Middle East Experience

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on Information Minister George Kordahi to “prioritize national interest” but stopped short of asking him to resign over comments that led to a diplomatic rift with the Gulf.“I repeat calls for the information minister to listen to his conscience and put circumstances into consideration and take the stance he should take,” Mikati said in a public speech.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Saudi Arabia and four other Arab Gulf states including the United Arab Emirates recalled their envoys to Lebanon after Kordahi’s critical comments on the Arab Coalition's intervention in Yemen were aired last week.Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said the comments were a “symptom” of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah’s grip on Lebanon.Kordahi, who has ruled out resigning, has said his remarks were personal views made before he was a minister, and that he was committed to government policy.The diplomatic crisis poses a new challenge for Mikati’s government, paralyzed since October 12 by a split over attempts by Hezbollah and its allies to remove the judge investigating the August 2020 Beirut port blast.Mikati said the cabinet would not intervene in judicial matters, indicating a continued rift in government over the issue.Read more:Lebanon draws up ‘roadmap’ to end crisis with Saudi Arabia: PresidencyLebanon’s diplomatic crisis is a self-inflicted woundLebanon seeks dialogue with Saudi Arabia despite new tension over leaked comments
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Lebanon PM says beleaguered minister must prioritize national interest

Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season 2021 received two Guinness World Record certificates for ‘Avalanche,’ which is the tallest fun slide and the fun slide with the most lanes as per the Guinness record.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The head of the Kingdom’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA) Turki Al al-Sheikh announced the Season’s two world records on Twitter.At a record length of 22,136 meters, the ‘Avalanche’ slide is located at the Boulevard Riyadh City zone.‘Avalanche’ also has 24 lanes, holding the record of having the most lanes on a fun slide.Located in the northern part of Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, Boulevard Riyadh City (BlvdRuhCity) opened this week, offering visitors a large entertainment destination.The Boulevard Riyadh City opens its doors to visitors daily from 05:00 p.m. until 4:00 a.m., seven days a week.The total area of the zone, located north of Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, has seen a threefold expansion in its area compared to the previous season, amounting to around 900,000 m2, making it the largest entertainment facility in the region.Read more:In pictures: Riyadh Season’s Boulevard Riyadh City in Saudi ArabiaRiyadh City Boulevard, part of Riyadh Season, opens its doorsSaudi Arabia: Riyadh Season’s Winter Wonderland kicks off with fireworks
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season 2021 receives two Guinness World Record certificates

M7 aims to empower all designers to explore, develop and collaborate successfully with businesses to enhance the nation’s growing creative minds. Sheikha Moza bint Nasser and Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Al-Thani attended the Fashion Trust Arabia award gala on Wednesday at the National Museum of Qatar. The event saw the attendance of A-list celebrities ..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Sheikha Moza presents winners at Fashion Trust Arabia Awards – Doha News | Qatar

With rubbish piling up, the United Arab Emirates has found a new way to get rid of its trash – incinerators that will turn it into electricity.The UAE, one of the world’s top oil exporters, is building the Gulf region’s first waste-to-power plants to ease its chronic trash problem and, at the same time, its reliance on gas-fueled electricity stations.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Engineer Nouf Wazir, from waste management company Bee’ah, said the power plant is a way to make use of refuse that cannot be recycled.“Not everyone knows that waste has value,” said Wazir, a senior engineer on the project.The Sharjah facility is expected to launch this year, burning more than 300,000 tons of waste per year to power up to 28,000 homes. In the neighboring emirate of Dubai, another plant is being developed at a cost of $1.2 billion, according to Hitachi Zosen Inova, one of the partner companies.When it is completed in 2024, the Dubai plant will be one of the largest in the world, capable of gobbling up 1.9 million tons of waste per year -- about 45 percent of the household waste currently produced in the emirate. - ‘People consume a lot’ - As the UAE has mushroomed from a desert outpost to a thriving business hub, waste has multiplied. So has power use, which has soared 750 percent since 1990 according to the International Energy Agency.Now with about 10 million people, five times the population of 30 years ago, the wealthy UAE uses more electricity and creates more waste per head than almost any other country. Authorities put waste production at 1.8 kilos (four pounds) per person per day.In the UAE, “people consume a lot, and they throw away a lot”, said Riad Bestani, founder of ECOsquare, a Dubai-based consultancy specializing in eco-friendly waste management. Landfills are strewn across the country.In Dubai alone, six cover an area of about 1.6 million square meters (395 acres), according to the municipality. In the absence of other solutions, it estimates that landfills will occupy 5.8 million square meters of the emirate by 2041, an area the size of more than 800 football pitches.Fees for landfills are “pretty much nonexistent, so it’s quite cheap and easy to dump all materials into the desert,” said Emma Barber, director of Dubai-based DGrade, which designs clothes and accessories from recycled plastic bottles.The UAE has set about diversifying its electricity generation, more than 90 percent of which comes from gas-powered plants. Last year, the UAE inaugurated the Arab world’s first nuclear plant and, making use of its location in one of the world’s hottest regions, it has significant solar power resources.In the run-up to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, which started on Sunday, the UAE said it was targeting carbon neutrality by 2050.Read more:Dubai to list DEWA as public company: Deputy rulerCould the Gulf state of Oman hold the key to net zero emissions?UAE and IRENA launch platform to accelerate renewable energy projects
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: UAE building Gulf’s first waste-to-power plant for electricity

