‘World Expo projects prepare a city for the future by stimulating development,' BIE chief Kerkentzes tells Arab News PARIS: A World Expo is an event filled with magic and wonder for visitors from all walks of life, and allows host nations to highlight their achievements while celebrating global diversity. This is why the Saudi capital Riyadh decided to launch its bid to host Expo 2030, the outcome of which will be announced about two months from now. For the past 170 years, from the original Great Exhibition in London in 1851 to its most recent iteration as Expo 2020 Dubai, these prestigious events have captivated visitors and provided a showcase for technological advances alongside historical and cultural curios.

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Afghan women protesting in Kabul on August 13, 2022 are dispersed by Taliban fighters. (Wakil Kohsar / AFP) Short Url During their first year in power the Taliban have presided over one of the fastest declines of any nation in history. Not only have about 90 percent of Afghans been dragged to the brink of starvation, but the female half of the population have also been entirely robbed of their future, including any prospects for higher education or employment. Child mortality is soaring, and the economy is in freefall.

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Short Url As we pass another 9/11 anniversary, people talk about Daesh as if they were a defeated, spent force. In fact, they are a more globalized movement than at any time in their history. As recently as 2017, about 80 percent of Daesh's activity was in Iraq and Syria, but in 2022 the vast majority of their attacks occur elsewhere — over half emanating from Africa, and a growing number focused on Afghanistan and neighboring states. Both Daesh and Al-Qaeda have become highly active throughout the Sahel region of Africa, including sprawling ungoverned spaces across Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

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Short Url It has been obvious for several years that a cluster of legal torpedoes were directed toward Donald Trump. It was only a question of which ones would hit their targets and how much damage they would do. With both Trump and his British alter ego, Boris Johnson, facing potentially career-ending accusations on the same day last week, what does this mean for justice and the rule of law in the Western world? The sheer number of Trump's legal challenges is bewildering. The federal criminal indictments contain nearly 40 counts relating to his hoarding of top secret documents.

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Cause for celebration in states that suffered Wagner's brutality With Wagner funds seized and his official connections severed, Yevgeny Prigozhin has become a spent force. (AP) Short Url https://arab.news/mwzpv Yevgeny Prigozhin was one of Vladimir Putin's closest confidants from the earliest days of his presidency, which makes the developments of the past days profoundly damaging for the president's authority. Far from the rejuvenated Soviet empire Putin aspired to on the eve of his Ukraine invasion, Russia today resembles a diminished and chronically unstable banana republic.

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Short Url Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Tehran suddenly feels liberated to embark on its own escalations targeted at the US, Iran's opponents in Iraq, and perhaps Israel. No fewer than 12 ballistic missiles were unleashed on Sunday against sites near the US Consulate in Irbil. Usually, Tehran stages such provocations via its proxies to add a flimsy dimension of plausible deniability. That such a large attack was launched from Iran itself demonstrates new levels of brazenness. Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said this aggression against Irbil was an attack against Iraqi national security, and President Barham Saleh denounced it as a 'terrorist crime' designed to undermine recent political rapprochement.

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article author:Arab NewsSun, 2021-05-09 12:36
DUBAI: Emirates has converted 16 passenger planes to transport cargo and is also using some of its fleet to carry goods in the cabin.
Nabil Sultan, Emirates SkyCargo divisional senior vice president said the airline was studying its capacity, in an ...

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1856076/business-economy

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article author:Rashid HassanAuthor:Sat, 2021-05-15 23:47
RIYADH:Saudi entrepreneurs are among the most optimistic in the world, a new survey shows, with an overwhelming majority believing the Kingdom offers good opportunities to start a business despite the economic impact of the coronavirus ...

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article author:Arab NewsAuthor:Mon, 2021-05-17 00:10
DUBAI:The EU has pledged 8 million ($9.72 million) toward the fight to combat the spread of desert locusts in Africa.

The EU contribution was from its European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and was welcomed by the ...

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1859676/business-economy

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Author:article author:NAJIA HOUSSARITue, 2021-05-11 23:10
BEIRUT: Motorists queued for hours at gas stations across Lebanon on Tuesday as fears of an imminent end to the countrys subsidy on fuel increased demand for a commodity already in short supply.

Payment delays are also keeping urgent oil ...

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1857381/business-economy

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Iraqi protesters gather during an anti-government protest in Baghdad, Iraq September 2, 2022. (Reuters) Short Url With at least 30 dead and hundreds injured in clashes in Baghdad last week, Iraq is on the threshold of civil war. With the country's survival as an independent nation in the balance, civil society protesters took to the streets pledging renewed mass demonstrations and chanting that 'Iran will not rule Iraq.' Iraqi intelligence warns of further assassinations by Iran-backed paramilitaries as factional strife escalates and rival militias attack each other's offices.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2156321

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'Sight to behold': tourists flock to Florida for Moon rocket launch /node/2152216/world Visitors listen to a tour guide while looking at the Artemis I unmanned lunar rocket as it sits on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 28, 2022, ahead of its expected launch on August 29. (AFP) Between 100,000 and 200,000 visitors are expected to attend the launch of the mission, called Artemis 1, which will propel an empty capsule to the Moon as part of a test for future crewed flights.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2152216/world

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Firas Hamdan is one of 13 independent politicians who made it to Lebanon's May 15 parliamentary election. (AFP) Short Url Last week's Lebanese elections represented an elusive promise of change, but for change to prevail we have immense work ahead of us. In this historic shake-up of traditional political fiefdoms, several figures who were regarded as irreplaceable pillars of the old system — such as Hezbollah and Syria allies Talal Arslan, Elie Ferzli and Faisal Karami — lost their seats.

