Al-Fanar Media English

17/07/2025

The current war in Gaza is being fought through competing narratives as well as weapons, speakers at a recent Al-Fanar Media talk on “Media Literacy and Fact Checking during Wartime” said.

Fatima Bani Ahmed, a fact checker and editor at the Arab Fact Checkers Network, and other experts and academics who took part in the panel discussion (in Arabic) said the recent conflicts in the Middle East had seen an unprecedented rise in the spread of false and misleading information on various types of media.

Read more: https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2025/07/gaza-war-being-fought-through-conflicting-narratives-as-well-as-weapons/

13/07/2025

Ibrahim Elkholy, a 30-year-old Egyptian student with Down’s syndrome, has added a new achievement to his string of personal triumphs: earning a master’s degree in media at the Canadian International College in Egypt.

Reem Adel, the faculty member who supervised Elkholy’s research, praised his perseverance. His thesis, on media coverage of disability-related issues in Egypt, was not merely the work of “a differently abled researcher”, she said, but that of a distinguished one.

Before embarking on his master’s degree, Elkholy graduated with honours and a bachelor’s degree in media from the Canadian International College in Egypt, then worked as a teaching assistant there.

During those years, he also displayed his determination by excelling in sports. He became a world champion in tennis at the 2024 Virtus World Tennis Championships for athletes with an intellectual impairment, where he won a bronze medal.

Read more: https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2025/07/egyptian-student-with-downs-syndrome-earns-masters-degree/

CIC - Canadian International College

08/07/2025

«The recent conference of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences was for me an eye-opening experience of how interdisciplinary gatherings can provide a space where all can speak freely, without fear of judgement, and where better science for all humanity can emerge.

Research in the past has been siloed. Each group of scientists work in their ivory silos on particular issues and rarely do they cross over to see what is happening outside in other siloes. I am not talking about interaction between the basic sciences—that is happening. I am talking about interdisciplinary, exploratory ventures between basic sciences and social sciences.

Recently the International Science Council gathered both under one umbrella. But there is still a long way to go. Why is this important and relevant today more than ever? The categorisation of science may have helped understand nature in the past, but now it poses limits on how we understand the world».

Read Dr. Rana Dajani's Op-Ed: https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2025/07/how-a-conference-can-provide-a-space-where-better-science-for-all-can-emerge/

Rana Dajani رنا الدجاني Arab Council for the Social Sciences

05/07/2025

Academic freedom is often considered a measure of the democratic pulse of a nation. However, incidents of threats to academic freedom appear to be on the rise in democratic countries recently, notably in the United States, where the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has taken numerous actions affecting individual scholars and universities in general.

Is academic freedom increasingly threatened in democratic countries too? Al-Fanar Media posed that question in an interview with Robert Quinn, founding executive director of the global network Scholars at Risk (SAR).

Read the full interview: https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2025/07/sars-robert-quinn-on-hastening-decline-of-academic-freedom-in-u-s/

Scholars at Risk

04/07/2025

Umm Al-Qura University’s English Language Institute has signed an agreement with Cambridge University Press & Assessment to work together to enhance English language education in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.

The agreement aims to integrate globally recognised materials and assessments while supporting research and professional development for faculty and staff. University officials and Cambridge representatives emphasised the importance of the partnership in equipping students with the skills needed to succeed in academic and global settings. The collaboration is expected to drive innovation in English language teaching and strengthen Saudi Arabia’s efforts to raise educational standards and global competitiveness.

Sahar M. Alzahrani, dean of the English Language Institute at Umm Al Qura, said: “This collaboration is designed to foster the development of education and provide staff with professional development, and to increase faculty research output in the field of English.”

Natasha Arain, commercial director at Cambridge University Press and Assessment, said the partnership reflects a shared vision of advancing English language proficiency across Saudi Arabia. “By leveraging Cambridge’s world-leading learning materials and assessment solutions, we aim to contribute meaningfully to the kingdom’s Vision 2030 by equipping learners and educators with the skills needed for success in a global context.”

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is a nonteaching division of the University of Cambridge that offers English language proficiency exams, study materials, and teaching resources.

02/07/2025

In a recent Al-Fanar Media Talk, leaders of executive education programmes at two Arab universities discussed why life-long skills learning is essential in today’s fast-changing business world.

As universities and businesses struggle to keep pace with the rapidly evolving demands of the labour market, the need for continuous learning, upskilling and reskilling has never been more urgent, according to Anna Schebsdat, head of executive education at Heriot-Watt University Dubai, and Mohamed AbdelSalam, executive director of the executive education programme at the Onsi Sawiris School of Business at the American University in Cairo.

Read more: https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2025/06/executive-education-at-arab-universities-serves-need-for-lifelong-learning/

02/07/2025

With Lebanon having faced financial collapse, war and displacement, the country’s minister of education does not tell young people “Don’t go!” Instead, she urges them, “Don’t abandon the country.”

Rima Karami, who took office as Lebanon’s minister of education and higher education in February, says even Lebanese who leave the country support it from abroad. “This is what actually happens,” she said in an interview with Al-Fanar Media. “During crises, the country has relied heavily on its diaspora—its children abroad who continue to support and stay connected, their love enduring despite the distance.”

Read more: https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2025/06/dont-abandon-the-country-lebanese-education-minister-urges-young-people/

02/07/2025

Through a visionary graduation project, students in the Environmental Architecture and Urbanism (ENVR) programme at Ain Shams University are helping reshape Egypt’s first Islamic capital into a sustainable urban oasis for Cairo.

Their contributions to national efforts to revitalise the historic Al-Fustat area of Cairo demonstrate how academia can link with real-world design projects, allowing students to apply theoretical knowledge to pressing urban issues while proposing innovative and community-responsive solutions.

Read more: https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2025/07/how-student-vision-is-helping-reshape-egypts-first-islamic-capital/

24/06/2025

22/06/2025

AI-powered tools can automate grading, provide real-time feedback, and generate adaptive assessments based on students’ progress. These technologies can enhance assessment practices by making them more efficient and tailored to individual learning needs. However, they also raise concerns about academic integrity, the depersonalisation of education, and the risk of students becoming overly reliant on AI-generated content rather than engaging in deep learning.

Read more: https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2025/06/ai-and-educational-assessment-a-paradigm-shift-in-learning-evaluation/

21/06/2025

The third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) ended in Nice, France, last week with delegates from more than 170 countries saying their goal was to protect 30 percent of the world’s oceans by 2030.

The goal is part of a political declaration the delegates adopted, committing to urgent action to conserve and sustainably use the world’s oceans. The previous target, to protect 10 percent of the ocean by 2020, was not met.

The summit, which was co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, brought together over 15,000 participants from around the world, including 60 heads of state and government, as well as scientists, activists, and civil society organisations.

Read more: https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2025/06/u-n-ocean-conference-wants-to-protect-30-of-worlds-oceans-by-2030/