Tag: North Africa Records

ARAB WOMEN IN ENGINEERING : Celebrating Women in Engineering in the Arab World

For National Arab American Heritage Month, SWE recognizes some of the Arab women engineers making their mark in the industry.

National Arab American Heritage Month was first recognized at the federal level in the U.S. in April 2021, though celebrations recognizing the Arab community and their contributions in the United States were observed in previous years. 

Here at the Society of Women Engineers, we are excited to celebrate some of the amazing Arab women engineers from around the world who are paving the way for others to pursue a future in STEM and thrive in their careers. 

Diana Alsindy

Diana Alsindy is a propulsion engineering manager at Blue Origin where she leads a team of engineers building the next rocket to the moon. She is also the founder of The Arabian Stargazer, a bilingual educational platform that promotes science and space in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Diana is an Iraqi refugee who fled the Iraq war in 2004 with her family and now calls Los Angeles home. She frequently hosts lectures and seminars with schools that do not have access to engineering resources and aspires to continue paving the way to space and advocate for others to look up. Diana earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering with a focus in mechanical and aerospace engineering from University of California San Diego. Hear her speak as a panel member on From the Classroom to the Cosmos: How Educators Can Help Girls Succeed in Space available in the Advance Learning Center.

Alshaima Abduallah Alshayeb

Alshaima Abduallah Alshayeb is the founder and chairperson of the Saudi Women Engineers Society (SWES) and the first Saudi engineer specializing in structural engineering. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from the University of Technology Sydney and is the first engineer to hold a Certified Mostadam Accredited Professional license, a groundbreaking sustainable framework she led development on, which focuses on green building practices aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goals. She is an advisor with the Saudi Association of Sustainability Professionals and founder of the Urban Heritage Association, presenting at World ESG Summit and Global Project Management Forum and promoting diversity and women in engineering. Under her leadership, SWES has forged partnerships with organizations such as Bechtel and Saudi Arabia Parsons Corporation to promote opportunities for Saudi women in engineering fields.   

Dr. Habiba Alsafar

Dr. Habiba Alsafar is dean of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences and professor of genomics at Khalifa University, one of the United Arab Emirates top universities for STEM education. She earned a BS in biochemistry at San Diego State University, an MS in biomedical engineering from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom, and Ph.D. in medical and forensics science from the University of Western Australia. She is credited with establishing the Emirates Family Registry — the first study of its kind in the Middle East — which was instrumental in discovering diabetes risk factors unique to the area’s Bedouin population. She is the recipient of the UAE’s First Honor Model award and the International L’Oréal-UNESCO Fellowship for Women in Science, as well as the International L’Oréal-UNESCO Rising Talents award in recognition of her trailblazing work in genetics.

Dr. Chiraz Ennaceur

Dr. Chiraz Ennaceur is the CEO and co-founder of Cambridge-headquartered CorrosionRADAR Ltd, a technology startup in the predictive corrosion monitoring and assets management space. The organization has received recognition for its groundbreaking Predictive Corrosion Under Insulation Monitoring System, and Dr. Ennaceur received the 2024 Women in Excellence Achievement Award from the International Maintenance, Reliability, and Asset Management conference (MAINTCON) in recognition of her outstanding contributions and leadership in her field. Born in Tunisia, Dr. Ennaceur completed her schooling there, earning a civil engineering degree at Ecole National d’Ingénieurs de Gabès (National Engineering School of Gabes), where she was only one of two girls in a class of 20 students, and then a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the University of Technology of Compiègne in France.  

Marwa Al Mamari

The first aerospace engineer in the history of the United Arab Emirates, Marwa Al Mamari is pursuing a Ph.D. studying artificial intelligence in aviation at Coventry University, where she also earned a Master of Science in aviation safety and a Bachelor of Applied Science in aerospace engineering. She has previously worked with the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority, specializing in accident prevention and safety recommendations. This mother of two is also an adjunct lecturer in engineering at New York University Abu Dhabi. In 2024, she was honored as an Emirati Woman Achiever, an award recognizing visionary Emirati women leading entrepreneurship and innovation in the UAE. She has spoken at TEDx and other events globally on changing the narratives, the power of STEM, and women’s empowerment in shaping the future. 

