Category: TOP 10 in GCC

World’s Largest Coffee Painting , by Saudi Female Artist Ohud Abdullah Almalki : October 2020

Ohud Abdullah Almalki . Jeddah based Artist.

Ohud Almalki is the first Saudi Woman Artist to single-handedly break a Guinness World Record for the Worlds Largest Coffee Painting.

She illustrated the founding fathers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The late King Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman and Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

The project was an uninterrupted 45 days of illustration and painting under continuous supervision.

The artwork was created on a canvas of 7 connected cloths called Naseej I (meaning woven to-gether) in 220 sq. meters, 15.84 m long and 13.95 m wide. She used 4 different shades of brown coffee, approximately 4.5 kg of expired coffee granules with water.

The edge was done in typical Bedouin decoration style known as Al-Sadu.

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The world’s largest coffee painting by Saudi artist Ohud Abdullah Almalki depicting founding fathers of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the late King Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman (R) and the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in Jeddah | AFP /GUINESS WORLD RECORDS / pix: theweek.in

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SAUDI ARABIA

Greatest Distance on a Motocross Bike in 24 Hours (1 day) : Ali Abdo Ali : June 2017

Ail Abdo Ali . Adventurer. Long Distance Motor Cycle Rider. Entrepreneur.

Ali Abdo Ali broke the previous world record for the greatest distance on a motocross bike in 24 hours (or 1 day), by an indivdual – by reaching 613.km (381.2 miles) mark.

Certified by Guinness World Records.

First Arab to achieve a world record on a motorcycle.

2nd Record held by him:

-Largest distance travelled in Egypt by motorcycle in 7 days – January 15th, 2016 , He travelled 5,864 km on his motorcycle across Egypt in 7 days.

Founder : Around Egypt on a motorcycle

Ambassador of ‘ No Place like Egypt’

www.aliabdo.net

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pix: cairoscene.com

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EGYPT

World’s Largest Oasis ‘Al Ahsa Oasis’ : Saudi Arabia : October 2020

Al Ahsa Oasis in now certified by Guinness World Records as the Planet’s largest self-contained Oasis.

Al Ahsa Oasis has also the largest date-palm oasis surrounded by sand in the world.

It has also a UNESCO designated status as a World Heritage site. Over 6,000 years old. It has many National Heritage Sites, as well as Human Settlements dating back to thousands of years.

Al Ahsa Oasis stretches across 85.4 sq.km . Irrigated by more than 280 springs of hot, warm and cold water.

Annual Al Ahsa Date Festival conducted here. Well known for its ‘Khalsah Dates‘.

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It includes over 2.5 million date palms watered by a network of over 280 artesian springs / pix: gulfbusiness.com

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SAUDI ARABIA

Fadi Ghandour. Business Leader. Jordan

Fadi Ghandour. Business Leader. Entrepreneur. Philanthropist.

-Co-Founder : Aramex . The Middle East’s First courier company with operations beginning from Jordan, 1982. First Arab company to be listed on Nasdaq Stock Exchange.

-Co-Founder or Maktoob.com, later acquired by Yahoo! for USD 85 million dollars (2010).

-Executive Chairman – Wamda Ventures

-Managing Partner – MENA Venture Investments

Non-Profit:

  • Founder and Chairman – Ruwwad. Focus on Child Development, Youth Organising and Community Support.

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pix: commons.wikimedia.org / Rawan Khawaldeh

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JORDAN – LEBANON

Suliman S. Olayan – Business Leader. Saudi Arabia

Suliman S. Olayan (aka) Sulaiman Saleh Olayan. Business Leader. Entrepreneur. Investor. Philanthropist.

Founder of the Olayan Group

Among the group’s international partners are :

Alpha Graphics , BP Solar , Credit Suisse , Carrefour , HSBC, JP Morgan , Chase Manhattan, Coca-Cola, Bechtel , Morgan Stanley , Goldman Sachs, Kimberly-Clark, Sama Airlines , Colgate-Palmolive ,  CS First Boston , Toshiba,  Xerox, Burger King, Kraft Foods, Baxter International , Occidental Petroleum ,  Cardinal Health, Scania AB, Texas Chicken , and much more.

www.olayan.com

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pix: olayan.com / legacy painting

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SAUDI ARABIA

Ahmad Abughaush Creates Jordanian History. Wins First Ever Olympic Medal (Gold) for Jordan . First Arab Athlete Olympian to Win Taekwondo : Rio Olympics 2016

Ahmad Abughaush. Taekwondo Athlete.

Jordan’s first-ever athlete to win the country’s first Olympic medal – a Gold medal. Ahmad Abughaush defeated 3-London Olympic 2012 Olympic medallists to win the gold at the Rio Olympics, Rio de Janeiro 2016.

First Taekwando athlete in the Arab world to win Gold in Taekwando.

