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The Noor Riyadh light festival has set new Guinness World Records for the fourth consecutive year, bringing the total to 16 record-breaking achievements, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.
One of the two new records is for the Longest Distance Covered by a Laser Light in a Laser Show. UK artist Chris Levine’s Higher Power set the record with a 1 kW laser projected from the 267-meter Al-Faisaliah Tower.
The installation featured four beams extending across Riyadh, visible even against the city lights. The laser encoded “Salaam” (meaning “peace” in Arabic) in Morse code, reflecting Levine’s philosophy of light as a medium for spiritual connection, unity and reflection.
Levine, known for his work with light and sound, has exhibited at institutions like MoMA in New York City. His immersive installations, including Light is Love at this year’s festival, merge technology with emotional and sensory experiences, redefining light’s role in contemporary art.
The other record was for the Largest Illuminated Recyclable Material Sculpture of a Pyramid.
The Fifth Pyramid, by Saudi artist Rashed Al-Shashai, set the record with a 28-meter-high structure made from sustainable materials, including scaffolding and green petrochemical shipping pallets.
The pyramid features a striking fuchsia-lit central walkway, symbolizing Saudi Arabia’s transformation into a hub of creativity and innovation.
Al-Shashai’s work often reimagines everyday objects to explore cultural and societal themes. With more than two decades of experience as an artist and educator, his work has been showcased internationally, including at the Giza pyramid complex and Art Dubai, solidifying his place in contemporary Saudi art.
Architect Khalid Al-Hazani, director of the Riyadh Art program, said: “Achieving two more Guinness World Records at Noor Riyadh is a testament to the transformative power of art and creativity. We are proud to see Noor Riyadh continuing to inspire and unite people through the universal language of light.”
Festival director Nouf Al-Moneef said: “The scale and creativity of this festival are unparalleled, and these records underscore its global significance as a landmark event in the world of contemporary art. This achievement highlights Riyadh’s position as a global cultural hub and reflects the incredible talent and dedication of the artists and curators who brought this vision to life.”
Curated by Effat Abdullah Fadag and Alfredo Cramerotti, Noor Riyadh took place at three hubs this year: King Abdulaziz Historical Center, JAX District and Wadi Hanifah, from Nov. 28 to Dec. 14.
The fourth edition featured more than 60 artworks by over 60 artists from 18 countries, transforming the city into a vibrant, open-air gallery that attracted millions of visitors.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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Noor Riyadh Acquires Guinness World Records™ Titles for the Fourth Consecutive Year
In this era of intolerance and cultural tension, the west needs to appreciate the fertile scholarship that flowered with Islam.
Watching the daily news stories of never-ending troubles, hardship, misery and violence across the Arab world and central Asia, it is not surprising that many in the west view the culture of these countries as backward, and their religion as at best conservative and often as violent and extremist.
I am on a mission to dismiss a crude and inaccurate historical hegemony and present the positive face of Islam. It has never been more timely or more resonant to explore the extent to which western cultural and scientific thought is indebted to the work, a thousand years ago, of Arab and Muslim thinkers.
What is remarkable, for instance, is that for over 700 years the international language of science was Arabic (which is why I describe it as “Arabic science”). More surprising, maybe, is the fact that one of the most fertile periods of scholarship and scientific progress in history would not have taken place without the spread of Islam across the Middle East, Persia, north Africa and Spain. I have no religious or political axe to grind. As the son of a Protestant Christian mother and a Shia Muslim father, I have nevertheless ended up without a religious bone in my body. However, having spent a happy and comfortable childhood in Iraq in the 60s and 70s, I confess to strong nostalgic motives for my fascination in the history of Arabic science.
