World Economic Forum (WEF) President Borge Brende spoke to CNBC on Sunday, discussing his take on the evolving geopolitical landscape in the Middle East.

It’s no news that Russian presence in the region has grown. American withdrawal and disengagement from several of the region’s hotspots has coincided with an apparent shift eastward, Brende said, inviting Moscow to exert its influence over that of the U.S.

“I think there is a clear reality on the ground that we see more of a Russian footprint in this region,” Brende told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble during the WEF on the Middle East and Africa in Amman, Jordan.

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On Monday, actors Amr Waked and Khaled Abol Naga spoke out against Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi at a Capitol Hill event in Washington intended to draw attention to proposed changes to the Egyptian constitution that could let Sissi serve until 2034.

On Tuesday, they found out that they were expelled from the Egyptian actors’ union, which accused them of treason.

“I found out last night. A friend of mine sent me a scanned copy of the decision. I wasn’t really surprised, to be honest,” Waked, perhaps best known stateside for his roles in 2005′s “Syriana” and 2014′s “Lucy,” told The Washington Post.

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