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Prominent Egyptian gynaecologist and author Mohamed Abul-Ghar won on Sunday the State Nile Award in Science and Advanced Technological Sciences.
Minister of Higher Education and Head of the Scientific Research and Technology Academy Mohamed Ashour announced that Cairo University’s Professor at the Faculty of Medicine Dr Mohamed Abul-Ghar and Mansoura University’s professor at the Faculty of Medicine Dr Hassan Abul-Enein won the State Nile Award in Science and Advanced Technological Sciences.
“It is the state’s recognition of scientists’ efforts in advancing the nation and building the new republic and knowledge economy,” Ashour said on Sunday in a press conference at the New Administrative Capital.
Abul-Ghar started, with a group of medical doctors, Egypt’s first-ever centre for in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
Abul-Ghar, 82, received the Egyptian National Award for Scientific Excellence in 1999. He also received honourary membership of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology in 2004 and honourary membership in the International Federation of Fertility Societies in 2000.
Abul-Ghar has also been active politically as he established, with other university professors, the 9 March Movement for the Independence of Universities during the rule of the late President Mubarak. He was also among the spokespersons of the National Association of Change.
Following the ouster of Mubarak in February 2011, Abul-Ghar was among the founders of the left-liberal Egyptian Social Democratic Party.
Aside from his medical scientific career and political activism, the prominent gynaecologist established himself in recent years as a bestselling non-fiction author with a special interest in the modern history of Egypt, specifically the pre-1952 liberal era.
Among his bestselling books are Egyptian Jews in the 20th Century, The Egyptian Legion and The Pandemic that Killed 180,000 Egyptians.
Kassem Istanbouli, Lebanese actor-director, and Hajer Ben Boubaker, French researcher and sound director, were awarded the 19th UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture at an award ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 26th June 2023.
The event, organised by the Sharjah Department of Culture in collaboration with UNESCO, celebrated the achievements of two winners.
The ceremony was attended by Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Owais, Chairman of the Sharjah Department of Culture; Ernesto Ottone Ramirez, Assistant Director-General for Culture at UNESCO; Mohammed Ibrahim Al Qasir, Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs in Sharjah; Ahmed Al Mulla, Deputy Ambassador of the UAE to France, and Aisha Al Kamali, Representative of the Cultural Attaché at the Embassy of the UAE in France, along with dignitaries, writers, intellectuals and accredited diplomats to the United Nations (UN).
Al Owais and Ramirez presented the 19th edition of the UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture to Istanbouli, winner of the Arab Personality Award, and Ben Boubaker, winner of the Non-Arab Personality Award.
The UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture recognizes recipients’ outstanding artistic achievements celebrating Arab art and culture globally. Core to UNESCO’s anti-racism and anti-discrimination agenda, the Prize promotes peace and dialogue to foster intercultural understanding and celebrate diversity.
For this 19th edition of the Prize, the international jury recognized Mr Istanbouli and Ms Ben Boubaker’s extraordinary contributions to promoting the arts and Arab culture and supporting their local communities.
Kassem Istanbouli is a Lebanese actor and director. Since 2014, he has led the rehabilitation of historical cinemas in Lebanon, including Stars Cinema in Nabatieh, and Al-Hamra and Rivoli in Tyre, abandoned or destroyed during civil war.
Mr Istanbouli is involved with several international projects focused on skills enhancement, youth empowerment and collaborative partnerships. In 2020 he co-founded the Arab Culture and Arts Network (ACAN) to design and implement online cultural activities across the Arab region. The Network includes over 700 organizational and individual members from across the world.
Mr Istanbouli is also director and founder of the Lebanese National Theater in Tyre and the Lebanese National Theater in Tripoli and has been a project manager at the Tiro Association for Arts in Lebanon since 2014.
Hajer Ben Boubaker is a French-Tunisian independent researcher and sound director. Her research focuses on a socio-historical analysis of Arab music and the cultural history of the Maghreb community in France and around the world.
