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Saudi Arabia was elected to the membership of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization until 2025 during voting at the ICAO 41st general assembly in Montreal, Canada.
The Kingdom was re-elected after a voting process with the participation of 193 UN member states.
The council has 36 members, including the US, France, Singapore and the UK, “thus providing a voice to the Arab and Islamic countries,” the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistics Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser praised the importance of the election for the Kingdom, saying: “Since the establishment of the first airline in 1945, the Kingdom has proven its commitment and tireless work toward the aviation sector, both domestically and internationally.”
He added that the Kingdom is now working in line with the vision of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman by consolidating its global leadership role in the sector.
Al-Jasser said that the election “represents a broad tribute to the tireless efforts being made by the Kingdom to be a center for air linkage between the three continents to achieve the objectives of the national strategy for transport and logistics services.”
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistics Saleh Al-Jasser attends 41st International Civil Aviation Organization General Assembly in Canada. (SPA)
Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Chairman of the Committee leading Great Arab Minds, and Secretary-General of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), highlighted the details of “The Great Arab Minds” initiative.
Launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in January 2022, the initiative is the Arab world’s largest movement designed to search for exceptional talents among Arab scientists, thinkers, and innovators across key fields.
The Great Arab Minds initiative, under the MBRGI, aims to identify, support and acknowledge leading thinkers in the region, amplify their impact and inspire future generations. One of its main purposes is to reduce the emigration of Arab scientists, specialists, intellectuals, doctors, and engineers.
He affirmed that “The Great Arab Minds” initiative reflect His Highness’ vision in reigniting the Arab World’s Civilisation Drive, support great Arab minds and acknowledge their work and achievements, in service of humanity.
Mohammad Al Gergawi pointed out the importance of the Arab Reading Challenge initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, among many other development projects, serving more than 91 million beneficiaries.
A study conducted by KPMG, showed that ignorance costs the Arab world more than US$2 trillion. The Great Arab Minds initiative aims to change this reality and contribute to shaping a brighter future for Arab generations.
During an event organised in the Museum of the Future to announce the details of the initiative, Mohammad Al Gergawi witnessed the signing of four partnerships between “The Great Arab Minds” initiative and KPMG, LinkedIn, Meta, and Majarra.
The initiative’s mission is to search for exceptional talents among Arab scientists, thinkers, and innovators across key fields, aiming to identify, support and acknowledge leading thinkers in the region, amplify their impact and inspire future generations.
Over a 5-year period, “The Great Arab Minds” will reward scientists, thought leaders, scholars, and innovators across 6 categories: Natural Sciences (Physics and Chemistry), Medicine, Literature and Arts, Economics, Technology and Engineering, and Architecture & Design.
The initiative includes the “Mohammed bin Rashid Medal for Great Arab Minds”, which will be awarded to 6 winners of six categories each year.
The Great Arab Minds initiative aims to facilitate the recognition of Arab thought leaders, scholars, scientists, geniuses, and transforming their ideas to real-life breakthroughs and solutions. It also aims at empowering cluster of Arab scientists and thinkers and building a network of Arab thinkers, scientists, and exceptional talents in various fields to work as one team to drive the Arab world’s intellectual renaissance.
Winner of the Audience Award at Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti Extra Section, ‘Nezouh’ follows a Syrian family on the verge of becoming refugees.
Syrian film ‘Nezouh’ starring Kinda Alloush and Samer Al Masri, and directed by Syrian filmmaker Soudade Kaadan, won the Audience Award at Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti Extra Section, supported by Armani Beauty. This is Kaadan’s second win at the festival after ‘The Day I Lost My Shadow’ (2018), her first feature-length film and the winner of Best Debut Film.
The film stars the Cairo-based Syrian actress Alloush, known for her roles in Egyptian and Syrian dramas. She was first introduced to Egyptian audiences in 2009 with her role in ‘Welad El A’am’ and has since starred in multiple films and series including ‘El Maslaha’ (2012), and ‘El Asliyyin (2017). She’s also part of the cast of ‘The Swimmers’ (2022) which debuted at Toronto Film Festival.
