Latest news with #Najwa
What's On
08-08-2025
- Entertainment
- What's On
Najwa Karam is performing at Dubai Opera this September
Here's one for the calendar: Najwa Karam, one of the Arab world's most beloved voices, is heading to Dubai Opera this September for a concert that will fill the hall with echoes of tradition and emotion. If you've been missing those nights when everything stops for music, this is the one, a show sure to stir nostalgia for anyone who grew up with her songs on repeat. Who is Najwa Karam? Known as the 'Sun of Arabic Song,' Najwa has been a defining figure in Lebanese music since the 1990s. Her powerful mezzo-soprano, her blend of local rhythms with modern pop, and her magnetic stage presence have earned her a devoted global following, and a spot as a judge on six seasons of Arabs Got Talent. Her signature sound There's weight in her voice, warmth in her melodies. Najwa combines folk instruments, poetic lyrics, and heartfelt delivery with modern arrangements that feel raw. Whether she's singing something slow and intimate or a crowd-pleasing anthem, she connects the moment directly to your heart. The venue Dubai Opera is built for nights like this: its dhow-inspired design, plush acoustics, and crystal-clear sightlines make it one of the few venues where a voice like Najwa's truly comes alive. Plus, its place in Downtown's skyline adds a quiet kind of glamour that only moments like this bring to the city. The details Location: Dubai Opera, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Blvd, Downtown Dubai Date & time: Tuesday, September 30, at 9pm Cost: Dhs 295 to Dhs1,995 Tickets: Tickets are available to purchase via Contact: (0)4 440 8888 | @dubaiopera More big names If you're planning your concert calendar, the UAE is stacked: Lil Baby is performing on October 18, Enrique Iglesias on November 1, Elissa on November 3, Elyanna on December 5, and Katy Perry on December 7. > Sign up for FREE to get exclusive updates that you are interested in
Asharq Al-Awsat
07-08-2025
- Health
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Gaza Father Grieving Loss of Child to Malnutrition Scrambles to Save Siblings
Ibrahim al-Najjar said he lost his five-year-old son Naim to malnutrition that is ravaging Gaza. One year later, he is still grieving while scrambling to make sure his other children don't suffer the same fate. "This child will follow him," the Palestinian former taxi driver said, pointing to his 10-year-old son Farah. "For about a month he's been falling unconscious. This child was once double the size he is now." Najjar, 43, held up a medical certificate that shows Naim died on March 28, 2024. The whole family has been displaced by nearly two years of Israeli air strikes. The Najjars had been used to eating three meals a day before the war broke out in October 2023 - after Hamas-led Palestinian militants attacked Israel - but now they can only dream of even simple foods such as bread, rice, fruit and vegetables. Naim's brother Adnan, 20, focuses on taking care of his other brothers, rising every morning at 5:30 a.m. to wend his way gingerly through Gaza's mountains of rubble to find a soup kitchen as war rages nearby. "I swear I don't have salt at home, I swear I beg for a grain of salt," said Naim's mother Najwa, 40. "People talk about Gaza, Gaza, Gaza. Come see the children of Gaza. Those who do not believe, come see how Gaza's children are dying. We are not living, we are dying slowly," she said. Five more people died of malnutrition and starvation in the Gaza Strip in the previous 24 hours, the enclave's health ministry said on Wednesday, raising the number of deaths from such causes to at least 193 Palestinians, including 96 children, since the war began. FAMINE SCENARIO A global hunger monitor has said a famine scenario is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with starvation spreading, children under five dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access to the embattled enclave severely restricted. And the warnings about starvation and malnutrition from aid agencies keep coming. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said food consumption across Gaza has declined to its lowest level since the onset of the war. Eighty-one percent of households in the tiny, crowded coastal territory of 2.2 million people reported poor food consumption, up from 33 percent in April. "Nearly nine out of ten households resorted to extremely severe coping mechanisms to feed themselves, such as taking significant safety risks to obtain food, and scavenging from the garbage," OCHA said in a statement. Even when Palestinians are not too weak to access aid collection points, they are vulnerable to injury or death in the crush to secure food. Between June and July the number of admissions for malnutrition almost doubled - from 6,344 to 11,877 - according to the latest UNICEF figures available. Meanwhile there is no sign of a ceasefire on the horizon, although Israel's military chief has pushed back against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to seize areas of Gaza it doesn't already control, three Israeli officials said. Netanyahu has vowed no end to the war until the annihilation of Hamas, which killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in its Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's military response has killed over 60,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities, and turned Gaza, one of the world's most densely populated areas, into a sea of ruins, with many feared buried underneath. 'THE SHADOW OF DEATH' Holding her emaciated baby Ammar who, she said, is wasting away from malnutrition, Amira Muteir, 32, pleaded with the world to come to the rescue. "The shadow of death is threatening him, because of hunger," she said, adding that he endures 15 or 20 days a month with no milk so she waits hours at a hospital for fortified solution. Sometimes he has to drink polluted liquids because of a shortage of clean water, she said. Muteir and her children and husband rely on a charity soup kitchen that helps them with one small plate of food per day to try and survive. "We eat it throughout the day and until the following day we eat nothing else," she said.
