"egypt" news and stories

The turmoil in Cairo is causing major problems in the city's food supply. Egypt's biggest city is now in its 10th day of protest to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak, and it's taking a toll on the area's infrastructure -- including grocery stores and markets. Few shops remain open, and those that do have significant price hikes, reports Bloomberg.

Many shoppers are either stockpilling or looting food, causing most stores to either close up shop or take advantage of the demand. Carrefour SA, a supermarket chain, has closed all seven of its Egyptian stores after looting at an outlet in a Cairo suburb, a spokesman for the company told Bloomberg.

If you live in a developing country, that is: In the U.S., land o'plenty, so the golden arches will always remain a convenience as a drive-through window, but in cities that are congested and land is scarce, McDonald's has taken to delivery.

Where would you have to go to get your Big Mac and fries delivered right to your door with a delivery charge of anywhere from 50 cents to a dollar? Ronald McDonald commissions fleets of delivery people in cars or on motorbikes in cities like Manila, Taipei, Cairo, for a total of about 25 cities, with a half dozen more in the works.

Really, I think L.A. is congested enough of a city that McDonald's delivery could work here. I can't tell you how many times I've woken up on a weekend morning craving an Egg McMuffin, but was a little too, uh, "dehydrated" to get in the car and get to a McDonald's before 10:30AM!

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Last month, Epicurean Masters of the World held an opulent feast in Bangkok for the extraordinary price of $25,000 per person. Their next location has been unveiled as Egypt, and though it is lower in price - "just" $10,000 a head - this gourmet adventure is scheduled to be much larger than the last event. With the ancient Pyramids of Giza as a backdrop, apparently thirty 3-star Michelin chefs will be preparing some of their most exquisite and culturally diverse creations for a planned crowd of 500 attendees.

Though admittedly the price tag associated with these events sounds extremely excessive, proceeds from the dinners are donated to charities local to the chosen locations. This event is scheduled for December of 2008.

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