If there is anything I truly believe, it is that progress through reason and rationality is a good thing – knowledge and enlightenment are always better than ignorance. I proudly share my worldview with one of the greatest rulers the Islamic world has ever seen: the ninth-century Abbasid caliph of Baghdad, Abu Ja’far Abdullah al-Ma’mun. Many in the west will know something of Ma’mun’s more illustrious father, Harun al-Rashid, the caliph who is a central character in so many of the stories of the Arabian Nights. But it was Ma’mun, who came to power in AD813, who was to truly launch the golden age of Arabic science. His lifelong thirst for knowledge was such an obsession that he was to create in Baghdad the greatest centre of learning the world has ever seen, known throughout history simply as Bayt al-Hikma: the House of Wisdom.
We read in most accounts of the history of science that the contribution of the ancient Greeks would not be matched until the European Renaissance and the arrival of the likes of Copernicus and Galileo in the 16th century. The 1,000-year period sandwiched between the two is dismissed as the dark ages. But the scientists and philosophers whom Ma’mun brought together, and whom he entrusted with his dreams of scholarship and wisdom, sparked a period of scientific achievement that was just as important as the Greeks or Renaissance, and we cannot simply project the European dark ages on to the rest of the world.
Of course some Islamic scholars are well known in the west. The Persian philosopher Avicenna – born in AD980 – is famous as the greatest physician of the middle ages. His Canon of Medicine was to remain the standard medical text in the Islamic world and across Europe until the 17th century, a period of more than 600 years. But Avicenna was also undoubtedly the greatest philosopher of Islam and one of the most important of all time. Avicenna’s work stands as the pinnacle of medieval philosophy.
But Avicenna was not the greatest scientist in Islam. For he did not have the encyclopedic mind or make the breadth of impact across so many fields as a less famous Persian who seems to have lived in his shadow: Abu Rayhan al-Biruni. Not only did Biruni make significant breakthroughs as a brilliant philosopher, mathematician and astronomer, but he also left his mark as a theologian, encyclopedist, linguist, historian, geographer, pharmacist and physician. He is also considered to be the father of geology and anthropology. The only other figure in history whose legacy rivals the scope of his scholarship would be Leonardo da Vinci. And yet Biruni is hardly known in the western world.
Many of the achievements of Arabic science often come as a surprise. For instance, while no one can doubt the genius of Copernicus and his heliocentric model of the solar system in heralding the age of modern astronomy, it is not commonly known that he relied on work carried out by Arab astronomers many centuries earlier. Many of his diagrams and calculations were taken from manuscripts of the 14th-century Syrian astronomer Ibn al-Shatir. Why is he never mentioned in our textbooks? Likewise, we are taught that English physician William Harvey was the first to correctly describe blood circulation in 1616. He was not. The first to give the correct description was the 13th-century Andalucian physician Ibn al-Nafees.
And we are reliably informed at school that Newton is the undisputed father of modern optics. School science books abound with his famous experiments with lenses and prisms, his study of the nature of light and its reflection, and the refraction and decomposition of light into the colours of the rainbow. But Newton stood on the shoulders of a giant who lived 700 years earlier. For without doubt one of the greatest of the Abbasid scientists was the Iraqi Ibn al-Haytham (born in AD965), who is regarded as the world’s first physicist and as the father of the modern scientific method – long before Renaissance scholars such as Bacon and Descartes.
But what surprises many even more is that a ninth-century Iraqi zoologist by the name of al-Jahith developed a rudimentary theory of natural selection a thousand years before Darwin. In his Book of Animals, Jahith speculates on how environmental factors can affect the characteristics of species, forcing them to adapt and then pass on those new traits to future generations.
Clearly, the scientific revolution of the Abbasids would not have taken place if not for Islam – in contrast to the spread of Christianity over the preceding centuries, which had nothing like the same effect in stimulating and encouraging original scientific thinking. The brand of Islam between the beginning of the ninth and the end of the 11th century was one that promoted a spirit of free thinking, tolerance and rationalism. The comfortable compatibility between science and religion in medieval Baghdad contrasts starkly with the contradictions and conflict between rational science and many religious faiths in the world today.