Arab News
07-08-2025
- Health
- Arab News
Gaza father grieving loss of child to malnutrition scrambles to save siblings
GAZA: Ibrahim Al-Najjar said he lost his five-year-old son Naim to malnutrition that is ravaging Gaza. One year later, he is still grieving while scrambling to make sure his other children don't suffer the same fate. 'This child will follow him,' the Palestinian former taxi driver said, pointing to his 10-year-old son Farah. 'For about a month he's been falling unconscious. This child was once double the size he is now.' Najjar, 43, held up a medical certificate that shows Naim died on March 28, 2024. The whole family has been displaced by nearly two years of Israeli air strikes. The Najjars had been used to eating three meals a day before the war broke out in October 2023 — after Hamas-led Palestinian militants attacked Israel — but now they can only dream of even simple foods such as bread, rice, fruit and vegetables. Naim's brother Adnan, 20, focuses on taking care of his other brothers, rising every morning at 5:30 a.m. to wend his way gingerly through Gaza's mountains of rubble to find a soup kitchen as war rages nearby. 'I swear I don't have salt at home, I swear I beg for a grain of salt,' said Naim's mother Najwa, 40. 'People talk about Gaza, Gaza, Gaza. Come see the children of Gaza. Those who do not believe, come see how Gaza's children are dying. We are not living, we are dying slowly,' she said. Five more people died of malnutrition and starvation in the Gaza Strip in the previous 24 hours, the enclave's health ministry said on Wednesday, raising the number of deaths from such causes to at least 193 Palestinians, including 96 children, since the war began. FAMINE SCENARIO A global hunger monitor has said a famine scenario is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with starvation spreading, children under five dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access to the embattled enclave severely restricted. And the warnings about starvation and malnutrition from aid agencies keep coming. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said food consumption across Gaza has declined to its lowest level since the onset of the war. Eighty-one percent of households in the tiny, crowded coastal territory of 2.2 million people reported poor food consumption, up from 33 percent in April. 'Nearly nine out of ten households resorted to extremely severe coping mechanisms to feed themselves, such as taking significant safety risks to obtain food, and scavenging from the garbage,' OCHA said in a statement. Even when Palestinians are not too weak to access aid collection points, they are vulnerable to injury or death in the crush to secure food. Between June and July the number of admissions for malnutrition almost doubled — from 6,344 to 11,877 — according to the latest UNICEF figures available. Meanwhile there is no sign of a ceasefire on the horizon, although Israel's military chief has pushed back against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to seize areas of Gaza it doesn't already control, three Israeli officials said. Netanyahu has vowed no end to the war until the annihilation of Hamas, which killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in its Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's military response has killed over 60,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities, and turned Gaza, one of the world's most densely populated areas, into a sea of ruins, with many feared buried underneath. 'THE SHADOW OF DEATH' Holding her emaciated baby Ammar who, she said, is wasting away from malnutrition, Amira Muteir, 32, pleaded with the world to come to the rescue. 'The shadow of death is threatening him, because of hunger,' she said, adding that he endures 15 or 20 days a month with no milk so she waits hours at a hospital for fortified solution. Sometimes he has to drink polluted liquids because of a shortage of clean water, she said. Muteir and her children and husband rely on a charity soup kitchen that helps them with one small plate of food per day to try and survive. 'We eat it throughout the day and until the following day we eat nothing else,' she said.
