Nawal El Saadawy – Activist, Physican and Writer

Nawal El Saadawy (aka) Nawal Zeinab El Sayed. Feminist Writer, Activist, Doctor, Psychiatrist.

Dedicated to combating Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Founder:

  • Founder and President: Arab Women’s Solidarity Association
  • Co-Founder: Arab Association for Human Rights

Books:

  • A Notebook of an 85 year old Girl (2017)
  • Memoirs from the Women’s Prison (1983)
  • Woman At Point Zero (1975)
  • Women and Sex (1972)
  • etc…

Awards / Honours:

  • North-South Prize, Council of Europe (2004)
  • Inana International Prize, Belgium (2005)
  • Sean McBride Peace Prize, International Peace Bureau (2012)
  • Declared ‘The Simone de Beauvoir’ of the Arab World
  • Listed in TIME magazine’s 100 Women of the Year

Passed away on March 21st, 2021

__________

pix: Nawal El Saadawi, 1981 is a photograph by Portrait by Sarah Jane Moon for TIME which was uploaded on March 5th, 2020.

________

EGYPT

Mohamed Mechbal Awarded 2021 King Faisal Arabic Literature Award : February 2021

Professor Dr Mohamed Mechbal has been awarded the King Faisal International Prize for Arabic Literature in recognition of his project ‘ The New Rhetoric ‘.

The King Faisal Foundation initiated the award in 1977. The award recognizes the exceptional contributions of five groups of individuals and institutions. These include,  service to Islam, Islamic Studies, Arabic language and literature as well as medicine, and science.

Currently he is Professor, Rhetoric and Literary criticism, University of AbdelMalek Essadi, Tetoun, Morocco

Award/s:

  • Sheikh Zayed Prize for Critical Studies 2018
  • Katara Prize for Critical Studies 2018

_________

pix: moroccoworldnews.com

____________

MOROCCO

Samia Hassan – First Female President of Tanzania : March 2021

Samia Suluhu Hassan (aka) Samia Hassan makes history by becoming the First Female President of Tanzania and the country’s 6th President.

  • Former First Female Vice President of Tanzania
  • Minister of Union Affairs 92014)
  • Minister of Trade & Tourism (2000)

___________

pix: dw.com

_____________

TANZANIA

Zeina Barhoum, Arab Soprano to perform at Palestine Museum US on March 21st, 2020

Zeina Barhoum – Arabic Soprana. Classically trained Soprano. Opera singer.

 Jordanian opera singer Zeina Barhoum is set to perform at the Palestine Museum US on March 21, organizers announced. The renowned singer will virtually perform in Arabic and other languages, including the songs “Sanarjeo Yawman,” “Jerusalem, Flower of Cities,” “O mio babbino caro” and several others according to reports in ArabNews.com

Founder :

  • Founder of Alcántara Music and Art series
  • Amman Opera Festival (AOF). First Opera Festival in the Arab World launched in 2017. Under the Royal Patronage of HRH Princess Muna Al Hussein, Jordanian soprano Zeina Barhoum launched the first opera festival in the Arab world, the Amman Opera Festival (AOF), with the full operatic production of Verdi’s La Traviata at the 2000-year old Roman Amphitheater in July 2017, alongside over 150 International musicians and dancers from more than 10 countries.

Awards / Honour:

  • Best Soloist Award, The Eisteddfod competition
  •  Award at the 2nd Taras Shevchenko International Singing Competition, where she sang Taras Shevchenko’s popular folk song The Mighty Dnieper Roars and Bellows in Arabic and Ukrainian for the first time
  • Appointed by the United Nations World Food Programmed (WFP) as its advocate and humanitarian voice (May 2020)

Education:

  • Bsc – Visual Communication, American University of Sharjah

website : www.zeinabarhoum.com

_________

pix: zeinabarhoum.com

__________

JORDAN

Yacine Bourhane, Professional Footballer

Yacine Bourhane . Professional Footballer

Currently plays as mid-fielder for ‘Chamois Niortais FC2’.

Also represents the Comoros National Team

_____________

pix: Twitter@ChamoisNiortais

______________________

FRANCE / COMOROS

Egyptian Women’s Day – March 16th

Hamida Khalil was the first of six Egyptian women who were shot dead on March 16, 1919 by British soldiers while they were protesting colonialism.

This date marks the Egyptian Women’s Day. 

Highlights: About the first Egyptian woman to die at the hands of British occupation:

  • Hamida was born in Gamalia district in Cairo and was known as the “revolutionary girl.” 
  • She joined protesters who gathered outside Hussein Mosque in Cairo and was one of 300 women who took to streets in the first female demonstration known in Egyptian history
  • Four days after her murder, some 1,500 women organized an anti-colonialism protest
  • March 16 was chosen as Egyptian women’s day as the beginning of decades of women’s struggle against colonialism and for their political and education rights. 

source: content: www.egypttoday.com

___________

pix: egypttoday.com

________

EGYPT

11th Century Manuscript of Ahmad bin Majid Al Sa’adi Restored . 16th Century Omani Navigator & Cartographer.

Ahmad bin Majid Al Sa’adi (aka) Ibn Majid (aka) Shihab ad-Din “Star of the Faith” and “The Lion of the Sea”. Poet and Writer of 44 books. Inventor of the Magnetic needle.

The manuscript is loaned from the Al Assad National Library in the Syrian Arab Republic.

