MMA, pandas, and sustainability: the best of Qatar 365 in 2023
Qatar 365 treats you with some of the most iconic moments of 2023: extreme sports like sand dune cycling and mixed martial arts, behind the scenes view of Qatar museum’s restoration efforts, and privileged moments with Chinese giant pandas and wild oryxes.
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00:00 (air whooshing)
00:03 - Good afternoon, everyone.
00:05 (upbeat music)
00:07 - Ha!
00:08 (hands clapping)
00:08 - Four, three, two, one.
00:10 (car horn honking)
00:16 - Hello, welcome to Qatar 365 with me, Adil Halim.
00:22 On this episode, we look back at some of our favorite moments
00:26 from 2023.
00:27 We visited vulnerable animals like Arabian oryxes
00:30 and Chinese pandas.
00:31 Then from protecting animals to protecting the planet,
00:34 we took a deep dive
00:35 into the country's sustainability efforts.
00:37 But we begin with sports.
00:39 In the years since Qatar hosted the FIFA World Cup,
00:42 there's been no shortage of memorable sporting highlights.
00:45 Some of the best tennis players in the world,
00:49 like Great Britain's Andy Murray
00:51 and Poland's Iga Swiatek,
00:53 battled it out at the 2023 Qatar Open.
00:57 It was also a chance for Qatari players
00:59 like Mubarak Al Naimi to test their skills
01:02 against world-class talent.
01:04 The 21-year-old is a natural on the tennis court,
01:09 but as she told me, it wasn't love at first swing.
01:12 - At the beginning, I didn't want to play tennis,
01:17 but my mom pushed me with my brother.
01:19 And then I started competing and winning some matches
01:24 and then becoming number one, all category here in Doha.
01:29 Now tennis is part of my life.
01:31 It's like a routine for me, playing every day.
01:34 It's hard because I'm studying also in university.
01:37 So I'm trying to manage my time competing
01:42 and studying at the same time.
01:44 Tennis is my passion.
01:45 - Right to follow through more.
01:48 This is good.
01:54 From the tennis court, we drove to the desert
01:57 for a different kind of adrenaline boost.
01:59 Laila Humaira tried to keep up with the participants
02:02 in a challenging test of endurance through the sand dunes.
02:05 It's just after sunrise at Qatar's sea-line desert,
02:09 usually a calm and quiet time.
02:11 This is the starting point
02:14 of the Al-Adeid Desert Challenge,
02:16 the most grueling event
02:18 on Qatar's off-road cycling calendar.
02:21 - Four, three, two, one.
02:23 - Organized by Qatar cyclists,
02:30 the race features a 40-kilometer desert track,
02:33 over eight sand dunes, a mixed terrain of sand and gravel,
02:37 and any kind of weather condition
02:39 mother nature has to offer.
02:41 Participants can either cycle the route,
02:47 run the route, or do both.
02:49 And they have to do it, come rain or shine,
02:52 and try to win the mental battle within themselves.
02:56 - The first dune was not too bad.
03:00 The second one, I had to stop and empty my shoes
03:03 'cause they filled right up.
03:04 And I decided to start really easy, the run,
03:08 and then walk up the dunes.
03:12 And by the time I got to the third one,
03:14 I thought, "I feel all right."
03:15 So I just kept running.
03:18 - Interest in mixed martial arts
03:19 has increased significantly across the region.
03:22 One of the biggest names in the fight game
03:23 is the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
03:26 I wanted to find out why the UFC
03:28 was expanding into the Qatari market.
03:30 Gripped by grappling, a captive audience looks on intently
03:41 as UFC lightweight champion Islam Makachev
03:44 is leading a masterclass on mixed martial arts.
03:47 - Don't go like this.
03:49 - For members of the new UFC gym in Qatar,
03:52 and even their coaches,
03:53 the opportunity to learn takedown techniques
03:56 from an elite fighter is not one
03:58 that comes around very often.
