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Muhammad bin Lahej transported troops in his dhow during Operation Countenance.
Under the cover of darkness, with only the stars for guidance, Muhammad bin Lahej sailed through the inky black waters.
The young captain guided his dhow up the coast of Oman from Muscat, through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Arabian Gulf, dodging enemy submarines as he went.
It was a journey he had made countless times before. But instead of spices and goods in the cargo hold that August 24 night, were troops of the British army.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Old photo of Muhammad Matar bin Lahej today at an event to celebrate the contribution of the UAE citizen Muhammad Matar bin Lahej (95 years old and one of the last survivors of WW2) to the military efforts during the war (particularly during Operation Countenance). He helped the British/Allies take Bandar Abbas at the British Embassy, Dubai Creek. Ruel Pableo for The National for John Dennehy’s story / pix: thenationalnews.com
Eighty years on, Britain honoured Emirati Mr Lahej, 95, for his daring exploits during the Second World War.
Because Mr Lahej was too frail to attend in person, the event at the office of the British Embassy in Dubai on Monday was attended by his sons, who recounted their father’s role in secretly moving troops as part of Operation Countenance – the 1941 Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.
“Since the end of the Second World War, the story has been forgotten,” said Hamed bin Lahej. “My father is one of the last heroes alive who volunteered.”
source/content: thenationalnews.com
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Simon Penney, British Consul General to Dubai and the Northern Emirates, presents a plaque of appreciation to the sons of Muhammad bin Lahej for his role during the Second World War. Ruel Pableo for The National / pix: thenationalnews.com
With a swimming time of 8 hours and 30 minutes, Baraka secured a Guinness record for setting the “fastest time to swim the length of the Aqaba Gulf.”
Moroccan swimmer Hassan Baraka has set a Guinness World Record for being the first person in the world to swim across the Gulf of Aqaba, northeastern arm of the Red Sea between Saudi Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula.
UNESCO announced Damietta city is among the ten cities to receive cities the UNESCO Learning Cities Award 2021
“Whether they are megacities or smaller urban areas, all of the awardees have shown how learning opportunities empower citizens of all ages when suitable policies and programmes are put in place,” said the UNESCO on the official website of the United Nations in Egypt.
UNESCO added that Damietta seeks to promote sustainable development, advance basic skills among adults, and improve public health for a population of over 330,000.
source/content: egypttoday.com
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A bridge in Damietta city, Egypt – Photo via Wikimediacommons / pix: egypttoday.com
It is commemorated every year on the anniversary, which is, however, not a public holiday.
The day is marked by schools, government offices, businesses, and individuals hanging the national flag outside their homes and workplaces.
The veteran Emirati diplomat, Abdullah Mohammed Al Maainah, had designed the symbol of the country’s unity, pride and dignity when he was only a teenager 19 years old.
Al Maainah’s design was chosen among more than 1,030 entries submitted as part of a nationwide contest.
Later, the winning flag was raised on December 2, 1971 — the Foundation Day of the UAE.
On December 2, it will be exactly 50 years since the UAE flag was first hoisted to mark the country’s union.
Curiously, he did not know his design had been selected until he saw the flag fluttering at Mushrif Palace in Abu Dhabi with his own eyes.
“It was an overwhelming feeling. All of us were happy because we had unified as one country. However, I was overjoyed the most,” said the veteran diplomat, as he recalled how he found out about the contest and prepared for it with barely any time or resources.
“One of the arrangements related to declaring the establishment of the UAE at that time was to design a flag for it. A committee was formed to look into the matter and an advertisement was put out in the Al Ittihad newspaper inviting submissions from various artists,” he reminisced.
Al Maainah said he stumbled upon the advertisement just three days before the deadline was to expire.
“It was a race against time, as I didn’t have any drawing tools or colouring pencils. I rushed out to get them and worked all night to come up with the design. It was a happy feeling staying awake for the sake of designing the flag for my beloved country,” he added.
Only two flags were raised on December 2, 1971, to mark the formation of the nation – one in Abu Dhabi, the other at Union House in Dubai.
Al Maainah said the colours of the UAE flag were not chosen randomly.
