Middle East Experience

The United Arab Emirates has made great strides in gender inclusion and diversity in organizations’ boardrooms and is leading the way in the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) region, the Executive Director of the GCC Board of Directors Institute told Al Arabiya English.Without more regulation and encouragement in the private sector the progress will be slow, executive director at the GCC BDI Jane Valls said.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Good governance starts in the boardroom and having more women in the C suite will enable better diversity as boards tap into “often ignored talent” by doing so, she added.Noting that having a more gender-diverse board is a starting point for greater growth Valls explained that it brings in “new voices, experiences, perspectives and approaches to the decision-making process and adds depth to the existing skills and competencies around the boardroom table and return on investment.”The GCC BDI has made it a key part of its mission to raise awareness about the importance of board composition and gender diversity in the region by organizing special development programs for women directors to help them understand the role of a director, and to learn how to become more effective by maximizing their potential, she said.While the UAE has made great strides in gender diversity in the boardroom, Valls believes that more can be done.“The UAE is actually doing better than the rest of the region, even with just four percent of women on boards because the rest of the Gulf still averages at just two percent,” she said, adding that it would be great to see the rest of the GCC following the UAE’s example of regulating that there should be one woman on the board of all listed companies.The UAE’s regulator Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) has considered passing a law to ensure that all listed companies appoint at least one female director on their boards, Bloomberg reported. The five biggest companies listed on Dubai and Abu Dhabi’s stock exchanges had 84 board members, only three of which were women, Bloomberg found.Valls, who has worked in the governance space for over 20 years and has often been the only woman in the boardroom, believes that in order to achieve better results in gender diversity, regulators should step in and enforce quotas on companies.“Companies need to understand that a token woman in the boardroom will not work. All research shows that you need 30 percent of your board composition to be female to reap the benefits of genuine diversity and better outcomes for stakeholders and shareholders - this is called The Power of Three - one woman is a token, two is a presence and three is a voice,” Valls said. She added that organizations would do well to set targets for gender diversity not limited at the very top, but throughout the organization.“In many countries, including the UAE, governments actually tend to lead the way in this respect because they seem to give women more opportunities,” said Valls.“It’s not just in the UAE. We see this in most countries. Private sector organizations are where we need to do more to encourage diversity and inclusion in the workplace by providing women with different paths to the top because traditionally, organizations were built by men for men,” she said.“I think that once we get more women at the top of the organization who are building policies and procedures that are more women-friendly, it will provide opportunities and ways to the top for other women.”When asked about the social benefits of having more women on boards, she said that they were more risk-averse and had different leadership styles which are more empathetic, adding that they were “better able to resolve interpersonal conflicts and engage in more participative leadership styles” resulting in less conflict and higher-performing boards.Read more:Creating a business environment where diversity and inclusion thrivesEmirati woman turns hobby into business with car repair shop in UAEUAE administers over 9.6 mln doses of COVID-19 vaccine
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: GCC boardrooms making progress in gender diversity, private sector lags: GCC BDI exec

Israel dragging its feet on allowing Palestinians in east Jerusalem to vote could be just the excuse President Mahmoud Abbas needs to postpone the elections and stop Hamas' likely progress.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: How Israeli hurdle in Palestinian elections may benefit Abbas

Campers and picnickers escaping the city and heading into the desert are leaving behind plastic pollution, which is killing scores of camels in deserts across the United Arab Emirates, according to a leading veterinary researcher.Dr Ulrich Wernery, a veterinary microbiologist in Dubai and head of the emirate’s Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, said many camels have died due to the ingestion of plastic that has amassed over time in their digestive tracts.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“There is a number of animal fatalities - not only in camels, but also turtles, gazelles and in sheep - caused by plastic ingestion,” Dr Wernery told Al Arabia English. “It is far from good.”“Since the COVID-19 pandemic there is even more trash discarded in the desert, in our experience, as more people try to avoid the city - especially at weekend - and go in the desert for caping or bbq-ing and you see places that I cannot describe.“It is so bad.”While campers and picnickers leave trash in the desert, due to high winds and the open environment, plastic bags and other plastic pollution can also blow into the desert from landfills.As the dromedaries roam the desert, they munch on plastic bags, other trash, and plastic pollution that has drifted into sand dunes or into trees.Single use plastics, such as plastic bags, often wind up in camel stomachs, which kills the dromedaries slowly by blocking their intestines, tearing at organs, and creating bacterial infections.Absorbing plastic can also lead to ulcers which causes tremendous discomfort for the desert animal. Also, since they are forced to feel constantly full, they end up not eating enough food and this can cause intestinal bleeding, blockages, dehydration, malnutrition and death, said the veterinary specialist.Dr Wernery led a research team into the cause of camel deaths in the region for a study, ‘The plight of camels eating plastic waste,’ which was published in the Journal of Arid Environments earlier this year.Since 2008, Wernery’s team has examined 3,000 dead camels. Of these, one per cent – or 300 camels - had guts packed with plastic.These camels had a ‘polybezoar’ type of ingestion – a term used to define a tightly packed collection of indigestible materials such as plastics that is strapped in the stomach or digestive tract, causing a large stone-like mass.During their studies, the team found a camel which had upwards of 200 plastic bags packed into its stomach.Plastic, warns Dr Wernery, is a not a problem limited to the ocean.Banning plastic bags and other single-use plastics is essential for preserving the specials and other animals, he said.“The UAE has to ban single use plastic bags as the first step. It is so important.”Read more:Largest camel hospital in the world opens in Saudi ArabiaVeterinarian arrested in Saudi Arabia for performing plastic surgery on camelsAmount of plastic dumped in Mediterranean Sea to double in 20 years: Report
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Plastic left by campers in UAE’s deserts is killing camels: Vet researcher