04:00 - You're a mentor for Biden and Murgaon Medov.
04:08 It's called you the best pound-for-pound fighter
04:10 in the world.
04:11 What does that mean to you, coming from arguably
04:12 one of the greatest fighters this sport has ever seen?
04:14 - This is my dream, to be UFC champion,
04:17 to be UFC best fighter in the world, you know?
04:21 This is my dream.
04:22 - What advice do you have for young people
04:25 who might want to get into MMA?
04:26 - My advice, just focus, you know?
04:30 Many people want to be champion,
04:32 but not many people want to wake up early morning,
04:36 training hard.
04:37 Doesn't matter if it's MMA or other sports.
04:41 You just have to be focused,
04:43 training every day, and one day,
04:45 Allah gonna give you the chance.
04:48 - Then from a relatively modern style of combat
04:53 to ancient martial arts,
04:55 Laila found out that even though taekwondo
04:57 is all about self-defense,
04:59 that doesn't mean the kicks don't pack a punch.
05:02 - Kick!
05:03 (crowd cheering)
05:05 Kick!
05:05 (crowd cheering)
05:08 - Don't let them fool you.
05:11 They're young and some are small in stature,
05:14 but try to hurt them,
05:16 and these taekwondo students will be quick
05:18 to defend themselves.
05:19 (crowd cheering)
05:23 - It's fun, it's challenging,
05:26 and it makes my body very active.
05:29 (crowd applauding)
05:34 - So after a quick crash course on taekwondo,
05:36 it's time for me to try a hand
05:38 at some of these amazing skills,
05:40 and hope I don't hurt myself or anyone.
05:42 Let's go.
05:43 Ha!
05:44 (hand smacking)
05:45 Now that was just one wooden board.
05:48 Some taekwondo practitioners can break up
05:50 to 10 or more wooden plates,
05:52 which is hard to believe.
05:53 - It's mind control.
05:55 To tell you the meaning of taekwondo,
05:57 ten means feet,
05:59 one is mean fists,
06:01 two is means mental.
06:03 So taekwondo means to physical and mental training.
06:08 (upbeat music)
06:10 - Animals play a large role in Qatari culture.
06:13 Earlier in the year,
06:14 we explored the country's efforts
06:15 to reintroduce Arabian oryxes back into the wild.
06:18 But first, Laila met two of the country's newest residents,
06:21 a pair of giant pandas from China.
06:24 - They're cute, cuddly, and playful,
06:29 and they've brought pandemonium to the Middle East
06:31 for the first time ever.
06:33 Suhail and Turaya were born in China's Sichuan province,
06:37 but for the next 15 years,
06:39 they will live here at the Panda House in Qatar.
06:43 - When we build a building,
06:44 we have to make sure that we can regulate the temperature
06:47 and we can change it to mimic the forest season as well,
06:51 because they are indoor all year round.
06:54 - Through breeding and reintroduction programs,
06:57 global efforts to protect pandas
06:59 have become a shining example
07:01 for other conservation initiatives.
07:04 Since 2021, giant pandas have been declared
07:07 no longer endangered, but still considered vulnerable.
07:11 - This is due to all the expertise around the world
07:14 who has pandas, do all the research,
07:16 and we share our findings, our husbandry techniques,
07:20 and our finding annually as all the experts in the group,
07:25 so we can learn more about pandas.
07:27 - The Arabian oryx is a majestic animal
07:31 that was once on the verge of extinction,
07:34 but an international conservation effort
07:36 to protect them helped put a stop to that,
07:39 with the hope that one day,
07:40 they can return to their natural habitat.
07:43 - So today I have three cases.
07:45 They isolated from part of five,
07:49 one oryx with an ear injury.
07:51 - These animal doctors are making the rounds,
07:54 checking in on their four-legged patients.
07:56 For this family of Arabian oryxes,
07:59 the Al-Maha Sanctuary is their safe space.
