Arabs & Arabian Records Aggregator. Chronicler. Milestones of the 25 Countries of the Arabic Speaking World (official / co-official). AGCC. MENA. Global. Ist's to Top 10's. Records. Read & Enjoy./ www.arabianrecords.org
Dr. Abdulrazk Gurnah. Writer. Born in Zanzibar (Tanzania) based in England.
No black African writer has won the prize since Wole Soyinka in 1986. Gurnah is the first black writer to win since Toni Morrison in 1993.
Gurnah is a Professor at the University of Kent.
His novel “Paradise” was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1994.
The Nobel prize in literature has been awarded to the novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, for his “uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents”.
Gurnah grew up on one of the islands of Zanzibar before fleeing persecution and arriving in England as a student in the 1960s.
Gurnah was born in 1948, growing up in Zanzibar. When Zanzibar went through a revolution in 1964, citizens of Arab origin were persecuted, and Gurnah was forced to flee the country when he was 18. He began to write as a 21-year-old refugee in England, choosing to write in English, although Swahili is his first language. His first novel, Memory of Departure, was published in 1987. He has until recently been professor of English and postcolonial literatures at the University of Kent, until his retirement.
He has published 10 novels as well as a number of short stories. Anders Olsson, chair of the Nobel committee, said that the Gurnah’s novels – from his debut Memory of Departure, about a failed uprising, to his most recent, Afterlives – “recoil from stereotypical descriptions and open our gaze to a culturally diversified East Africa unfamiliar to many in other parts of the world”
source/content : theguardian.com
_______-
By PalFest – originally posted to Flickr as Abulrazak Gurnah on Hebron Panel, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/
The Muslim Coordination Council is a conglomeration of Germany’s largest Islamic advocacy groups.
Germany’s largest Islamic advocacy platform has announced that Moroccan-German national Abdassamad El Yazidi is now the group’s official spokesman.
Starting Friday, October 1, El Yazidi will publicly represent the Muslim Coordination Council, according to German news source Deutschlandfunk. El Yazidi announced that his plans as the group’s new spokesperson is to “make a contribution to critical and constructive talks and reduce prejudice and resentment against Muslims and their organizations.”
Prior to his current role, El Yazidi led the Central Council of Muslims in Germany as its Secretary-General. The Central Council of Muslims is one of the organizations that cooperated under the Muslim Coordination Council to further the interests of Muslims in Germany.
source/content: moroccoworldnews.com
_____________
Prior to his current role, El Yazidi led the Central Council of Muslims in Germany as its Secretary-General. Photo Credit: Frankfurter Allgemeine / moroccoworldnews.com
Expo 2020 is officially inaugurated, announcing that Dubai is open, the UAE is open.
It was a celebration of hope. It was also a sneak peek at the future; a showcase of innovation, cultural diversity and a reflection of how people coming together can change the world.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, led in welcoming cultures from East to West, from North to South – of 192 countries that gathered not only to participate in the world’s greatest show but also to forge unity and convey the story of Expo’s overarching theme – ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince, officially opened the Expo which will run until March 31 next year. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence and Commissioner General of Expo 2020 Dubai, set the tone of the global event.
Ahead of the official Opening Ceremony, Sheikh Mohammed said: “The nation is proud of the 10-year preparations for the largest global event that will last for six months, with the participation of 192 countries, underscoring the international trust in our country.”
Welcome everyone
Sheikh Mohammed underlined: “Once again, the UAE people have demonstrated their unique ability to excel in every task when serving humanity. We have proven to the world the UAE is a fruitful tree that can welcome everyone who dreams of a better future for this planet.”
“With the launch of the Expo, I remember the late founding fathers Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, and I would say to them, this is your legacy, and this international trust is the outcome of your far-sighted vision and determination to overcome challenges. Today, the world is being inspired by this vision. Civilisations are established and developed by challenges. That was the first and key lesson we learnt from you, which we convey to future generations and present to the world today,” he added.
“You are home, and our development experience is at your service,” Sheikh Mohammed continued. “We have one shared destiny and our peoples are anticipating the strengthening of international cooperation to change their reality into a brighter and more sustainable one, as well as to establish a roadmap for the key economic, developmental and cultural trends for the post-COVID era. We hope that the start of the event will be the breakthrough in terms of cooperation, tolerance and peace.”
Sheikh Nahyan echoed the same ideals during his welcome speech. He noted: “Today, in the year of our Golden Jubilee, we share with the world the lessons we have learnt, most importantly that by connecting minds, we are able to achieve milestones others thought were impossible.
“Today, 192 nations come together, each represented by its own pavilion – a first in the 170-year history of World Expos. Our mere presence here, amid all the challenges the world is facing, is proof of our keen commitment and desire to make the world a better place for all.
“By hosting Expo2020 Dubai, we aim to convey a message of tolerance and that we are willing to collaborate with all of the world. Today, we say to the whole world: Welcome to the UAE and welcome to Expo 2020 Dubai.”
“We will convey – from the UAE to the world – on our 50th anniversary a message of tolerance, coexistence and peace; a message of progress, prosperity and growth; a message of brotherhood, happiness and an unwavering will to create a brighter future for everyone.
The International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF), an international organisation that includes 110 clubs and agencies that are concerned with falcon hunting, where this organisation represents 90 countries, with which over 100,000 falconers around the world are affiliated, has announced the unanimous re-election of Majid Ali Al Mansouri – Secretary-General of the Emirates Falconers’ Club – as President of the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF).
Al Mansouri has been unanimously re-elected for 3 new years effective beginning of 2022, which was at the conclusion of the IAF General Assembly agenda. This assembly was held on the sidelines of the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey (Abu Dhabi 2021) activities, and with the unanimous decision of all (IAF) members.
Among his key achievements in the leadership of the (IAF) is the representation of falconers all over the world, and the follow-up to the establishment of falconry clubs in Luxembourg, Finland, and Norway.
Majid Ali Al Mansouri co-founded the Emirates Falconers’ Club in 2001, and he is a member of the International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC). Moreover, he had a leading role – in parallel with his previous position as the Secretary General of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) – in strengthening efforts to implement the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Since 2003, he has contributed to the fact that the Emirates Falconers’ Club organises the Abu Dhabi International Hunting & Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX) on an annual basis, which is the largest of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa.
In addition, he also contributed to reviving the organisation of the International Festival of Falconry starting 2011, and establishment of the Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Falconry and Desert Physiognomy School in 2016 with the aim of raising awareness about falconry as a common heritage of mankind.
Egyptian EPC contractor Petrojet has been awarded the Guinness World Record for the largest floating roof tank for its 175,000 m3 (1.1 million bbl) crude oil storage tank in Ras Badran, Sinai, Egypt.
The double deck floating roof is 110 m in diameter and weights 1,000 tonnes. Raising the roof from assembly level to maintenance level required 240 synchronised hydraulic jacks. Petrojet built the tank for the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum.
The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum announced that one of its companies had received a Guinness World Records certificate in the field of manufacturing and constructing crude oil storage depots by adopting a new and unprecedented method in the implementation and construction of the warehouse with a double and movable floating roof system through the use of more than 240 hydraulic lifts connected to a single control system.
According to Egyptian Petroleum, this is the first and largest method of its kind with regard to the construction of storage warehouses in the world, with a warehouse capacity of 175,000 cubic meters, equivalent to more than one million barrels of crude oil, and a warehouse with a diameter of 115 meters and a weight of more than 3000 tons.
The project, which is implemented by the Egyptian petroleum sector within the national project for the establishment of crude oil storage warehouses, consists of 29 warehouses that were established in the same manner.
source/contents: egypttoday.com
____________
Petrojet has Guinness World Record for Ras Badran tank / pix: tankstoragemag.com
Tunisia’s President named geologist Najla Bouden as the country’s first ever female prime minister-designate.
Ms Bouden is the first woman to hold the position in Tunisia’s history and the first female prime minister in the Arab world.
Born in 1958 in the central Kairouan governorate, Ms Bouden is a professor of higher education at the National Engineering School in Tunis, specialising in geosciences.
A political outsider, Ms Bouden will leave her current role of running a plan to carry out World Bank programmes at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Since 2011, she has served as director general in charge of quality at the Higher Education Ministry.
She also held the position of head of the Purpose Action Unit in the same ministry, and was assigned a task at the office of the then higher education minister, Shehab Boden, in 2015.
Ms Bouden will be Mr Saied’s fourth head of government since he took office in autumn 2019, and the third he appointed personally.
source/content: thenationalnews.com
__________
Tunisia’s president named Najla Bouden as the country’s first ever female prime minister. AFP / pix: thenationalnews.com
Veteran El Amin Chentouf of Morocco defended his title in the T12 marathon for visually impaired athletes, smashing his own Paralympic record by over three minutes to finish in 2:21:43.
The 40-year-old retains his title after finishing more than more than four minutes ahead of silver medallist Clifford.
Further back in the field, Tunisian’s Wajdi Boukhili had been well placed to take the bronze until the 40km mark, where both he and compatriot Hatem Nasrallah slowed up to finish sixth and fourth, respectively. The bronze medal went to Tadashi Horikoshi of Japan.
Chentouf’s gold was the fourth for Morocco during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, all of which have been won in athletics. Abdeslam Hili and Ayoub Sadni won gold in the men’s 400m in the T12 and T47 classes, respectively, and Zakariae Derhem topped the podium in the men’s shot put F33 class.
Jordan claim 2021 Arab Women’s Cup after late 1-0 win over Tunisia.
Jordan beat Tunisia in the final 1-0 to win the 2021 Arab Women’s Cup in Cairo, Egypt, the second edition of the competition that was first held in Alexandria in 2006.
Maysa Jbarah, who had scored twice in the semifinal win over Egypt, once again proved the hero, scoring the winning goal in stoppage time just when it looked like the teams would not be separated.
The Arab Women’s Cup is organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) that covers the Middle East and North Africa.
The 2021 edition saw seven teams compete – Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan and Tunisia.
Osama Ahmed Abdullah Al Shafar (UAE). Dr Mohamed Wagih Azzam (Egypt).
Osama Al Shafar, President of the Asian Cycling Confederation, Member of the Executive Office of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCE), has been elected Vice-President of UCI in Leuven, Belgium.
In line with a modification to the UCI Constitution approved earlier in the day by its Congress, the UCI now counts at least one Vice-President of each gender, for a total of four Vice-Presidents-compared with three previously. The Vice-Presidents elected are: -Osama Ahmed Abdullah Al Shafar (UAE), President of the Asian Cycling Confederation.
Dr Mohamed Wagih Azzam / pix: cac-africa.com
–Dr Mohamed Wagih AZZAM (EGY), President of the Confédération Africaine de Cyclisme.
-Katerina NASH (CZE), President of the UCI Athletes’ Commission.
-Enrico DELLA CASA (ITA), President of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme (UEC).
Their term begins immediately and will finish after the 2025 UCI Congress.
Al Shafar -now the first president of the Asian Confederation to hold the position- after a successful sporting career spanning over 20 years.
Morocco is leading the way in Africa since the creation of a major trade hub Tangier Med, according to Lloyd’s List’s ranking of the world’s best 100 ports in 2021.
Tangier Med
The Tangier Med Port is currently ranked 25th worldwide, surpassing other massive ports of the Mediterranean such as the Piraeus Port in Greece, the Port of Valencia and the Port of Algeciras in Spain.
According to Lloyd’s list, the year 2021 is the 4th consecutive year that the Tangier Med Special Agency (TMSA) is on top of the list of ports in Africa. Due to its geographical position, the Moroccan port is widely considered to be the most important link between Africa and Europe.
The international hub went from 4,80 million Twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2019 to a total of 5,77 million TEU in 2020, recording an exceptional growth of 20,2%. In the first quarter of 2021, it recorded an even greater growth of 35%
