How an Edinburgh center is tracing the roots of plants in the Middle East

Umbrella-shaped dragon blood trees, one of Socotra’s many eye-catching plant species. (Reuters)
Updated 01 July 2018
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How an Edinburgh center is tracing the roots of plants in the Middle East

  • A Scottish research site is a treasure trove of flora from across the region — including Socotra, the ‘Galapagos of the Indian Ocean’

EDINBURGH, UK: The Arabian Peninsula is rich in many things — oil (obviously), literature, history, cuisine. But far away in Edinburgh is a treasure trove of other Middle Eastern riches — plants.

The Scottish capital is home to the Center for Middle Eastern Plants (CMEP) and a herbarium — or plant library — containing a staggering 3 million samples of flora from the region. And botanists from the center are still adding to the collection.

“There is a mountain in Oman called Jebel Samhan and every time I’ve gone up it I’ve discovered a new species,” said CMEP director Tony Miller, who has been making field trips to Yemen, Oman, Iran and Saudi Arabia since 1978.

“The last time I took visitors up there I wondered if I had set myself up for embarrassment but no, pretty much as soon as I stepped out of the vehicle, I spotted a completely new plant right in front of me.”

Socotra, the island off the coast of Yemen in the Arabian Sea, is especially important for the study of flora.

“Socotra is the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean,” said Miller.

“It has 900 plants of which more than 300 are endemic — that is, they are unique to that place. In comparison, the number of plants endemic to Britain is a handful. Every single tree on Socotra is endemic. The place is a vast biosphere reserve.

“We’re doing on Socotra what Darwin did on the Galapagos. We’re seeing how species radiated and how evolution works.”

Heady stuff for those who are passionate about plants. But how did a center for studying and documenting the plant life of the world’s most arid landscapes come to be established in an all-too-often grey and rainy Edinburgh?

That is down to a decision taken more than 50 years ago. CMEP is part of Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden, which is itself a sister to the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew in London.

In 1962, it was decided to divide the areas of study. Kew got Africa, while Edinburgh got China, the Himalayas and southwest Asia, which includes the Arabian Peninsula. Europe, Central and North America went to the Natural History Museum in London.

CMEP’s offices are unremarkable: Plain desks and bookshelves heaving with tomes such as “Flora of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra” (co-authored by Tony Miller) and “Ethnoflora of the Socotra Archipelago” (co-written with Miranda Morris), which not only lists the flora of the Yemeni island but also explains what each plant was for. 

It is the herbarium that reveals CMEP’s purpose. Instead of books there are shelves full of folders containing dried specimens of flowers, grasses, leaves and roots. Each folder has a little envelope stuck in the bottom corner for storing any bits of the plant sample that might fall off. 

Few hobby gardeners know that some of the best-loved blooms found in a typical Western flowerbed originated in southwest Asia — tulips, fritillaries, muscari (commonly known as grape hyacinths), to name only a few.

The first plants to be cultivated were wheat, barley, flax, peas, chickpeas, lentils and bitter vetch. Collectively known as the Neolithic founder plants, they all originated in the marshes of Sumeria in what is present-day Iraq. Their cultivation led to agriculture and settled habitation in villages and then towns which in turn led to the development of an alphabet, writing and laws.

Then there is aloe vera, well-known for its medicinal properties. Pale-skinned holidaymakers in Dubai little realize that the gel they are slapping on their sunburn originally came from Yemen. 

One variety of aloe was recently rediscovered in Al-Ula, in Saudi Arabia. The only other place it grows north of the Tropic of Cancer is Petra in Jordan. Its presence in both places is compelling evidence of the contact between those two ancient Nabataean sites and societies much further south.

CMEP was set up as a separate entity in 2009 to generate income from consultancy work which could then be ploughed into conservation and training projects. There are four full-time staff with PhD students or fellows on temporary attachments. 

Classifying and documenting plants — a discipline known as taxonomy — is an important part of CMEP’s work. “After all, you can’t conserve it if you don’t know what it is,” said Miller. But the projects also have a strong social component.

In Bamyan province in Afghanistan, that meant helping the environment by distributing cooking stoves to people in remote communities.