The manuscript was loaned to the National Museum-Oman, for two years under the purpose of preservation and conservation and coordination was maintained with the National Records and Archives Authority, Oman – to restore this document to its original state, through the implementation of an integrated program for preservation, conservation, indexing and revision.

This manuscript was written in the 11th century AH / 16th century CE, under the ruling of Al Nabhani dynasty. It is compiled (175) sheets, (350) pages and (23) lines per page. Texts were written by “Naskh” script using black ink and headlines in red. The body of the manuscript is surrounded by two red frames.

This manuscript is one of few preserved copies of the manuscripts of Ahmed bin Majid Al Sa’adi around the world, the oldest among them is the one which is preserved in the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts in St. Petersburg Russia”.

This compiled collection includes the most important and best known of the works by Ahmad bin Majid`s. It is divided into three parts: al-Fawāid fī ilm al-bahr wa-alqawāid or (The Book of the Benefits of the Principles and Foundations of Seamanship), completed on 17 Rabi al-Thani 984 AH/ 13 July 1576. This part is dedicated to 18 benefits related to marine sciences and some proverbs.
The second collections: Hāwīyat al-ikhtisār fī usūl ilm al-bihār, it is the longest section and includes 11 chapters.


The third collection consists of 14 proses, in addition to eight chapters in marine sciences.


Ahmad bin Majid Al Sa’adi was an Omani navigator and cartographer. Born in Julfar, he was educated in his early years by his father Majid bin Mohammed al-Sa’adi, who was a renowned marine captain and navigator.


Ibn Majid is one of the best-known navigators in the Indian Ocean and among the finest scholars of the art of navigation and its history among the Arabs.

He was the inventor of the magnetic needle (magnetic compass), which is used for navigation and orientation at sea.

He was also the author of nearly forty works of poetry and prose. Among his many books on oceanography, Fawā’id fī-Usūl Ilm al-Bahr wa-al-Qawāid or (The Book of the Benefits of the Principles and Foundations of Seamanship), which was compiled in the year (880-895 AH / 1475-1490 CE) at the end of his life, which is considered as one of his best.

He is remembered as Shihab ad-Din “Star of the Faith” and “The Lion of the Sea”.

source: contents – www.timesofoman.com

_______________

pix: timesofoman.com

________________

SYRIA / OMAN

Najla El-Mangoush – Libya’s First Woman Foreign Minister : 2021

History is being created with the first female woman foreign minister of Libya – Najla El-Mangoush. She will be accompanied with 4 other women who will be joining her.

Presently:

  • Practising Advocate and Lawyer in Criminal Law
  • Assistant Professor – University of Benghazi

Education:

  • Bachelor’s Degree in Law
  • Master’s Degree in Conflict and Peace Management, Eastern Mini Knight University, USA
  • Ph.D in Conflict and Crisis Management, George Mason University, USA

___________

pix: libyaherald.com

_________

LIBYA

Winners of Princess Seetah Award : Saudi Arabia

The winners of ‘ The Princess Seetah bint Abdul Aziz Award ‘ – were as follows: 

Excellence in national achievement: Health ministry’s volunteering program and education ministry’s distance learning digital platform ‘Madrasti’ (my school)

Excellence in Islamic endowment: General Authority for Endowments for mitigating the effects of the virus on people through its humanitarian initiatives. 

Excellence in social work: The Madinah Al-Munawarah’s NGO for its ‘The good city initiative.’

Excellence for social work entrepreneurs: Sheikh Abdullah Ibrahim Al-Subeai for setting up a charitable institution and donating money to various causes in the Kingdom during the pandemic.

Corporate social responsibility: Advanced Petrochemical Company for its initiatives during the pandemic and Sadara Chemical Company for its work with the health sector in tackling COVID-19.

Established in April of 2012 by royal decree, the Princess Seetah bint Abdul Aziz Foundation for Excellence in Social Work is an independent nonprofit organization.

The late Princess Seetah was famous for her piety, devotion and benevolence. Known as “the mother of the needy” and “the mother of goodness,” her charitable efforts made her a household name over the course of her life.

Her house was open to all types of Saudi people. She would meet with them, listen to their problems and try to find solutions either by following up on their issues, helping them financially or presenting their problems to those in charge if she was unable to do so herself.

During her life, she served as president of the National Family Safety Program, as an honorary member of the Saudi Historical Society, president of Safat Al-Khair Project and president of Al-Saud Women’s Forum.

www.seetahaward.org

_____________

The Seventh Princess Seetah Awards’ gala dinner was held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh. (AN Photo) / pix: arabnews.com

_________________

SAUDI ARABIA

DEWA Wins 2020 Middle East and Africa Renewable Deal of the Year Award

 Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has won the ‘2020 Middle East and Africa Renewables Deal of the Year’ from Project Finance International (PFI) magazine for the photovoltaic 5th phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. PFI magazine, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters, focuses on tracking and analysing projects, financial budgets and project deals worldwide.

The solar park is the largest single-site solar park in the world with a planned production capacity of 5,000 megawatts by 2030″

The fifth phase is to provide clean energy to 270,000 residences in Dubai. This will reduce 1.18 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually. The project is due for commissioning in stages starting Q3 of 2021.

source: wam.ae

______________

pix: wam.ae

___________________________________________

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (U.A.E)