Month: June 2020

Tunisia made World Cup History . First Arab or African Nation to Win a Match in a World Cup : Argentina 1978

Tunisia’s golden generation of footballers became the first Arab or African nation to win a match in the World Cup.

History was made. Argentine 1978 – World Cup

Tunisia won against Mexico finishing 3-1 and history was made on June 02, 1978. Thus recording their first-ever world cup win by an Arab or African nation and in their first attempt as well.

Till that day, no Arab or African nation had ever won at the competition.

This paved the way for Algeria, Morocco and Saudi Arabia to record famous victories in future World Cups.

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Tunisia

Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber – Billionaire Businessman and Philanthropist

Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber – Businessman – Founder, Chairman and CEO – MBI Group

Companies include:

  • Jadawel International Construction & Development – residential compounds in Saudi Arabia
  • Continentoil – oilfield services and petroleum company
  • AJWA Group for Food Industries – shareholder
  • JJW Hotels & Resorts
  • Amarante , 4 star hotels in France, Portugal and Egypt
  • Median , 3 star hotels in France
  • Grand Hotel, Vienna, Austria
  • Palais Corso, Vienna’s shopping & office complex
  • The Elton Collection, London
  • list not complete

Philanthropy :

  • MBI Al Jaber Foundation, UK registered charity – focus in the fields of education, cultural dialogue and good governance

Other/s :

  • Founding Patron and Donor of the ‘London Middle East Institute’ at SOAS
  • Endowed Chair – MBI Al Jaber Chair in Middle East Studies, at SOAS, University of London
  • MBI Al Jaber Building, Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford
  • The MBI Al Jaber Grand Hall, University of Westminister

Board/s:

  • Advisor Board, Middle East Centre, London School of Economics (LSE)
  • Nominated as UNESCO’s Special Envoy – Personal Representative for ‘education, human rights, tolerance and culture to build peace and democracy

Book:

Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber. Yes, Arabs can too

Honours & Awards :

2002.  Awarded Honorary Fellowship at the School of Oriental and African Studies

2004.  Awarded Doctorate of Letters from University of Westminster

2004.  Awarded Honorary Degree, Doctor of Science, from City University, London

2005.  Appointed UNESCO Special Envoy for Education, Tolerance and Cultures

2005.  Awarded UNESCO Medal on the occasion of the organisation’s 60th anniversary

2005.  Awarded a Gold Medal by the French Government for services to Tourism and Culture.

2007.  Awarded Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation Gold Medal

2007.  Appointed UN Spokesperson for Global Forums on Reinventing Government

2008.  Nominated as Trialog Institut “Person of the Year”

2008.  Appointed Chairman of Mediterranean Peace Forum

2010.  Awarded Honorary Fellowship at University College London

2012.  Awarded ISESCO (Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Gold Medal

2013.  Awarded a Senatorship by MODUL University

2017.  Received Dialogue of Cultures Award

Others:

  • Listed in Bloomberg Billionaire Index – n.194 – 2018
  • Listed in Sunday Times Rich List – n. 18 – May 13th, 2018

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Saudi Arabia

Kefah Mokbel – Founder, Breast Cancer Hope , UK

Professor Dr. Kefah Mokbel – Consultant Breast Surgeon and Founder of ‘Breast Cancer Hope’ UK

Position/s:

  • Director and Lead Consultant London Breast Institute – Princess Grace Hospital
  • Professor (Honorary) of Breast Cancer Surgery, Brunel University London, UK
  • – Honorary Consultant Breast Surgeon, St. George’s Hospital, London

Founder:

  • Founder and Current President – Breast Cancer Hope, a UK based charity (www.breastcancerhope.org.uk)

Education:

  • MBBS – University of London (1990)
  • FRCS – 1994
  • MS – granted by The Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine for his research in the field of Molecular biology of breast cancer (2000)

Publications:

  • Over 12 books
  • Several papers

Other/s

  • In ‘Top Breast Surgeons’ – Tatler magazine’s Best Doctors Guide (2006, 2007 and 2013
  • ‘ Britain’s Top Doctors’ – Time Magazine – November 2010

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British / Syrian-British / British Arab

Issad Rebrab – Algeria’s Billionaire Businessman

Issad Rebrab – Founder & CEO – Cevital .

