THE COST OF TREACHERY: Bad news for Egyptian pop star Shireen Ahmad, who has just been ordered by a court to pay out a million pounds to her former producer Hamdi Ahmad.



Hamdi had discovered and nurtured Shireen, only for her to turn around and work with someone else when she'd reached a level of fame that allowed her to pick and choose. The one million egyptian pounds was to compensate for both the professional and emotional cost of the loss. (In English pounds, it sets the cost at about ninety grand.)

Last year, Shireen was at the centre of a row when she said in an interview that there were some "nice" Israelis, prompting her rival, Shireen Wadji, to fume "any singer who has something good to say about Israel, does not deserve the love or support of their fans and is considered to be a fake."