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
Saudi Aramco has been named one of the top 100 global innovators by American analytics company Clarivate.
In its report titled “Top 100 Global Innovators 2022,” Clarivate revealed that Saudi Aramco is the first-ever company from the Middle East and North Africa region to be placed in the list.
“The regional diversity continues to increase, with the first-ever Middle Eastern list entry via energy firm Saudi Aramco,” wrote Clarivate in the report.
Apart from Saudi Aramco, other new entrants to the list are China’s Alibaba, Germany’s Continental, US’ General Motors, South Korea’s Hyundai Motors and Kia Motors, US’s Philip Morris International, and UK’s Rolls-Royce.
Clarivate added that companies have been included in the list based on factors like influence, success, globalization, and technical distinctiveness.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited0
____________
Apart from Saudi Aramco, other new entrants to the list are China’s Alibaba, Germany’s Continental, US’ General Motors, South Korea’s Hyundai Motors and Kia Motors, US’s Philip Morris International, and UK’s Rolls-Royce.
The structure could remain airborne for years at a time.
Yemeni engineer Hashem Al-Ghaili has unveiled his vision for the future of travel, and it wouldn’t look out of place in a film about the apocalypse.
Al-Ghaili posted a video on YouTube proposing a giant nuclear-powered sky hotel named Sky Cruise, which could accommodate 5,000 passengers. Like an enormous, winged, futuristic-looking cruise liner, it would be fuelled by 20 electric engines, with a small nuclear reactor using “highly controlled fusion reaction to provide the sky hotel with unlimited energy”.
As such, the hotel would never run out of power and could remain suspended in the air for several years, “without ever touching the ground”. Both supplies and passengers would be delivered to the hotel via traditional commercial jets. All maintenance and repairs would also be conducted mid-air.
Suspended high above the clouds, the sky hotel would feature a large “panoramic hall”, offering 360-degree views of the skies. A lift would connect this space to the main entertainment deck, which would be home to shopping malls, sports centres, swimming pools, restaurants, bars, children’s playgrounds, theatres and cinemas. A separate section of the airborne hotel would be dedicated to events and business meetings, as well as wedding halls.
Incorporated into the design are balconies and viewing domes attached to each side of the structure, where guests could indulge in some high-level stargazing. “Its sleek design combines the features of a commercial plane, while offering the epitome of luxury,” Al-Ghaili’s video explains.
Sky Cruise would also eliminate disturbance from turbulence, with its navigation systems featuring a state-of-the-art command deck that uses artificial intelligence to predict turbulence minutes before it happens. The system would respond by creating anti-vibrations.
The hotel would also be home to an advanced medical facility to keep guests “safe, healthy and fit”.
The concept was originally created by Tony Holmsten and then reimagined and animated by Al-Ghaili. But it has been greeted with scepticism by commentators: “If physics and aerodynamics didn’t exist, then this vessel might actually be able to take off,” wrote one YouTube user.“
Hashem Al-Ghaili is a Yemeni molecular biotechnologist, science communicator, director and producer. He is best known for his infographics and videos about scientific breakthroughs.
Nearly 10 years ago, Egyptian filmmaker Ali El-Arabi, the award-winning documentarian behind “Captains of Zaatari,” which hits Netflix this month, made a promise. He was in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, the largest temporary settlement of displaced Syrians in the world, and a teenaged boy he had just met named Fawzi Qatleesh asked if he could speak his truth to the camera.
“On the first day I arrived, he asked me, ‘Ali, can you film me? I want to say something to the people outside of this camp.’ The second he started to talk, I said to myself, ‘This boy is my hero,’” El-Arabi tells Arab News.
As the film hits Netflix this month in the Middle East, El-Arabi is overjoyed. Finally, after seven years of filming and a years-long global festival tour, his promise is fulfilled.
El-Arabi knew what it felt like to have a message that people needed to hear. He was himself once an athlete, a dedicated and successful martial artist, even winning Egypt’s national kickboxing championship. During the Egyptian revolution, however, El-Arabi abandoned any future he might have in sport, instead turning towards filmmaking.
“I started to feel I had something to say, but I couldn’t say it with my voice,” he says. “I realized filmmaking was the way I could say it. I started making small documentaries about what was happening and screening them in the street. One day, the police came and I took my film and I ran. That made me realize the power of what I could say with a camera.”
