By David Tusing — thenationalnews.com — At the 71st Miss Universe pageant in January, not only will a winner be announced, but she will get to wear a new crown, crafted by Lebanese jewellery brand Mouawad. The crown, called Force for Good, was unveiled at a glitzy event in Bangkok on Monday by Fred Mouawad, the “co-guardian” of the Beirut-founded brand, as well as the Miss Universe Organisation’s new Thai owner Anne Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip. Former Miss Universe title holders Natalie Glebova (2005) from Canada and Thailand’s Apasra Hongsakula (1965), also attended the event. “The Force for Good crown is a work of extraordinary craftsmanship. It’s a crown filled with symbolism. And we hope it will inspire not only the winners, but all of you to be a force for good,” Mouawad said at the presentation, adding that the crown represents “a future forged by women who push the limits of what’s possible”.

Embedded with 110 carats of blue sapphires and 48 carats of white diamonds, the Force for Good crown features wave-like curls at the base, that emulates a serpent’s head, “symbolising the challenges involved in swaying opponents,” a description by Mouawad reads. The colour gradiant of the predominantly white diamond base then changes to the blue of sapphires towards the top where a blue pear-shaped sapphire sits at the pinnacle, representing hope for a brighter future.

Founded in 1908 in Beirut and now with its headquarters in Geneva, Mouawad has been crafting one-of-a-kind pieces for royal families as well as the wealthy for four generations. It became the official jeweller for Miss Universe in 2019 when it crafted the crown for the winner of the title, South Africa’s Zozibini Tunzi. Called The Power of Unity, the crown, estimated to be between $4 million and $5 million, has been passed on to successive winners. Miss Universe 2021, India’s Harnaaz Sandhu will be the last one to wear it. “We thought, ‘What can we do that’s in line with our heritage, something majestic that would have a very wide exposure?’,” Mouawad told The National in a previous interview, referring to how his company’s relationship with the Miss Universe Organisation began. “And we thought of Miss Universe, because we are, after all, jewellers to royalty. So why don’t we use our know-how to also create a crown for the most beautiful women in the world?” Estimated to be worth $5.5 million, the Force for Good crown comes amid a host of changes at the 70-year-old Miss Universe competition.

By insider@insider.com — Natalie Armbruster — This month, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Riyadh for a three-day visit which included a bilateral meeting between China and Saudi Arabia, a Gulf-China summit, and an Arab-China summit, coming to a consensus on China-Saudi energy and technology cooperation. Throughout the visit, Western media has been quick to conclude that the deals are a message to the West — a snub to Washington and President Joe Biden. However, to assume that China views the Middle East through the same lens the United States has used for the last 30 years is a mistake. China has long assessed US involvement in the Middle East to be damaging to American power and strength. Xi’s visit, and China’s interest, investment, and involvement in the Middle East, have far more to do with shared economic interests and a stable energy supply than any potential security alliance or geopolitical aspirations.

The first thing to know is China’s involvement in the Middle East rests primarily on its energy dependence. In 2021, 72% of China’s crude oil consumption was imported. The Middle East accounted for 50% of these imports. China alone accounted for more than one-quarter of Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports as well. As long as China remains reliant on external sources of oil and Saudi Arabia is looking to make a profit, it is only natural for Saudi Arabia and China to expand their economic cooperation — bilateral trade which currently amounts to $87.3 billion. This remains true for China’s heavy investment in the Middle East through the Belt and Road Initiative. China’s BRI investments have focused largely on the construction of ports and industrial parks in countries such as Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia, or the United Arab Emirates. One needs to know little about geography to observe that China’s investments center around secure and stable access to vital energy and trade chokepoints: the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal, etc.

by Hina Navin gulfnews.com — Rabih Bou Rached, a UAE-based Lebanese expat in his 40s, saw himself as an entrepreneur for as long as he can remember. But before setting off on a decades-long entrepreneurial journey, he recalls waiting on tables in his teenage years. But even though it was a low-paying job as a restaurant attendant, it gave him an influx of money because of how well he was tipped. After working in the Food and Beverage (F&B) industry, Bou Rached went on to set up a restaurant by age 21, equipped with the financial lessons he learnt.

