After a year of postponements, the 10th Takreem Awards have finally taken place, paying tribute to a number of people who have effected positive change in the Arab world.
Founded in 2009 by television personality Ricardo Karam, Takreem is a non-profit organisation that honours Arab individuals for their contributions to culture, science, education, environmental studies, humanitarian services and socio-economic development.
The foundation aims to shine a spotlight on Arab achievers to not only acknowledge their efforts, but to encourage others to follow suit.
The event was originally slated to take place in Beirut, Lebanon, in November 2019. However, the ceremony was pushed back a number of times in response to the country's ongoing political and economic crisis, as well as the global pandemic. The awards were eventually broadcast on Sunday, November 29.
In his opening speech, Karam commended the resilience and fortitude of Beirut and its residents, saying: “Beirut is the hero, despite all the difficulties and tragedies, the last of which was the port blast. It will remain a platform for culture, science, art and modernity."
Among those recognised at this year’s Takreem Awards was maestro Karim Wasfi. The Iraqi cellist won the Cultural Excellence Award for his blistering performances from war-rubbled areas in his homeland.
Also receiving the Cultural Excellence Award was the Khalidi Library in Jerusalem. The library was established in 1899 by Hajj Raghib Al Khalidi with the intention of restoring prosperity to the Arab world by fostering knowledge. The library, which houses some of the most renowned Islamic manuscripts, closed during conflict in 1967 and reopened in 2016 after extensive renovation, cataloguing and preservation.
Receiving the Takreem Young Entrepreneur Award was Rami Al Qawasmi. The Jordanian national is the co-founder and chief executive of mawdoo3.com, a website that provides digital content in Arabic, in a similar vein to Wikipedia. The site logs more than 42 million unique visitors a month.
Husham Al Thahabi, meanwhile, won the Humanitarian and Civic Services Award. Al Thahabi is the founder of the Iraqi Home Foundation for Creativity, an organisation dedicated to caring for homeless orphans in the country.
Essma Ben Hamida, co-founder of the NGO Enda Inter-Arabe and microfinance institution Enda Tamweel, won the Outstanding Arab Woman Award.
The social entrepreneur and development activist, who has also worked as a teacher and journalist, was the first to introduce microfinance to her home country of Tunisia. In 24 years, Enda Tamweel has served 800,000 low-income micro-entrepreneurs, two-thirds of them women living in disadvantaged urban and rural areas of Tunisia.
Haifa Jamal Al Lail, the president of Effat University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, received the Excellence in Education Award.
She has been involved in education reform in Saudi Arabia since 1991, focusing on women’s issues and cultural dialogue. In 2005, she was honoured as part of the 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Jordan's INJAZ Al-Arab, a non-profit organisation dedicated to youth education and training in the Arab world, also won the Excellence in Education Award.
Mazin Qumsiyeh, a teacher and scientific researcher at Bethlehem and Birzeit universities, received the Environmental Development and Sustainability Award. After serving on the faculty of the University of Tennessee, Duke University and Yale University, Qumsiyeh and his wife returned to the region in 2008.
They launched a number of institutions and projects, one of which was a clinical genetics laboratory to serve cancer patients, among others. They also founded and ran, as full-time volunteers, the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University.
The Association for the Protection of the Environment (APE) won the Environmental Development and Sustainability Award. The Egyptian NGO was established in 1984 to train and equip garbage collectors in safe solid waste management.
Professor Hilal Lashuel received the Scientific and Technological Achievement Award.
Lashuel, who is originally from Yemen, is the director of the Laboratory of Molecular and Chemical Biology of Neurodegeneration at the Brain Mind Institute at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne. Research efforts in Lashuel’s laboratory focus on understanding the molecular mechanisms of neurons and developing novel strategies to diagnose and treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The Mentor Foundation received the International Contribution to Arab Society Award. Founded in Switzerland in 1994 by Queen Silvia of Sweden, the youth-focused foundation's programmes have benefited more than six million people in the past 25 years, including one million beneficiaries in 12 Arab countries.
George Bitar, one of the founders of Kulluna Irada, a non-profit organisation that seeks political reforms in Lebanon, won the Corporate Leadership Award. Bitar is also co-founder and president of Social and Economic Action for Lebanon; the organisation gives grants to underserved Lebanese communities.
The award ceremony also recognised the contributions of the late Stephane Attali, director-general of the Ecole Superieure des Affaires (ESA) in Beirut, as well as Claude Doumit-Serhal, a renowned archaeologist who led important excavation missions in Lebanon.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Tips to avoid getting scammed
1) Beware of cheques presented late on Thursday
2) Visit an RTA centre to change registration only after receiving payment
3) Be aware of people asking to test drive the car alone
4) Try not to close the sale at night
5) Don't be rushed into a sale
6) Call 901 if you see any suspicious behaviour
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre V6
Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 355Nm at 5,200rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
Price: Dh179,999-plus
On sale: now
RECORD%20BREAKER
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
UAE%20ILT20
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The biog
Fatima Al Darmaki is an Emirati widow with three children
She has received 46 certificates of appreciation and excellence throughout her career
She won the 'ideal mother' category at the Minister of Interior Awards for Excellence
Her favourite food is Harees, a slow-cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled wheat berries mixed with chicken
Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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RESULTS
Catchweight 82kg
Piotr Kuberski (POL) beat Ahmed Saeb (IRQ) by decision.
Women’s bantamweight
Corinne Laframboise (CAN) beat Cornelia Holm (SWE) by unanimous decision.
Welterweight
Omar Hussein (PAL) beat Vitalii Stoian (UKR) by unanimous decision.
Welterweight
Josh Togo (LEB) beat Ali Dyusenov (UZB) by unanimous decision.
Flyweight
Isaac Pimentel (BRA) beat Delfin Nawen (PHI) TKO round-3.
Catchweight 80kg
Seb Eubank (GBR) beat Emad Hanbali (SYR) KO round 1.
Lightweight
Mohammad Yahya (UAE) beat Ramadan Noaman (EGY) TKO round 2.
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) beat Reydon Romero (PHI) submission 1.
Welterweight
Juho Valamaa (FIN) beat Ahmed Labban (LEB) by unanimous decision.
Featherweight
Elias Boudegzdame (ALG) beat Austin Arnett (USA) by unanimous decision.
Super heavyweight
Maciej Sosnowski (POL) beat Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) by submission round 1.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The%20specs
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