Month: May 2020

First & Only Player from Oman to Win a FA Cup Medal. Ali Al Habsi

Ali Al Habsi . Professional Footballer. Omani International Goal Keeper. Captain of Oman International Football Team.

First and only Player from Oman to Win a FA Cup Medal. Only player from the Gulf to have a successful career in Europe.

Played for Oman. Clubs overseas in Norway, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.

Awards/ Recognitions: A few

-Norway’s Best Goal Keeper (2003-2004) / – Best Goal Keeper Award at Gulf Cup, 5 consecutive years – 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2011 / -Oman won their 1st ever Gulf Cup (2009) with his leadership as Captain / Winners – Saudi Professional League (2017) / Winners – Saudi Super Cup (2018)

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pix : twitter @AliAlhabsi

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OMAN

Arab Space Scientist : Diana AlSindy

Diana AlSindy – Rocket Scientist. Propulsion Development Engineer.

Designs propulsion pressurant systems for rockets at private space agency Virgin Orbit.

Founder – @TheArabianStargazer ‘The Arabian StarGazer’

Promotes STEM to Arab youth from all over the world. Bi-lingual.

pix: brookeowensfellowship.org

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American / Iraqi-American

Nassef Sawiris – Egypt’s Billionaire Businessman

Nassef Onsi Sawiris – Businessman in Construction and Chemicals. Youngest of the 3 brothers Naguib Onsi Sawiris and Samih Onsi Sawiris. Children of businessman baron Onsi Sawiris

Business Interest/s

  • CEO – Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), one of the world’s largest nitrogen fertilisers producer with plants in Texas and Iowa. Trades on the Euronext Amsterdam Exchange
  • Orascom Construction – Trades on the Cairo Exchange and Nasdaq Dubai
  • Holdings include stakes in the cement giant Lafarge Holcim
  • Holdings include stakes in Adidas AG . Supervisory Board Member of Adidas AG, Germany

Sports :

  • Joint Owner : Aston Villa FC , British Football Club

Other/s :

  • Board of Directors – Cairo Stock Exchange ( 2004-2007)
  • Board of Directors – Alexandria Stock Exchange ( 2004 – 2007)
  • Board of Directors – Dubai International Finance Exchange (DIFX) (2008-2010)
  • Member – Cleveland Clinic’s International Leadership Board
  • Member – University of Chicago’s Board of Trustees

Education:

B.A. – Economics , University of Chicago

Philanthropy :

  • Donated USD 6 million to Chicago Booth School of Business
  • Donated USD 24 million to aid Egyptian studends and fund an executive education program (2019)

Scholarship Fund:

  • Onsi Sawiris Scholar Program (in honour of his father Onsi Sawiris) – 2015

General :

  • Listed in Forbes List of Billionaires 2020
  • Listed in Africa’s Billionaires of 2020
  • Fourth Richest African – Forbes 2019

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Egypt

Louis Chedid – Conferred France’s Medal of ‘Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters : October 2016

Louis Chedid : Singer, Songwriter, Composer and Author

-Louis Chedid’s First album was “Balbutiements” (Mumblings – 1973) He followed up with titles like “La Belle” and “T’as beau pas être beau”(1977).

In 1981, “Ainsi soit-il” (Amen) rose to the top of the charts, followed four years later by “Anne ma sœur Anne” (My sister Anne)

-Composer of Pierre-Dominique Burgaud’s “Le Soldat Rose” (The Pink Soldier, 2006), a fairytale musical

-Autobiographical novel – 40 Berges Blues (1992)

Awards:

-Conferred the Medal ‘Commander of the Order of Art and Letters’ (October 2016)

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pix : twitter.com / @ParisMatch

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France / Egyptian-Lebanese

Tawakkol Karman , First Arab Woman Nobel Peace Laureate (and Youngest) – 2011

Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Khalid Karman, Yemeni Journalist, Politician and Human Rights Activist.