“There are no trees left in Bamyan. People cook on open fires, and all the trees and shrubs have been cut down for firewood. Now they are pulling up shrubs and roots and burning them, which is not healthy,” said Miller. 

“According to the World Health Organization, 54,000 people a year are dying of pulmonary disease caused by indoor pollution. No trees means there is nothing to anchor the soil which leads to water and mudslides. With the stoves, they are still burning wood, but it burns more efficiently and lasts longer and so they need less of it.”

The Bamyan inhabitants were not immediately convinced. In the first year, they collected the same amount of firewood as always, especially when hoarding for winter, which requires collecting two to three donkey loads every day for a week.

“But they soon noticed the difference and collected less the next year,” said Dr. Sophie Neale, another member of the CMEP team.

Restoring landscapes involves more than simply shoving plants into the ground.

“When you talk about restoration, how far back do you go? Back to grandfather’s day? Back to how the land was before humans? How do you adapt the old ways to modern life? It’s a philosophical question,” said Miller. “We finally settled on restoration to a time before rapid development.”

Then there is the perception of botany itself. The great 19th-century plant-hunters roamed the world’s unexplored habitats collecting specimens. They were certainly intrepid, but many also had the time and often the backing of a wealthy aristocratic patron, and it is true to say that — somewhat unfairly —botany retains some of that “rich man’s hobby” image. 

Is it difficult to persuade young people in the business-driven Middle East that studying plants is worthwhile?

“A little, but there is a growing awareness of it as a profession,”
said Miller. 

CMEP runs online courses that are not only popular but also a good way of spotting new talent.

“If they stick with the course, it shows they’re dedicated as well as good,” said Miller. Studying plants attracts both men and women; a class in Oman has 40 women and one man, and the current CMEP fellows include an Afghan woman and a Lebanese woman.

Earlier this year, Miller and his team won an award at the International Workshop on Combating Desertification in Saudi Arabia for work on “greening” Riyadh. 

There is a marked trend in Saudi Arabia away from using plants that need lots of irrigation, but knowledge about what should be planted in their place can be limited.

“They want to use native species, but unfortunately they don’t know where they grow, so it ends up being easier to just go down to the garden center,” said Miller.

“The problem in Riyadh is … goats and camels dig up roots, so plants have no chance.”

An experiment carried out in Kuwait illustrates nature’s infinite capacity for self-healing. Researchers fenced off an area of land to keep animals away and then simply waited to see what would happen. By the following year, plants growing there again. After another year, what had been an expanse of arid, barren land was alive with desert vegetation.

Miller, 67, has been at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh for
42 years and has been making expeditions to the Arabian Peninsula almost as long. Socotra, which he first visited in 1989, retains a special fascination.

“In Socotra, every tree is known. If you want to cut a tree down, you must get permission from the community. It means every tree has a value and everyone knows which tree belongs to which village. The Mediterranean used to be covered in dragon blood trees once. Socotra still has them.” 

Among CMEP’s other projects are building botanic gardens in Kabul and in Sulaymaniyah, in Iraqi Kurdistan. 

“It’s what called soft diplomacy,” said Miller. Which, when one thinks about it, makes sense. For who in the world could ever object to a garden?

 

 

 


Cynthia Erivo wears Ashi Studio at Tony Awards

Updated 09 June 2025
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Cynthia Erivo wears Ashi Studio at Tony Awards

  • Show’s major highlight sees cast of hit musical ‘Hamilton’ reunited

DUBAI: British singer-songwriter and actor Cynthia Erivo picked Saudi-helmed Parisian label Ashi Studio for two of her electrifying looks as she hosted the 2025 Tony Awards, the annual ceremony celebrating the best in Broadway theater, held at the Radio City Music Hall in New York.

Erivo’s first Ashi Studio look featured an oversized black coat dress dotted with bedazzled details, which she wore over black pants and a tube top.

Her second look was a black and gold snakeskin-print tailored trench coat with voluminous sleeves and an oversized collar, cinched by a fitted corset from the SS25 Ashi Studio collection. She wore the look to welcome Auli'i Cravalho to the stage.

