An Iraq-born computer engineer has been knighted in the New Year Honours list, appearing alongside London mayor Sadiq Khan, senior Labour MP Emily Thornberry and actor and writer Stephen Fry.
Professor Sir Bashir Al-Hashimi was recognised for services to engineering and education.
Born in Baghdad in 1961, Sir Bashir played a prominent role in the development of battery-free computing, including the Internet of Things. He previously received a CBE in 2018 for his services to engineering and industry, calling the recognition at the time an honour and testament to the efforts of the “great many colleagues” he had worked with over the years in an interview with The Muslim News.
In May 2023, he became a fellow of the Royal Society and was elected to the fellowship of the European Academy of Science and Arts. He previously received the Faraday Medal from the UK Institution of Engineering and Technology, and recently completed a three-year term as a Royal Academy of Engineering Board Trustee.
He is currently Vice President for Research and Innovation at King’s College London.
More than 1,200 people from across the UK received honours in the latest list. Women make up 49 per cent of those honoured, with 12 per cent of recipients from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Sir Sadiq, 54, was honoured for political and public service, having been the capital's Labour mayor since 2016. Born in Tooting, he worked as a human rights lawyer before entering Parliament as MP for his hometown in 2005, serving as a junior minister under Gordon Brown and then as shadow justice secretary under Ed Miliband.
In 2016, he defeated Conservative Zac Goldsmith to succeed Boris Johnson as mayor of London, becoming the first Muslim mayor of a major western city and going on to win two further terms.
His tenure has at times proved controversial and a petition started by a Conservative councillor opposing his knighthood has had more than 200,000 signatures since December 5.
The London mayor has taken a firm stance on making London a greener and less polluted place to live, and his ultra low emission zone (Ulez) expansion has split opinion. He has also pledged to clean up the Thames, planning to make the river swimmable within 10 years.
Sir Sadiq has faced scrutiny over his record on law and order, having regularly clashed with the Conservative former government, criticising ministers over police funding and for failing to promptly ban zombie knives. However, he was accused of not taking knife crime “seriously” earlier this year by Kemi Badenoch, then a cabinet minister.
He has worked on improving London's transport, introducing names and colours for London Overground railway lines in November.
“I am truly humbled to have received a knighthood in the King's New Year Honours,” he said. “I couldn't have dreamt when growing up on a council estate in south London that I would one day be mayor of London.
“It's the honour of my life to serve the city I love and I will continue to build the fairer, safer, greener and more prosperous London that all of the capital's communities deserve.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy congratulated Sir Sadiq, saying the mayor had “delivered free school meals for London's kids, cleaned up the city's polluted air and built record numbers of council homes”.
“I'm so proud that Britain is a place where you can go from being the son of a bus driver on a council estate to being the first Muslim in Cabinet, mayor of our great capital city and a knight of the realm,” Mr Lammy added.
Senior Labour MP Ms Thornberry has been made a dame. She has served as MP for Islington South since 2005 and, after her surprise exclusion from Keir Starmer's first cabinet after the election, now chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.
She said she was “both honoured and surprised” by her appointment. “I think of my grandmothers, neither of whom were even allowed to work as married women, and think how utterly delighted they'd be to see this,” she added.
Comedian, actor, writer and presenter Stephen Fry, 67, known for BBC comedy Blackadder and hosting quiz show QI, was recognised for services to mental health awareness, the environment and charity.
Since 2011, he has been president of mental health charity Mind and supported the conservation group Fauna and Flora International, of which the Prince of Wales is patron.
Sir Stephen said he felt “startled and enchanted” after receiving the letter informing him of the knighthood and that it was “wonderful” to see the charities get recognition.
“When you are recognised it does make you feel a bit 'crikey', but I think the most emotional thing is that when I think of my childhood, and my dreadful unhappiness and misery and stupidity, and everything that led to so many failures as a child,” he added.
