https://arab.news/r23v8BEIRUT: Maamoul is an irresistible pastry that is eaten during Easter and Ramadan celebrations in Lebanon and the Middle East.It is one of the most renowned Lebanese specialties, prepared especially for these occasions.It is similar to shortbread made from semolina, sugar, butter, rose water and orange blossom water.Shortbread cookies are filled with dates, walnuts or pistachios and sometimes covered with sugar.Traditionally, there is a shape for each flavor that helps differentiate them from each other.Usually, the dough is prepared on Good Friday, or the day before Ramadan, and the Maamoul is baked the next day.Enjoyed by Christian and Muslim families in the Middle East, find out how why maamoul is sweeter this year plus a simple recipe for you to try.#maamoul #eidalfitr #eid #howto pic.twitter.com/2JRQK3n3SMEach country has its traditions for celebrating the holidays, and Lebanon is very attached to its own.Although the recipe and ingredients seem quite simple, the process takes a lot of work and a lot of patience.During Ramadan, Muslims fast all day for 30 days.During Lent and Good Friday, Christians abstain from eating meat and animal products.During Ramadan, Muslims savor maamoul on the last evening of breaking the fast, while Arab Christians will consume it the days before Lent and on Easter Sunday.This pastry is also popular in Jewish communities, which consume it during religious holidays such as Purim, Rosh Hashanah and Hanukkah.Why is Maamoul associated with religious festivals?Palestinian-Jordanian food blogger Sawsan Abou Farha discusses the symbolic nature of this delicacy."Some say this pastry is meant to remind you that even though fasting is hard to endure, it ends with a sweet reward, just like the outer shell of maamoul which is bland, but has a sweet core," explains- she.From April to May, communities across #MENA are celebrating #Ramadan, #Easter, orthodox Easter & #Eid al-Fitr.Which means...IT'S #MAAMOUL TIME!Date, pistachio or walnut filled, these buttery & orange blossom flavored cookies are a must have.#FridayFood 📸: @196flavors pic.twitter.com/0JrfGav3jwhttps://arab.news/by5f9LONDON: Adored by some, respected by all, Roger Federer put an end, on Friday, to 25 years of an exceptional career in tennis during a double accomplice with the one who was his greatest rival, Rafael Nadal, at the Laver Cup, London.With 103 titles on the ATP Tour, including 20 Grand Slams, 310 weeks at the top of the rankings, including 237 in a row during his longest period of reign, the imprint of "king" Federer on tennis is not close to fading.A huge thrill ran through the O2 Arena and its some 17,000 spectators when he last entered the court as a professional tennis player, under the eyes of his family, inevitably moved, in the stands.In trouble with his right knee for too long and faced with the lack of sufficient progress revealed by a scanner a few weeks ago, he ended up announcing his irrevocable departure eight days ago.He had chosen the Laver Cup, a team match between Europe and the Rest of the World, which he had helped to create, in London, a city that had witnessed some of his greatest exploits at Wimbledon or the Masters, to draw his reverence.After almost a year and a half without playing, a single would have been too demanding for his damaged physique, but a double, with his quality of service, his touch and his look, remained completely in his strings.It also allowed him to surround himself with a team, and what a team!He had by his side Nadal, his one-night partner, but also Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, two players of his generation and whom he saw progressing until they challenged his superiority and even overtook him, as well as the next generation, embodied by Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini, who will replace him for the rest of the Laver Cup.The presence on the bench of Björn Borg, as captain, as well as those of John McEnroe on that of the Rest of the World and of Rod Laver, the first player to have won the four Grand Slams twice in a calendar year and to whom the competition makes tribute, did not look out of place in this tennis celebration.The formula of the Laver Cup, which allows the whole team to approach the players during changes of side to provide advice or encouragement encouragement, gave a very friendly atmosphere at this moment between rivals and friends.The match itself felt like an exhibition at times, but not playing hard and not playing your best tennis would almost have been a crime of lèse-majesté.Jack Sock had warned before the match: "We will take advantage of the moment but we will not hold back, sorry Roger".At 7-7 in the super tie-break of the third set, Tafoe did not hesitate to "turn on" Roger Federer at the net and Nadal again at 9-9.Before that, it was on a winning forehand volley that he offered his people the first set ball, won on one of his passings that Sock was unable to return (6-4), for the greatest public enjoyment.A few unusual misfires nevertheless came as a reminder that the master is no longer quite as efficient and the second set lost in the tie-break (7-2) made it possible to delay the deadline a little more.The third set was an intense crossover, with Federer serving to win the match at 9-8, but in the end it was the Americans who spoiled the party a bit.Tears quickly overtook Federer who received a standing ovation from the entire audience.https://arab.news/p5e65ALULA: Local and international artists took to the stage at one of the Kingdom's most distinctive venues to celebrate Saudi Arabia's 92nd National Day during the second AlUla Azimuth Festival on Friday.Immersed in the mountainous landscape of AlUla's history, Saudis and international visitors welcomed a line-up of DJs and performers that lit up the stage with light and fire shows.As the event was to celebrate the founding of the Kingdom, it was important for the AlUla Royal Commission and the MDLBEAST platform to showcase international artists to create greater opportunities for cultural exchange and attract audiences.“It's a chance for us to connect with other artists and other talents and bring what the local audience wants.It's about understanding what kind of tastes we can bring to each time in order to change things.”“Being there as a Saudi talent is great for us, for our national pride.We have the opportunity to play on the same stage with wonderful artists from all over the world,” said Ahmed Alammary, Chief Creative Officer at MDLBEAST, known for his music as DJ Baloo.https://arab.news/vvz6zWASHINGTON: The difficulties are linked for the first takeoff of NASA's new mega-rocket for the Moon.After two failed launch attempts a few weeks ago due to technical problems, the new attempt scheduled for Tuesday for this Artemis 1 mission is now threatened by a storm forming in the Caribbean."Tropical Depression Number Nine" has yet to be named, and is currently located below the Dominican Republic.But it should turn into a hurricane in the coming days, and go up via the Gulf of Mexico to Florida, where the Kennedy Space Center is located from where the rocket is to take off."Our plan A is to stay the course and do a liftoff on September 27," Kennedy Center official Mike Bolger said Friday."But if we have to go to plan B, we need a few days to pivot from our current configuration (...) and bring the rocket back under the protection of its assembly building," he added.NASA closely monitors each weather report."We will probably make a decision no later than tomorrow morning (Saturday morning, editor's note), or early afternoon," Bolger said.The orange and white SLS rocket can withstand, on its launch pad, wind gusts of up to 137 km/h.If it has to be sheltered, the current firing period, which extends until October 4, will be missed.The next period runs from October 17 to 31, with one possibility of take-off per day (except from October 24 to 26 and 28).This setback would be a blow to NASA, which has just overcome two other problems.At the very beginning of September, the takeoff had been canceled at the last moment because of a liquid hydrogen leak during the filling of the tanks with this fuel.A damaged seal has since been replaced, and NASA passed a ground test this week to verify the repairs.In addition, the US Space Force, in charge of public safety, has agreed to extend the certification period for the rocket's emergency self-destruct system batteries.This derogation had to be granted in order to be able to take off on Tuesday, or on the fallback date, October 2.Tuesday, the shooting window should open at 11:37 local time, for 70 minutes.If it takes off that day, the mission will last 39 days, until landing in the Pacific Ocean on November 5.It will not carry astronauts, Artémis 1 having to be used to verify that the Orion capsule, at the top of the rocket, is safe to transport a crew to the Moon in the future.