Reuters
07-08-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Gaza father grieving loss of child to malnutrition scrambles to save siblings
GAZA, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Ibrahim al-Najjar said he lost his five-year-old son Naim to malnutrition that is ravaging Gaza. One year later, he is still grieving while scrambling to make sure his other children don't suffer the same fate. "This child will follow him," the Palestinian former taxi driver said, pointing to his 10-year-old son Farah. "For about a month he's been falling unconscious. This child was once double the size he is now." Najjar, 43, held up a medical certificate that shows Naim died on March 28, 2024. The whole family has been displaced by nearly two years of Israeli air strikes. The Najjars had been used to eating three meals a day before the war broke out in October 2023 - after Hamas-led Palestinian militants attacked Israel - but now they can only dream of even simple foods such as bread, rice, fruit and vegetables. Naim's brother Adnan, 20, focuses on taking care of his other brothers, rising every morning at 5:30 a.m. to wend his way gingerly through Gaza's mountains of rubble to find a soup kitchen as war rages nearby. "I swear I don't have salt at home, I swear I beg for a grain of salt," said Naim's mother Najwa, 40. "People talk about Gaza, Gaza, Gaza. Come see the children of Gaza. Those who do not believe, come see how Gaza's children are dying. We are not living, we are dying slowly," she said. Five more people died of malnutrition and starvation in the Gaza Strip in the previous 24 hours, the enclave's health ministry said on Wednesday, raising the number of deaths from such causes to at least 193 Palestinians, including 96 children, since the war began. A global hunger monitor has said a famine scenario is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with starvation spreading, children under five dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access to the embattled enclave severely restricted. And the warnings about starvation and malnutrition from aid agencies keep coming. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said food consumption across Gaza has declined to its lowest level since the onset of the war. Eighty-one percent of households in the tiny, crowded coastal territory of 2.2 million people reported poor food consumption, up from 33 percent in April. "Nearly nine out of ten households resorted to extremely severe coping mechanisms to feed themselves, such as taking significant safety risks to obtain food, and scavenging from the garbage," OCHA said in a statement. Even when Palestinians are not too weak to access aid collection points, they are vulnerable to injury or death in the crush to secure food. Between June and July the number of admissions for malnutrition almost doubled - from 6,344 to 11,877 - according to the latest UNICEF figures available. Meanwhile there is no sign of a ceasefire on the horizon, although Israel's military chief has pushed back against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to seize areas of Gaza it doesn't already control, three Israeli officials said. Netanyahu has vowed no end to the war until the annihilation of Hamas, which killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in its Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's military response has killed over 60,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities, and turned Gaza, one of the world's most densely populated areas, into a sea of ruins, with many feared buried underneath. Holding her emaciated baby Ammar who, she said, is wasting away from malnutrition, Amira Muteir, 32, pleaded with the world to come to the rescue. "The shadow of death is threatening him, because of hunger," she said, adding that he endures 15 or 20 days a month with no milk so she waits hours at a hospital for fortified solution. Sometimes he has to drink polluted liquids because of a shortage of clean water, she said. Muteir and her children and husband rely on a charity soup kitchen that helps them with one small plate of food per day to try and survive. "We eat it throughout the day and until the following day we eat nothing else," she said.
Jordan News
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Jordan News
"The Sun of Lebanese Song" Ignites the Roman Theater with Her Majestic Voice - Jordan News
With her commanding presence and authentic mountain-born voice, the Sun of Lebanese Song, Najwa Karam, took the stage before an eager audience that had long awaited her return—proving that she is not just a singer, but a timeless artistic phenomenon that defies generations. اضافة اعلان In a night charged with emotion and creativity, Karam delivered a blend of her timeless hits and new songs, met with overwhelming interaction from the crowd—an embodiment of her enduring place in the legacy of Arabic music. On stage, Najwa was not simply a performer, but a full-fledged icon—combining voice, charisma, and stage presence to affirm that Lebanese art remains a driving force in the cultural scene despite all challenges. She chose to perform in the Roman Theater, in the heart of old Amman, where the ancient stones still echo with history. The venue wasn't a mere backdrop—it was a central character in the show, brought to life through sound, image, and spirit. The historic site wasn't just part of the view—it helped shape the story. Among these stones, Najwa stood like a continuation of a musical legacy that transcends time. Before her entrance, journalist Lana