Dr. Raida Al-Alawi

As the president of the Bahrain Society of Engineers, Dr. Raida Al-Alawi is the first woman to lead the organization in its 50+ year history and the first Bahraini woman to earn a Ph.D. in engineering. Her professional experience includes serving as dean of Student Affairs at Manama’s Ahlia University, and as associate professor in the department of electrical and electronics engineering at the University of Bahrain, where she also chaired the department of computer engineering. Dr. Al-Alawi is a Fellow of both the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the Academy of Engineering and Technology of the Developing World, and senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the International Association of Engineers. She holds a Ph.D. in Computational Intelligence from Brunel University London, an MSc in Computer Engineering from King’s College London, and a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Kuwait University.

source/content: alltogether.swe.org (headline edited)

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ARAB

TUNISIAN-ITALIAN : The visual art of Monia Ben Hamouda on show in Tunis

By the Italian Embassy and the IIC.

From 26 February next, Monia Ben Hamouda’s exhibition entitled ‘Ya’aburnee’, curated by Anissa Touati, will be open to the public at the Selma Feriani Gallery in Tunis in partnership with the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute of Tunis.


 The exhibition by the Italian-Tunisian artist, who won the prestigious MAXXI BVLGARI PRIZE 2024 last December, takes its name from the Arabic concept that translates as “you bury me”, reflecting the altruistic desire for a loved one to outlive himself.

Love and sacrifice, omnipresent in the exhibition, explore the complex ideas of language, history and understanding through an installation spanning three floors of the gallery, combining painting, sculpture and sound works, blurring our relationship with space.

Ben Hamouda aims to capture the distinctive soundscape of Arab countries, emphasising how these sounds shape cultural identity and perception.

source/content: ansabrasil.com.br

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ITALIAN / TUNISIAN

MOROCCAN Professor Anasse Bari Wins NYU’s Martin Luther King Faculty Award

Moroccan professor Anasse Bari has received the Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. Faculty Award for 2025 at New York University (NYU).

The award recognizes faculty members whose work demonstrates leadership and commitment to justice and fairness, all values that the American civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. promoted.

Speaking to Morocco World News, Bari expressed his pride in receiving the award. “I dedicate this award to my fellow Moroccans,” he said.

According to NYU’s website, the award is given to professors whose research and work contribute to positive social change.

“The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award recognizes outstanding faculty who exemplify the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s scholarship, life, and justice work and who promote the principles and ethos of Dr. King’s extensive global contributions in their research, teaching, leadership, and/or community-building efforts,” the university said.

It added that the process of selecting the faculty awardees involves significant student involvement. This includes students taking part in various stages such as award development, nomination, selection, and recognition.

This means that students play a role in identifying and honoring faculty members who have made a meaningful impact within the classroom, on student research, co-curricular activities, and broader community engagement.

Professor Bari, who leads NYU’s Predictive Analytics and AI Research Lab, has been involved in developing AI tools for healthcare, climate change, misinformation, and pandemic preparedness. 

Professor Anasse Bari and his AI researcher at NYU, Sana Sajjad (right) and Dr. Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng, NTU’s Vice Dean of Research and Equity (left)

During an award ceremony on Wednesday, Bari said this recognition highlights the importance of working to serve communities while holding onto values of fairness and justice.  

The Moroccan professor teaches over 700 students annually, with focus on ethical AI and mentoring research projects that apply AI to solve social issues.

“Every day in my classroom, I encourage my students to use the skills they have learned at New York University to serve the world,” Bari said, noting that his students are finding “new ways” to use AI and data science to improve the world.