“Maybe Happy Ending,” “Purpose,” “Sunset Blvd.” and “Eureka Day” took the top prizes at the awards, winning best musical, best play, best musical revival, and best play revival, respectively.

The ceremony also saw Sarah Snook (“The Picture of Dorian Gray”), Cole Escola (“Oh, Mary!”), Darren Criss (“Maybe Happy Ending”), and Nicole Scherzinger (“Sunset Blvd.”) win the lead acting awards for plays (Snook and Escola) and musicals (Criss and Scherzinger).

“Maybe Happy Ending” won a total of six awards after going into the night tied with “Buena Vista Social Club” and “Death Becomes Her” for the most nominations, with 10 apiece.

“Buena Vista Social Club” won four awards, while “Death Becomes Her” only took home one trophy, for Paul Tazewell’s costume design, which was presented in the “Tony Awards: Act One” pre-show.

Amal and George Clooney at the 2025 Tony Awards. (AFP)

Also in attendance at the event as British Lebanese human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, along with actor-husband George Clooney. The couple’s arrival at the Tonys came hours after George closed his record-breaking Broadway show, “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Amal wore an off-the-shoulder white gown with strands of pearls draped across the fabric, which she accessorized with a matching clutch.

A major highlight of the show saw the cast of the hit musical “Hamilton” reunited for a special performance in honor of its 10th anniversary.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator and star of the Tony-winning show, was joined by more than two dozen members of the original cast, including Leslie Odom Jr., Phillipa Soo, Daveed Diggs, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Anthony Ramos, Christopher Jackson, Jonathan Groff, and Ariana DeBose.

The performance began with Miranda and Odom Jr. performing a snippet from the song “Non-Stop.” The show continued with a medley of tracks from the “Hamilton” score, including “My Shot,” “The Schuyler Sisters,” “You’ll Be Back,” “The Room Where it Happens” and “History Has Its Eyes on You.”


Gerard Butler on bringing Stoick to life in live-action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’

Updated 09 June 2025
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Gerard Butler on bringing Stoick to life in live-action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’

RIYADH: Scottish actor Gerard Butler is returning to the Viking Isle of Berk, but this time he is trading his animated voice for full costume and presence in the live-action adaptation of “How to Train Your Dragon” — a remake of the beloved DreamWorks franchise, helmed by three-time Oscar nominee Dean DeBlois.

In this new retelling, which releases on June 12, Mason Thames plays the inventive Hiccup, a young Viking who defies tradition to befriend Toothless, a Night Fury dragon. Butler reprises his role as Stoick the Vast, Hiccup’s formidable father, stepping from the recording booth into full-bodied performance.

“It’s a big change,” Butler told Arab News. “When I’m doing the recording, the animation, I could pretty much turn up in my pajamas if I wanted to. But there’s no getting away with that here. It was all of me. There’s no excuses.”

He described the live-action shift as “a chance to bring Stoick’s bigness and smallness” to life in a whole new way.

Butler praised his co-stars, including Nico Parker as Astrid and Nick Frost as Gobber, and especially young lead Thames.

He reflected on the dynamic between the father and son, saying: “Well, he’s an incredible young actor. And I feel like the characters and the relationships that our writer-director Dean DeBlois (has created), there’s a reason they became so beloved and people feel so strongly because they’re incredibly emotional.

“So, I think to play that Viking father who expects so much from his son, and his son who’s trying his best and actually has all these incredible characteristics that I just can’t see, was beautiful to delve into ... on sets with our clothes, with our costumes, and really believe that we were in that world. That was pretty epic.”

Returning to Saudi Arabia for the film’s press tour, Butler shared his affection for the Kingdom, saying: “I had an incredible experience here and made some really nice friends. AlUla is beyond. I became very attached to that place, to its energy, its history, and to the community there.”

Butler expressed his excitement for the audience, adding: “There’s so much … for them to see because there’s so much in this movie. I think that some of the scenes of the dragons flying are some of the most beautiful, immersive, powerful scenes that I’ve seen on a big screen. But on top of that, I think that we have very complex, emotional, heartfelt performances and a story that they can also climb into. I think we have a lot of modern references that we can all like; the characters are so relatable.