“And for my parents, really, what a disaster. I mean every time the phone rang, they thought, 'Oh, God, what has Stephen done now.' It was a sort of joke in the family.”
The specs
Price, base / as tested Dh135,000
Engine 1.6L turbo
Gearbox Six speed automatic with manual and sports mode
Power 165hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 240Nm @ 1,400rpm 0-100kph: 9.2 seconds
Top speed 420 kph (governed)
Fuel economy, combined 35.2L / 100km (est)
FIGHT%20CARD
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The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
Winner: AF Al Moreeb, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
Winner: AF Makerah, Adrie de Vries, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap | Dh80,000 | 2,200m
Winner: Hazeme, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
6.30pm: Handicap | Dh85,000 | 2,200m
Winner: AF Yatroq, Brett Doyle, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Shadwell Farm for Private Owners Handicap | Dh70,000 | 2,200m
Winner: Nawwaf KB, Patrick Cosgrave, Helal Al Alawi
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) | Dh100,000 | 1,600m
Winner: Treasured Times, Bernardo Pinheiro, Rashed Bouresly
SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
Picture of Joumblatt and Hariri breaking bread sets Twitter alight
Mr Joumblatt’s pessimism regarding the Lebanese political situation didn’t stop him from enjoying a cheerful dinner on Tuesday with several politicians including Mr Hariri.
Caretaker Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury tweeted a picture of the group sitting around a table at a discrete fish restaurant in Beirut’s upscale Sodeco area.
Mr Joumblatt told The National that the fish served at Kelly’s Fish lounge had been very good.
“They really enjoyed their time”, remembers the restaurant owner. “Mr Hariri was taking selfies with everybody”.
Mr Hariri and Mr Joumblatt often have dinner together to discuss recent political developments.
Mr Joumblatt was a close ally of Mr Hariri’s assassinated father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri. The pair were leading figures in the political grouping against the 15-year Syrian occupation of Lebanon that ended after mass protests in 2005 in the wake of Rafik Hariri’s murder. After the younger Hariri took over his father’s mantle in 2004, the relationship with Mr Joumblatt endured.
However, the pair have not always been so close. In the run-up to the election last year, Messrs Hariri and Joumblatt went months without speaking over an argument regarding the new proportional electoral law to be used for the first time. Mr Joumblatt worried that a proportional system, which Mr Hariri backed, would see the influence of his small sect diminished.
With so much of Lebanese politics agreed in late-night meetings behind closed doors, the media and pundits put significant weight on how regularly, where and with who senior politicians meet.
In the picture, alongside Messrs Khoury and Hariri were Mr Joumbatt and his wife Nora, PSP politician Wael Abou Faour and Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon Nazih el Nagari.
The picture of the dinner led to a flurry of excitement on Twitter that it signified an imminent government formation. “God willing, white smoke will rise soon and Walid Beik [a nickname for Walid Joumblatt] will accept to give up the minister of industry”, one user replied to the tweet. “Blessings to you…We would like you to form a cabinet”, wrote another.
The next few days will be crucial in determining whether these wishes come true.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
TEST SQUADS
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
How to tell if your child is being bullied at school
Sudden change in behaviour or displays higher levels of stress or anxiety
Shows signs of depression or isolation
Ability to sleep well diminishes
Academic performance begins to deteriorate
Changes in eating habits
Struggles to concentrate
Refuses to go to school
Behaviour changes and is aggressive towards siblings
Begins to use language they do not normally use
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Friday’s fixture
6.15pm: Al Wahda v Hatta
6.15pm: Al Dhafra v Ajman
9pm: Al Wasl v Baniyas
9pm: Fujairah v Sharjah
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Army of the Dead
Director: Zack Snyder
Stars: Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera
Three stars
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
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PFA Team of the Year: David de Gea, Kyle Walker, Jan Vertonghen, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcos Alonso, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Sergio Aguero
Avengers: Endgame
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin
4/5 stars