‘Nezouh’ is set in war-torn Damascus and tells the story of a Syrian family at a crossroads choosing between fleeing or clinging on to their home. The father, played by Samer Al Masri, refuses to become a refugee while his fourteen-year-old daughter yearns for freedom. The film is inspired by the filmmaker’s personal journey away from Damascus and the effect of the conflict on Syrian women’s social reality.
Jawad Abdelmoula is currently the best African and Arab triathlete, according to the World Triathlon Individual Olympic Qualification Ranking for Paris 2024.
Despite enduring an injury, Morocco’s Jamal Abdelmoula won the African title in the Elite category of the third Africa Triathlon Championship this weekend.
Hosted in Agadir, the Moroccan athlete said that he was honored to win the championship at home, adding that he took a risk to participate in the race given his health conditions.
Grateful for his team, coaches, fans, and mother Saharah El Khemmar, Abdelmoula shared on social media: “Thank you also to all those who support me and follow me in my adventure!”
The African champion completed the triathlon in a record of 1:49:25, just 34 seconds ahead of South Africa’s Jamie Riddle. Nick Quenet, another South African competitor, secured the bronze medal with a time of 1:51:56.
As Abdelmoulacelebrated his second consecutive victory in the African Triathlon Championship, five of his Moroccan teammates also participated in the Elite race.
Morocco’s Nabil Kouzkouz notably ranked 5th in the same category with a time of 1:52:59, while Badr Siwane followed in 7th with a time of 1:53:37.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Nemsi completed the race in 1:54:12, securing the 9th position just 13 seconds ahead of Tunisia’s Seifeddine Selmi. The latter succeeded in outperforming Morocco’s Youssef El Moutaouakil, who ranked 11th. As for Yasser Mohassine, the 22-year-old athlete took over 2 hours to reach the finish line, placing him second to last.
Besides dominating the elite category, Morocco ranked second in the mixed relay, followed by Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritius, and Zimbabwe. South Africa, however, topped the category with a record of 1:37:33 for 4 legs.
According to the Royal Moroccan Triathlon Federation, thirty triathletes represented Morocco in the Elite, U23, U19, U17, U15, U13, and para-games of the African championship hosted in Agadir from September 23 to 25.
African delegations from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Tunisia, and Algeria also took part in the regional championship.
After three years of research during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, the Kuwaiti researchers Ammar Bahman and Nasser Al-Sayegh have come up with an invention that could help reduce energy consumption in power plants.
Bahman is an assistant professor in the department of mechanical engineering at Kuwait University, and Al-Sayegh is an associate research scientist at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research.
Their idea, which has been registered with the U.S. Patent Office, revolves around the creation of a device that can calculate the physical state of nanoparticles dispersed in advanced thermal fluids called nanofluids.
The significance of Bayman and Al-Sayegh’s invention lies in contributing directly to the improvement of thermal systems used in Kuwait for power generation and water desalination. The invention will allow scientists to test the qualities of a nanofluid before offering it as an alternative to the conventional fluids currently used.
The researchers used virtual Internet meetings to continue working together throughout the Covid-19 curfews in Kuwait, moving through stages of clarifying the problem, discussing solutions, describing and illustrating their idea, and sending off the patent for examination.
Practical Benefit of the Invention
Bahman, who obtained a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in the United States four years ago, told Al-Fanar Media that his work on this invention came from a desire to find solutions to common problems between different disciplines.
He explained that the invention is based on the scientific and practical benefit of using nanofluids to improve the efficiency of the cooling processes, because nanofluids have higher thermal properties than traditional liquids. Bahman said the invention offers a solution to a problem facing nanofluids, which is that the suspended nanoparticles are prone to settle under the liquid over time. This means that these liquids eventually lose their advanced thermal properties.
The new invention calculates the percentage of a nanofluid that has lost its thermal properties, and the time it takes for the nanofluid to complete the precipitation process. Such calculations are vital to the research and industrial sector, Bahman said, because they allow scientists, companies, and decision-makers to know the sustainability of energy-generation and conservation devices when used with nanofluids.