“It’s a big honor for me to be able to play this character again. I feel very lucky to be part of this franchise. I feel very protective of it because I was there. I was actually there even before Dean DeBlois was there, you know, because we had a different director way, way back. So I’ve been with it for a long, long time, and to see it start as just a little planet and then become a whole universe has been amazing.”


Bella Hadid turns spotlight onto powerful Ms. Rachel poem

Updated 08 June 2025
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Bella Hadid turns spotlight onto powerful Ms. Rachel poem

DUBAI: American Dutch Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid has shared a powerful poem by popular children’s educator and YouTuber Rachel Griffin Accurso, known globally as Ms. Rachel, amplifying its message of hope and solidarity with Gaza.

The poem, titled “The People Were Brave,” went viral on social media for its stirring call to action urging people to show bravery and use their voices for good.

“The leaders were mostly silent. They were scared of what they might lose. The celebrities were mostly silent. They were scared of what they might lose. The media was mostly silent. They were scared of what they might lose. But the people were not silent. They were brave,” the poem begins.

“So never stop speaking up for those in need. Never wait for the world. It was ordinary people that became extraordinary. And changed everything. And moved us all. And saved us all,” it ends.

Last week, Ms. Rachel made headlines when she said she was willing to jeopardize her career to advocate for Palestinian children suffering under the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

She said she had been targeted by online campaigns and faced calls for government investigation after voicing support for children affected by war in Gaza and elsewhere.

Despite growing criticism from some pro-Israel groups and conservative media, in a recent interview with WBUR, a Boston-based public radio station, she said she remained defiant.

“I would risk everything — and I will risk my career over and over to stand up for children,” she said.

“It’s all about the kids for me. I wouldn’t be Ms. Rachel if I didn’t deeply care about all kids.”

The YouTube star added a recent meeting with Palestinian mothers whose children remain trapped in Gaza had had a profound effect on her: “When you sit with a mother who’s FaceTiming her boys in Gaza who don’t have food, and you see that anguish, you ask yourself: What more can I do?”

A former teacher in New York, Ms Rachel said her work had always been rooted in the principle that all children, regardless of nationality or background, deserved dignity, safety, and access to basic needs.

“That’s the basis of everything for me — children are equal,” she said. 


Petals and thorns: India’s Booker prize author Banu Mushtaq

Updated 08 June 2025
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Petals and thorns: India’s Booker prize author Banu Mushtaq

  • Mushtaq won the coveted literature prize as the first author writing in Kannada — an Indian regional language
  • As a young girl worried about her future, she said she started writing to improve her “chances of marriage”

HASSAN, India: All writers draw on their experience, whether consciously or not, says Indian author Banu Mushtaq — including the titular tale of attempted self-immolation in her International Booker Prize-winning short story collection.
Mushtaq, who won the coveted literature prize as the first author writing in Kannada — an Indian regional language — said the author’s responsibility is to reflect the truth.
“You cannot simply write describing a rose,” said the 77-year-old, who is also a lawyer and activist.
“You cannot say it has got such a fragrance, such petals, such color. You have to write about the thorns also. It is your responsibility, and you have to do it.”
Her book “Heart Lamp,” a collection of 12 powerful short stories, is also her first book translated into English, with the prize shared with her translator Deepa Bhasthi.
Critics praised the collection for its dry and gentle humor, and its searing commentary on the patriarchy, caste and religion.
Mushtaq has carved an alternative path in life, challenging societal restrictions and perceptions.
As a young girl worried about her future, she said she started writing to improve her “chances of marriage.”
Born into a Muslim family in 1948, she studied in Kannada, which is spoken mostly in India’s southern Karnataka state by around 43 million people, rather than Urdu, the language of Islamic texts in India and which most Muslim girls learnt.
She attended college, and worked as a journalist and also as a high school teacher.

