Arabian Records – Page 85 – Arabian Records (1st post : Eid Al Fitr – 01st Shawwal 1439 (AH) / 15th June 2018 ) / (BETA testing – Research

Eng. Ahmed Mekky, First Egyptian Appointed the Head of Fiber Optic Connect MENA Council

The Fiber Connect Council MENA has announced the appointment of Eng. Ahmed Mekky, Chairman and CEO of Benya Group, as Chairman of the council for a two-year term, succeeding Mr. Juan Colina. His appointment for this esteemed role, marks the first time an Egyptian assumes this position.

Eng. Mekky has been involved with the council in his capacity as a member of the Board of Directors since 2011, and was nominated for his role as Chairman of the council, in light of his endless contributions to the ICT industry on a global level and particularly for his extensive experience in the field of optical fibers.

Benya Cables, a subsidiary of Benya Group, began with ambitious plans to build the region’s largest optical fiber factory, and is now months away from materializing that reality.

Fiber Connect Council MENA has a mandate to exponentially increase the deployment of high-speed fiber networks, to connect consumers, businesses, governments and organizations, with the products and services needed to enhance quality of life, make a sustainable impact on the environment, boost business competition and develop apps to ultimately transform the way people live and businesses operate.

The Council’s Board of Directors is comprised of a notable cohort of member organizations such as Corning, Prysmian MEFC, OFS, Etisalat, and Oman Broadband. The board was formed in 2011 as an initiative launched by the founding members, and since inception, now boasts a member and partner count over 50 prominent industry leaders.

Kholoud Al-Dergham, Director General of Fiber Optic Connect Council MENA, welcomed the appointment of Eng. Ahmed Mekky as the Council’s new Chairman, highlighting “his expert record and experience in this field as invaluable assets to the Council, as well as a unique opportunity to invest that kind of experience, to accomplish the council’s objectives to expand the use of fiber optics”.

Eng. Ahmed Mekky is one of the most influential and prominent leaders in the ICT sector. In 2017, he founded Benya Group, formerly known as “Fiber Misr Systems,” and its affiliates with the goal of accelerating the Middle East and Africa’s digital transformation.

Prior to that, he launched Gulf Bridge International (GBI) in 2008 to build and operate the first underwater cable network, stretching over 40,000 kilometers and connecting 25 nations.

In 2011, he was appointed to the SAMENA Council’s Telecommunications Committee, and was selected on the Board of Governors (PTC).

Eng. Mekky has received various honors in recent years, including the “Telecom Review” award for best CEO in the area of enterprises offering services in telecom infrastructure for three consecutive years (2019, 2020 and 2021)

source/content: egyptian-gazette.com

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EGYPT

Saudi Arabia Declares ‘Feb. 10th – Arabian Leopard Day’

Saudi Arabia has declared Feb. 10 as “Arabian Leopard Day” in a bid to raise awareness of the endangered big cat.

The move, which was announced by the Council of Ministers last month, is part of the Kingdom’s efforts to protect the species, which is now classed as critically endangered, from extinction.

The Arabian leopard is the chief predator in Saudi Arabia and plays a major role in the Kingdom’s culture. But overhunting and a lack of natural prey means there are now fewer than 200 left in the wild.

In December 2020, Prince Badr Bin Farhan, the minister of culture and governor of the Royal Commission for AlUla, established the Global Fund to Protect the Arabian Leopard from Extinction in the Sharaan Nature Reserve. Its aim is to sustain the leopard population and its prey, and protect its natural habitat.

Images of the Arabian Leopard were projected onto buildings and monuments across Saudi Arabia and the UAE on Feb.10.

In recent years, the commission and the National Center for Wildlife have been working on a number of initiatives to protect the big cat. Among these is expanding a breeding program within the Sharaan reserve.

Also, last year, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, launched the nonprofit foundation Catmosphere to raise awareness of the many endangered cat species around the world, including the Arabian leopard.

The Kingdom also works closely with Panthera, which is devoted to the conservation of the world’s wild cat species.

The Arabian leopard lives in high mountains and is native to Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman and the UAE. Anyone found hunting the animal in the Kingdom faces a fine of SAR400,000 ($106,000) — rising to SAR30 million for repeat offenders — and up to 10 years in prison.

source/content: arabnews.com

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SAUDI ARABIA

Egyptian Composer Hesham Nazih Honoured with Special Award by Movie Music UK Critic

Jonathan Broxton, a veteran music critic with Movie Music UK, has included the Pharaoh’s Golden Parade music by Hisham Nazih in his choices for best works of 2021.