Al-Sayegh said the real benefit of the invention would be seen at power plants and water desalination plants, because they depend on heat transfer. The patent will allow specific nanofluids to be introduced to increase the plants’ efficiency by reducing the fuel used, thus saving electrical energy consumption, he told Al-Fanar Media.
Al-Sayegh said creating a device capable of characterising the physical state of particles suspended in nanofluids would revolutionise Kuwait’s thermal systems systems in terms of operational efficiency and fuel consumption challenges.
Research Environment in the Arab World
With the Patent Office at Kuwait University, Bahman plans to employ research results in the country’s industrial sector.
He wants to establish an energy centre affiliated with Kuwait University to conduct scientific and experimental research, offer consultations to the public and private sectors, and provide training opportunities for students, technicians, and specialist engineers.
He believes that to encourage innovation, researchers need an appropriate research environment and access to knowledge and human resources.
Bahman also thinks scientific criticism should be included in school curricula, along with the presentation of scientific problems to encourage innovative solutions. This could be achieved through joint scientific programmes with international universities and student exchange programmes, he said.
Current conditions in the Arab world “do not stimulate scientific research,” Bahman said. “The research process requires great focus, effort and time from the researcher, as well as a stable environment for those conducting scientific research. This can only be achieved when there is abundant financial support.”
Al-Sayegh added that he and Bahman were trying to establish a company to market their inventions, and turn them into practical products that serve a large number of people.
source/content: al-fanarmedia.org (for text -headline edited), (pixs: ovpr.ku.edu.kw)
Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, supervisor general of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, recently represented the Kingdom at the launch ceremony of the Global Islamic Fund for Refugees.
The fund is supported by UNHCR and the Islamic Development Bank’s Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development, with an initial amount of $100 million, on the sidelines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
In his speech, Al-Rabeeah expressed his happiness about the fruitful partnership between UNHCR and IDB to help millions of people around the world who are forcibly displaced, by offering constant support for refugees and displaced persons and their host communities.
He noted the importance of strengthening collective action and partnership to better respond and develop innovative, sustainable and comprehensive solutions, in line with the 17th sustainable development goal.
Al-Rabeeah said that the Kingdom was optimistic about UNHCR and IDB’s partnership, which embodies the values of humanity, justice and equality in developing innovative solutions for the refugee crisis.
Al-Rabeeah said: “Amid an increasing number of crises around the world, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation region accommodates the largest number of refugees in the world; we are all aware and fulfill our responsibility by providing all the refugees and displaced people’s needs to lead a safe, healthy and decent life.”
He said that the Global Islamic Fund for Refugees “would help us achieve this humanitarian objective, and given the significant economic challenges the world is facing and due to the limited donor base, this is the best time to present innovative ways to increase the funding modalities.”
Al-Rabeeah said that Islam encourages charitable work, that zakat is the duty of all Muslims who are capable of donating, and that this was the best time to establish the Global Islamic Fund for Refugees. He indicated that the success of this fund relies on the participation of authorized partners and project-based funding, with a transparent monitoring process.
Addressing the needs of refugees and displaced people in the OIC region is an example of zakat and charitable funding, he said, wishing the Global Islamic Fund for Refugees success.
The Global Islamic Fund for Refugees is to be a financing tool for refugees, in compliance with the provisions and principles of Islamic Shariah.
This fund consists of an endowment and nonendowment account to receive and invest donations, in accordance with Islamic financing’s principles. The revenue is deposited in a trust account to fund the response programs for refugees, displaced people and their host communities in the IDB member states.
The Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development has donated $50 million to the endowment account, while the UNHCR has donated $50 million to the nonendowment account, as an initial capital to launch this initiative with $100 million.
The fund also aims to raise additional capital of $400 million as a minimum target by allowing donations from people wishing to contribute.
source/content: arabnews.com
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KSrelief Supervisor General Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah and UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner sign an a cooperation agreement. (SPA)
Al Mansoori succeeds teammate Rashed Al Qemzi who secured his third F2 world title with victory in Portugal 12 months ago.