In 2018, she created and self-produced the Vintage Arab podcast, which explores Arabic musical heritage. At the intersection of research and art, the podcast allows her to keep a foot in each sphere.
Ms Ben Boubaker is a producer and documentary director for France Culture, where her work questions the sound and political memory of immigration. As a researcher, she is associated with the Arab and Oriental music collection at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and continues to write for scientific journals, including “Paris, capitale maghrébine: une histoire Populaire” in October 2023.
Created in 1998 and run by UNESCO at the initiative of the United Arab Emirates, the UNESCO-Sharjah Prize awards two laureates per year — individuals, groups or institutions — in recognition of their contribution to Arab art and culture, or for participating in the dissemination of the latter outside the Arab world.
The initiative contributes towards the Organization’s objective of fostering inclusive, resilient and peaceful societies. The Prize carries a monetary value of USD 60,000, which is equally divided between the two laureates.
Gulf Food Production Company “Raw’a“, one of the leading companies in the State of Qatar in dairy production, won the Fine Taste Award for the year 2023, which is one of the most prestigious awards in the field of food and beverage industry worldwide, presented by the International Taste Company Institute in Brussels, Belgium. The evaluation was conducted by a committee of more than 200 international chefs with 86 Michelin Stars awarded to the finest chefs and restaurants around the world after competing with more than 120 international products.
136 hours of blind tasting
Rawa is the first Qatari dairy company to receive the award for good taste, after it was subjected to an organoleptic assessment that includes the visual, aromatic, flavour and textural aspects, in addition to the final mouth texture. The evaluation process took place over 136 hours of blind tasting conducted on hundreds of products from around the world, with the aim of selecting the best among them.
Award-winning product
The award-winning product is yogurt consisting of four grains and fruits containing (wheat – barley – oats – rye – apple fruit – coconut fruit). It is a healthy choice full of wholesome fruits and grains . It is the consumer’s first choice in market’s and best seller.
Mr. Mohammad Ali Al-Kuwari CEO of Raw’a, stated that Gulf food Co. pursues a strict strategy related to the quality and safety of its products and revolves around adopting several practices in its factories, including, for example, the activation of several internal audits on dairy products. In addition, the quality of these products is periodically tested.
The company is always keen to perform the above in order to ensure the safety of its products and their compliance with the highest standards of quality and taste before they reach the consumer.
It also pays great attention to developing its products with the support of a specialized research and development team to ensure that the company is compatible with the latest technologies that guarantee quality and taste while maintaining the characteristics that Qatari consumer is accustomed to in our range of products.
The 23rd Arab Radio and TV Festival kicked off on Monday in Tunis under the slogan of “Celebrating Arts and Culture.”
The opening ceremony was hosted on Monday at the City of Culture under the theme: “Arab Perfumes,” and the closing ceremony will be broadcast live by the various Arab TV channels and radio stations.
The official ceremony was attended by several Arab senior officials, including diplomats, professionals from the festival’s media partners and featured artists.
The official guests included President of the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) Mohammed bin Fahd Al-Harthi, ASBU Director General Abdelrahim Suleiman, Cultural Affairs Minister Hayet Ketat Guermasi and Syrian Minister of Information Butros al-Hallaq.
A tribute was paid to Egyptian actress Sherine, Lebanese filmmaker Georges Ghabbaz, Emirati actress Fatma Houssani, Libyan filmmaker Hassan Garfel, Moroccan filmmaker Sanaa Akroud, Syrian actor Milad Youssef and actress Rawaa Saadi.
The festival further paid tribute to leading figures from the Arab audiovisual landscape, including former chairman and CEO of the Tunisian radio and television broadcasting corporation (ERTT) Abdel Aziz Kacem, Tunisian actor Moncef Baldi, former Director of Egyptian Radio Iness Jawhar, former ASBU Director of the Administrative and Legal Committee Hani Farraj, Bahraini filmmaker Ines Yacoub and Taki Eddine Soubira from Comoros.
The awards of the 14th edition of the Arab Music and Song Contest were handed over during the ceremony, which was held at the ASBU headquarters in Tunis last May.