“In my teens, I didn’t know how to save or invest my money and spent most of what I made on unnecessary expenses. Over time, I learned how to save and, more importantly, evaluate and decide what expenses were necessary,” said Bou Rached, who now runs a commercial drone service provider. His chance encounter with drones in 2013 became a light bulb moment for him when he realised the potential impact this technology could have in different industries. Since then, it has been his resolve to launch a drone-operated commercial service company in the UAE.

Gaining business experience before entrepreneurship

By Jagmeet Singh — techcrunch — WhatsApp has introduced a feature to undo the “Delete for Me” action to save you from being potentially embarrassed over accidentally deleting a message only for you that you wanted to pull for everyone on the app. The new feature, called “accidental delete,” brings a five-second window to let […]

This is an opinion article and does may not represent khazen.org opinion – 

By Jules Boykoff and Dave Zirin — The winner of the Qatar men’s World Cup is not Argentina, who won the greatest match in finals in history, or even the upstart semifinalist Morocco. It is neither the Golden Boot winner, the otherworldly Kylian Mbappe of France, nor the Golden Ball winner, the legendary Argentinian Lionel Messi. The champion is Qatar, and they didn’t have to win a match. The World Cup host country looks to have successfully—with the West’s full complicity—engaged in brazen sportswashing, earning plaudits and envy from authoritarians the world over.

2022 has unquestionably been the year of sportswashing. Political leaders, authoritarian and democratic alike, used sports mega-events to distract from their crimes and lies. Qatar executed its sportswash brilliantly, and despots—and those aspiring to be such tyrants—are noticing the dividends the country is reaping. The Western wannabe despots were on display as camera captured Elon Musk and seditious Trump-son-in-law Jared Kushner standing unsmiling in a luxury box with gulf state authoritarians. The sportswash, thanks to activists and campaigners across the globe, was not always smooth.

Patriarch Mar Beshara Boutros Al-Rahi condemned the assassination of the Irish soldier within the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), stressing that the time has come for the state to put its hands on all illegal weapons, according to the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar. He added, “We denounce such actions and condemn them in the […]

by arabnews.com — IAIN AKERMAN — DUBAI: She is the Arab world’s greatest living musical icon, but Fayrouz remains an enigma. She retains a sometimes-infuriating aura of mystery, rarely giving interviews and ardently protecting the privacy of her family. On stage she appears devoid of emotion — motionless and expressionless. Those characteristics have themselves become iconic, with Fayrouz’s striking but emotionless features adorning everything from handbags and posters to Beirut’s city walls. Born Nouhad Haddad in 1934, during the course of her career Fayrouz has recorded hundreds of songs, starred in dozens of musicals and movies, and toured the world. From 1957 onwards, when she first performed at the Baalbeck International Festival, she has become one of the Arab world’s most beloved singers. And in doing so she would unite her often-fractious homeland.

All Lebanese remember the first time they heard Fayrouz. For Tania Saleh, it was during a drive to Syria to escape the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War. She remembers one song in particular — “Roudani Ila Biladi” (Take Me Back To My Homeland). “That song really marked me,” says Saleh, a singer-songwriter and visual artist. “My mother was crying while she was driving and the song created this really intense emotional moment. And I remember thinking, ‘How can a song affect someone so much? It’s just a song.’ But it affected me, too, in a manner that I didn’t understand back then.”

Fayrouz remained in Lebanon for the entirety of the war and refused to take sides. Although she continued to sing in venues across the world, she did not perform in Lebanon until the conflict was over. This neutrality, and the patriotic nature of many of her songs, meant she was a rare symbol of national unity, with all sides listening to her music throughout the 15 years of civil war. She was, as Saleh says, an “emotional anchor for all Lebanese during the war,” regardless of religion or political beliefs. When she released “Li Beirut“ (arranged and adapted by her son Ziad Rahbani) in 1984, Fayrouz and Beirut became inseparable. More than ever she embodied the very essence of what it meant to be Lebanese.

by venturebeat.com — Peter Wayner — Machine perception is the capability of a computer to take in and process sensory information in a way that’s similar to how humans perceive the world. It may rely on sensors that mimic common human senses — sight, sound, touch, taste — as well as taking in information in ways that humans cannot. Sensing and processing information by a machine generally requires specialized hardware and software. It’s a multi-step process to take in and then convert or translate raw data into the overall scan and detailed selection of focus by which humans (and animals) perceive their world.