Team Abu Dhabi’s Mansoor Al Mansoori is the new UIM F2 world champion following a dramatic series of events at the Grand Prix of Portugal.
Norway’s Tobias Munthe-Kaas, Germany’s Stefan Hagin and Finland’s Sami Selio were each disqualified from the final round of the 2022 series for engine infringements following post-race technical checks.
This followed the earlier one lap penalty imposed on Edgaras Riabko for a start infringement, which dropped the Lithuanian from second place to 10th.
The decisions saw American Brent Dillard replacing Munthe-Kaas as race winner, while Al Mansoori climbed from sixth to second position to take the F2 crown, with an 18-point winning margin from Sharjah Team driver Selio.
Hagin, who had provisionally been acclaimed as world champion, finished third in the standings, another point away.
Al Mansoori, who joined Team Abu Dhabi last year, succeeds teammate Rashed Al Qemzi who secured his third F2 world title with victory in Portugal 12 months ago.
It means Guido Cappellini has now delivered 15 powerboat world championships to Abu Dhabi Marine Sport Club since taking charge as Team Abu Dhabi manager in February 2015
Team Abu Dhabi were also celebrating another world title success on Monday after Rashid Al Mulla clinched his fifth successive freestyle crown at the UIM-ABP Aquabike World Championship in Italy.
The Emirati had to borrow a friend’s jet ski after his own ski suffered mechanical problems in preparation for the Regione Sardegna Grand Prix in Olbia.
It made little difference, as Al Mulla extended his dominance of freestyle by recording his 14th consecutive Grand Prix victory in a run stretching back to 2017.
At only 14 years old, Egyptian athlete Hana Goda holds the number one rank in the International Table Tennis Federation’s (ITTF) U19 Girls’ Singles list for the first time.
Egyptian table tennis champion Hana Goda has cemented her legacy as the first person to hold the number one rank in the International Table Tennis Federation’s (ITTF) U19 Girls’ Singles list at only 14 years old.
After an exceptional performance at the 2022 ITTFA, the long-standing national champion and Africa Cup senior champion also stands at 43 in the International Table Tennis Federation’s Women’s Singles ranking worldwide.
In 1954, large crowds turned out for a historic visit by Queen Elizabeth II to Aden. At the time, this city on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula was a colony of the British Empire and was one of the busiest and most important ports in the world.
Now the queen’s death after a 70-year reign has prompted some Yemenis to remember a part of history not often evoked.
Her death has brought waves of grief and sympathy from around the globe. But it has also raised calls for a re-examination of the death and deprivation inflicted by Britain’s colonial rule in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
In Aden, now the second largest city in Yemen, many remember colonial rule as a time of oppression that entrenched some of the problems still plaguing the city and the country.
FAST FACT
Hassan Al-Awaidi, a university student, knows his grandfather was among those waving from the street in Aden when the queen and her husband, Prince Phillip, passed by.
Some today still remember Elizabeth’s visit with admiration and credit British rule with advances in the country. Hassan Al-Awaidi, a university student, knows his grandfather was among those waving from the street when the queen and her husband, Prince Phillip, passed by.
But Al-Awadi says his generation now knows better. “In the context of the 21st century, such practices are seen as a reflection of contemporary global issues like racism, inequality and white supremacy,” he said. “They cracked down on people who wanted to end the colonial occupation of this land. Thousands of people were killed in the struggle to root out colonialism. They should be prosecuted and pay for their crimes.”
Aden was the only Arab territory to have been a British colony. Other British outposts in the Middle East like Egypt, Palestine and in the Arabian Gulf were mandates or protectorates, not outright colonies.
Aden was first occupied by the British in 1839. Britain went on to seize surrounding parts of southern Yemen as protectorates, clashing with the other colonizers of the peninsula, the Ottomans.
Finally, the two established a border splitting north and south Yemen — a division that has endured throughout the country’s modern history and has flared again in the current civil war.
Aden was officially declared a Crown Colony in 1937. Positioned just outside the Red Sea, the city was a vital refueling and commercial port between Europe and Asia, particularly Britain’s colony of India.