The Tunisian Radio won the 2nd award (US$ 3 thousand) in the musical works section for a composition entitled “Tamiarat” by Mohsen Matri.
The winning works were selected by a jury made up of musician Mona Chtorou (Tunisia), artisit Mona Abelghani (Egypt), artist Dhia Eddine Jebbar Faraj (Iraq), academic Achour Fanni (Algeria) and poet Hédi Daniel (Syria).
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli attended Tuesday evening the signing of an agreement between the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy and the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) to allocate a land plot for the establishment of a $10-billion wind farm whose capacity will be 10 gigawatts, making it the world’s largest.
Masdar will operate within a consortium that includes Infinity Power and Hassan Allam Utilities. The project is estimated to save $5 billion in natural gas costs per annum, and reduce carbon emissions by 23.8 million tons, which is nine percent of Egypt’s annual emissions.
The farm will produce 47,790 GWh of clean energy every year contributing in Egyptian efforts aimed at making the share of renewables in the energy mix 42 percent by 2035.
The initial agreement was signed on the sidelines of COP 27 held in Sharm El Sheikh in November, so as the signing was attended by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and Emirati counterpart Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed.
Elizabeth Kassis has turned her Palestinian father’s house into a hotel, nearly 80 years after he emigrated
‘I want everyone in the diaspora to work for Palestine,’ Kassis tells Arab News
Chilean businesswoman Elizabeth Kassis has turned her ancestral home in Bethlehem’s Old City into a heritage hotel nearly 80 years after her father emigrated to Chile.
The Kassis Kassa Hotel is the Old City’s first heritage hotel, reflecting both the city’s traditional architecture and its long-standing association with the South American country.
The Palestinian community in Chile is reportedly the oldest outside the Arab world, with around half a million Palestinians moving there since the mid-19th century.
The hotel was officially opened on June 1, and the first group reservation was received on June 8.
“It was an exciting and challenging project that took years to implement,” Kassis, who was born in Chile, told Arab News. “It is rich in cultural history and has been carefully restored to preserve its original beauty and traditional Palestinian architecture.”
The project “will contribute to raising the level of tourism services in Palestine, as it is being implemented in cooperation with Bethlehem Municipality,” Kassis said.
We wanted the guests to get the full experience of what it means to live in a Palestinian house with real neighbors.
Elizabeth Kassis
“I think the experience of being a guest in a Palestinian house is a unique one. We wanted the guests to get the full experience of what it means to live in a Palestinian house with real neighbors.”
Kassis’ father visited Palestine in 1999, looking for ways to boost Bethlehem’s economy. Along with a group of Palestinian businessmen, he implemented a number of small projects at the turn of the century. He returned in 2015 and purchased his old family home. The restoration project began in 2016, led by his daughter.
Kassis said that setting up the hotel has been one of the most rewarding projects she has ever been involved in. In Chile, she managed her family’s farm and bred Arabian and Chilean horses. She has also worked as a TV presenter and is a talented visual artist who has participated in numerous exhibitions, as well as the co-founder of a band called Three Diaspora, which, she explained, “reshapes old songs that arrived in Chile with the first Palestinian immigrants.” The band has released several albums recorded with musicians from the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music.
Kassis has traveled extensively, but “found herself” in Palestine. “I want everyone in the diaspora to work for Palestine. I want people to feel, smell, eat, and live Palestine. This is my duty toward Palestine,” she said.
Engineer Raed Othman, who worked with Kassis on the project, told Arab News that Kassis loves Bethlehem and Palestinian heritage in general, and has devoted herself to promoting it to the world.
Bethlehem’s mayor, Hanna Hanania, told Arab News that, through her hotel and other efforts, Kassis is “building bridges” between Palestinian expats and their national heritage, especially the tens of thousands of expatriates from Bethlehem in South America.
He added that, as part of its attempts to attract investors to the city, the municipality plans to develop Al-Najma Street, where the hotel is located.