He explained that his students are using AI to combat misinformation, create automated tutoring tools, assist doctors in pandemic prevention, develop cleaner energy sources, and build “ethical, fair, and privacy-preserving” AI solutions.

“The remarkable work of our NYU students embodies the spirit of service and justice that Dr. King envisioned. This award gives me the opportunity to express my gratitude to my students—not only for their incredible contributions but also for the lessons they have taught me,” Professor Bari concluded.

source/content: moroccoworldnews.com (headline edited)

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MOROCCO

KUWAITI businesswomen shine in Forbes Middle East’s 2025 Power List

Kuwaiti businesswomen have once again earned recognition on Forbes Middle East’s prestigious list of the 100 most powerful female business leaders in the Middle East for 2025.

Forbes Middle East emphasized the significant and ongoing impact these women have across diverse sectors. Their leadership within prominent local and international companies demonstrates their influence in the region’s business landscape.

Shaikha Khaled Al Bahar

  • Company: National Bank of Kuwait Group (NBK Group)
  • Title: Deputy Group CEO
  • Sector: Banking & Financial Services

Ranking 2nd on the list is Shaikha Khaled Al Bahar who assumed her current role in 2014, where she leads the NBK Group in 13 countries. In the first nine months of 2024, the group reported profits of $1.6 billion and had $128.5 billion in assets. In November 2024, it launched the second edition of NBK RISE, to help empower women in leadership. Al Bahar’s board memberships include the board of trustees of the Al-Ojeiri Scientific Center and the Egyptian Kuwaiti Cooperation Council. She is also the vice chairperson of the Turkish Bank in Türkiye.

Wadha Ahmad Al-Khateeb

  • Company: Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC)
  • Title: CEO
  • Sector: Oil & Gas

Ranking 4th on the list is Wadha Ahmad Al-Khateeb who joined KNPC in 1994 and assumed her role as CEO in 2022. KNPC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, owns subsidiaries like the Kuwait Aviation Fueling Company and the Kuwait Aromatics Company. It recorded $41.2 billion in revenues for the fiscal year 2023/24 ending March 2024. Wadha Al-Khateeb is also the acting CEO of the Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company, and vice chairperson of the Gulf Downstream Association. Before her current position, she was the deputy CEO of Mina Abdullah Refinery.

Dana Nasser Al Sabah

  • Company: Kuwait Projects Company (Holding) – KIPCO
  • Title: Group CEO
  • Sector: Diversified

Ranking 5th on the list is Dana Nasser Al Sabah who joined KIPCO in 2004 and has been a board member since 2020. She was appointed group CEO in January 2022. The company generated profits of $205.7 million in the first nine months of 2024 and had $41.6 billion in assets. In April 2024, KIPCO’s subsidiary, the OSN Group, closed a deal to combine OSN+, OSN’s content streaming platform, with Anghami, after acquiring 55.45% of Anghami. Dana Al Sabah is also the founder and chair of the board of trustees of the American University of Kuwait, and the chairperson of the United Education Company, Jordan Kuwait Bank, and the OSN Group.

Nadia Bader Al-Hajji

  • Company: Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC)
  • Title: CEO
  • Sector: Petrochemicals

Ranking 17th on the list is Nadia Bader Al-Hajji who joined PIC, a subsidiary of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, in 2019 and assumed her current role in 2022. PIC recorded a net profit of $127 million in the financial year ending March 2024. Al-Hajji is also the chairman of the EQUATE Group and the Kuwait Olefins Company. She is a board member at the Canada Kuwait Petrochemicals Company, and a board member and treasurer at the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association. She is also head of the Diversity and Inclusion Council at the Kuwait Petroleum Company and its subsidiaries, among other roles.