Perception is also the first stage in many of the artificial intelligence (AI) sensory models. The algorithms convert the data gathered from the world into a raw model of what is being perceived. The next stage is building a larger understanding of the perceived world, a stage sometimes called cognition. After that comes strategizing and choosing how to act. In some cases, the goal is not to make the machines think exactly like humans but just to think in similar ways. Many algorithms for medical diagnosis may provide better answers than humans because the computers have access to more precise images or data than humans can perceive. The goal is not to teach the AI algorithms to think exactly like the humans do, but to render useful insights into the disease that can help human doctors and nurses. That is to say, it is OK and sometimes even preferable for the machine to perceive differently than humans do.

Types of machine perception

• Here some types of machine perception, in varying stages of development:
• Machine or computer vision via optical camera
• Machine hearing (computer audition) via microphone
• Machine touch via tactile sensor Machine smell (olfactory) via electronic nose
• Machine taste via electronic tongue
• 3D imaging or scanning via LiDAR sensor or scanner
• Motion detection via accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer or fusion sensor’
• Thermal imaging or object detection via infrared scanner
  

by Conor Gallagher — irishtimes.com — Irish officials have little faith in the Lebanese investigation into the murder of Private Seán Rooney amid indications the soldier was killed in a targeted gun attack. There are also increasing suspicions about Hizbullah’s denial of involvement in the attack which occurred against a backdrop of heightened tensions between Unifil forces (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) and the militant group. Preliminary investigations show that the shot which killed Pte Rooney was fired through a rear window or through an open rear door. The glass in some of the rear windows was either removed by the attackers or came out when the vehicle crashed while trying to escape the violent crowd which surrounded it. The firing of the bullet from the rear of the vehicle through a broken window or open door indicates Pte Rooney’s death was of a targeted nature, rather than the result of a haphazard spray of bullets, a defence source said.

At least five shell casings have been recovered. They are believed to come from an assault rifle-style weapon. The armoured vehicle carrying the soldiers was carrying out a routine journey from the Unifil area of operations to Beirut airport late on Wednesday night when it became separated from its accompanying vehicle and left the approved route. It entered the coastal village of Al-Aqbieh, where it encountered a group of locals who had been watching the World Cup match between France and Morocco. The villagers became angry at the presence of the UN vehicle. They formed a blockade around it and started to attack it.

By ZAIRA LAKHPATWALA — arabnews.com — DUBAI: Shuruq is the latest platform to shine a light on musical talent from the Arab world and beyond. Launched by Lebanese cultural space Station Beirut and partners, Shuruq’s latest endeavor is the first season of “Shuruq Sessions.” Hosted on YouTube, “Shuruq Sessions” is a series of music videos by Beirut-based artists recorded at the Station Beirut space in the city. The first season features artists such as Zef; trio Adib, Yassine and El Khazen; El Rass; Clara Kossaifi, and the band Taxi404. Station Beirut, which was launched in 2013, has served as an art and cultural center for both the public and private sectors with a “curatorial focus on special practices that invite critical thinking and civic engagement,” Nabil Canaan, creative director and producer of Shuruq, told Arab News. The space has played host to several theater programs, live concerts and visual arts exhibitions over the years. Its next endeavor was in the world of music. Shuruq was officially launched last month at an event featuring artists like Sarah Mansour, Kye Akoun and the band Yalla Yalla Habibi Habibi. But the platform has been in the works since 2019. “Over time, it became clear that although there’s a lot of creativity in Lebanon and the region, everything is built on shaky foundations,” Canaan said. “So, in 2019, we designed a program that would address and focus on music and called it ‘Shuruq,’” he added.

The name “shuruq,” which means dawn or sunrise in Arabic, was one of several options but it struck a chord with the team due to its metaphorical implications, Canaan said. It was perhaps an obvious metaphor for emerging talent, but it also signified new beginnings, which was especially meaningful at a time when the world was plagued with the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the many crises in Lebanon, he added. Shuruq is built on three pillars: Capacity building and training, content creation and live events. The platform partnered with UK-based knowledge and skills company Music Ally to hold training sessions for 30 people including 20 artists and 10 music managers. Live events were difficult to host during the pandemic, so the company focused on content creation, resulting in the first season of “Shuruq Sessions.”