“The fact that Kassis Hotel is on this street will contribute to enhancing our vision regarding activating the location,” Hanania said.
Fadi Qattan, co-founder of the Kassis project, said the hotel promotes Palestinian heritage and culture through its food and its “beautiful location,” adding that he hoped journalists would visit the hotel and write about Palestinian food to “promote an accurate picture of the life and heritage of Palestinians.”
He continued: “The hotel is the first project wholly owned by an expatriate Palestinian family, which will encourage expatriate Palestinian families to return and invest in Bethlehem.”
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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Kassis said that setting up the hotel has been one of the most rewarding projects she has ever been involved in. (Supplied)
Al-Samaani and Tabbi will serve in their roles for two years.
Saudi Justice Minister Waleed Al-Samaani has been elected head of the executive office of the Council of Arab Justice Ministers, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Abdul Rashid Tabbi of Algeria was elected deputy head. Both will serve in their roles for two years.
The announcement came on Wednesday during the 71st session of the executive office, held at the Arab League’s headquarters in Cairo.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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Saudi Justice Minister Waleed Al-Samaani attends 71st session of the executive office of the Council of Arab Justice Ministers. (SPA)
Her Royal Highness (HRH), Princess Lamia Bint Majed Al Saud, the Secretary General of Alwaleed Philanthropies, was reappointed as the UN-Habitat Goodwill Ambassador for the Arab region for a second term during a meeting held at the UN-Habitat premises in Riyadh.
As the first ever UN-Habitat Goodwill Ambassador for the Arab region appointed in 2020, HRH shed the light on key urban issues through her engagement with UN-Habitat activities and events, including the tenth session of the World Urban Forum 2020 and World Habitat Day Global Observance 2020.
HRH further advocated for topics, including Cities free from Violence against Women and Girls and COIVID-19 response in urban areas, as well as supported resource mobilization for a number of projects, targeting housing for the most vulnerable groups, COVID-19 response and climate action, spanning Iraq, Palestine, Sudan, Yemen, and Tunisia.
“I am greatly honoured to have been appointed for the second time as the UN-Habitat Regional Goodwill Ambassador for the Arab world. Our partnership with UN-Habitat will support our efforts to address issues around urbanization and its implications on societies, economies and environments. We promise to continue building bridges for a more compassionate, tolerant and accepting future along with our key partners.”
HRH signed her appointment letter in the presence of Maimunah Mohd Sharif, UN-Habitat Executive Director, Erfan Ali, UN-Habitat Regional Representative for the Arab States and Ayman El-Hefnawi, UN-Habitat Head of Office in Saudi Arabia.
“In the past three years during UN-Habitat’s cooperation with HRH Princess Lamia bint Majid Al Saud as UN-Habitat’s regional Goodwill Ambassador, HRH has shown the utmost commitment to the advocacy for the UN-Habitat mandate to realise more sustainable, resilient and inclusive cities,” Sharif commented.
UN-Habitat is keen on continuing the cooperation with HRH for the years 2022, 2023 and beyond in all relevant areas, including climate action, urban crisis response, housing and advocating the realization of better cities for all.
Mawhiba representatives told the 13th Conference of Arab Ministers of Education in Rabat that its ‘Gifted Arabs’ initiative had identified and was supporting people in 16 Arab countries
Secretary-General Dr. Amal bint Abdullah Al-Hazaa said that the program allows Saudi leadership to share their expertise and discover, nurture, and empower talent around the Arab world
More than 600 ‘gifted’ students have been granted support to realize their academic talents under an initiative launched by a Saudi foundation, an education conference has been told.
Leaders from Mawhiba, or the King Abdulaziz and his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity, Mawhiba, told the 13th Conference of Arab Ministers of Education in Rabat, Morocco, that its ‘Gifted Arabs’ initiative had identified and was supporting people in 16 Arab countries.
Secretary-General Dr. Amal bint Abdullah Al-Hazaa said that the program allows Saudi leadership to share their expertise and discover, nurture, and empower talent around the Arab world.
