Fahd bin Hassan Al Aqran Elected President of Federation of Arab News Agencies

SPA Director Dr. Fahd bin Hassan Al Aqran, was unanimously elected President of the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA). (SPA)
SPA Director Dr. Fahd bin Hassan Al Aqran, was unanimously elected President of the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA). (SPA)
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Fahd bin Hassan Al Aqran Elected President of Federation of Arab News Agencies

SPA Director Dr. Fahd bin Hassan Al Aqran, was unanimously elected President of the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA). (SPA)
SPA Director Dr. Fahd bin Hassan Al Aqran, was unanimously elected President of the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA). (SPA)

The director of the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Dr. Fahd bin Hassan Al Aqran, was unanimously elected President of the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA).

Aqran was elected to his two-year term during the 48th Conference of FANA’s General Assembly, which is currently being hosted by the SPA in Riyadh.

Aqran said he was proud of the confidence in him shown by the presidents and directors of FANA member agencies, promising to move forward on the concerted efforts to develop the Federation’s role in serving the work of Arab media and strengthening its international presence.

He stressed that the SPA’s assumption of the presidency of the FANA reflects, firstly, the substantial role played by the Saudi Press Agency, as well as the development seen in Saudi media with the support and follow-up of Acting Minister of Media Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, who has been working to strengthen the Kingdom’s standing at the regional and international levels.

He indicated that the Federation’s responsibilities have been increasing amid an acceleration of media’s development and the increased pace of changes, which aim to maintain gains and contribute to the efforts to overcome these challenges within the framework of the Federation’s founding objectives.

Aqran also praised the efforts of the Director-General and Editor-in-Chief of the Oman News Agency, Ibrahim bin Zahran Al-Azri, during his presidency of the Federation.



Palestinian Pottery Sees Revival in War-Ravaged Gaza

Displaced Palestinians walk past a wind and rain-damaged tent, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians walk past a wind and rain-damaged tent, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Palestinian Pottery Sees Revival in War-Ravaged Gaza

Displaced Palestinians walk past a wind and rain-damaged tent, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians walk past a wind and rain-damaged tent, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Traditional clay pottery is seeing a resurgence in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinians are forced to find solutions for a shortage of plates and other crockery to eat from in the territory ravaged by more than a year of war.

"There is an unprecedented demand for plates as no supplies enter the Gaza Strip," 26-year-old potter Jafar Atallah said in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah.

The vast majority of the Palestinian territory's 2.4 million people have been displaced, often multiple times, by the war that began with Hamas's attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Fleeing bombs amid Israel's devastating retaliatory military offensive, which has destroyed large amounts of civilian infrastructure, everyday items like cups and bowls have often been lost, broken or left behind to perish.

With imports made increasingly difficult by Israeli restrictions and the dangers of delivering aid, Gazans have had to find resourceful ways to meet their needs since the war began.

- Bare-bones -

To keep up with demand, Atallah works non-stop, producing around 100 pieces a day, mainly bowls and cups, a stark contrast to the 1,500 units his factory in northern Gaza made before the war.

It is one of the numerous factories in Gaza to have shut down, with many destroyed during air strikes, inaccessible because of the fighting, or unable to operate because of materials and electricity shortages.

Today, Atallah works out of a bare-bones workshop set up under a thin blue plastic sheet.

He carefully shapes the clay into much-needed crockery, then leaves his terracotta creations to dry in the sun -- one of the few things Gaza still has plenty of.

Each object is sold for 10 shekels, the equivalent of $2.70 -- nearly five times what it was worth before the war led to widespread shortages and sent prices soaring.

Gazans have told AFP they are struggling to find all types of basic household goods.

"After 13 months of war, I went to the market to buy plates and cutlery, and all I could find was this clay pot," said Lora al-Turk, a 40-year-old mother living in a makeshift shelter in Nuseirat, a few kilometers (miles) from Deir al-Balah.

"I was forced to buy it to feed my children," she said, noting that the pot's price was now more than double what it was before the war.

- Old ways -

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 44,176 people, most of them civilians, according to data from Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.

Following each Israeli army evacuation order, which generally precedes fighting and bombing, masses of people take to the roads, often on foot, carrying whatever they can manage.

But with each passing month and increasing waves of displacement, the loads they carry grow smaller.

Many Gazans now live in tents or other makeshift shelters, and some even on bare pavement.

The United Nations has warned about the threat of diseases in the often cramped and unsanitary conditions.

But for Gazans, finding inventive ways to cope with hardship is nothing new.

In this, the worst-ever Gaza war, people are using broken concrete from war-damaged buildings to build makeshift homes. With fuel and even firewood scarce, many rely on donkeys for transport. Century-old camping stoves are reconditioned and used for cooking.

Traditional pottery is another sign of a return to the old ways of living.