El-Arabi left Egypt, partnering with the ZDF TV channel to film documentaries in war zones including Iraq, Syria, Kurdistan and Afghanistan. War reporting, however, was unfulfilling, as it so often stripped away the humanity of those caught in its horrors.
After meeting Qatleesh and his friend Mahmoud Dagher — the two boys he would ultimately follow from the refugee camp in Jordan all the way to an elite soccer program in the Gulf — El-Arabi filmed them for seven years before whittling their story down to a scant 75 minutes, resulting in a story that showed their incredible journey while also refusing to gloss over the realities of refugee life.
Since its limited release in 2021, the film has already transformed the lives of both young men whose story it follows.
While he may be done telling their story, El-Arabi has been hard at work over the last few years on another — “Ashish’s Journey” — about the upcoming FIFA World Cup. It is inspired by a man who approached him in Qatar as he filmed “Captains of Zaatari.”
The more time El-Arabi spent with the man, the more his innocent aspirations intrigued him, leading him to not only film Ashish in Qatar, but to follow him and his family back to India, even adding fictional elements (with Ashish playing himself) inspired by the classic French satirical novella “Candide” to the docu-film.
“He’s actually a very good actor,” El-Arabi says.
While El-Arabi knows that he will finish filming later this year at the World Cup, chronicling Ashish’s adventures during the games, he does not plan to rush the film out in the immediate aftermath of the event.
El-Arabi has other projects in the works as well. He’s currently producing a film about Algeria and discussing producing an upcoming project with his best friend Mohamed Diab, the director of Marvel’s “Moon Knight.” Closest to his heart, though, is the fiction film he has in the works between Los Angeles and Egypt, inspired by both his own history in boxing and his relationship with his father.
While telling Arab stories will remain a key part of El-Arabi’s career moving forward, ultimately what drives him is not capturing his identity — it’s capturing his soul.
source/content: arabnews.com (edited)
_____________
(From left) Mahmoud Dagher, Ali El-Arabi and Fawzi Qatleesh with the award for Best Arab Documentary Film at El Gouna Film Festival in 2021. (AFP)
Khulood Al Zaabi, the first Emirati female football referee to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), said she is delighted to join the AFC’s elite referee list, noting that her new status comes with great responsibilities that include showcasing the leadership of Emirati women globally.
Al Zaabi’s appointment came after she passed several referee training courses.
In an interview with the Emirates News Agency (WAM), Al Zaabi said that being the first woman in the list of eight referees, which include Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, Ammar Al Junaibi, Omar Al Ali, Adel Al Naqbi, Yahya Al Mulla, Sultan Muhammad Salih and Ahmed Issa Darwish, is a great honour.
She also highlighted her gratitude for the support of Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the UAE Football Association.
Speaking about her ambitions, Al Zaabi explained that she aims to referee games at the World Cup and the UAE Pro League, noting that she can effectively referee men’s games and has self-confidence.
Regarding her participation as a video assistant referee (VAR) in some UAE Pro League games, Al Zaabi said, “During the previous season, I participated as a VAR in two matches in the ADNOC Pro League last year, which aligns with my focus on enhancing my work and training to gain experience.”
Al Zaabi encouraged young girls to play sports and achieve excellence in a sport.
Regarding her vision of women’s football in the UAE, she explained that the sector is continuing its growth, especially with the great support provided by the UAE Football Association, which serves to ensure creating a major transformation in the sector.
Egyptian actor Amir El-Masry was cast in the upcoming fifth season of Netflix’s historical drama The Crown, according to a PR representative on Wednesday.
El-Masry will portray the young Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed, Egyptian-born UK-based businessman, owner of Hôtel Ritz Paris and formerly Harrods department store and Fulham FC.
The cast of the fifth season also includes Egyptian-British actor Khalid Abdalla who has ben cast as Dodi Fayed , Mohamed Al-Fayed’s son and late Princess Diana’s boyfriend. Abdalla will play opposite Elizabeth Debicki as Diana.
Born in Cairo in 1990 and raised in London, El-Masry’s career kicked off with roles in Egyptian films, earning him Best Young Actor at the Egyptian Oscars in 2009.
Graduating from The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 2013, Amir appeared in Jon Stewart’s debut feature Rosewater and various acclaimed TV series before his breakthrough role in The Night Manager (2016), followed by Lost in London (2017), The State (2017) and Age Before Beauty (2018).
