Delegation of 20 Deans from Leading Medical Colleges of Kazakhstan visit Gulf Medical University
Ajman (Press Release): Gulf Medical University, the region’s leading private health professions’ academic institute owned and managed by Thumbay Group, was visited by a team of delegates from Kazakhstan, including 20 deans and heads of leading medical colleges at the Ajman campus. The visiting delegation was accorded a warm welcome by the university’s chancellor Professor Hossam Hamdy, faculty and staff, briefed about the innovative programs offered to students, staff and faculty while discussing collaboration opportunities that can potentially strengthen learning outcomes for students from both the countries.
During the tour, the delegation was given an audio-visual presentation of all the six colleges under the Gulf Medical University followed by a visit to the Simulation Centre, Thumbay Research Institute of Precision Medicine and the clinical training site, Thumbay University Hospital . They were briefed about the educational pattern and the use of the most modern and advanced technologies by the University to impart quality medical education to the students. The visiting team was highly impressed that the university has an international faculty belonging to 50 nationalities and a student cohort from around 95 countries.
Professor Hossam Hamdy, chancellor, Gulf Medical University, further added: “The medical universities of Kazakhstan are a long-standing international partner, and this visit provided the opportunity to discuss specific, shared areas of interest and ways to enhance our collaborations. Gulf Medical university has always been a pioneer in providing students with the opportunity to experience state-of-the art medical education with internationally recognized best practices, while facilitating the sharing of knowledge and the development of a broader perspective on the medical curriculum and its many unique cultural influences. Gulf Medical University has graduated 3000 students, contributing 60 percent to the healthcare workforce of UAE which is testament to the positive educational outcomes our students have experienced through our programs. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with international medical colleges in the region and beyond for many years to come.”
In 2022, Gulf Medical University celebrated its 24 years of excellence, recording a phenomenal growth in the last two decades through the integration of health professions education, translational research, quality healthcare, innovation, and social accountability enhanced by national, international partnerships, and community engagement.
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Malian defence minister killed in attack that saw jihadis and rebels seize towns, military bases
Dakar (AP): Malian Minister of Defence Gen. Sadio Camara was killed in an attack as jihadi and rebel forces seized towns and military bases across the country, according to a military officer and two other sources on Sunday.
There was no immediate comment from the Malian government.
“Unfortunately, the Ministry of Defence, Gen. Sadio Camara, has been killed during the attack which targeted his house yesterday,” said a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not have permission to speak to the media.
Two other people, a civil society leader and a security member, confirmed the information.
Separatist fighters on Saturday joined Islamic militants in launching one of the biggest coordinated attacks on the Malian army in the capital and several other cities that left at least 16 wounded.
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali, while al-Qaida and Islamic State group-aligned militants have been fighting the government for over a decade.
Malian troops and Russian mercenaries withdrew from the northern city of Kidal after the attacks, the rebels said Sunday.
A spokesperson for the Tuareg-led Azawad Liberation Front, or FLA, a separatist group, said the Russian Africa Corps troops and the Malian military withdrew from the city after an agreement was reached for their peaceful exit.
“Kidal is declared free,” said FLA spokesperson Mohamed El Maouloud Ramadan.
The Malian army did not respond to requests for comment but in an earlier statement said they were “tracking down terrorist armed groups in Kidal.”
The separatists have been fighting for years to create an independent state in northern Mali. Kidal had long served as a stronghold of the rebellion before being taken by Malian government forces and Russian mercenaries in 2023. Its capture marked a significant symbolic victory for the junta and its Russian allies.
It was the first time the separatists worked alongside the al-Qaida-linked militant group JNIM, which also claimed responsibility for Saturday's attacks on Bamako's international airport and four other cities, including Kidal, in central and northern Mali.
“This operation is being carried out in partnership with the JNIM, which is also committed to defending the people against the military regime in Bamako,” Ramadan said.
Wassim Nasr, a Sahel specialist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Center security think tank, said that the coordination between the two groups, as well as the explicit call for the Russian military to leave, is new.
“The coordination, conducting attacks all over the country at the same time, real coordination on the military level but also on the political level because both claims of both groups they acknowledged that they worked together, this is a first,” said Nasr.
Mali government spokesperson Gen. Issa Ousmane Coulibaly said on state television late Saturday that 16 people were wounded, including civilians and military personnel, and that several militants were killed. He did not provide a death toll.
The governor of Bamako's district, Abdoulaye Coulibaly, announced a three-day overnight curfew, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The Economic Community of West African States has condemned the attacks and called on “all states, security forces, regional mechanisms and populations of West Africa to unite and mobilize in a coordinated effort to combat this scourge.”
The separatists called on Russia to “reconsider its support for the military junta in Bamako, whose actions have contributed to the suffering of the civilian population.”
Following military coups, the juntas in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso turned from Western allies to Russia for help in combating Islamic militants. But the security situation has worsened in recent times, with a record number of attacks by militants. Government forces have also been accused of killing civilians they suspect of collaborating with militants.
In 2024, an al-Qaida-linked group claimed an attack on Bamako's airport and a military training camp in the capital, killing scores of people.
Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said that while the attacks were a major blow to the credibility of Mali's Russian partners, JNIM is unlikely to take control of Bamako in the near term due to opposition from the local population.
“The attacks are a major blow to Russia as the mercenaries had no intelligence about the attacks and were unable to protect major cities. They have unnecessarily worsened the conflict by not distinguishing between civilians and combatants,” Laessing said.
