BEIRUT: A Syrian girl, whose tweets from war-torn Aleppo captured a worldwide audience, has written a harrowing memoir of life under siege, recalling her terror of daily bombardments and her sorrow at being kept out of class.

In “Dear World”, to be published on Tuesday, eight-year-old Bana Alabed, who now lives in Turkey, delivers an unadulterated account of war through the eyes of a child.

She writes vividly about the death of her best friend and neighbour Yasmin, killed when a bomb fell near her house.

“Then one of the men lifted a body out of the rocks, and there was more screaming from Yasmin’s mum. It was Yasmin. She was floppy like she was asleep, and had a lot of blood and dust on her,” Bana writes in the book.

“I couldn’t move or breathe because I was so scared seeing my friend like that.”

Bana drew around 360,000 followers after she joined Twitter in September 2016 aged seven, documenting life in her embattled city through tweets and pictures from her @AlabedBana handle, an account managed by her mother Fatemah.

IS seizes town in central Syria

Bana drew the attention of some famous Tweeters, including “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling, who along with her agent sent the young girl e-books about the famous boy wizard.

But her tweets also sparked controversy after some critics questioned the legitimacy of the account and accused Fatemah of using her daughter for propaganda.

During a ceasefire last December, Bana and her family were evacuated from eastern Aleppo to Turkey, where they were greeted by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan at his palace.

“I am sad because the children in Syria they don’t have school, they aren’t learning anything. They (stay) in their house and are dying every day,” Bana told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview from the capital Ankara.

Bana is now in third grade after missing more than a year of school at the height of the bombardment of Aleppo. Her education was patchy even before that, due to the dangers posed by the civil war that erupted when she was a toddler.

“I can go to school now and I am not afraid. It’s not scary,” Bana said in a phone interview.

More than six years of conflict have forced an estimated 1.7 million children in Syria out of school, according to the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF.

Air strikes kill 28 civilians in Syria safe zone: monitor

In the book, Bana describes the moment a bomb fell near her house, and took her best friend.

“I didn’t cry when I heard the bomb, but I did cry later when Baba and Mummy decided that I couldn’t go to school anymore. It wasn’t safe because a bomb could fall on the school,” she writes.

The young author wants her book to spotlight the suffering of Syrian children who “deserve life”, she said – insisting on conducting the interview in English, first taught to her by her mother and among the subjects she is now studying at school.

Bana said she dreams of returning to Syria and becoming a teacher and doctor so she can both educate and treat children.

She also wants Syrian children to keep dreaming.

“I want to say to them: they should be strong and not lose their hope,” she said.

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Source: Tribune News
Original Post: Syrian girl, who tweeted from Aleppo, documents horrors in new memoir

Days after the landmark Royal decree granting women the licence to drive, speculations have increased about the probability of opening cinema halls in the kingdom, Saudi Gazette reported on Monday.

Fahd al Tamimi, former chairman of the Saudi Cinema Committee, expects cinemas to be opened before the end of 2017.

He stressed that there is nothing in the Ministry of Culture and Information laws that prevent cinema halls.

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Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) Ahmed al Khateeb told Reuters in April that cinemas would come to Saudi Arabia eventually, but this will happen as per official measures that the Kingdom adopts when dealing with developmental projects.

“These measures take all demands, particularly the desires of the society which will benefit from these projects, into consideration,” he said.

He added that GEA’s approach is based on enabling the private sector to improve entertainment in a way that harmonises with Saudi values that depend on the tolerant teachings of Islam.

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The kingdom had some cinemas in the 1970s that are still banned. But concerts have started to be held this year.

The government has promised a shake-up of the cultural scene with a set of Vision 2030 reforms.

The government has commissioned the Boston Consulting Group to identify venues like parks and theaters for the kingdom to develop through a mix of government funding and private sector investment.

Film festival opens in cinema-less Saudi Arabia

Khateeb went on to say the GEA’s activities have created 20,000 jobs so far after only seven months, and can surpass targets set out last year in the Vision 2030. He predicts the share of Saudi spending on entertainment will triple to 8% or 9% by 2030.

The kingdom’s most ambitious leisure project to date is a giant entertainment city being planned for outside the capital Riyadh, which would aim to draw regional visitors with resorts, golf courses, car racing tracks and a Six Flags theme park.

“Our start is very encouraging. Every event is sold out,” Khateeb said.

He noted that 10,000 more people than could be accommodated showed up for Comic-Con, a comic book convention held in Jeddah in February. “The demand is massive. And it is normal – the demographic is young in Saudi Arabia and we have a higher disposable income than other countries.”

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Source: Tribune News
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England all-rounder Moeen Ali is expecting Australia’s fast-bowlers to try and unsettle him with short-pitched deliveries during the Ashes series later this year but the left-hander is confident he can survive the ordeal.

The elegant stroke-maker averages almost 35 from his 44 tests, often stitching together valuable partnerships lower down the order for England. But the 30-year-old, who also bowls off-spin, has been accused of possessing a batting technique that can be exposed by short-pitched bowling.

“It’s something I’ve been working on and I’m looking forward to it,” Moeen told reporters. “I feel when you get in, it’s a good place to bat. The ball doesn’t swing as much and hopefully whatever number I come in, I can express myself. I’m going to have to change a couple of things about the way I play but in terms of mindset, I’ll just go and do what I normally do.”

Moeen has been in sparkling form with both bat and ball this year, and was named man-of-the-series in England’s 4-0 home victory over West Indies in their recent one-day international series.

Moeen was confident he could turn the short-pitched bowling against him into an opportunity when the five-test series against Australia starts with the first match in Brisbane from Nov. 23.

“The good thing is I’ve played against them before and I don’t want to speak too early or too confident but I’ll make sure I’m ready for it,” Moeen said. “Hopefully they’ll get tired doing it (bowling the bouncer). But you get chances to score all the time with the short stuff and I’m going to work hard on that. I am very excited about it.”

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Source: Tribune News
Original Post: Bring them on: Moeen on short-pitched deliveries