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Red Sea Global Launches Red Sea Farm Cooperative to Transform Agricultural Economy in Tabuk

SPA
SPA
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Red Sea Global Launches Red Sea Farm Cooperative to Transform Agricultural Economy in Tabuk

SPA
SPA

Red Sea Global (RSG), the developer of the world's most ambitious regenerative projects, has announced the launch of the Red Sea Farms Cooperative (Tamala), which was established through integrated national partnerships between the government, private and non-profit sectors.

Tamala aims to develop a model entity that achieves the Kingdom's orientation to enhance the role of cooperatives in the agricultural sector system. Tamala's board of directors and general assembly consists of 29 members with experience in the agricultural sector and farmers from the local community in the Tabuk region.

Tamala was launched in partnership with Ithmaar Administrative Entrepreneurship Company, Goros Charitable Foundation, and several entities and people in the Red Sea region in the governorates of Al-Wajh, Umluj and Duba in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Based in Al-Wajh Governorate, Tamala aims to achieve a qualitative agricultural renaissance in the Tabuk region by developing the quality of agricultural products, providing agricultural extension and awareness services to shift to modern agricultural techniques, instead of traditional patterns. It also aims to provide agricultural inputs to farmers according to the latest standards, which contribute to improving agricultural production and farmers' quality of life, SPA reported.

Tamala is based on achieving an ambitious strategy that supports the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, which will be achieved by adding value to the agricultural sector in the Kingdom by providing and marketing agricultural crops on a large scale.

This contributes to achieving food security in the Kingdom by stabilizing food prices, supporting the rural development economy, and providing many production incentives and raw materials to more than 1,000 factories operating in the fields of food and beverages, which is equivalent to 14% of the number of factories in the Kingdom.

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Bloody Fingers Are Just Part of the Game in This Traditional German Sport 

Men try to pull the opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Pang, near Rosenheim, Germany, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP)
Men try to pull the opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Pang, near Rosenheim, Germany, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP)
TT
20
TT

Bloody Fingers Are Just Part of the Game in This Traditional German Sport 

Men try to pull the opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Pang, near Rosenheim, Germany, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP)
Men try to pull the opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Pang, near Rosenheim, Germany, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP)

Men in short leather pants and embroidered suspenders risked dislocated digits Sunday as they vied for the top prize at Germany's championship in the sport of fingerhakeln, or finger wrestling.

Around 180 competitors took part in Sunday’s 64th German championship in Pang, about an hour’s drive southwest of Munich.

It's thought that finger wrestling, popular in Germany’s Alpine region and neighboring Austria, originated as a way to settle disputes. The earliest depictions of the sport go back to the 19th century. Participants on Sunday wore the traditional Bavarian dress known as tracht.

Two competitors sit on opposite sides of a table and each hooks one finger — usually the middle finger — through a small leather loop. As soon as a referee signals the start, each contestant tries to pull the other across the table swiftly. The whole thing usually lasts a few seconds, and dislocated fingers are common.

Special attendants sit behind each athlete to catch them should one of them suddenly lose his grip and fly backwards. The winner moves to the next round. By custom, only men take part.

Today fingerhakeln is highly organized and follows strict rules starting with exactly defined measurements for both the table and the leather loop. In Sunday's championship, there were several winners in different weight and age categories.

There are nine clubs in Germany and another four in neighboring Austria, says Georg Hailer, chairman of Germany's oldest and biggest club, Fingerhakler Schlierachgau.

“It’s not dangerous at all,” Hailer said. “Of course, there will be open wounds and small injuries on the fingers from time to time. It looks worse than it really is, because there’s blood.”

It's not just brute force but skill too, said Maximilian Woelfl, a wrestler from the Bavarian town of Laufach.

“There are different techniques — how do I sit at the table?” he said. “How do I transfer my power as quickly as possible to the loop? And of course you need a well-trained finger.”

Competitors warm up by hoisting heavy blocks or pulling on cables with their competition finger.

Later this summer, the Bavarian championships in Mittenwald will once again demand all the strength that the athletes can muster — and perhaps a few patches of skin.