Awards:

-2019 -World Championships, Manchester – Silver

– 2018 – Asian Games, Jakarta – Bronze

– 2017 -Universiade, Taipei – Bronze // Grand Prix, London – Gold // Grand Prix, Moscow – Bronze // World Championships, Muji – Bronze

– 2016 – Olympics, Rio de Janeiro – Gold

– 2012 – Best Jordanian Athlete Award – by Jordan Olympic Committee – Gold

– 2010 – Taekwondo World Championship for Juniors , Sharm-el-Sheik, Egypt – Gold

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Ahmad Abughaush by Salem Khames the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, in the men’s 68 kg / en.wikipedia.org

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JORDAN / PALESTINE

Fahad Badar – First Arab Male to Double Summit in a Single Expedition : Qatar 2019

Fahad Badar. Business Leader. Adventurer. High Altitude Climber. Mountaineer.

Business Leader : Executive General Manager, Chief – International Banking – Commercial Bank of Qatar-

Some Records:

  • 2019 -Fahad Badar made history by becoming the first Arab male to double summit both Mount Everest and Lhotse in a single expedition.
  • 2020 – Climbed the highest mountain in the Antartic, Mount Vinson at 4,892m, reaching the summit on January 02nd, 2020. The expedition included 2 guides and 9 team members.

Education:

-MBA : Durham University, U.K.

www.fahadbadar.com

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pix: thepeninsulaqatar.com

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QATAR

Hadi Souan , Athlete – Wins First ever Olympic Medal for Saudi Arabia : September 2000

Hadi Souan (aka) Hadi Soua’an Al-Somaily wins a Silver medal in 400m hurdles and brings Saudi Arabia’s First Olympic Medal Victory – 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney, Australia.

He has won over 40 medals. Some of them are:

Records:

  • 2005 – Gold Medal – 400 m hurdles -Asian Championship, Incheon, South Korea
  • 2005 – Silver Medal – 400 m hurdles – Islamic Solidarity Games, Mecca, Saudi Arabia
  • 2005- Gold Medal – 4 x 400 m relay – Islamic Solidarity Games, Mecca, Saudi Arabia
  • 2004- Gold Medal – 400m hurdles – Pan Arab Games, Algiers, Algeria
  • 2004- Gold Medal – 4 x 400m relay – Pan Arab Games, Algiers, Algeria
  • 2002 – Gold Medal – 400m hurdles – West Asian Games, Kuwait
  • 2002 – Gold Medal – 400m hurdles – Asian Games, Busan, South Korea
  • 2002 -Gold Medal – 4 x 400m relay – Asian Games, Busan, South Korea
  • 2001 – Copper Medal – 400m hurdles – Goodwill Games, Brisbane, Australia
  • 2000 -Silver Medal – 400m hurdles – Summer Olympics, Sydney, Australia
  • 2000 – Gold Medal – 400m hurdles – Asian Championship, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 2000- Copper Medal – 4 x 400m relay – Asian Championship, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 1999- Gold Medal – 400m hurdles – Pan Arab Games, Amman, Jordan

Positions / Honours:

-Board member – Saudi Arabian Athletic Federation (SAAF) / -Board Member – Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee (SAOC) Assembly / -Member, Olympic Council of Asian Athletic Commission / -Member – Saudi Sports Arbitration Centre / – Member -International Relations Committee, Saudi Arabia Olympic Committee (SAOC) etc.

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Hadi Souan has Saudi national pride soaring high after winning the 400m hurdles silver medal at the Sydney Olympics. (Supplied) / arabnews.com

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SAUDI ARABIA

Sabah Al-Ahmed Al- Jaber Al-Sabah : Ruler of Kuwait .

Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Emir of Kuwait.

The 15th Ruler of Kuwait. The 5th Emir – State of Kuwait. Commander-in-Chief of the Kuwait Military.

Emir of Kuwait : 29th January, 2006 – September 29th, 2020

Prime Minister of Kuwait : 2003 – 2006

Minister of Foreign Affairs : 1963 – 2003

Minister of Interior : 1978

Awards/ Honours:

  • Albania : Honorary Citizen of Tirana, Albania (12 April 2008)
  • Albania : Grand Cordon of the Skanderbeg’s Order (Decorated by President of Albania BEmir Topi on 27 May 2012)
  • Argentina : Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin
  • Azerbaijan : Heydar Aliyev Order (14 June 2009)
  • Italy : Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (26 April 2010)
  • Mexico  : Collar of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (20 January 2016)
  • Spain : Collar of the Order of Civil Merit (23 May 2008)
  • Turkey : Collar of the Order of the State of Republic of Turkey (21 March 2017)
  • United States : Legion of Merit, Chief Commander Degree (September 17, 2020) 
  • United Nations : United Nations Humanitarian Leadership (9 September 2014)
  • International Organization for Migration : IOM Humanitarian Medal (24 November 2014)

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pix: commons.wikimedia.org

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KUWAIT

First Time – Rare Arabian Collared KingFisher Bred in Captivity in Sharjah : UAE

The EPAA bred for the very first time in captivity 3 birds from the eggs gathered during the breeding season. They were hatched in incubator at the Kalba Bird of Prey Centre.

The chicks of the Arabian Collared Kingfisher are cared for by the Al Hefaiyah Mountain Conservation Centre.

The birds inhabit the Alqurm area of Kalba on the east coast. The subspecies kalbaensis is found predominantly only in Kalba and a few sites in Oman.

Alqurum is one of the UAE’s ’10 wetlands on international importance’ also known as Ramsar sites.

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pix: John Perriera photographer / Sharjah Environment and Protecting Areas Authority / thenational.ae

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