Broxton is a Los Angeles-based British film music reviewer who for over the past two decades has written reviews published on Movie Music UK, an internationally renowned online platform dedicated to monitoring and writing about new developments in film music.

Each year, Broxton, who is also a member of the International Film Music Critics Association, sums up the year and picks his favourite works from the film industry from all around the globe.

In his latest entry titled Movie Music UK Awards 2021, Broxton highlighted the Pharaoh’s Golden Parade with music by Egyptian composer Hesham Nazih.

In April 2021, 22 royal mummies of ancient Egyptian kings and queens were transferred from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to their final destination at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in Fustat, in a large ceremony that was broadcast live internationally.

As Broxton explains in his review, “the whole thing was a grand, spectacular celebration of Egyptian culture, featuring light and laser displays, and parades of men and women in traditional dress accompanying these ancient rulers to their new resting places.”

Speaking about the United Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Egyptian conductor Nader Abbasi, Broxton calls Nazih’s music a “spectacular orchestral and choral glory, bold, dramatic, intense, thematically rich, and mesmerizing when combined with the visuals of these long-dead kings and queens making their journey through contemporary Cairo. There are layered vocals with men and women intoning in superb call-and-response fashion, vivid cello ostinato, swirling string figures, bold explosions of brass.

Born in 1972, Nazih is an Egyptian film and television series score composer. His career has involved composing music for a number of successful films, including Hysteria, Sleepless Nights (2003), Tito (2004), Ibrahim Labyad (2009), Elfeel El-Azraq (The Blue Elephant, 2014), The Treasure (2017), The Treasure 2 (2019), Sons of Rizk (2019), among others.

Nazih also wrote the music for Born a King, a 2019 historical coming-of-age drama film directed by Agustí Villaronga. The film was a coproduction between the UK and five Arab countries.

His scores for the television series include Sharbat Louz (Almond Nectar, 2012), Niran Sadiqa (Friendly Fire, 2013), and Al-Aahd (The Covenant, 2015).

Over the years, he collaborated with a number of well-known directors including Sherif Arafa and Marwan Hamed, with whom he worked on several occasions.

Nazih’s work for El-Asliyyin (2017) brought him the Best Music award at the Cairo National Festival for Egyptian Cinema (2018). For his contribution to the film music scene, he was also awarded the Faten Hamama Excellence Award at the 40th Cairo International Film Festival (2018).

source/content: english.ahram.org.eg

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EGYPT

World’s Largest Hand-Knotted Carpet Housed in Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi – UAE.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque’s main prayer hall housed the world’s largest carpet, a unique masterpiece with dazzling beauty and design. The carpet was hand-knotted by a group of the world’s most skilled artists and weavers.

The wool and cotton carpet was hand-crafted by around 1,200 artisans. It is 5,400 square metres, with 40 knots per 6.5 centimetres and 2.5 billion knots for the entire carpet, weighing 35 tons after completion.

Despite its enormous size, the carpet was designed as a single piece, which qualified it for the Guinness Book of Records in 2017 as the largest carpet in the world. Its knotting took approximately 12 months.

With unique harmony and integration of aesthetic elements, the carpet covers the floor of the main prayer hall and magnifies its splendour. The hand-woven carpet has an astonishing design, looking like a reflection of the above chandelier. Its background features a variety of 25 natural colours from traditional herbs, including local madar roots, pomegranate peels, leaf veins, and others.

The carpet is predominately green, bringing a sense of calm and comfort to the place. To maintain the beauty of the design, a shaving technique was used to define the rows of worshipers on the carpet.

The carpet weaving took place in three large workshops on a built-up area of 5,000 square metres. The carpet’s high-quality materials, colours, and creative design make it one of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque’s finest elements. It is carefully supervised by Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, with its maintenance work taking more than 12 days according to thoughtful plans by specialized teams.

source/content: wam.ae

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ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

MAScIR Develops 100% Moroccan Tuberculosis Diagnostic Test

Researchers from the MAScIR Foundation have developed a 100% Moroccan made molecular test for tuberculosis screening.

The test will provide health professionals with results within 30 minutes.

The test called MAScIR TB SS-LAMP “has the advantage of being precise and fast, delivering results in 30 minutes,” a press release from the foundation said on Friday.

The foundation, which is part of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, said that the Pasteur Institute of Morocco validated the test. It is also registered with the Directorate of the Medicines and Pharmacy under the Ministry of Health and Social Protection.