Despite the largely successful security campaign launched by Egypt in February 2013 against the Palestinian border tunnels in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, there are reportedly Palestinian attempts to bring back some of the destroyed tunnels to life.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Despite Egyptian campaign, Gaza border tunnels resume smuggling activity

Iran was strengthening its nuclear arsenal in 2020 by bolstering its weapons production whilst misleading the world by claiming the nature of their activities were peaceful, a new German intelligence report found.Germany’s government security agency, the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, issued the report, which has been translated from German by The Washington Free Beacon, news platform.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The study stated that Iran had been working to expand its “conventional arsenal of weapons through the production or constant modernization of weapons of mass destruction.”The report by Germany’s equivalent of the FBI indicated that Tehran looked to establish relations with German contacts that were involved in the high-tech field, “in order to obtain the necessary know-how and corresponding components,” in an effort to skirt the sanctions imposed on them and fulfil their nuclear production goals.Iran has claimed that the nature of its nuclear program is peaceful and has demanded that the US lift the reimposed sanctions which were enforced after former president Donald Trump left the nuclear deal in 2015, Bloomberg reported on Sunday.Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that the sequencing of the US’s return to the accord and Tehran implementing full compliance with its terms will not involve a “step by step format and will be in line with the Islamic Republic’s demands”, according to Bloomberg.Crucial multilateral talks involving both countries are taking place in Vienna this week to address this.US President Biden has expressed that he might be willing to relax the sanctions imposed on Tehran as part of a new nuclear deal, but has not yet taken action to do so. Iran has long been skirting sanctions to obtain the fuel needed for its nuclear program and has previously run operations against the sanctions imposed on them for its oil trade, a key revenue source for the country, Free Beacon reported.Iran last week began enriching uranium to 60 percent purity in an effort to show its technical capacity, saying that the move was reversible, Reuters reported last week. Iran was previously enriching uranium to 20 percent purity and the 2015 nuclear deal had capped Tehran’s enrichment level to 3.67 percent.The investigation concluded that Germany remained the focus of “intelligence activities,” for Iran.“Information from foreign and security policy as well as business and science,” is applicable to other nations the report suggested, noting that Syria, North Korea and Pakistan had been engaging in similar activities.Read more:US, Iran ‘not near’ conclusion of talks over nuclear deal: OfficialIraq FM, Iran’s Zarif discuss bilateral relations in BaghdadIran says US must lift sanctions from 1,500 Iranians to fix nuclear deal
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iran aims to further bolster its nuclear arsenal, German intelligence agency finds

France has extended an invitation to the various components of northeast Syria, namely the Kurds, to visit Paris as the latter seeks more influence in the area.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: France seeks foothold in northeast Syria

An explosive-laden boat off the coast of Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu Port was destroyed on Tuesday morning, the spokesperson for the Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki said.The Saudi Arabian navy was able to intercept the vessel in the Red Sea at 6:40 a.m. and destroy it before an attack was launched, al-Maliki said, according to Saudi Press Agency (SPA).For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“A bomb-laden Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) was intercepted and destroyed at (0640) this morning (Tuesday, 27 April 2021). Naval units were able to detect and monitor the activity of the bomb-laden USV in the Red Sea waters off the shores of (Yanbu),” SPA cited Maliki as saying.Investigations are currently underway to determine who was behind the attempted attack on Saudi Arabia, he added.The ministry will continue to take strict measures against any hostile attempts to target Saudi Arabia’s national capabilities and economic facilities, SPA cited the Brigadier General as saying.“Investigations by competent authorities to reach more details regarding this hostile act and determine the party responsible are ongoing.”Read more:Saudi Arabia begins phase two of construction for its World Defense ShowLebanon calls for coordination with Saudi Arabia to crack down on drug smuggling
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Explosive-laden boat off Yanbu Port in Saudi Arabia destroyed: Defense ministry

Only one week before the deadline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces, it is unclear whether his opponents have the majority to compose an alternative government.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Could Bloc for Change really replace Netanyahu?

What Benjamin Netanyahu showed on Tuesday is that there is no line he is not willing to cross when it comes to undermining, weakening and sabotaging Israel’s democratic character and rule of law.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Netanyahu is attacking Israel. Stop him - comment

It is people like him who put service before self, that ensure the service sector continues to thrive even in such difficult times..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Ramadan in UAE: This waiter serves his guests before breaking his fast