Henadi Al-Saleh

  • Company: Agility
  • Title: Chairperson
  • Sector: Logistics

Ranking 22nd on the list is Henadi Al-Saleh who joined Agility in 2007 to lead investor relations, financial planning, and analysis. She was appointed to her current role in 2014. Agility employs over 65,000 people, with a footprint across six continents. In the first nine months of 2024, it generated $3.7 billion in revenues and had $13.3 billion in assets. In January 2024, its subsidiary Menzies Aviation acquired a 50% stake in Jardine Aviation Services Group in Hong Kong. In May 2024, Agility Global was listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. Al-Saleh is also a board member at GWC and part of the Global Board of Advisors of the U.S.-based Council on Foreign Relations.

Elham Mahfouz

  • Company: Commercial Bank of Kuwait (Al-Tijari)
  • Designation: CEO
  • Nationality: Egyptian
  • Sector: Banking & Financial Services

Ranking 54th on the list is Elham Mahfouz who assumed her current role in 2014. In February 2024, Al-Tijari announced a partnership with Network International to aid its ongoing digital transformation, including fraud detection and prevention, tokenization, and cardholder self-serve application. In the first nine months of 2024, the bank had $15.2 billion in assets and recorded net profits of $290.6 million. Mahfouz has held multiple senior executive positions at Al-Tijari since joining the bank in 2000, including general manager in its New York branch.

Donna Sultan

  • Company: KEO International Consultants
  • Designation: President & CEO
  • Sector: Architecture

Ranking 58th on the list is Donna Sultan who has been at KEO since 1985, becoming CEO in 1991, then eventually president and CEO in 2016. The company launched OPTIMA, a facility management consultancy, in October 2024, and inaugurated its Jordan office in September 2024. In June 2024, the Kuwait Center for Nephrology and Kidney Transplant, which KEO International Consultants designed, became operational.

source/content: arabtimes.com (headline edited)

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KUWAIT

U.A.E: Saif bin Zayed honours winners of 3rd Global Government Excellence Award 2025

In the presence of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, Lieutenant General H.H. Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, honoured winners of the Global Government Excellence Award in its third edition, during the World Governments Summit 2025.

The awards ceremony was attended by H.H. Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi; H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence; H.H. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance; H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Crown Prince of Fujairah; and H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince of Ras Al Khaimah.

The Global Government Excellence Award recognises pioneering government initiatives and practices worldwide that improve quality of life and address societal challenges. As the first of its kind in the global government sector, it encompasses all countries and cultures, emphasising originality and sustainable, impactful outcomes.

The ‘Ubongo’ digital learning programme from Tanzania won the Technological Innovation for Social Inclusion award. The programme bridges educational gaps by offering digital content in subjects like maths, science, and languages, while providing interactive tools for teachers. It aims to reduce disparities between urban and rural areas, ensuring equal learning opportunities for all children.

The municipality of Cascais in Portugal won the award for Innovation in Environmental Sustainability and Community Engagement award for its ‘iRec’ recycling project. The initiative uses smart devices to encourage recycling, rewarding participants with points for services. In its first year, it collected one million packages (70 tonnes), demonstrating its success in promoting sustainability.

The award’s research and nomination process is based on scientific and international criteria to identify global best practices that improve quality of life, demonstrate innovation, and achieve sustainable outcomes. The third edition was marked by substantially higher quality in terms of initiatives nominated, broader global participation, more winners, and an expanded scope to include all continents. The award aims to highlight governments focused on enhancing quality of life, inspiring worldwide efforts in governance and development.

Launched during the World Governments Summit 2023, the World Government Excellence Award is a prestigious international accolade that celebrates outstanding government initiatives and best practices across the globe.

The World Governments Summit serves as an international platform for anticipating and shaping the future of governance and a hub for global awards that promote innovation and excellence in government work. This year, the WGS Awards include the Best Minister in the World Award, Creative Government Innovation Award, Government Technology Award, Global Government Excellence Award, and the Best Teacher in the World Award.

source/content: wam.ae (headline edited)

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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (U.A.E)

SAUDI ARABIA : Makkah hosts 10th international military Qur’an contest

179 participants from 32 Islamic countries to compete, promote moderate Islamic values.

