Farah Dakhlallah has 'wide-ranging experience' in both the public and private sectors. Photo: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Farah Dakhlallah has 'wide-ranging experience' in both the public and private sectors. Photo: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Farah Dakhlallah has 'wide-ranging experience' in both the public and private sectors. Photo: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Farah Dakhlallah has 'wide-ranging experience' in both the public and private sectors. Photo: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Nato appoints native Arabic speaker as spokeswoman


Sunniva Rose
  • English
  • Arabic

Nato on Monday said that it had appointed British citizen and native Arabic speaker Farah Dakhlallah as the alliance's next spokeswoman.

“In a more dangerous world, clear and timely communication, and engagement with the media, are more important than ever,” Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement on her appointment.

Ms Dakhlallah joins Nato with “wide-ranging experience from both the public and private sectors, including the United Nations, the UK government and AstraZeneca, as well as several media organisations”, the statement continued.

Ms Dakhlallah last served as media relations director for the Middle East and Africa at AstraZeneca, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She was previously communications manager at the World Health Organisation between 2017 and 2021. Prior to that, she served as Arabic spokeswoman for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth office between 2014 and 2016.

Ms Dakhlallah has obtained a master's in international relations at the University of Cambridge and a master's in media and communications at the London School of Economics. She previously studied audiovisual arts at Universite Saint Joseph in Beirut.

She succeeds Oana Lungescu, who served as spokeswoman from 2010 to 2023. Ms Lungescu was the first person born in the former Soviet bloc to be appointed to the role.

Nato currently faces a wide range of challenges including the war in Ukraine and the possible re-election of a strong critic of the alliance, Donald Trump, as president of the US later this year.

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At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

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Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi

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Sector: Online rental marketplace

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Distance covered: 160km

Temperature: -40°C

Weight of equipment: 45kg

Altitude (metres above sea level): 0

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South Pole stats

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Temperature: -50°C

Weight of equipment: 50kg

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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 

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Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
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Barbara J King, University of Chicago Press 

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Infiniti QX80 specs

Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6

Power: 450hp

Torque: 700Nm

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How it works

A $10 hand-powered LED light and battery bank

Device is operated by hand cranking it at any time during the day or night 

The charge is stored inside a battery

The ratio is that for every minute you crank, it provides 10 minutes light on the brightest mode

A full hand wound charge is of 16.5minutes 

This gives 1.1 hours of light on high mode or 2.5 hours of light on low mode

When more light is needed, it can be recharged by winding again

The larger version costs between $18-20 and generates more than 15 hours of light with a 45-minute charge

No limit on how many times you can charge

 

Updated: February 26, 2024, 6:14 PM`