The lips pouted to perfection, the neck was long and poised, and the judges were sure that no Botox was involved, as they awarded Qatar’s largest cash prize for a camel beauty contest in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
Hundreds of spectators, who poured into the isolated desert venue in Land Cruisers and Jeeps, threw up their scarves in celebration as the animal, named Mangiah Ghufran, was declared winner of the 1 million riyal (US$274,650) top prize at the first Qatar Camel Festival late on Tuesday.
The animal paced nervously in the paddock as his owner, Fahed Farj Algufrani, collected the check and told how it had taken “years” to prepare the prize-winning beast.
Photo: AFP
Previous festivals were more local, but Qatar this year allowed camels from across the region, drawing breeders from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with millions of dollars in prizes at stake.
Organizers were on alert after a festival in Saudi Arabia, where 43 camels were disqualified after it was found they were given drug enhancements to make their lips droopier and their humps more shapely, official media reported.
“Work was done to combat tampering, which is the use of Botox and fillers and other things,” festival organizer head Hamad Jaber al-Athba said.
“We had a professional veterinary staff and advanced equipment, and we worked to combat tampering and limit the spread of cosmetic materials,” he said.
The camels are put through X-rays and other monitoring.
“Corruption was fought seriously at the Qatar Camel Festival,” he said.
To pick the winners, the judges look at “the size and beauty” of the head, the length of the neck and the position of the camel’s hump.
“These are the most important points,” al-Athba said.
For black camels, the size of its head can be a deal-breaker, but for white camels, the consistency of the color counts.
Authorities in Qatar are seeking to give traditional practices a higher profile, as they compete with mega events such as soccer’s World Cup and Formula One grand prix.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS