RECORDS IN ME & AFRICA* – Page 79 – Arabian Records (1st post : Eid Al Fitr – 01st Shawwal 1439 (AH) / 15th June 2018 ) / (BETA testing – Research

Sarah Al Amiri named in Time’s 2021 List of ‘Next 100 Most Influential People’ : 2021

Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, has been named as one of Time’s 2021 list of the Next 100 Most Influential People in the World for successfully leading the UAE’s Hope Probe into Mars’ orbit, in the first-ever Arab interplanetary mission.

In addition to her work in sending the Arab world’s first spacecraft to Mars, Al Amiri is now ahead of bigger missions: to lead ambitious space and technology projects that contribute to the UAE’s bigger goal in establishing a knowledge-based economy. A lunar mission in 2024 and plans to build a human settlement on Mars by 2117 are among the ambitious projects that await the young minister who’s looking to promote research and development to create new industries as part of her role.

She took part in building the UAE’s first two satellites – DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2, and the first entirely Emirati-made KhalifaSat.

She has been holding several responsibilities as the Chairwoman of the Emirates Scientists Council, Chairwoman of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Council and Chairwoman of the Dubai Future Academy Board of Trustees.

In 2017, she became the country’s first Minister of State for Advanced Sciences, a title that later changed in the latest cabinet reshuffle in August 2020 to the Minister of State for Advanced Technology. She was also then named the Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency.

In 2015, the World Economic Forum honoured her as one of its 50 Young Scientists for her contributions to science, technology and engineering.

She was also invited by the World Economic Forum to speak at Davos 2019 and became the first Emirati citizen to speak at an international TED event in 2017.

Mostly recently, she was selected in the BBC’s 100 Women 2020, a documentary that highlighted women leading change and making a difference during last year’s turbulent times.

source: wam.ae

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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (U.A.E.)

Agro-Products of Egypt Featuring in Top 10 of the World

Egypt is among the world’s top 10 exporters and producers of certain crops.

Orange

Egypt is the world’s top exporter of orange in terms of volume. In 2019, it exported 1.8 million metric tons of oranges worth $660 million.

Fig

Tthe second largest producer of fig globally for it produces 167,622 tons per annum.

Dried Onion

Egypt ranks third globally in terms of exporting dried onion. In 2019, it exported 13.6 tons of dried onion worth $30.4 million, representing 8.1% of the total global exports of dried onions.

Potatoes

Egypt is the fifth largest exporter of raw potatoes in terms of dollar value worth of the shipments. In 2019, it exported raw potatoes in the value of $259.6 million, which composes 5.4% of the world’s exports.

Prepared/preserved potatoes, Egypt ranks 13th exporting in 2019 shipments worth $31.1 million, representing 0.3% of the world’s global.

Dates

Egypt’s annual production of dates surpasses 1.7 million tons contributing in global production standing at eight million tons by 21 percent. Yet, Egypt’s rank in dates export market is not as high because of the weak value chain starting from the cultivation of palm trees until packaging and distribution.

source: egypttoday.com

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Fruits and vegetables – Wikimedia Commons

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EGYPT

World’s First Shipment of Blue Ammonia, Saudi Arabia to Japan : Sep. 27, 2020

The world’s first shipment of blue ammonia was dispatched from Saudi Arabia to Japan on Sep. 27, 2020 for use in a power station for the production of zero-carbon power generation, paving the way for the further use of hydrogen in the energy system.

The Saudi-Japanese collaboration is part of a pilot project, conducted by the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ) and oil company Saudi Aramco in partnership with Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC).

“The shipment is considered the first around the world, and it represents a crucial opportunity for Aramco to introduce hydrocarbons as a reliable and affordable source of low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia,” said Ahmad Al-Khowaiter, chief technology officer, Saudi Aramco, according to Saudi media.

source: arabnews.com

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SAUDI ARABIA

Morocco Receives Certificate of UNESCO Heritage Registration for COUSCOUS : December 2020

UNESCO gave couscous the special designation on December 16, 2020.

Samir Addahre, Morocco’s ambassador to the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), received the certificate of registration of couscous on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Couscous is Morocco’s 10th “element” on the list. Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Mauritania presented a joint request to include couscous on UNESCO’s list in December 2018.

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How heritage brings people together

The registration of “Knowledge, know-how and practices related to the production and consumption of couscous” is the result of a joint application by Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. This joint inscription of a shared heritage illustrates the extent to which intangible cultural heritage can be a subject on which States meet and cooperate. This is, moreover, the meaning of UNESCO’s action: building bridges between peoples, bringing them closer together through the practices and knowledge they have in common.

UNESCO / www.en.unesco.org

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source: moroccoworldnews.com

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MOROCCO / NORTH AFRICA

Egypt – 1st in Arab World & 3rd in Africa in size of Population : Study 2021

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) released a study Wednesday indicating that Egypt ranks first among Arab countries in population size, and third on the African continent.

The study is based on a global ranking indicating that the North African Arab state ranks 14th globally in that regard for it has a population of over 100 million.

source: egypttoday.com

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EGYPT

Robert Purvis, Moroccan-American Who Helped 9,000 Slaves Gain Freedom

Robert Purvis.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1810, Robert Purvis was the grandchild of a woman known as Dido Badaracka. She was captured in Morocco at the age of 12 and transported to the US to serve as a slave.

According to American historian Margaret Hope Bacon, Purvis described his Moroccan grandmother as a “full-blooded Moor of magnificent features and great beauty. She had crisp hair and a stately manner.”

Purvis received his early education in Philadelphia at the Clarkson Hall, a school for black children, run by the Pennsylvania Abolition Society — one of the first organizations ever to advocate for ending slavery in the US. He also studied at Amherst Academy in Massachusetts.

Robert Purvis became a prominent officer of the American Anti-Slavery Society. He also served as president of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society between 1845 and 1850.

Robert Purvis, as the main organizer of the network, earned the nickname “The President of the Underground Railroad.”

The US Embassy in Morocco has paid tribute to Robert Purvis, an American man of Moroccan descent who dedicated his life to the abolition of slavery.

source: www.moroccoworldnews.com/yahya hatim

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U.S.A / MOROCCAN-AMERICAN

Egyptian Ballet Dancer Luca Abdel Nour Wins 2nd Rank at International Ballet Competition Prix de Lausanne, Switzerland : February 2021

Luca Abdel Nour – Ballet Dancer claimed the second rank for classical ballet at the international ballet competition Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland which was held from January 31 to February 6.

Abdel Nour also won the “Best Swiss Candidate” award and the “Audience Favorite” Award.

78 dancers participated in this year’s competition. They were selected based on audition videos.

source: egypttoday.com

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EGYPT

Etihad Airways – First Airline in World with 100% of Flight Crew Vaccinated : February 2021

Etihad Airways, the UAE national airline, has become the first airline in the world with all its operating pilots and cabin crew vaccinated to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

In January 2021, Etihad was awarded Diamond status for ensuring the highest standards of cleanliness and sanitisation in the inaugural ‘APEX Health Safety, powered by SimpliFlying’ audit.

This achievement was made possible through Etihad’s ‘Protected Together’ employee vaccination initiative which was formally launched in January this year.

Building on the UAE’s “Choose to Vaccinate” campaign, Protected Together is about helping staff take proactive, personal steps towards protecting themselves against COVID-19.

source: www.wam.ae

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ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

UAE Makes History, Becomes 5th Nation in the World to Reach Mars. First Arab Nation : February 09th, 2021

“If you ventured in pursuit of glory, don’t be satisfied with less than the stars.”

The Iraqi poet – Al Mutanabbi’s writings were chosen by Nasa to congratulate the Hope probe project team.

Those words were chosen by US space agency Nasa in a congratulatory tweet to the UAE Mars Mission team after its Hope probe successfully entered the Red Planet’s orbit on Tuesday, February 09th, 2021.

Nasa told the UAE: “Congratulations on arriving at Mars!” before using the words quoted above.

Who is the Arab poet Al Mutanabbi ?

The man behind the words is the 10th century Iraqi poet Al Mutanabbi, considered to be the greatest in the Arabic language.

Born into a distinguished family in Kufa in 915 AD, Abu Al Tayyib Ahmad ibn Al Husayn Al Mutanabbi received an education because of his poetic talents. He is remembered in the country of his birth. A street is named after him, which is a historic bookselling centre of Baghdad. A statue of him still stands in the Iraqi capital today

source: thenationalnews.com

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Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid personally thank staff from mission control in Dubai. / The National / pix: thenationalnews.com

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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (U.A.E.)

Lbachir BenMohamed – Scientist, Immunologist. Cutting Edge Work on New Covid-19 Vaccine in the US

Moroccan scientist Lbachir BenMohamed is making headlines in the US for working on a universal COVID-19 vaccine — a vaccine that would work on all variants of the coronavirus, even those that have not appeared yet.

At the Institute for Immunology affiliated to the University of California, Irvine, BenMohamed is leading a nine-member research team tasked with developing a universal COVID -19 vaccine .

Vaccine on a patch

Another original concept that BenMohamed and his team are working on is the injection method of the vaccine.

While all currently-available COVID-19 vaccines are injected through a syringe, the in-development universal vaccine would be administered through a patch, similarly to the widely-available nicotine patches.

Currently:

Professor, of Immunology,University of California, Irvine (2014). Founder and Head of Cellular and and Molecular Immunolgy
Assistant Researcher, University of California, Irvine (2002)

Education:

Diploma – Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Alghadir, Morocco
Licence (Bachelor’s equivalent) – Biochemistry
Diploma of Advanced Studies in Immunology – University of Paris VII (aka) Paris Diderot University
M.S. in Immunolgy and Parasitolgy – Pasteur Institute, Paris
Ph.D. in Immunology – Pasteur Institute, Paris (1997)

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The immunologist and his team are developing a universal vaccine against COVID-19.The immunologist and his team are developing a universal vaccine against COVID-19. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) / pix: moroccoworldnews.com

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U.S.A. / MOROCCAN AMERICAN