Elizabeth stopped by on the way back from Australia, part of her first tour of the Commonwealth two years after ascending to the throne.
Photos of the visit on the website of the British-Yemeni Society, a UK charity, show British officers, dignitaries and Yemeni leaders greeting the young queen and her husband.
Large numbers of Yemenis met them wherever they went. A ceremony was held for the queen to award a knighthood to local leader Sayyid Abubakr bin Shaikh al-Kaff. To receive it, al-Kaff knelt on a chair in what was explained as a refusal to bow before the queen because of his Muslim faith.
The royals also watched a military parade featuring British and local Yemeni forces. But not long after the visit, an uprising emerged, fueled by pan-Arab nationalism. After years of fighting, the British were finally forced to withdraw.
When the last batch of British troops left Aden in late November 1967, the People’s Republic of South Yemen was born, with Aden its capital. It would be the only Marxist country to ever exist in the Arab world, lasting until unification with the north in 1990.
Some in Aden recall British rule as bringing order and development.
Bilal Gulamhussein, a writer and researcher of the modern history of Aden, said many “long for the past they lived during the days of British rule, because everything was going in order, as if you were living in Britain exactly.”
He said that much of the beginnings of infrastructure and basic services, including health and education, date to the colonial time.
“Britain laid the foundations of the civil administration in Aden from the first beginnings of the occupation,” he said.
A few small reminders remain. A statue of Queen Victoria stands in a main square, nicked by bullets that grazed it during crossfires in the current civil war. A clocktower resembling London’s Big Ben overlooks the city from a hilltop. A plaque commemorates Queen Elizabeth’s laying of the founding stone of a main hospital.
Salem al Yamani, a schoolteacher in the southern province of Abyan, said that even amid the current chaos, nostalgia for colonial times sparked by Elizabeth’s death is misplaced.
“The idea of having good roads and services does not mean they (the colonizers) were good. They were occupiers who served their own interest at the first place,” he said.
“That the situation now is dire doesn’t mean we want them back again,” he said. “This is our own problem, and it will be resolved if foreign powers stopped meddling in our affairs.”
source/contents: arabnews.com (headline edited0
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A historical statue of Queen Victoria sits in a central square in Aden. (AP)
Dating back to the early middle ages, this Iraqi cemetery holds the remains of kings, dignitaries, scholars, and soldiers alike.
Wadi Al-Salam, which means ‘Valley of Peace’ in Arabic, is a necropolis in which every Shiite Muslim hopes to be buried some day, in the belief that it is these burial grounds that will hold eternal peace for them.
Located in the Iraqi city of Najaf, Wadi Al-Salam is a cemetery that dates back to the early middle ages, hosting the remains of kings, dignitaries, scholars, and soldiers alike.
Every year, an estimated 50,000 Shiite Muslims are buried in this hallowed ground. The cemetery stretches across 1500 acres, taking up almost 13% of the city, and allegedly holds over six million bodies. The necropolis, however, isn’t just a morbidly beautiful burial ground. Rather, each tombstone contains a name and an engraving that paints a vivid timeline of Iraq’s (arguably tragic) history, with a hyperfocus on internal disputes, natural disasters, and wars.
In 1981, Rahim Jabr, an Iraqi foot soldier, was martyred in the eight-year war with Iran. 25 years later, his brother, Naeem Jabr, was a casualty of the sectarian civil war that killed hundreds in Baghdad in 2006. The siblings are buried next to each other, united in the necropolis that holds many others whose stories are eternally intertwined with that of the bloody history of this country.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and its subsequent conflicts alone led to the graveyard expanding by over 40% (7.5 square kilometres) to contain the bodies of the martyred Shiites.
Wadi Al-Salam has been the responsibility of a single Shiite family for over three centuries, and the Abu Seiba’s stand testament to the cruelty of war, having carried hundreds of thousands of bodies belonging to their brethren into the ground.
Wadi Al-Salam is considered a UNESCO World Heritage site and has been since 2011, as the cemetery stands witness to thousands of years of history, religious tradition and dedication by Shiite Muslims.