The test constitutes a solution that facilitates “diagnosis as close as possible to patients at a controlled cost,” the researchers said.

source/content: moroccoworldnews.com

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MAScIR Develops 100% Moroccan Tuberculosis Diagnostic Test

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MOROCCO

Kuwait’s Bader Al Mutawa Makes History – Most Capped Player of All Time : June 2021

Bader Al-Mutawa (aka) Bader Ahmed al-Mutawa. Professional Footballer. Athlete.

• Bader Al Mutawa has become the most-capped player of all time

• Striker passed the mark of former Egyptian defender Ahmed Hassan

• Kuwaiti has now played 185 times for his country

Kuwait’s FIFA Arab Cup™ qualifier against Bahrain is a hugely significant fixture, and not just because the winners will go to the tournament in Qatar. It was also the game that finally allowed Kuwaiti forward Bader Al Mutawa to become the most-capped player in the history of men’s football.

Earlier this month, during Kuwait’s unsuccessful attempt to reach the third round of AFC qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, Al Mutawa won his 184th cap to tie the record of Egyptian legend Ahmed Hassan, set on 22 May 2012 against Togo.

FIFA.com looks back at the impressive career of Al Mutawa, who has finally surpassed his Egyptian rival and set a new appearances’ record for international men’s football.

Singapore start

On 4 September 2003, newly-appointed coach Paulo Cesar Carpegiani handed Al Mutawa his debut in a 2004 Asian Cup qualifier away to Singapore. It was certainly a bold move, partly because it was the Brazilian’s first game in charge, and partly because the player being entrusted with attacking duties was only 18-years-old.

But Al Mutawa, who began his football career as a goalkeeper with Al-Qadsia before moving up front, quickly repaid Carpegiani’s trust, scoring on his debut in a 3-1 win.

Five World Cup qualifying campaigns

Al Mutawa then helped Al-Azraq (The Blue) to the final phase of the 2004 Asian Cup. He would go on to feature at that tournament in China PR, as well as the 2011 and 2015 editions, but could not prevent Kuwait exiting at the group stage on each occasion.

Six months after his international debut, the 1.75 m forward played his first FIFA World Cup™ qualifier, against Malaysia in the Germany 2006 preliminaries. Once again he rose to the occasion, opening the scoring and helping his side to victory.

Al Mutawa was a fixture in his side for the South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers. He also featured in Kuwait’s unsuccessful bid to reach Qatar 2022.

Breaking new ground

When the AFC qualifiers for Qatar 2022 resumed earlier this month, Al Mutawa was still three games away from Ahmed Hassan’s record. He came off the bench for the Australia and Jordan games before starting their final fixture against Chinese Taipei, where he equalled the mark set nine years previously by Hassan.

That achievement was overshadowed by Kuwait’s Qatar 2022 elimination, which saw the veteran break down in tears in the knowledge that he would not be able to end his long career with an appearance on the world stage.

However, there was some consolation for Al Mutawa, with the president of the Kuwaiti Football Federation, Sheikh Ahmed Al Yousef, paying tribute to him before the team travelled to Qatar to face Bahrain. The 36-year-old then duly made history by taking sole possession of the record for most international appearances in men’s football.

source/content: fifa.com

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KUWAIT

Dubai Bags Record for World’s Largest Inflatable Water Park : January 2022

AquaFun, anchored in the Gulf waters alongside the JBR beach, has received a Guinness World Record certificate for being the world’s largest inflatable water park.

Launched for the first time in 2016, AquaFun has now expanded to three times its original size to reach 42,400 square metres. It currently forms the words ‘I love (heart symbol) Expo 2020 Dubai’, which can be seen from aircraft flying into Dubai.

It features over 72 obstacles and operates all year round. Prices start from Dh155 for an all-day pass ticket.

Ahmed Al Khaja, CEO of Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), said: “To secure another world record for Dubai during such an important event in our calendar, the Dubai Shopping Festival, is a moment of real pride for the city.

Ahmed Ben Chaibah, CEO & Founder of AquaFun, said the aim with the project five years ago was to enrich the Dubai Marina and JBR areas’ offerings.

Emirate bagged yet another world record in the final week of its shopping festival.

source/content: khaleejtimes.com

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

‘Doum’, Moroccan Handbag Brand Founded by Samira and Yasmine Erguibi

Doum was founded by mother-daughter duo Samira Madrane and Yasmine Erguibi in 2017.