The golden age of Arabic science slowed down after the 11th century. Many have speculated on the reason for this. Some blame the Mongols’ destruction of Baghdad in 1258, others the change in attitude in Islamic theology towards science, and the lasting damage inflicted by religious conservatism upon the spirit of intellectual inquiry. But the real reason was simply the gradual fragmentation of the Abbasid empire and the indifference shown by weaker rulers towards science.
Why should this matter today? I would argue that, at a time of increased cultural and religious tensions , misunderstandings and intolerance, the west needs to see the Islamic world through new eyes. And, possibly more important, the Islamic world needs to see itself through new eyes and take pride in its rich and impressive heritage.
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by Jim Al-Khalili is a professor of physics at the University of Surrey; he is the 2007 recipient of the Royal Society’s Michael Faraday Prize and delivers the Faraday lecture at the Royal Society in London tonight.
source/content: theguardian.com (headline edited) / 2008 / Jim Al-Khalili
Qasim Hasan enjoyed every moment when he won Iraq’s first World Championships gold medal in any sport.
It happened here at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Riyadh when Qasim made his third straight good lift in the men’s 96 kilograms, claiming snatch gold on 175kg and edging Karim Abokahla from Egypt into second place.
Qasim bowed, prayed, kissed the barbell and sat on the discs to savour his achievement. It was Iraq’s best weightlifting result since the 1960 Olympic Games, where Abdul-Wahid Aziz won a lightweight bronze medal to add to his 1959 World Championships bronze.
It was also his country’s first time on top of the podium in any Olympic sport at a World Championships – in only Qasim’s second competition.
“I was so, so happy,” said Qasim, 23. “The best result in the history of Iraq weightlifting – it makes me so proud.”
Abokahla pulled clear of Qasim in the clean and jerk to win on total. The effort of making his final lift left Abokahla flat on his back in the warm-up room for a few minutes but it earned him victory on 174-213-387 and gave Africa its first winner at these Championships.
Won Jongbeom from South Korea was second on 172-212-384 with Qasim third on 175-204-279.
To complete a good session for Egypt, Mahmoud Hosny successfully made a jump of 8kg with his final attempt to win clean and jerk bronze.
Abokahla, 26, won African titles in his past two outings, posting totals of 340kg at 96kg last October and 375kg at 89kg in Tunis in May. Here he improved again to post the best total of his career in only his second competition at this weight.
Two men who finished fourth in the Olympic Games lifted in the B Group. Sarat Sumpradit, fourth at Rio 2016 in the old 94kg category, made his first snatch at 170kg then declined his remaining lifts because he is focusing on the Asian Games in China, where he will compete in the first week of October.
It was a different story for Boady Santavy from Canada, who left the platform shouting: “Come on! Boady’s back!”
Santavy, 1kg behind the bronze medallist in Tokyo at this weight, had not lifted in international competition since December 2021 because of a serious elbow injury that required “having my UCL (ulnar collateral ligament) completely reattached”.
He had been talking himself up on social media and was challenged to live up to the talk by Pyrros Dimas, with whom he is friendly.
“Where’s Pyrros?” Santavy wanted to know after his five-from-six 166-196-362. The triple Olympic champion, who is performance director for the United States, appeared in the warm-up room to congratulate Santavy.
“It was pretty depressing being away so long, but I’ve trained really well since the doctor cleared me around March,” said Santavy. “There are some big numbers coming in Qatar.”
That will be in December at the IWF Grand Prix II, the next Olympic qualifier. Santavy, who weighed in below 93kg, will lift at 89kg there.
Yeison Lopez Lopez from Colombia was lightest of the 12 in the B Group at 90.62kg but made the best total by 9kg, posting 171-200-371. He will also go down to 89kg, starting at the Pan American Games in October.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas officially inaugurated the new building of Palestine’s Embassy in Vatican City on Thursday.
Abbas called on countries that have not yet recognized Palestine to do so, and to acknowledge the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, the news and information agency WAFA reported.
After raising the Palestinian flag, Abbas spoke of efforts to gain full UN membership and achieve greater international recognition for Palestine.
The Vatican officially recognized the State of Palestine on May 13, 2015. On June 26 of the same year, the Vatican’s Holy See and the Palestinian Authority signed a comprehensive agreement for mutual recognition.