The 10th International Military Qur’an Memorization Competition launched on Saturday in Makkah, attracting 179 participants from 32 countries.

Organized by the General Administration of Religious Affairs of the Armed Forces under the patronage of Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, the event promotes the significance of the Qur’an, encourages its memorization, and highlights Saudi Arabia’s role in serving Islam’s holy book and as the custodian of Islam’s holiest sites.

The competition features six categories: full Qur’an memorization; 20-part, 10-part, five-part, and three-part memorization; and a special category for recitation and tajweed (proper pronunciation).

Parallel activities include a Qur’anic forum for religious affairs directors and imams, showcasing Saudi Arabia’s efforts in Qur’an printing, translation, and distribution.

The forum also discusses the Qur’an’s moral values, the Kingdom’s contributions through its ministries, and the impact of tajweed on understanding the Qur’an.

Additionally, the General Administration of Religious Affairs offers training programs for religious affairs personnel across the armed forces, focusing on Qur’anic teaching methods and enhancing the skills of instructors and competition judges.

Maj. Gen. Mesfer Al-Issa, director of the General Administration of Religious Affairs and competition supervisor, described the event as a significant initiative to honor the Qur’an.

Al-Issa emphasized the Kingdom’s commitment to hosting this event, reflecting the leadership’s dedication to serving the Qur’an.

In an interview with Arab News, he highlighted the event’s profound impact on participants, especially as it takes place in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.

Al-Issa said that the Qur’an guides soldiers, shaping their character and values, and encouraging psychological, behavioral, and spiritual stability.

Soldiers grounded in the Qur’an and Sunnah are more balanced and resilient, contributing to the development of morally and spiritually strong armed forces, he said.

The 14-day event will include 10 days in Makkah before moving to Madinah for four days, where participants will visit the Prophet’s Mosque and other Islamic landmarks.

Judges, including imams from the Two Holy Mosques and Qur’anic scholars, use an advanced electronic evaluation system called “Insaf” (Fairness) for transparent scoring.

Contestants receive immediate feedback on memorization, pronunciation, tajweed, and error rates.

Al-Issa said that soldiers are selected through year-long national competitions to identify top military memorizers.

The competition also serves as a platform for military personnel from Islamic nations to promote moderate Islamic values and a proper understanding of the Qur’an through scientific forums.

Al-Issa said that the competition strengthens the Qur’an’s role in Islamic armed forces, supporting efforts to memorize, recite, and reflect on its teachings.

This helps build a generation of soldiers rooted in Islamic knowledge and guided by noble values, he added.

source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)

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Contestants arrive to participate in the 10th International Military Qur’an Memorization Competition in Makkah.

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SAUDI ARABIA

EGYPTIAN-AMERICAN : Freeze-frame: U of A researchers led by Physicist Prof. Mohammed Hassan develop World’s Fastest Microscope that can see electrons in motion

Imagine owning a camera so powerful it can take freeze-frame photographs of a moving electron – an object traveling so fast it could circle the Earth many times in a matter of a second. Researchers at the University of Arizona have developed the world’s fastest electron microscope that can do just that.

They believe their work will lead to groundbreaking advancements in physics, chemistry, bioengineering, materials sciences and more.

“When you get the latest version of a smartphone, it comes with a better camera,” said Mohammed Hassan, associate professor of physics and optical sciences. “This transmission electron microscope is like a very powerful camera in the latest version of smart phones; it allows us to take pictures of things we were not able to see before – like electrons. With this microscope, we hope the scientific community can understand the quantum physics behind how an electron behaves and how an electron moves.”

Hassan led a team of researchers in the departments of physics and optical sciences that published the research article “Attosecond electron microscopy and diffraction” in the Science Advances journal. Hassan worked alongside Nikolay Golubev, assistant professor of physics; Dandan Hui, co-lead author and former research associate in optics and physics who now works at the Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Husain Alqattan, co-lead author, U of A alumnus and assistant professor of physics at Kuwait University; and Mohamed Sennary, a graduate student studying optics and physics.