Constricted life

But after marrying for love, Mushtaq found her life constricted.
“I was not allowed to have any intellectual activities. I was not allowed to write,” she said.
“I was in that vacuum. That harmed me.”
She recounted how as a young mother aged around 27 with possible postpartum depression, and ground down by domestic life, had doused petrol on herself and on the “spur of a moment” readied to set herself on fire.
Her husband rushed to her with their three-month-old daughter.
“He took the baby and put her on my feet, and he drew my attention to her and he hugged me, and he stopped me,” Mushtaq told AFP.
The experience is nearly mirrored in her book — in its case, the protagonist is stopped by her daughter.
“People get confused that it might be my life,” the writer said.
Explaining that while not her exact story, “consciously or subconsciously, something of the author, it reflects in her or his writing.”
Books line the walls in Mushtaq’s home, in the small southern Indian town of Hassan.
Her many awards and certificates — including a replica of the Booker prize she won in London in May — are also on display.
She joked that she was born to write — at least that is what a Hindu astrological birth chart said about her future.
“I don’t know how it was there, but I have seen the birth chart,” Mushtaq said with a laugh, speaking in English.
The award has changed her life “in a positive way,” she added, while noting the fame has been a little overwhelming.
“I am not against the people, I love people,” she said referring to the stream of visitors she gets to her home.
“But with this, a lot of prominence is given to me, and I don’t have any time for writing. I feel something odd... Writing gives me a lot of pleasure, a lot of relief.”

‘The writer is always pro-people’
Mushtaq’s body of work spans six short story collections, an essay collection and poetry.
The stories in “Heart Lamp” were chosen from the six short story collections, dating back to 1990.
The Booker jury hailed her characters — from spirited grandmothers to bumbling religious clerics — as “astonishing portraits of survival and resilience.”
The stories portray Muslim women going through terrible experiences, including domestic violence, the death of children and extramarital affairs.
Mushtaq said that while the main characters in her books are all Muslim women, the issues are universal.
“They (women) suffer this type of suppression and this type of exploitation, this type of patriarchy everywhere,” she said. “A woman is a woman, all over the world.”
While accepting that even the people for whom she writes may not like her work, Mushtaq said she remained dedicated to providing wider truths.
“I have to say what is necessary for the society,” she said.
“The writer is always pro-people... With the people, and for the people.”


Emirati artists perform in showcase at London’s Kensington Palace

Updated 07 June 2025
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Emirati artists perform in showcase at London’s Kensington Palace

LONDON: “If we do not tell our story, someone else will. And they will get it wrong,” said Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo, founder of the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation, following a performance in London on Friday that brought Emirati talent to a major international platform.

Emirati artists took to the stage at Kensington Palace to present a night of operatic performances. Fatima Al-Hashimi, Ahmed Al-Housani, and Ihab Darwish performed in multiple languages including Arabic, Italian and English. The performance was part of the Abu Dhabi Festival’s Abroad program in collaboration with the Peace and Prosperity Trust. The event was intended to promote Emirati cultural expression through classical music and cross-cultural collaboration.

Fatima Al-Hashimi, Ahmed Al-Housani, and Ihab Darwish performed in multiple languages including Arabic, Italian and English. (Supplied)

Alkhamis-Kanoo said an event like this is vital for cultural diplomacy and is not a one-off, but a commitment to placing Emirati talent on the world stage. 

“It’s about creating understanding, building dialogue, and showing the world the strength of our cultural identity through music,” she explained. “We invest in the young, we partner with the world, and we build cultural legacies that last.” 

The evening also included the premiere of Darwish’s latest composition “Ruins of Time,” which blended orchestral arrangements with traditional Arabic elements.

“Music is the fastest way to reach people. It creates peace, it creates understanding,” Darwish told Arab News. “Music removes boundaries. It creates a shared language, a dialogue of coexistence, peace, and tolerance. When people from different cultures come together to create music, it naturally fosters mutual understanding.”

Al-Hashimi explained the intention behind adapting a classical repertoire to reflect Arab identity. “Even while singing in Italian, I included Arabic lyrics to keep our signature present,” she said.

Al-Housani described the event as a “professional milestone,” adding: “Performing here is more than a concert, it’s a message. We’re here to show the world the strength and beauty of our culture.”