“Every colour has an innate meaning. White symbolises peace, goodness and purity, black represents solidarity, green stands for hope, prosperity and development while red denotes bravery and courage,” he added.
Later, he was awarded 4,000 riyals as prize money, as the UAE dirham was yet to be introduced as the legal tender.
Al Maainah, who has travelled around the world as the UAE’s ambassador to several foreign missions, cherishes the honour bestowed on him by the country’s wise and visionary leadership for his design of the flag.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Military Industries announced the signing of a contract with the Saudi Arabian Military Industries for the development and manufacturing of the “SkyGuard” unmanned aerial vehicle.
SAMI also signed an agreement with Prince Sultan Defense Studies and Science Research Center with the aim of further developing the UAV.
“SkyGuard” is “the outcome of numerous research and development efforts, undertaken by the center and geared towards developing a truly local product,” it said, as the Kingdom plans to supply half of its military needs with products made at home.
GAMI has identified 74 investment opportunities, across six domains of the military industries sector.
The authority has launched a digital platform called the Military Industry Marketplace that links local industry projects with investors that are authorized and licensed by the authority.
A tasty Guinness World Record was broken at Expo 2020 Dubai , four days after the initial attempt was postponed due to a tropical storm in the region.
A warm, sweet scent filled the air inside the Swedish Pavilion at the world’s fair, as an attempt to create the world’s “longest cinnamon bun train” got under way.
Fifteen hundred sticky and delicious buns, made from about 6kg of butter, 11kg of sugar and 36kg of flour, were placed in a spiral pattern on a large circular table.
All ingredients used to make and connect the buns – which were comically referred to as the “original gangsters of Swedish bakery” by the chefs – had to be edible, so no glue, tape or sticks were used.
“To bake our way into the record books is a testament to the hard work, agility and dedication that you see every day in our 22 cake shops,” said Tushar Fotedar, a director at Mister Baker.
The world record commemorates Fika, which is a Swedish social phenomenon that brings together colleagues, family members and friends over coffee and pastries.
source/content: thenationalnews.com
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A tasty Guinness World Record was broken at Expo 2020 Dubai on Friday, four days after the initial attempt was postponed due to a tropical storm in the region. All photos by Khushnum Bhandari / The National / thenationalnews.com
Nadifa Mohamed , FRSL. (aka) Nadifa Maxamed .Somali British Novelist.
Nadifa Mohamed became the first Somali person to be short-listed for the Booker Prize with new novel, The Fortune Men.
Almost two decades ago, Somali-British author Nadifa Mohamed was interning for a film company in London when she came across the story of a Somali seaman named Mahmood Mattan from Cardiff’s port community of Tiger Bay.
She didn’t know at the time, the discovery would lead her to write what’s now become the first novel written by a Somali person to be short-listed for the Booker Prize.
source/content: abc.net.au
Other Books/Novels:
Black Mamba Boy (2010)
The Orchard of Lost Souls (2014)
The Fortune Men
Awards:
Betty Trask Award (2010)
Somerset Maugham Award (2014)
Prix Albert Bernard (2016) etc..
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Nadifa Mohamed is the first Somali author to be short-listed for the Booker Prize for her novel The Fortune Men.(Supplied: Nadifa Mohamed) / abc.net.au
Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah won the 21st edition of the Moroccan Desert Rally, the fourth round of the 2021 World Cup for Cross Country Rallies, which lasted for seven days amid the participation of the most prominent rally drivers, and topped the general ranking of the world championship.
The coronation of Al Attiyah and his navigator French Mathieu Baumel in a Toyota Hilux, came after taking first place in the general standings at the end of the five stages with a total time of 15.52.10 hours, 15.58 minutes behind of his nearest competitor, the Saudi driver Yazid Al Rajhi, accompanied by his British navigator Michael Oro in a Toyota Hilux, who came second with a total time of 16.08.08 hours, while Argentine driver Lucio Alvarez, accompanied by his Spanish navigator Armand Monleon in a Toyota Hilux, came third with a total time of 17.03.02 hours.
The title is the sixth for the Qatari rider in the Morocco Rally after 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018, topping the general standings of the World Cup for Cross Country Rally Championship, before competing in the last two rounds, the Emirates Challenge Rally and the Hail Rally in Saudi Arabia during the coming months of November and December respectively.