08:02 The government-run wildlife reserve
08:04 is a 30-minute drive west of Doha.
08:06 Andrea D'Agliero says there are around 3,000 to 3,500
08:12 Arabian oryxes under his watch at the Al-Maha Sanctuary,
08:16 and about 18,000 spread across the country.
08:19 - I really dream to see again this creature
08:22 in its environment.
08:24 Some kids never saw one oryx.
08:26 We doesn't know what we are talking about.
08:29 So our goal is show them this majestic creature,
08:34 (upbeat music)
08:37 - Preservation, conservation, and sustainability
08:39 are some common themes we'll be hearing about
08:41 for the foreseeable future,
08:43 especially here at Expo 2023 Doha,
08:46 the first ever horticultural exhibition
08:48 held in the Middle East.
08:49 Earlier this year, our team tagged along
08:51 with a community-led beach cleanup
08:53 to save the planet for future generations.
08:56 But first, Laila peeled back the curtain
08:58 at the Museum of Islamic Art
09:00 to show us how ancient artifacts are restored.
09:03 (upbeat music)
09:06 A leather bookbinding from 13th century Andalusia,
09:10 a ninth century sword from the Khazar Khaganate period,
09:15 and this monumental stucco panel from 12th century Iran.
09:20 These are just some of the thousands
09:22 of historical objects housed at the Museum of Islamic Art.
09:27 It's a miracle that these artifacts
09:28 have lasted through centuries.
09:32 Serhat Karakaya is a metals conservator at the museum.
09:36 Today, he's showing a restoration project
09:39 he recently completed.
09:41 - Before I start treatments,
09:42 it was in really poor condition
09:45 with a really deep crack on the neck.
09:48 Maybe you can still see it here.
09:50 - Meanwhile, paper and book conservator Reem Al-Huzay
09:53 is putting her expert touch on a folio from Iran
09:57 and inspecting a one-of-a-kind manuscript.
10:00 - It's made of leather from outside the binding,
10:04 and the inside we have it on parchment.
10:08 Parchment, it's animal skin.
10:10 So it's from 13th century from South Africa,
10:15 and that period they start to use a lot of animal skin
10:19 and write all the Quran, let's say,
10:22 or for example, this book about the stars.
10:27 So science, mathematics, a lot of things on parchment.
10:32 - From preserving historical books
10:35 to protecting the environment,
10:36 we joined a dedicated group of volunteers
10:38 to find out why they spend their weekends
10:41 cleaning up a mess they didn't make.
10:43 Good afternoon, everyone.
10:45 As-salamu alaykum and welcome to the beautiful beach
10:51 of the Al-Zubar Archaeological Site.
10:53 But these 100-plus volunteers are not here
10:56 for some fun in the sun.
10:58 They're here to work, get their hands dirty,
11:00 and clean up the beach.
11:01 - We've been doing this for five, six years,
11:04 and throughout time we've mobilized 11,000 volunteers,
11:08 the majority of them students.
11:10 Today you can see we have university students,
11:11 we have elementary school students here
11:14 who are joining us, families, companies,
11:16 everyone is part of this big movement
11:18 that we've created through the years.
11:20 We've collected 180,000 kilos of trash.
11:23 We've removed that much trash from nature in Qatar,
11:26 from the mangroves, from the roda, from the beach,
11:29 from the heritage sites.
11:30 - What a nice sentiment to think about
11:36 as we head into the new year.
11:37 From Qatar's burgeoning sports scene
11:39 to its majestic animals,
11:41 to preserving the country's heritage,
11:42 we hope you enjoyed this look back
11:44 at some of our 2023 highlights.
11:47 And that's all the time we have for now.
11:48 For more, check out euronews.com
11:50 and connect with us through our hashtag.
11:51 Thanks for watching, and from all of us here at Qatar 365,
11:55 we wish you a happy new year.
11:56 (upbeat music)