The 6th person listed in the Forbes 2020 African Billionaire Ranking.

A leader in food processing industries.

Cevital is the holding company. Algeria’s biggest privately held company. Own one of the largest sugar refineries in the world.

Other subsidiaries are :

  • Samha Home Appliances (Samsung Electronics)
  • Mediterranean Float Glass
  • Cevitas Minerals
  • Baticompos
  • CeviAgro
  • Nolis SpA
  • Hyundai Motor Algeria (HMA)
  • COGETP (Compagnie Générale des Équipements de Travaux Public) -Volvo and SDLG (China)
  • Associated Car & Truck Specialists (ACTS)
  • Prainsa Cevico Algeria
  • Metal Sides
  • Profilur
  • Evcon
  • Cogetp
  • Cevicar – Car Renting
  • Future Media
  • Cevital Minerals
  • Numilog
  • Numidis

Global Acquisitions:

  • Groupe Brandt – French Home Appliances
  • Luchini – Italian Steel Maker
  • German Water Purification Company
  • Oxxo – France (Premade window and door systems)
  • Alas – Spain (Window and door aluminium frames)

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Algeria

IM’Hungry : World’s Largest Burger Restaurant – Saudi Arabia : December 2019

IM’ Hungry, Jeddah , Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest burger restaurant.

It has an area of 2,860 sq.m (30,784 feet) almost the size of 11 tennis courts.

Burgers are served with only fresh, non-frozen meat daily. The menu ranges a variety of dishes.

The record attempt took place in Jeddah on December 12th, 2019 and was certified by Guinness World Records.

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Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Zinedine Zidane – One of the Greatest Players of Football in the World

Zinedine Zidane (aka) Zinedine Yazid Zidane (aka) Zizou, French Professional Football Player

Record/s :

Individual

  • French Division 1 Player of the Year : 1993-94
  • French Division 1 Player of the Year : 1995-96
  • Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year : 1996-97, 2000-01
  • Ballon d’Or : Bronze award 1997
  • FIFA World Player of the Year : Bronze award 1997, 2002
  • Onze d’Argent : 1997, 2002, 2003
  • FIFA XI : 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002
  • ESM Team of the Year : 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04
  • UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year : 1998
  • :L’Equipe International Chasmpion of Champions : 1998
  • L’Equipe France Champion of Champions : 1998
  • FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1998, 2006
  • World Soccer Awards Player of the Year: 1998
  • France Football French Player of the Year : 1998, 2002
  • Onze d’Or: 1998, 2000, 2001
  • Ballon d’or: 1998
  • FIFA World Player of the Year : 1998, 2000, 2003
  • El Pais European Player of the Year : 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003
  • Onze de Bronze : 1999
  • World Soccer’s Selection of the 100 Greatest Footballers of the 20th century : 1999
  • 2nd French Player of the Century (France Football): 2000
  • Ballon d’Or: Silver award 2000
  • UEFA European Championship Player of the Tournament : 2000
  • UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament : 2000, 2004
  • Serie A top assist provider: 2000-01
  • Serie A Footballer of the Year : 2000-01
  • UEFA Team of the Year : 2001, 2002, 2003
  • Don Balon Award : 2001-02
  • La Liga Best Foreign Player : 2001-02
  • UEFA Club Footballer of the Year : 2002
  • FIFA World Cup Dream Team : 2002
  • FIFA 100 : 2004
  • UEFA Best European Player of the Past 50 Years : 2004
  • FIFA FIFPro World XI : 2005, 2006
  • IFFHS World’s Best Playmaker : 2006
  • FIFA World Cup Golden Ball : 2006
  • FIFA World Player of the Year : Silver award 2006
  • UNFP Honorary Award : 2007
  • AFS Top-100 Players of All Time #5: 2007
  • Marca Leyenda Award: 2008
  • Golden Foot Legends Award: 2008
  • ESPN Team of the Decade: 2009
  • ESPN Player of the Decade: 2009
  • Fox Sports Player of the Decade: 2009
  • Sports Illustrated Team of the Decade : 2009
  • Sports Illustrated Player of the Decade : 2009
  • Don Balon Team of the Decade : 2010
  • Don Balon Player of the Decade : 2010
  • Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award : 2011
  • UEFA team of teams: 2011
  • UEFA Champions League Best Player of the Past 20 Years: 2011
  • Equipe type speciale 20 ans des trophees UNFP : 2011
  • Real Madrid Greatest XI of All Time: 2012
  • World Soccer Greatest XI of All Time : 2013
  • Real Madrid Hall of Fame: 2014
  • UEFA Ultimate of the Year (substitute): 2015
  • IFFHS Legends: 2016
  • UEFA European Championship All-Time XI : 2016
  • FourFourTwo’s Selection of the 100 Greatest Footballers of All Time #8: 2017
  • Juventus Greatest XI of All Time: 2017
  • L’Equipe  Best French Player of All Time: 2018