Other notable credits include the critically acclaimed BAFTA nominated mini-series The State, a series regular role of Dante in the new BBC series Age Before Beauty and the lead in the first American-Saudi feature The Arabian Warrior.
Following the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, including political and romantic events that have shaped the twenty-first century, The Crown is considered one of the greatest series in the history of drama.
The series has won over 130 awards, including 21 Primetime Awards, of which seven were during the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards in 2021, scooping awards of all categories.
The first season of The Crown was released in November 2016. Its fifth season is scheduled for release in November 2022.
Bahrain has won the chairmanship seat of the Committee on Safeguards, a subcommittee of the Council of Trade in Goods at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Maryam Abdulaziz Al Doseri, Commercial Attaché of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism at Bahrain’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations and other organizations in Geneva, is now the Chairperson of the Committee on Safeguards.
On May 23, WTO members reached consensus on the names of the chairpersons for the 14 subsidiary bodies that report to the Council for Trade in Goods.
The Committee on Safeguards (the Safeguards Committee) was established to administer the Safeguards Agreement. It oversees the operation of the Agreement and is responsible for the surveillance of Members’ commitments.
Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani extended his heartfelt congratulations to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and to His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, on Bahrain’s achievement.
“The success of Bahrain in becoming the chair of the Committee on Safeguards is a source of immense pride as it affirms the unlimited support to the Kingdom of Bahrain,” the minister said.
“It reflects the ambitious and unprecedented visions to chart a strong trade based on justice, transparency, diversity and innovation under the generous support of HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the follow-up of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister. This success is a strong motivation for further achievements and accomplishments by the Kingdom of Bahrain.”
Al Salam Veterinary Hospital’s main business will be breeding a new generation of humped superstars.
A version of this article was first published in September 2020
Saudi Arabia is already known as a destination for camel beauty pageants. Now, it wants to be known for camel healthcare, too.
The country opened the world’s largest camel hospital in July 2020 and photographs show what daily life is like inside.
At 70,000 square metres, Al Salam Veterinary Hospital is about the size of Buckingham Palace and a little smaller than the island of Alcatraz.
The centre cost more than Dh134 million but camel racing and pageantry are sports for princes and sheikhs in which a single camel can fetch Dh10 million at the height of pageantry season.
The hospital lies in the interior Qassim region between Madinah and Riyadh, at the site of one of the world’s largest camel markets, and will serve camel owners in Kuwait and northern Saudi Arabia.
video
The nearest comparable clinics are about 1,000 kilometres away in other Gulf states. Travelling hundreds of kilometres and crossing borders is part of the racing and pageantry lifestyle but the coronavirus pandemic has made this impossible, even as local competitions continue.
Al Salam Veterinary Hospital can treat 144 camels, has stables for 400 racing camels and will employ up to 300 staff ready to meet a camel’s every need, from surgery to accommodation and blood testing.
Camels can be treated for infectious disease, injuries and chronic illness at the hospital, but its main business will be fertilisation.
The hospital has already conducted more than 500 embryo transfers, resulting in 350 successful pregnancies.
Vets plan to transfer 2,500 embryos next season, an ambitious amount by camel-breeding standards.
Embryo transfer has led to some of the biggest names in the world of camel racing.
A camel pregnancy lasts two years, which previously meant female racers could produce a few offspring only after retiring from the racetrack.
The advancement of camel surrogacy has meant prized female racers can now pass winning genes on to dozens of calves in one year.
This has transformed the world of racing and made some she-camels as renowned as studs.
Al Samha, from Abu Dhabi, is one such cow known for her prolific progeny.
The best-known breeding centres, such as the Advanced Scientific Group in Abu Dhabi, attract pedigree champs from around the Gulf.
Scientific advances continue to be made in camel fertilisation and breeding programmes.
The camel’s adaptation to the desert has led to a unique set of challenges in artificial insemination .
The animal is so good at conserving water that it produces only 3ml to 8ml of gel-like semen, a fraction compared with that of similarly sized animals such as horses. It freezes poorly.
It was only in 2018 that the first calves were born to females fertilised by frozen semen at Dubai Camel Breeding Centre.
Similar scientific breakthroughs at the Saudi hospital could change the very shape and size of future camels.
The UAE won the Grand Prix of the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland, yesterday June 10th.
The Emirati squad had strength in numbers in the final with Diego Ulissi and Matteo Trentin covering moves before Marc Hirschi infiltrated the winning break which slipped away at 7km to go.