A transmission electron microscope is a tool used by scientists and researchers to magnify objects up to millions of times their actual size in order to see details too small for a traditional light microscope to detect. Instead of using visible light, a transmission electron microscope directs beams of electrons through whatever sample is being studied. The interaction between the electrons and the sample is captured by lenses and detected by a camera sensor in order to generate detailed images of the sample.

Ultrafast electron microscopes using these principles were first developed in the 2000’s and use a laser to generate pulsed beams of electrons. This technique greatly increases a microscope’s temporal resolution – its ability to measure and observe changes in a sample over time. In these ultrafast microscopes, instead of relying on the speed of a camera’s shutter to dictate image quality, the resolution of a transmission electron microscope is determined by the duration of electron pulses.

The faster the pulse, the better the image.

Ultrafast electron microscopes previously operated by emitting a train of electron pulses at speeds of a few attoseconds. An attosecond is one quintillionth of a second. Pulses at these speeds create a series of images, like frames in a movie – but scientists were still missing the reactions and changes in an electron that takes place in between those frames as it evolves in real time. In order to see an electron frozen in place, U of A researchers, for the first time, generated a single attosecond electron pulse, which is as fast as electrons moves, thereby enhancing the microscope’s temporal resolution, like a high-speed camera capturing movements that would otherwise be invisible.

Hassan and his colleagues based their work on the Nobel Prize-winning accomplishments of Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huilliere, who won the Novel Prize in Physics in 2023 after generating the first extreme ultraviolet radiation pulse so short it could be measured in attoseconds.

Using that work as a steppingstone, U of A researchers developed a microscope in which a powerful laser is split and converted into two parts – a very fast electron pulse and two ultra-short light pulses. The first light pulse, known as the pump pulse, feeds energy into a sample and causes electrons to move or undergo other rapid changes. The second light pulse, also called the “optical gating pulse” acts like a gate by creating a brief window of time in which the gated, single attosecond electron pulse is generated. The speed of the gating pulse therefore dictates the resolution of the image. By carefully synchronizing the two pulses, researchers control when the electron pulses probe the sample to observe ultrafast processes at the atomic level.

“The improvement of the temporal resolution inside of electron microscopes has been long anticipated and the focus of many research groups – because we all want to see the electron motion,” Hassan said. “These movements happen in attoseconds. But now, for the first time, we are able to attain attosecond temporal resolution with our electron transmission microscope – and we coined it ‘attomicroscopy.’ For the first time, we can see pieces of the electron in motion.”

source/content: eurekaalert.org / University of Arizona / (headline edited)

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Mohammed Hassan, associate professor of physics and optical sciences, let a group of researchers in developing the first transmission electron microscope powerful enough to capture images of electrons in motion.

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AMERICAN / EGYPTIAN

EGYPTIAN-BRITISH : Making history again! Egyptian heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub innovates valves that grow naturally in body

Making history again! Egyptian heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub innovates valves that grow naturally in body.

This pioneering innovation envisions the development of biological heart valves that can grow and be accommodated naturally within the human body. This opens the door to a new era in heart disease treatment. 

The prospect of heart valves naturally expanding within the body, a concept once confined to science fiction, is now on the brink of realization, thanks to the remarkable discovery spearheaded by renowned heart surgeon Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub.

While the initial study documenting this breakthrough was unveiled in Nature in 2023, recent media coverage has underscored its practical implications.

Esteemed publications like The Times have pinpointed this cutting-edge innovation’s profound impact on biomedical science and medical engineering. They have recognized it as a monumental leap in the realm of healthcare.

On Monday, Dr. Yacoub discussed the latest developments in this field with Egyptian talk show host Amr Adib.

He explained how his team has engineered temporary heart valve scaffolds composed of surgically implanted fibres into the body.