Singapore must halt plans to execute a Malaysian man who is due to be hanged next week on drug charges, Amnesty International said today. Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday 10 November. “There is still time for Singapore to change course and stop this unlawful execution from taking place. Taking people’s ..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Singapore: Halt ‘despicable’ and unlawful execution of Malaysian national

Turkish-backed groups in northern Syria have weaponised water by building dams on a river that is a lifeline for communities living downstream in Kurdish-dominated areas, a report alleged Wednesday..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Turkey proxies weaponise water in north Syria to starve, displace

Sudan’s army said Thursday the formation of a new government is now “imminent,” following last week’s military takeover which triggered international condemnation and mass anti-coup protests.General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – Sudan’s de facto leader since the 2019 ouster of autocratic president Omar al-Bashir – last week dissolved the government, detained the civilian leadership and declared a state of emergency.The military power grab on October 25 prompted local and international mediators to push for a compromise between the two sides.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“We are considering all internal and external initiatives to serve the national interest,” Sudan TV quoted al-Burhan’s media advisor Taher Abouhaga as saying.“The government formation is imminent,” he said.Sudan has since August 2019 been ruled by a joint civilian-military council as part of the now derailed transition to full civilian rule.Deepening splits and long-simmering tensions between the military and civilians have marred the transition.Last week’s coup triggered nationwide mass protests against the military – demonstrations met by a deadly crackdown by security forces, resulting in at least a dozen people killed and scores wounded.World powers demanded a swift return to civilian rule, and made punitive aid cuts that will hit hard in a country already mired in a dire economic crisis.Western diplomats have called for Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s reinstatement, while Arab powerhouses such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates urged that the civilian-led transition be restored.Burhan, a veteran general who served under al-Bashir’s three-decades-long rule, insisted the army takeover was “not a coup” but a move “to rectify the course of the transition.”He has since vowed to form another civilian government.On Thursday, small gatherings of protesters rallied in neighborhoods around Khartoum chanting “Down with military rule.”Read more:US, UK, Saudi Arabia, UAE call for immediate restoration of Sudan’s govt: StatementSudan’s Hamdok wants coup reversed as condition for dialog: SpokesmanIsrael says its future ties with Sudan are unclear after coup
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Sudan’s army says government formation ‘imminent’ after military takeover

The Scottish Football Association was also sanctioned for an inappropriate flag flown by Scottish fans during the match in Hampden Park.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: FIFA fines Scotland for booing Israeli national anthem at soccer match

Ruhollah Parazideh, a wiry 38-year-old with a thick mustache and hair flecked with gray, was desperate for a job. The father of three in southern Iran walked into a local office of a foundation that helps war veterans and their families, pleading for assistance..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: A self-immolation in southern Iran spotlights sinking economy

In 2018, Amnesty International published a 201-page comprehensive report titled “Blood-Soaked Secrets” that cited Mahallati nine times with respect to allegations that he aided the theological state.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Iranian-Americans protest for dismissal of 'mass murderer' at Oberlin, Ohio