Samira and Yasmine Erguibi are the Moroccan mother-daughter duo who have made it their mission to make a positive impact in fashion. The designers are playing an active role in promoting sustainability and ethical practices with their accessories label, Doum.

Each design in their bag line is handmade by underprivileged women. The totes, clutches and pouches support fair trade and sustainable practices to preserve local artisanal traditions and invite local women from rural areas around Marrakech to provide for their families via the production of the bags, according to the label’s manifesto.

The brand takes its name from the Moroccan palm leaf, which is collected, pruned and then woven by the artisans. “It is a nod to our culture, heritage and craftsmanship,” explained Yasmine of the decision to name the label Doum.

Today, Doum operates its own cooperative in Morocco, Doum For Women, which currently employs 235 women artisans.

Doum For Women is the first basketry cooperative in Morocco to have obtained SEDEX certification, meaning that the organization ticks all of the boxes of ethical business practices.

source/content: arabnews.com

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MOROCCO

International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2021: Jordanian Writer Jalal Barjas named Winner

Jalal Barjas (aka) Jalal Barjes. Author. Writer. Poet. Novelist

Jordanian writer Jalal Barjas has won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction for his work Notebooks of the Bookseller.

The novel, published by The Arabic Institute for Research and Publishing, was named this year’s winner of the prize during an online ceremony.

Besides receiving a monetary prize of $50,000, Barjas will also be given funding towards securing an English translation of his novel.

Notebooks of the Bookseller is set in Jordan and Moscow between 1947 and 2019. It tells the story of Ibrahim, a bookseller and voracious reader, who loses his shop and finds himself homeless and diagnosed with schizophrenia. He begins to assume the identity of the protagonists of the novels he loved and commits a series of crimes, including burglary, theft and murder. He then attempts suicide before meeting a woman who changes his perspective on life.

Born in 1970, Barjas is a Jordanian poet and novelist who worked in the field of aeronautical engineering for several years. He is currently head of the Jordanian Narrative Laboratory and presents a radio programme called House of the Novel. He has also written articles for Jordanian newspapers and headed several other cultural organisations.

Barjas’s published work includes two poetry collections and four novels. His 2012 short story The Earthquakes won the Jordanian Rukus ibn Za’id ʻUzayzi Prize.

His 2013 novel Guillotine of the Dreamer won the Jordanian Rifqa Doudin Prize for Narrative Creativity in 2014. His Snakes of Hell won the 2015 Katara Prize for the Arabic Novel in the unpublished novel category, and was published by Katara in 2016. His third novel, Women of the Five Senses, was longlisted for the Ipaf in 2019.

Notebooks of the Bookseller was chosen by the Ipaf judges from a shortlist of six novels by authors from Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia.

The shortlisted works were all published between July 2019 and August 2020 and included The Eye of Hammurabi by Abdulatif Ould Abdullah, The Calamity of the Nobility by Amira Ghneim, The Bird Tattoo by Dunya Mikhail, File 42 by Abdelmajid Sabbath and Longing for the Woman Next Door by Habib Selmi.

The shortlisted authors will receive $10,000 each.

source/content: thenationalnews.com

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JORDAN

Tunisian Hannibal Mejbri Elected Football’s ‘African Revelation of the Year’

Hannibal Mejbri was elected African revelation of the year by the magazine FootAfrica’s editorial staff

And this following over 469,00 votes.

“A rising star in African football, named after a Carthaginian hero destined for conquest, Hannibal Mejbri has developed several high-profile performances in the last twelve months, most notably reaching the final of the FIFA Arab Cup 2021 in his national jersey (lost 0-2 to Algeria),” the magazine continues.

Voting results:

Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia / 18 years old): 55.64%
Adem Zorgane (Algeria / 21 years old): 35.88%
Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso / 22 years old): 4.24%
Mohamed Camara (Mal / 21 years old): 1.80%
Bamba Dieng (Senegal / 21 years old): 0.92%
Zakaria Aboukhlal (Morocco / 21 years old): 0.85%
Momo Bayo (Guinea / 23 years old): 0.37%
Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast / 19 years old): 0.09%
Silas Katompa (DRC / 23 years old): 0.08%
Kamaldeen Sulemana (Ghana / 19 years old): 0.07%
Terem Moffi (Nigeria / 22 years old): 0.06%
Jean Onana (Cameroon / 21 years old): 0.03%

source/content: carthangemagazine.com

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TUNISIA