Manager

Real Madrid

  • La Liga: 2016-17
  • Supercopa de España: 2017, 2019-20
  • UEFA Champions League: 2015-16, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18
  • UEFA Super Cup: 2016, 2017
  • FIFA Club World Cup : 2016, 2017

Individual

  • La Liga Manager of the Month : April 2016, May 2017
  • UEFA La Liga Team Revelation of the Year: 2015-16
  • UEFA Champions League Breakthrough XI: 2015–16
  • IFFHS World’s Best Club Coach  – Runner-up: 2016
  • The Best FIFA Football Coach – Runner up: 2016, 2018
  • France Football French Manager of the Year : 2016, 2017
  • Le Buteur Coach of the Year: 2016
  • UEFA La Liga Team of the Season: 2016–17
  • France Football UEFA Champions League Team of the Season: 2016–17
  • Onze d’Or Coach of the Year : 2016–17, 2017–18
  • The Best FIFA Football Coach : 2017
  • ESPN Manager of the Year: 2017
  • IFFHS World’s Best Club Coach : 2017, 2018
  • IFFHS Men’s World Team : 2017
  • RMC French Manager of the Year: 2017
  • Globe Soccer Awards Best Coach of the Year: 2017
  • World Soccer Magazine World Manager of the Year : 2017
  • World Soccer Magazine World Manager of the Year – Runner up : 2018

Orders

  • Chevalier of the Legion d’honneur : 1998
  • Athir of the Ordre du Merite National : 2006
  • Officier of the Legion d’honneur : 2008