Armenia was the last country — the 149th — to recognize Palestine, on June 21, 2024. There are Palestinian embassies, consulates, and diplomatic missions in 110 countries.
The opening ceremony of the new embassy building was attended by several Palestinian Authority officials, including Ziad Abu Amr, the first deputy prime minister, and Issa Kassissieh, the Palestinian ambassador to the Vatican.
Earlier, Abbas had a private audience with Pope Francis and senior Vatican officials. He is also scheduled to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella in Rome.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas officially inaugurated the new building of Palestine’s Embassy in Vatican City, Dec. 12 (WAFA)
Somali-born athlete Abdihamid Nur has qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Team after finishing second in the men’s 5 000 metres with a time of 13:09.01 at the 2024 Team USA Olympic Trials held on Sunday at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon State.
Nur’s performance was a significant improvement on the time he posted in the first round of qualifying, a race he completed in 13:24.14.
Before confirming his place, Nur engaged in an entertaining duel with Grant Fisher, who won the race with a meet record of 13:08.85.
The duo broke away from the rest with four laps to go and exchanged the lead several times before Fisher surged past Nur in the final stretch to win the race.
At the moment the two will be Team USA’s only representatives in the 5 000 metres at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as, Parker Wolfe, who finished third in 13:10.75, will still have to negotiate more qualifying hurdles based on world rankings to seal a spot.
Epic finish between Grant Fisher and Abdihamid Nur.
Until Wolfe’s qualification is confirmed, Fisher and Nur will be tasked with ensuring that USA gets a medal in the 5 000 metres for the third consecutive Olympic Games.
Kenyan-born Paul Chelimo, who won silver at Rio 2016 and bronze at Tokyo 2020, ensured that USA had a place on the medal winners’ podium at the last two Olympic Games.
Other American Olympic medallists in the 5 000 metres are: Ralph Hill (silver at Los Angeles 1932), Bob Schul (gold at Tokyo 1964), and Bill Dellinger (bronze at Tokyo 1964).
Nur was born in Mogadishu on October 14, 1998. His family emigrated to Kenya briefly before moving to Egypt when Nur was four years old. Nur’s family later relocated to the USA in 2006, first living in New Mexico, before moving to Minnesota, and later settling in Phoenix, Arizona, where Nur nurtured his athletics talent as High School student at North High School and later at the Northern Arizona University.
At Northern Arizona University, Nur featured in the NCAA Championships winning several races across the 1 500 metres, 3 000 metres, and 5 000 metres.
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games will be the first of Nur’s career.
However, that does not mean he lacks international experience as he has represented USA in the 5 000 metres at the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships held in Eugene and Budapest respectively.
Prominent Palestinian journalist Wael al-Dahdouh won the Courage Prize at the 32nd Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Awards.
Each year, the RSF Press Freedom Awards honour the work of journalists and media outlets that have made significant contributions to the defence and promotion of press freedom worldwide.
This year, 18 journalists and journalist teams, two media outlets, and five photojournalists from 22 countries were in the running.
The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Press Freedom Awards said they celebrate “the courageous journalists who have made sharing reliable information to their life struggle.”
The statement announcing Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chiefas winner reads, “The awards went to Palestinian journalist Wael al-Dahdouh, who has never stopped reporting despite injuries and the death of his family members in Gaza (Courage Prize)”
Wael Al-Dahdouh is described as “journalist who embodies resilience and the fight for reliable information.”
In a video message posted on the RSF X handle, Dahdouh thanked the RSF team, adding ,”I consider it a way to honor all my fellow journalists in Gaza, who have covered and continued to cover the events of this terrifying war conducted by the Israeli army occupying Gaza.”
Further, he added, “We made a huge sacrifice and paid an expensive price: exhaustion, sleepless nights, blood, sweat, fear, terror, loss, displacement, to make sure that all the news, the images and the information coming from Gaza during this war, could arrive to the rest of the world.”