Earned nicknames in Yemen ‘Iron Woman’ (aka) ‘Mother of the Revolution’

Nobel Peace Prize :

  • co-winner . Tawakkol Karman along with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leyman Gbowee were the co-recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize 2011

First/s :

  • First Female Arab to win the Nobel Peace Prize
  • Youngest Person to win the Nobel Peace Prize
  • First Yemeni to win the Nobel Peace Prize
  • Second Muslim Woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize

Awards, Others:

  • Social Entrepreneur of the Year – The Asian Awards (2019)
  • Awarded 1st Position ‘Top 100 Global Thinkers’ – by Foreign Policy (2011)

Other/s :

  • Member – International Advisory Board of the MBI Al Jaber Media Institute, Yemen
  • Member – Yemeni Journalists Syndicate
  • Content oversight in charge : Facebook (2020)

Co-Founder :

  • Women Journalists Without Chains

www.tawakkolkarman.net/en

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Taz Governorate, Yemen / Turkey

Ahdeya Ahmed First Female President of Bahrain Journalist Association (BJA) : November 2019

Ahdeya Ahmed Al-Sayed , Bahrain – TV personality and Journalist, has many firsts to her credit.

Deputy Editor-in-Chief , for the english language ‘Daily Tribune’

First/s :

  • First female President of Bahrain Journalist Association (BJA)
  • First Arabian Gulf Woman to be elected member of ‘The International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) Gender Council’.

Other/s :

  • Winner – Arab Woman of the Year Award for the category ‘Achievement in Journalism’ 5th edition – by The London Arabia organisation
  • Member – Bahrain’s International Federation of Journalists Gender Council

Assignments :

  • Spokesperson of the Government of Bahrain
  • Spokesperson- Bahrain Human Rights Watch
  • Official Spokesperson for the ‘ Bahrain Parliamentary Election’ (2006)

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Bahrain

The Dubai Mall , the second Largest Shopping Centre in the World : November 2018

The second largest shopping centre in the world by total land area and is situated in Downtown Dubai, UAE

Dubai Mall has 4 levels, an internal floor area 548,127 square metres. 1,200 retail outlets and over 160 food and beverage outlets.

The Mall includes an acquariam, Olympic size ice rink, 22 screen cineplex.

Developed by Emaar Properties

Additional World Records:

Within the Mall there are several world records to be listed individually

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Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Halima Aden, First fully covered American Muslim Teen Contestant in Miss. Minnesota US : 2016

Halima Aden is the first american muslim teen to wear a hijab in the Miss. Minnesota USA pageant.

Supermodel, activist and humanitarian

First’s:

  • First woman to wear a hijab in the Miss. Minnesota USA pageant.
  • First contestant to wear a burkini and a hijab
  • First hijab wearing model featured on the covers of Vogue Arabia, Allure and British Vogue
  • First Somali-American to participate in student government in college
  • Crowned first Muslim Homecoming Teen, St.Cloud’s Apollo High School, Minnesota

Honours :

  • UNICEF Ambassador, to support UNICEF’s mission to put children first ( July 2018).

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American / Somali-American

Moncef Slaoui appointed by US President Trump to Lead Covid-19 Vaccine Team : May 2020

Moncef Slaoui (aka) Moncef Mohamed Slaoui, immunology expert, has been appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump to head up the U.S. Government’s development of vaccine to treat coronavirus disease in ‘ Operation Warp Speed ‘.

Last Post Held:

  • Head of GlaxoSmithKline’s Vaccine Department

Education :

  • Ph.D – Molecular biology and Immunology – Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
  • MBA – International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne,
  • M.S. – Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
  • B.S. – Biology – Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

Awards / Honours:

  • Honorary Doctorate of Science – Gettysburg College (2017)
  • ’25 of the Most Influential People in Biopharma Today’ – by FierceBiotech (2012)
  • ‘The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders’ – by Fortune (2010)
  • ‘World’s Top 100 Medicine Makers’ – by The Medicine Makers (2018)

Books/ Papers Published:

Several

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American / Belgian-American / Moroccan