Beshara | The National

Welcome to The National's weekly newsletter Beshara, where we share the most positive stories of the week. Each of us has dates that instantly became cemented in our minds – for good or for bad. Wedding anniversaries, the births of our children, the loss of a loved one, or the major events that are marked on our collective memories for ever more. This week, we had one such anniversary, which has had an indescribable impact on millions of people and, heartbreakingly, continues to do so in ever-worse ways. Apologies for the not-so-Beshara start here, but it's difficult to reflect on the week’s news without acknowledging that painful date, October 7 , 2023, and the 12 months since. It has made me wonder why we mark milestones and about the good, if any, that can come of them. The date can train our focus and attention on what's important, rallying action and renewing determination for better outcomes. It can be a landmark for the lessons learnt – a time to reflect, mark progress, or find peace. While the world still awaits this moment for the Middle East, we must hope that the global focus on the region this week – from world leaders, the media, NGOs, and us – will bolster the ever-louder and never-more-desperately needed call for change. Now back to the newsletter. There were other annual events and awareness campaigns happening this week that show us exactly why we mark and measure time in this way. October is breast cancer awareness month and it's also when we learn about the incredible finalists of the yearly Zayed Sustainability Prize – so below I have some very positive stories that will restore at least some of your faith in benchmarking the passage of time. Best wishes always, Nicola PS You’ll also meet some amazing women in this week’s issue – from the all-female rescue team to the Gazan business leader who is smashing it in tech, despite the war around her. “The idea is to relieve suffering for all cancer patients around the world,” Farah Benyettou told Nick Webster this week, as she explained the potential impact of a new form of treatment being developed by a team at New York University Abu Dhabi. Using nanotechnology, the novel method offers new hope for treating triple-negative breast cancer, which tends to grow and spread faster and typically has a worse prognosis. The research looked at how microscopic nanoparticles, which are 10,000 times smaller than a human hair, could be loaded with drugs to specifically target cancer cells without impacting white blood cells as traditional chemotherapy does. “Our goal is personalised medicine, so each patient has their own specific treatment,” Ms Benyettou, a research scientist on the team said. The targeted treatment also means lower doses and a higher impact in tumours where more of the drug accumulates. Read more here , and head to the highlights at the end of this newsletter to learn about a new AI-powered blood test that could detect 12 early-stage cancers at once. – First Corporal Marwa Mosa is a member of the first all-women land rescue team in the UAE – learn more about their work here It’s that time of year again – when we get to learn about the incredible sustainability efforts of people from across the globe. This year the Zayed Sustainability Prize received a 15 per cent increase in submissions from last year. The judging panel had the difficult task of choosing 33 finalists from a record 5,980 submissions. This is a remarkable indication of the growing number of people who are dedicating their time and lives to helping our planet. Since they launched, the awards have named 117 winners and between them, they have helped 11.35 million people gain access to clean drinking water, 3.6 million people access more nutritious food and more than 740,000 people access affordable health care. They have also ensured that 54 million homes have more reliable energy sources. Each winner of the categories, which span health, food, energy, water and climate action, will receive $1 million in prize money, while six winning high schools get $150,000. See the full list of finalists and learn more about the awards ceremony, here . This week Hindus marked Navratri, the Shinto festival was celebrated in Japan and it is Northern Lights season, but this year the aurora borealis were enjoyed far, far from the Arctic Circle. You can see these captivating moments and much more in this week's Beshara photo gallery.