Dahdouh has become an epitome of courage during Israel’s continuing siege on Gaza, despite the loss of his wife, grandson, and three of his children — one of whom was also a journalist for Al Jazeera — he continued to report the devastations in Gaza.
Al-Dahdouh, who was injured by an Israeli drone strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in December, left for Qatar to receive medical treatment, and is currently undergoing treatment in Germany.
The King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language, in collaboration with the permanent mission of Saudi Arabia to the UN in New York, will stage events from Dec. 9 to 11 at UN headquarters to celebrate World Arabic Language Day.
This year’s theme is “Arabic Language and AI — Advancing Innovation While Preserving Cultural Heritage,” the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Held under the patronage of Saudi Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, the event will welcome high-ranking international and diplomatic figures.
This marks the fourth consecutive year of the celebration, which displays the academy’s efforts to promote Arabic in global organizations and highlights Saudi Arabia’s dedication to preserving the language’s cultural and scientific heritage.
The event will include a panel discussion titled “Arabic Translation at the UN,” featuring international experts, and a virtual training course on “Arabic Translation Skills for Diplomatic Purposes” for UN staff.
An Arabic Language Exhibition will feature artistic works and digital displays focused on the language’s beauty, history, and impact on other civilizations. It will reflect Saudi culture’s authenticity while introducing the academy’s activities and publications.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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The King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language will stage events from Dec. 9 to 11 at UN headquarters to celebrate World Arabic Language Day. (AFP file photo)
Doctor in China, patient in Morocco: How world’s longest remote surgery was performed.
A French doctor in China successfully performed prostate cancer surgery on a patient in Morocco, located 12,000 kilometres away. Using a Chinese-made robot, the doctor performed the world’s longest remote surgery in just two hours.
Sitting in China, a French doctor performed prostate cancer surgery on a patient in Morocco, 12,000 kilometres away.
But how did he pull off this groundbreaking procedure?
The doctor used a Chinese-made robot to carry out the surgery.
On November 16, Youness Ahallal completed the surgery in under two hours, with a one-way latency of just over 100 milliseconds.
This intercontinental surgery has set a record for the world’s longest remote surgery ever performed, with a round-trip transmission distance surpassing 30,000 kilometres, according to Xinhua News Agency.
How was the surgery performed?
The surgery was carried out with the help of the Toumai Robot, which allowed for precise control and high-definition imaging from a remote location in real-time.
This groundbreaking procedure comes after an October surgery for a renal cyst, where the Toumai Robot helped a minimally invasive operation between Shanghai and Cotonou in Benin, with a round-trip distance of 27,000 kilometres.
In Morocco, the robotic arm followed the surgeon’s commands from Shanghai, performing the prostate tumour removal and suturing with exceptional accuracy, while ensuring the preservation of the vascular-nerve bundle and maintaining the urethra’s length.
Despite relying on a standard broadband connection instead of 5G technology, the video feed remained clear and smooth. The robot’s flexibility, precision, and stability were crucial in carrying out this high-complexity surgery, Ahallah told the news agency.
Notably, this form of remote surgery can increase access to skilled surgeons worldwide, eliminating the need for patients to travel abroad. It also provides a platform for senior surgeons to remotely guide junior colleagues in handling complex procedures.
Will remote surgery become routine practice?
He Chao, president of MicroPort MedBot, the company behind the Toumai Robot, told Xinhua news agency that this remote technology is set to bring “disruptive changes to future medical services.”
“Our goal is to make remote surgery a routine practice.”
Surgical robots have emerged as a key area of focus for Chinese tech startups in recent years. According to a recent industry report, China’s surgical robot market is projected to grow to $38.4 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate surpassing the global average.
The rapid expansion of 5G networks in China is expected to accelerate the adoption of remote surgery, making it a more practical and widely accessible option for healthcare services.
He Chao revealed that the Toumai Robot has already been involved in over 250 successful 5G ultra-long-distance surgeries, with a 100% success rate and a total transmission distance exceeding 400,000 kilometres.