These scaffolds gradually disintegrate over time, leaving behind a living, fully functional valve crafted from the patient’s tissues, a testament to the marvels of modern medical ingenuity.

source/content: english.ahram.org.eg (headline edited)

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Sir Magdi Yacoub

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EGYPT / UNITED KINGDOM

Arab League achievements and challenges throughout history

My book Arab Agreements and Disagreements depicts the important role of Abdel Khalek Hassouna, the late secretary general of the Arab League (AL), in reaching agreements and settling significant disagreements between the organization’s members throughout its history.

The book also explores the background of Abdel Khalek Hassouna’s role as the AL secretary general and the organization’s challenges during his mandate.

Writing this book, I relied on various sources, including the archives of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Arab League, which provided me with valuable published and unpublished documents on the events related to that period.

Since my father had not published his own biography, a series of dialogues I had conducted with him over the years provided valuable material on his role and achievements in his various positions.

The book, published in Arabic by Dar El-Shorouk, describes the interesting and diverse positions my late father held during his life.

He was one of the first Egyptian diplomats to join the Foreign Ministry, which was established in 1922. After that, he served as the governor of Alexandria during the Second World War.

Later, he occupied several positions as the minister of social affairs, minister of education, and minister of foreign affairs before being unanimously elected by all the Arab States as the secretary general of the Arab League for twenty years, from 1952 to 1972.

The book addresses his role in all those positions.

Moreover, it highlights his AL role, which contributed to the independence of the Maghreb and Gulf countries. It also supported the Palestinian right to self-determination and the creation of an independent sovereign state.

A whole chapter in the book describes in detail the crises that broke out between the AL members during that period.

Therefore, it refers to the border crisis between Egypt and Sudan over the Halayeb and Shalatine regions in 1958, the Lebanese crisis’ regional and international implications in 1958, and the crisis between Egypt and Syria over the breaking up of their union in 1961.

It also discusses the 1961 Kuwait crisis, which resulted from Iraq’s threat to its independence, the 1963 border crisis between Morocco and Algeria, the 1972 crisis between northern and southern Yemen, and the 1965 crisis between the Arab states and West Germany over the latter’s substantial assistance to Israel.

In all those instances, my father deployed all efforts toward settling the crises under the league’s umbrella rather than allowing outside means of settlements to escalate them.

I sincerely hope the book will contribute to a better understanding of Egyptian diplomacy’s role and achievements as one of the Third World’s first active diplomacies after World War I and as a co-founder of various international and regional organizations.

In addition, the book highlights the history of the Arab League as the first regional organization established in the post-World War II international order.

Like other organizations, the league has suffered from various problems, including a lack of political will among its members and the diversity of their interests. However, the book reaffirms its importance in light of the Middle East’s current challenges.

Thus, the AL should continue to actively coordinate its members’ political positions, promote their economic integration, preserve their Arab identity, protect their national security, and broadly achieve their common interests.

Certainly, I am grateful that this book on my father’s long career has been well-received and praised by the media, academia, and all those interested in the history of our region. 

source/content: english.ahram.org.eg (headline edited)

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EGYPT / ARAB

SAUDI ARABIA : Interpol to establish regional office in Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom and the international police organization sign host country agreement.

 Interpol is to establish an office in Saudi Arabia that will serve the Middle East and North Africa region.

Hisham Al-Faleh, undersecretary at the Kingdom’s Ministry of Interior, and Jurgen Stock, secretary-general of the international police organization, signed a host country agreement on Wednesday.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud, the Saudi Minister of Interior, and Maj. Gen. Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, the president of Interpol, also attended the signing ceremony, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

In addition, they discussed Interpol’s activities during a meeting that also included Nasser Al-Dawood, the deputy minister of interior; Brig. Gen. Abdulmalik Al-Saqeeh, the director general of Saudi Interpol; and other senior officials.

source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)

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Hisham Al-Faleh, undersecretary at the Kingdom’s Ministry of Interior, and Jurgen Stock, secretary-general of the international police organization, signed a host country agreement. (SPA)

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SAUDI ARABIA