Records

  • The most expensive footballer in history : 2001–2009
  • Oldest player to win the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 34 years and 17 days
  • Most goals scored in FIFA World Cup Final matches : 3 goals (shared with Pele, Vava and Geoff Hurst
  • Most FIFA World Cup Final matches scored in : 2 matches (shared with Pele, Vava and Paul Breitner
  • Most red cards received in FIFA World Cup matches : 2 (shared with Rigobert Song)
  • Midfielder with the most appearances in the ESM Team of the Season
  • Only player in history to be named player of the year in 3 of the Top 5 Leagues : Division 1 Player of the Year (1996), Serie A Footballer of the Year  (2001), Don Balon Award  (2002)
  • Only player in history to win the World Cup and the European Championship while being named best player of both competitions
  • Most Onze d’Or awards  awards: 7 in total (shared with Cristiano Ronaldo )
  • Most FIFA World Player of the Year awards: 6 in total
  • Best winning streak in the history of La Liga: 16 games (shared with Pep Guardiola )
  • Most consecutive away wins in the history of La Liga : 13 games
  • Manager with the lowest number of defeats after 100 games (in Spanish football ): 8 losses
  • Manager with most trophies after 100 games (in Spanish football ): 7 titles
  • Longest unbeaten run in Real Madrid history : 40 games
  • Longest unbeaten run in Spanish football : 40 games
  • First French manager, except the French-Argentinian Helenio Herrera, to win UEFA Champions League: 2015–16
  • Longest scoring run (all major competitions) in European football : 73 games
  • Only manager in history to win two consecutive UEFA Champions League trophies in its modern format: 2015–16, 2016–17
  • Only manager to win three consecutive European Cup/UEFA Champions League finals: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
  • Only manager in Real Madrid history to win four trophies in one season
  • Only manager in Real Madrid history to win the UEFA Super Cup twice
  • First manager to win two consecutive UEFA Super Cup titles since Arrigo Sacchi
  • Quickest manager in the history of the Top 5 Leagues  to win 7 titles with a single club: 19 months
  • Quickest manager in the history of the Top 5 Leagues to win 8 titles with a single club: 23 months
  • Quickest manager in history to be named FIFA Football Coach of the Year : 653 days
  • Most The Best FIFA Football Coach awards: 3 in total
  • Only person in history to win the Onze d’Or award as a player and as a manager
  • Only person in history to win FIFA’s Player of the Year award and Coach of the Year award
  • Only person in history to win the IFFHS award as the best playmaker and as a manager
  • Only person in history to win the FIFA Club World Cup trophy successively as a manager
  • Only manager in Real Madrid history to win five trophies in a calendar year[312]
  • Only person in history to win the FIFA Club World Cup/Intercontinental Cup twice as a player and twice as a manager
  • Only person in history to be named French Player of the Year twice and French Manager of the Year twice
  • Highest score for a manager winning the IFFHS World’s Best Club Coach award: 326 points
  • First manager to reach three consecutive UEFA Champions League finals since Marcello Lippi : 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18
  • Manager with most Champions League trophies : 3 (shared with Bob Paisely and Carlo Ancelotti

sources: for records wikipedia

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French / Algerian-French

Tunisia’s ‘National Dialogue Quartet’ Wins Nobel Peace Price : October 2015

The Quartet of Tunisian General Labour Union (UGGT), The Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA), the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH) and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers were awarded the Nobel.

Winner of Nobel Peace Prize for helping building pluralistic democracy in Tunisia.

pix: abc.net.au

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Tunisia

Sudan Has Twice As Many Pyramids than Egypt

Sudan has more pyramids that Egypt. But steeper and smaller than those of ancient Egypt.

Nubian pyramids differ from Egyptian. They are built of stepped courses of horizontally positioned stone blocks and range from approximately 6 to 30 meters (20-98 ft) in height and result in tall narrow structures.

pix: africanexponent.com

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Sudan

Zeinab Badawi – International TV Personality of the Year – 2009

Zeinab Badawi , Journalist , Presenter, News Reader – TV and Radio

Currently with : BBC

Programs

  • World News Today / HARD Talk / GMT / BBC News at Five

Awards :

  • International TV Personality of the Year (2019) by Association of International Broadcasters
  • President’s Medal of the British Academy (2018)

Other Positions :

  • Adviser to the ‘Foreign Policy Centre’
  • Council Member ‘Overseas Development Institute’
  • Chair – Royal African Society – 2014
  • Trustee – National Portrait Gallery – 2004
  • Trustee – British Council
  • Advisory Board Member – ‘New College of the Humanities’

Founder & Chair :

  • Africa Medical Partnership Fund (AfriMed)

Education:

  • Bachelors – Philosophy, Politics and Economy – St. Hilda’s College, Oxford – SOAS, University of London
  • M.A – Politics, Anthropology – School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), University of London -1989
  • Honorary Doctorate of Letters – SOAS – 2011
facebook.com

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British / Sudanese-British

Ali Gatie – Singer , newbie Streaming Superstar

Ali Gatie – Rapper, Singer and Song-Writer

Debut album with Warner Music ‘EP You’ – Platinum Disc

‘ITs You’ – 13 weeks on the US Billboard’s Hot 100

www.aligate.com

facebook.com

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Canadian / Iraqi-Canadian / Arab Canadian