Follow the latest news on the 2024 Paris Olympics
In a sport previously dominated by Europeans, Arab fencers have risen through the ranks and established themselves among the world’s best over the past 12 years.
Egypt’s Alaaeldin Abouelkassem became the first athlete representing an African or Arab nation to win an Olympic medal in fencing when he took silver in men’s foil in London 2012.
Four years later, Tunisian Ines Boubakri made history as the first African or Arab woman to secure an Olympic fencing medal by securing bronze in women’s foil.
In the opening two days of the Paris Olympics, Arab fencers clinched two medals, with Tunisian Fares Ferjani leaping to silver in the sabre and Egyptian Mohamed Elsayed grabbing bronze in the epee.
There is currently at least one Arab man ranked in the world’s top four in each of the three weapons (sabre, foil, and epee).
Boubakri, who has now retired and is part of beIN Sports panel of experts for Paris 2024, believes this is no coincidence.
“As an Arab, I was super proud of Fares and Mohamed, not to show the people that we are capable, but to make the Arab world feel that we can do it, whatever the circumstances,” Boubakri told The National.
“We used to say that fencing is just for Europeans, but now, no, we made a change. We started the change with the medal of Alaa Abouelkassem in London 2012, and then in Rio with my medal.
“It was a surprise for everyone but for us, the athletes, we are working for many years, it’s not a surprise for us because we know inside of us, we believe in ourselves that we can do it.
“We will do it and we can do it. And the proof is that eight years later (from Alaa’s success), we are still here, Arab fencing is still here in Paris 2024, not only with one medal but with two medals.”
Boubakri, 35, is a four-time Olympian and has witnessed first-hand the evolution of world fencing.
“For sure fencing is improving and it has become a universal sport,” she explained.
“In the past we used to only see Europeans at the top, France, Italy, Romania, Hungary … now we have two Olympic champions from Hong Kong in fencing.
“So everyone can beat everyone and this is because many people changed their mentality and have an open mind now. Everyone can train with everyone, they are doing a lot of training camps all over the world.
“In the past, fencers from the same country trained by themselves, they didn’t accept to interact with the world. Now it changed. Now all the fencers know each other and we can see many surprises at the Olympics.”
One of those surprises was Ziad Elsissy’s fourth-place finish in the sabre. The Egyptian arrived in Paris ranked No 1 in the world and primed for a medal. He won three bouts before falling to Ferjani in the semi-finals and lost to Italian Luigi Samele in the bronze medal clash.
“Honestly, I feel so sad for Ziad because he deserves to have a medal at least. I think he has a lot of pressure, he’s No 1 in the world. I think Fares managed very well his bout because he was very calm, I was impressed by his maturity, he fenced very, very good all day. So he deserved his medal.
“But I feel sorry for Ziad, he was top of the world, everyone was waiting for him. But I think he didn’t control as well his stress, the pressure. But hopefully he’ll keep his motivation to look for LA 2028, he’s still young. We’re waiting for him for LA inshallah.”
Held at the iconic Grand Palais, fencing has taken centre stage in Paris and stole the show on several occasions, but perhaps no more than when news broke that Egyptian sabre fencer Nada Hafez beat the No 7 seed then lost in the second round all while being seven months pregnant.
“What she did is amazing, it’s brave of her,” beamed Boubakri.
“She is an example for all women, and also for the people who judge women. We can be pregnant and practise sport and practise a high level of competition, and nothing can stop us.
“Also if we speak about women in general, we have many women athletes who have given birth and come back to competition. In fencing, we had many examples, like Valentina Vezzali, Laura Flessel, they gave birth and after four months they came back to competition and won Olympic medals.
“And recently we have Arianna Errigo, she’s an Olympic champion. She stopped before the Olympics for one year. She kept training, we saw a lot of photos of her pregnant and training. She never gave up and came back four months after giving birth and she won a medal at the World Championship in Milan in 2023 and she qualified for the Olympics.
“She lost to a top-eight fencer 15-14 but she did a great job in Paris. It’s a big message for the world that as women, we are so strong.”
There are still two more days of fencing action in Paris, with Arabs once again in the mix. The Algerian women’s sabre team will take on France on Saturday and the Egyptian men’s foil team is scheduled to face USA on Sunday.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
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2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda
2017 The Square, Ruben Ostlund
2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach
2015 Dheepan, Jacques Audiard
2014 Winter Sleep (Kış Uykusu), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2013 Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2), Abdellatif Kechiche, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux
2012 Amour, Michael Haneke
2011 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2009 The White Ribbon (Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke
2008 The Class (Entre les murs), Laurent Cantet
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