The 23-year old hit out early from the four man group to open up the sprint at 250m to go to hold off Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Andreas Kron (Lotto-Soudal) who finished on the podium.
“It was really very difficult”, said Marc Hirsch. “The final was very eventful, because a rider from AG2R Citroën has long been in the lead. In the last climb, it went very quickly behind him, but I was able to accompany in force. Then I was able to close the gap with three guys who had escaped. It was very hard”. In the end, it was a group of 7 which formed 6 terminals from the line, and the winner of the Fleche Wallonne 2020 maneuvered well to finish in the sprint.
In raising the trophy he becomes the first home winner of the race since 2013.
This result marks Hirschi’s second win of the season after storming to victory at the Per Sempre Alfredo classic in April.
If you never realized that Alia Shawkat has Arab heritage, there’s a reason for that: The Iraqi-American actress — who has been stealing pretty much every scene she has appeared in since 1999, when she was 10 years old — rose to fame at a time when Hollywood was much less receptive to non-white identities.
Now, though, the 33-year-old star is entering the next phase of her career, one in which her heritage will be front and center.
“It’s interesting, because when I started acting, I always had to say I was half-whatever the role was. I would say I was half-Spanish, or half-French, just trying to blend in. I was always seen as ‘too ethnic’ when I was young,” Shawkat tells Arab News. “Now my ethnicity is a strength, because the conversation is shifting. It’s funny to watch actors actually talk about where they’re coming from, or playing roles that they’re actually connected to, when I grew up having to basically hide it.”
Not that it ever slowed Shawkat down. While she is perhaps still best-known for playing Maeby Fünke on the acclaimed cult comedy “Arrested Development,” which also reinvigorated or launched the careers of Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Michael Cera and Tony Hale, she has been an inimitable presence across dozens of acclaimed independent films, before becoming the star and a key creative voice in the series “Search Party” (2016-2022), a pitch-black comedy and noir crime drama hybrid that defines Shawkat’s unique spirit better than anything has thus far.
She didn’t have to search too hard to find inspiration for the show. “My father is Middle Eastern, and he owns a club in Palm Springs. So that’s the show,” she deadpanned to the New Yorker last fall.
While “Desert People” will tackle that by putting Arab characters at its center, Shawkat took “The Old Man” in part because of the way that it, too, dives into righting some of the wrongs that were committed in the post-9/11 landscape.
The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 LLC (Q22) – the operational arm of FIFA and the Host Country for the delivery of the tournament – has achieved ISO 20121 certification, the international standard that sets requirements for developing and implementing an effective management system to deliver a sustainable event.
The certification was granted after an extensive audit process that was initiated during the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021 – which was held exactly a year before the first FIFA World Cup in the Middle East and Arab world.
Nasser Al Khater, CEO, Q22, said: “Sustainability has been at the heart of Qatar 2022 from the start, and the independent recognition of the delivery of best practices reflects our enduring commitment to it.
José Retana, Sustainability Senior Manager, Q22, said: “We are proud to become the first FIFA World Cup in history to obtain the ISO 20121 certification. This demonstrates that according to the evaluation by a third-party accredited entity, world-class management practices are being implemented to deliver an inclusive, green and legacy-oriented event.”
SGS carried out the extensive audit process. It is a world-leading testing, inspection and certification company that has a wealth of experience in certifying mega-sport event organisers against ISO 20121 requirements, including the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the French Open tennis tournament.
Sustainability management mechanisms assessed during the FIFA Arab Cup™ audit included:
Accessibility infrastructure and services for disabled fans, including seating, mobility assistance and innovative features such as audio descriptive commentary
Waste minimisation and recycling, including staff training, segregation and awareness-raising activities carried out with the support of sustainability volunteers
Sustainable procurement of items required for the delivery of the tournament, including uniforms made from recycled plastics and the use of compostable food packaging
Social and environmental audits to ensure supplier compliance with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Sustainable Sourcing Code
Incident reporting and resolution during tournament time, including governance arrangements and gathering of lessons learned
Chris Meakin, General Manager of SGS Qatar, said: “The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has effectively applied and demonstrated best practices under the framework of the Event Sustainability Management System (ISO 20121) to manage the event successfully. They have met the set benchmarks for global sustainability development and to control the event’s social, economic and environmental impact.”