As of August, China had over 4 million 5G base stations, according to the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
The Toumai Robot, which received EU CE certification in May, is now authorised for use in various surgeries, including urology, general surgery, thoracic surgery, and gynaecological endoscopy.
World’s first transcontinental remote surgery
Earlier this year, a Chinese surgeon made history by performing the world’s first live transcontinental remote robotic prostate removal – an operation carried out in Rome on a patient located in Beijing.
This groundbreaking telesurgery, which helped cover a distance of 8,000km (about 5,000 miles), was performed through a 5G network and fibre-optic connections linking a surgical console in Italy to robotic arms in China, according to the South China Morning Post.
While Zhang Xu, the surgeon, conducted the radical prostatectomy from Italy, a medical team and a backup surgeon were present in China to help the patient. The robotic arms in China imitated every movement Zhang made to remove the cancerous tissue.
The total two-way communication distance was over 20,000km, which was a huge challenge due to the potential latency, or delay, between the surgeon’s console and the robotic arms’ response.
Vito Pansadoro, one of the conference directors and a robotic surgery expert, described the event as “a historical experience, a historical moment,” during an interview with state broadcaster CCTV.
Before carrying out the prostate telesurgery, Zhang and his team conducted more than a hundred experimental remote surgeries on animals, along with exploratory and small-scale human patient trials, according to People’s Daily.
Surgical robot system in India
India has also developed its indigenous surgical robot system, the SSI Mantra, designed by Sudhir Srivastava. This system allows surgeons to perform robotic surgery even when they are not physically close to the patient.
The SSI Mantra features a modular design with more than five detachable arms, making it versatile for complex procedures, including heart surgery.
Srivastava, who previously worked on the Da Vinci robotic system, wanted to create a device that would be both affordable and accessible in India, as 90% of existing systems were used in the US and Japan, he told India Today.
In 2012, he began developing what would become India’s first surgical robot, the SSI Mantra.
With inputs from agencies
source/content: firstpost.com (headline edited)
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Dr Youness Ahallal completed the surgery in under two hours. Image courtesy: X/@ChineseCGMumbai
Morocco has bolstered its global insurance standing with Bachir Baddou’s election, marking a significant step for African and Arab insurance sectors.
Bachir Baddou, Vice President of the Moroccan Federation of Insurance (FMA), has been elected Vice President of the Global Federation of Insurance Associations (GFIA) during its General Assembly in Cape Town on December 4, 2024. This marks a significant achievement for Morocco, as well as the African and Arab insurance sectors, in a global context.
Baddou, a member of the GFIA Executive Committee since 2016, has been recognized as the first Arab and African to hold a position in this key decision-making body. His election reflects growing recognition of Morocco’s contributions to the international insurance industry.
The GFIA, representing 89% of global insurance premiums through 42 member associations and one observer association from 68 countries, serves as the world’s foremost organization for insurers. It plays a crucial role in addressing shared challenges in the sector and engaging with international regulatory bodies.
The elections in Cape Town also saw the appointment of Stephen Frank of Canada as GFIA President. Other key members of the new leadership include Thea Utoft Høj Jensen from Insaurance Europe as Secretary-General, Toyonari Sasaki of Japan as Treasurer, Andrew Hall of Australia as Regional Representative, and Norma Alicia of Mexico as Head of Memberships.
Morocco’s active participation in the GFIA is part of broader efforts by the FMA to strengthen international cooperation and promote innovative approaches within the insurance sector. The federation’s work, led by its president Mohamed Hassan Bensalah, has contributed to the country’s growing influence in global insurance discussions.
The GFIA continues to address key issues affecting the industry, including regulatory frameworks, market accessibility, and global risk management strategies. Baddou’s election as vice president is expected to enhance Morocco’s role in these critical conversations, providing a platform to advocate for the perspectives of emerging markets and African economies.
This development showcase the increasing presence of Moroccan and African voices in global financial organizations as well as ongoing efforts to strengthen regional and international collaboration in the insurance sector.