Qassous introduced the concert with heartfelt words: "Najwa is not just any artist. She's a blend of pride, elegance, and sincerity. She has become the voice of her people and a bridge between tradition and innovation. Every time she sings, joy and love fill the air." To thunderous cheers, Najwa appeared on stage to the tune of her folk song 'Ya Marhaba Ya Leil Ya Marhaba Ya Kell Habbabeh', first released in 1994. She greeted the crowd warmly: 'Good evening, a night of love and joy to you all. Let sorrow stay behind us—because we are children of hope. I always long to meet my beloved audience here in Amman and in Jordan.' The concert was part of the launch tour for her new album 'Halet Taware'' (State of Emergency), during which she performed the title track live for the first time, setting off a wave of excitement, cheers, and dancing from an electrified audience. Despite the modern nature of the show, Najwa did not forget to breathe new life into her classic hits—songs that still resonate deeply, as if they were born yesterday. From 'Law Ma Btekzib', to 'Keef Bdaweek' (1999), 'Noqta Aalsater' (1998), and 'Sho Hal Hala' (2005), she revisited her golden archive, proving that time has only added to its richness and value. The concert was executed with high-level professionalism. Everything was meticulously planned—from audience entry, to stage design that echoed the spirit of the Roman Theater, and lighting that wasn't just illumination, but part of the narrative. The visual setup left a beautiful impression, while the lighting matched every moment—sometimes bursting with excitement, other times fading to let the music speak on its own. The audience was fully energized—thousands inside the venue and many more outside, all there to witness, sing, and live the moment with "El Set Najwa." Cheers, clapping, dancing, and waves of interaction never stopped during the two-hour live performance. From the stage, Najwa shared: 'I've always loved truth, clarity, and heartfelt stands—and tonight, we'll sing those words together.' She then performed 'Aya Ana Baddak', which the audience sang with her word for word, prompting her to perform it again by popular demand. In her usual spontaneous manner, she declared: 'Now it's time to announce a real state of emergency,' before launching into the album's title track amid a storm of cheers and applause. 'I'm going to sing a song I truly love—and I know you love it too—it's practically become a tradition between us,' she said, but before she could continue, the crowd erupted singing 'Khallini Shoofak Bel Leil.' In a touching and warm moment, Najwa performed a mawal (vocal improvisation) for Jordan, her mountain voice brimming with longing—bridging two peoples with a single melody: "Every time, oh Jordan, longing sends me from Lebanon... I speak truth and honesty... Amman, Amman, you are here, oh Amman… every home of yours felt like a Lebanese home to me." This wasn't just a song, but a love letter—crafted by Najwa's voice and echoed by the hearts of the crowd. In the Press Conference: 'Art Is My Mission' After the concert, Najwa met with journalists in a press conference that blended sincerity with spontaneity. Her comments reflected a grounded personality, a deep understanding of music, audience, and the modern artist's role. On her role as an artist and her social responsibility, Najwa said: 'Our job as artists is to spread joy. People need to keep celebrating life—may God take away sorrow and those who bring it.' Asked about announcing her concert through ChatGPT, she smiled and replied: 'Of course artists must stay updated with the times—so they're not left behind. AI is now the vehicle we're all riding. It's a tool, and we should use it, not run from it.' When asked what she hopes people will say about her in 20 years, she confidently said: 'I think my archive speaks for itself. I consider it my legacy—both for today and for the future.' On the concept of strength in women, she replied emotionally: 'Women today are strong and have achieved a lot. I won't say they've achieved as much as men—because men are already a source of strength. But when a woman turns her vulnerability into strength, that's when she's truly strong.' Najwa shared a powerful view on her relationship with music: 'I love to sing—I don't consider it a job. Art is my mission, and I've mastered it.' When asked about her private life on social media, she answered with a grin: 'If all my art and everything I've done isn't enough for people—then that's it. No need to go further. My personal life doesn't have to be on display—it's not the main event.' Asked for a word in the Jordanian dialect, she cheerfully said: 'Allah yehy el-nashama! The Jordanian audience is dear to me—and I can't go long without coming back to hear them and let them hear me.' When asked how it felt to see the Jordanian audience already memorizing her new album despite its recent release, she replied with emotion: 'I loved it—really. That shows the album has succeeded and reached the people—even though it hasn't been out for long.' Regarding possible collaborations with Jordanian artists, she said: 'Why not? In my early career I worked on 6 or 7 projects with Jordanians. If I find a poet or composer who can offer something that suits my voice and style—I'm absolutely ready.' Najwa Karam's concert was not just a musical night—it was a celebration of voice, place, audience, and the kind of authentic artistry that never fades with time. At the Roman Theater, it truly was a State of Emergency—but one of love, music, and enduring hope.