Dr. Khaled Al-Sharif, director general of Mawhiba’s Center of Excellence, said that 606 students were identified in the first and second rounds of the ‘Gifted Arabs’ initiative’s recruitment.
The initiative has provided the talented students with qualitative enrichment and academic programs to develop their knowledge and capabilities, he added.
Mawhiba said that its efforts were part of its vision to empower talent and creativity to further prosperity.
The conference, “Future of Education in the Arab World in the Digital Transformation Era,” was held on May 29 and 30.
source/contents: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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Mawhiba has grant aided 606 students under its ‘Gifted Arabs’ initiative. (SPA)
Ryyan Alshebl fled war-torn Syria in 2015, arriving on the Greek island of Lesbos after a harrowing four-hour journey on a rubber boat.
Eight years on, he is the mayor of a German village.
“It was dark and cold and there was not a single light to be seen on Lesbos,” he recalls.
“A few hours ago we had been in a normal Mediterranean town in Turkey. The environment had transformed with the cold and dark, and of course the feelings of fear that go with such a journey.”
Alshebl, then barely 21, was among a huge wave of refugees who arrived in Europe that year.
After landing in Greece, he made his way through Macedonia, Serbia, and Croatia by public transport and on foot, taking 12 days in total to reach Germany.
He eventually ended up at a refugee center at Althengstett, a rural region near the Black Forest.
“In the shared accommodation, where you cannot expect more than a bed, a roof, and some food, for which you are still thankful, you can only do one thing: get back on your feet quickly and invest rapidly in your own future,” he said.
Alshebl soon learned to speak German fluently — “if you are in the countryside you have no other choice” — and landed a traineeship as an administrative assistant at Althengstett town hall.
He earned German citizenship in 2022, a prerequisite for anyone who wants to stand in local elections in Germany.
‘Taking responsibility’
Now 29, he will take up his post as mayor of Ostelsheim, a village near Althengstett, in June.
He is believed to be the first Syrian from the wave of refugees who arrived in Germany in 2015-16 to be elected to a political post.
Alshebl was joined by four friends on his journey to Europe. But he left behind his parents and one brother, though a second brother had already moved to Germany on a student visa.
He said his experience of fleeing Syria and having “to take responsibility not only for (myself) but also for the environment” had given him the drive to go into politics.
“To take on this responsibility at such an age, you learn a lot. Of course, it creates a new person, a new personality,” he said.
Alshebl ran as an independent candidate in the election, winning 55.41 percent of the vote.
But he is also a member of the Greens, “because climate protection is very important” to him.
His victory is all the more striking given that Ostelsheim, a village of 2,700 people, is a traditionally conservative community.
Situated among a cluster of hills, the village is surrounded by rolling fields lined with dry stone walls and hedges.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party harnessed anger over the influx of asylum seekers in 2015-16 to win votes and ultimately enter parliament for the first time.
Openness
But Alshebl said he has not seen right-wing extremism personally.
Alshebl believes he was elected because he listened to the people’s concerns — from childcare to digitalization issues.
He admits to not really “feeling anything” on hearing he had won the election in March as he was “overwhelmed”.
But as congratulations poured in from around the world, it became clear that his story was “bigger than a mayoral election in a small community”.
Alshebl believes the fact he triumphed against two other local candidates who grew up in the area says a lot about the mentality of the voters.
“It is a sign that people did not count the origin, but the qualifications. It is a sign of openness to the world,” he said.
Alshebl’s parents, a schoolteacher and an agricultural engineer, belong to Syria’s Druze minority, but he describes himself as not religious.
He has “mixed feelings” about Syria, which he has not been able to visit since living in Germany.
“It is the country where you were born and raised… You long for the people you grew up with,” he said.
“But I am happy that I got this chance to live here at all” when others have not, he said.
Ryyan Alshebl, mayor of the community of Ostelsheim in Baden-Wuerttemberg, southwestern Germany, addresses a press talk with the Association of the Foreign Press in Germany (VAP) in Berlin, Germany on May 30, 2023. AFP