Moroccan-Spanish model Sarah Loinaz was crowned Miss Universe Spain 2021 at the Los Olivos Beach Resort in Costa Adeje, Tenerife, Canary Islands, on October 16.
The gala was hosted by Sofia del Prado, the former crowned Miss Universe Spain in 2017, and finalist of Miss Universe 2017.
Sarah Loinaz will compete at the Miss Universe 2021 pageant, which will be held in Israel, in December 2021.
The Moroccan-Spanish model made her runway debut for a fashion show for VIDDA in April 2019 in Las Palmas, Spain.
In 2017, she represented Spain at the Miss Universe Spain 2017 competition where she placed second behind model Sofia del Prado.
The CineGouna projects awarded cash and other prizes this year were 13 projects in development, 6 films in post-production, in addition to one guest film in post-production.
The CineGouna SpringBoard jury included Mohamed Soueid, the Lebanese producer and film critic; Nina Lath Gupta, former CEO of the NFDC; and Ismaël Ferroukhi, the Moroccan director and screenwriter.
The jury gave a special mention to Abo Zabaal 1989 (Egypt) by Bassam Mortada for its ability to create a home for memories and surpassing the filmmaker’s own understanding of his life’s events, which were portrayed from the perspectives of his parents.
A Quarter to Thursday in Algiers (France) by Sofia Djama won the Best Project in Development award with a cash prize of $15,000; a CineGouna Platform certificate; and US $2,000 worth of in-kind services from Clackett.
They Planted Strange Trees (Palestine) by Hind Shoufani won the Best Film in Post-Production award with a CineGouna Platform certificate; a cash prize of $15,000; and The Indie Deer’s cash grant of $10,000.
Fifty Meters (Egypt) by Yomna Khattab won multiple cash prizes: a $10,000 full film promotion package from The Cell Post Production; a $10,000 cash grant from Trend VFX; a $10,000 from Synergy Films; a US $15,000 cash grant for script development from Mariam Naoum and Sard Writing Room; a $5,000 worth of post-production services from BEE Media Productions; a $10,000 from Cult; a $1,000 for locations services from Clackett; and a $7,000 Master’s Degree US scholarship from Gemini Africa.
This project also won a chance from Arab Cinema Center to participate in Rotterdam Film Lab.
Haysh Maysh: False Drama (Morocco) by Hicham Lasri won $30,000 as a minimum guarantee on film distribution from MAD Solutions and Ergo Media Ventures as well as a $5,000 cash grant from Malmö Arab Film Festival.
Aisha Can’t Fly Away Anymore (Egypt) by Morad Mostafa won a $5,000 cash grant from Gemini Africa as well as EGP 50,000 from The Cell Post Production, and was selected for IEFTA’s Global Film Expression initiative.
Women of My Life (Iraq, Switzerland) by Zahraa Ghandour won a $10,000 cash grant from Maqam Production Films and was also selected for IEFTA’s Global Film Expression initiative.
Searching for Woody (Egypt) by Sara Shazli won a $5,000 cash grant from BEE Media Productions in addition to $2000 worth of services from Clackett.
The $50,000 cash grant per sale from OSN prize went to A Song for Summer and Winter (Syria, Denmark, Germany, United States) by Talal Derki and Ali Wajeeh. The film also won $10,000 worth of a full DCP package from The Cell Post Production.
Hanging Gardens (Iraq, United Kingdom, Palestine) by Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji won a $30,000 worth of services and color-grading package from Mercury Visual Solutions, while Hyphen (Lebanon) by Reine Razzouk won a $10,000 cash grant from Clackett.
Happy Lovers (France, Morocco) by Hicham Lasri won a $10,000 cash grant from Rotana, while Arab Radio and Television Network (ART) gave its $10,000 cash grant to SINK (Jordan, Sweden, Canada, France) by Zain Duraie.
My Father’s Scent (Egypt) by Mohamed Siam won a $10,000 cash grant from New Black, while The Blind Ferryman – Al Baseer (Iraq, Switzerland) by Ali Al-Fatlawi won a $5,000 worth of post-production services by Hecat Studio.
