humility and the desire to remain unnoticed.' Queen Mathilde of Belgium and King Philippe of Belgium arrive ahead of the Inauguration Mass of Pope Leo XIV in St Peter's Square on May 18, 2025. Pic:The traditional protocol states that men dress simply while women wear long, black dresses that cover the knee and have high collars as well as long sleeves. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands has not been granted the privilege despite being a Catholic woman. This is because her husband, King Wilem-Alexander, is a Protestant. The exclusive group don't always have to wear white and similarly the black dress code isn't very strict anymore with Queen Elizabeth previously wearing a bright lilac suit when meeting Pope Francis. The Vatican is more lenient with the black dress code nowadays, viewing it more of as guideline than a requirement. That said, royal women still traditionally follow the rules, Royal Central confirmed.
The Guardian
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
My Master Builder review – Ewan McGregor's cheating starchitect is torn down
Henrik Ibsen's Icarus-like architect is indubitably the patrician protagonist of his play The Master Builder. The women of that play revolve around him like acolytes, from his obliging wife to an infatuated bookkeeper and, controversially, the romanticised figure of Hilda, who reminds him of 'kisses' between them when he was a renowned builder and she just a child. In Lila Raicek's modern take, his wife – clever, accomplished and angry – is the fulcrum. Henry Solness (Ewan McGregor) is a 'starchitect' and Elena Solness (Kate Fleetwood) is the head of a publishing empire who has arranged a dinner, inviting Henry's long-estranged student, Mathilde (Elizabeth Debicki), with whom he had a tryst 10 years ago, when the Solness's young son had just died. Love then was mixed with grief. Now it is reignited when Mathilde reminds Solness of what they meant to each other, retrospectively. 'All that grief and all that rapture,' says Solness, as his memories come rushing back. Directed by Michael Grandage, this is Ibsen-adjacent rather than an adaptation or straight translation. Mathilde is given power and agency: she is a journalist and has written a novel inspired by her affair. There are throwaway references to Norway but the play is set in the Hamptons, with a lovely symbolist set by Richard Kent whose design has flecks of David Hockney in the flat blue sea in the backdrop and a modernist white slatted structure in the foreground which represents the chapel that Henry has rebuilt (it burnt down 10 years ago and took the life of his young son). This is very much a play about the consequence of infidelity on a marriage, and a wife's pained rage (Ibsen's Hilda was apparently inspired by real-life associations he had with younger women). Fleetwood is magnetic as Elena and she eclipses McGregor, who is boyishly earnest in his relationship with Mathilde, despite playing the older man. He seems genuinely in love and does not have the bearing of the narcissist he is supposed to be. There is not quite the chemistry between Mathilde and Henry either, although both actors are able in their parts. Mathilde's novel is called Master and there is some effort to evoke psychosexual power dynamics between them, but this does not contain enough heat. The script reckons with the problematic aspects of Ibsen's play in many ways but also complicates them. There is talk of Henry's grooming of the young Mathilde and Elena tries to create a #MeToo moment of public shaming but Mathilde is reluctant to define her experience as such. The clash between father and son, from Ibsen's play, is dealt with in passing between Henry and Ragnar (David Ajala), an influencer and rival architect, rather than with Henry's son. Instead, female camaraderie, treachery and generational difference is explored. Elena's assistant, Kaja (Mirren Mack), mocks her so-called feminism and Mathilde speaks of how Elena 'slut-shamed' her after her affair with Henry, while Elena herself mocks the younger women for all their talk about agency and power. A debate around the good/bad feminist is opened up in their judgments of each other but it sounds rather conceptual. The play is full of plot, especially in Elena's many machinations. There are moments of great intensity, mostly in the scenes featuring Fleetwood, and real candescence to the writing at its best. The focus on the women is interesting and intriguing, even though it means Henry feels rather spare to the drama. This is a story not of genius men building castles in the air for their princesses but of what destruction they wreak in their homes in so doing. Really, it is the drama of The Master Builder's Wife. At Wyndham's theatre, London, until 12 July
New York Times
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Ewan McGregor, Back Onstage, Is the Architect of His Own Folly
When a big star appears in a conspicuously undercooked show, what rankles is the apparent cynicism — the conceited presumption that the sheer aura of an individual talent will compensate for any shortcomings. That concern rears its head once again in a new take on Henrik Ibsen's 'The Master Builder' which opened on Tuesday in London, featuring the Scottish A-lister Ewan McGregor in the title role. In this instance, it's apt: Artistic hubris is a central theme of Ibsen's 1892 play, in which an aging architect, worried that his powers are waning, loses his head over an infatuated young woman. This version, called 'My Master Builder,' is written by the New York-based playwright Lila Raicek and directed by Michael Grandage; it runs at Wyndham's Theater through July 12. Raicek's interpretation sets out to center Ibsen's female characters, retelling the story through the lens of #MeToo — but it ends up reducing a complex play to a tawdry marital melodrama. We're in the Hamptons, in an elegant dining room backing on to a seaside landscape, with crickets chirruping throughout. (The set is by Richard Kent.) McGregor plays Solness, a celebrated 'starchitect' whose moribund marriage to the publisher Elena (Kate Fleetwood, cracklingly erratic) is set to implode as they prepare to host a party celebrating his latest opus: A dazzlingly futuristic church, built in memory of their only son, who died in an accident many years ago. McGregor plays an architect who had an affair with a former student, played by Elizabeth Debicki. Credit... Johan Persson Among the guests is Mathilde (Elizabeth Debicki, ambiguously winsome), with whom Solness had an adulterous fling 10 years earlier, when she was a 20-year-old student of his. Back then, Elena, despite being an avowed feminist, had responded to the revelation of the affair by trying to destroy Mathilde's reputation. Mathilde has since written a novel about the dalliance, and Elena — who is about to file for divorce — offers to publish it out of spite. This sordid story is thrashed out over two emotionally charged hours, in a register that toggles uneasily between soapy cliché and cynical sass. (There are several quips about the phallic symbolism of tall buildings.) Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