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article author:Arab NewsAuthor:Mon, 2021-05-10 10:40
DUBAI: Dubai operator Emaar Malls said first quarter profit fell 16 percent from a year earlier to 318 million dirhams ($86.6 million).
Main category:Business & EconomyTags:Emaar MallsDubaiUAEretail...

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Author:Reutersarticle author:ReutersID:1619854331601774300Sat, 2021-05-01 06:29
ISTANBUL: Turkey added cryptocurrency trading platforms to the list of firms covered by anti-money laundering and terrorism financing regulation, it said in a presidential decree published early on Saturday.
The ...

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article author:Arab NewsAuthor:Mon, 2021-05-17 00:17
RIYADH:The Saudi ready meals market was valued at $18.18 million last year and is forecast to grow at an average yearly rate of 5.43 percent over the next five years, according to a report by US-based research company Reportlinker.
Main category...

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Iranian Americans rally in Washington against Iran's rulers on Sept. 24, 2022. (REUTERS) Short Url Notorious mass murderer Ebrahim Raisi was running scared at the UN last week. As leader of the world's foremost pariah regime, this truly evil man had plenty of time on his hands in New York, with few heads of state willing to engage with him. News outlets such as The Washington Post and Reuters were barred from the Iranian president's press conference after they refused to refrain from asking about the mass protests that have swept Iran in the past week.

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article author:DEEMA AL-KHUDAIRAuthor:Sun, 2021-05-02 17:28
JEDDAH: Saudi Industrial Services Company (SISCO), a strategic investor in the Kingdoms ports and terminals, on Sunday reported that revenue in Q1 2021 rose 51.6 percent year-on-year (YoY) to SR253.6 million ($67.63 million), while net ...

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1852501/business

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article author:Shane McGinleyAuthor:Mon, 2021-05-17 00:23
DUBAI:Like many executives around the world, Bruno Bensasson hasnt been on a plane much in the last year. However, one of the few flights he did take recently was to Riyadh to check up on the progress of two massive renewable energy projects...

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1859691/business-economy

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article author:AFPAuthor:Mon, 2021-05-17 00:13
PARIS:French President Emmanuel Macron will on Tuesday host a virtual summit of European and African leaders to seek solutions to the financial crisis in Africa, where governments hope to boost development while managing massive debts.

The summit on ...

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1859681/business-economy

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Lebanese activists gathered on Aug. 4, 2022, to mark the 2nd anniversary of the deadly Beirut port blast. (REUTERS) Short Url Two years after Beirut's port catastrophe — which was an apt metaphor for the wider state of Lebanon —the port's huge grain silos continue to disintegrate and toxic fires feed upon their decomposing contents, terrorizing locals and prompting fears about stinking clouds of carcinogenic dust visiting new afflictions upon a capital city that has been brutally stripped of its soul.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2138131

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Joe Biden drops his notes during a CNN interview on Wednesday. (Videograb/CNN) Short Url There has been a deluge of opinion emanating from Washington in the past few days on the subject of the decision by the OPEC+ producers' alliance to reduce oil output by 2 million barrels a day from November. The nature of that opinion— ranging from intelligence-insulting assumptions to merely inaccurate information — leads to the inevitable conclusion that it is now extremely hard to take anything said on this issue by any US official seriously.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2180686

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A mural of slain of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh adorns a wall in Gaza City on May 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) Short Url I did not know Shireen Abu Akleh, but I mourn her as a friend. For millions of us, she was our heartfelt window into the Palestinian cause for 25 years. In the mindset of Israel's security apparatus this is why Shireen had to die — because she bore witness to a truth they could not bear to hear. Israeli security forces marked Shireen's violent and untimely death with a 'dignity and respect' that only they know how to show — by attacking mourners at her funeral.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2082786

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Iran has recently released pictures of its underground drone base, an apparent show of force. (Handout via AFP) Short Url Just minutes after Tehran threatened 'punitive action' against Greece for its involvement in the confiscation of a cargo of smuggled Iranian oil, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces seized two Greek tankers in the Arabian Gulf. These flagrant acts of piracy last week elicited familiarly feeble statements of 'concern' and calls for restraint from Western governments, although they fit a predictable template of Iranian behavior.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2092291

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article author:Arab NewsAuthor:Mon, 2021-05-03 11:42
DUBAI: Global Islamic finance is expected to grow by 10 to 12 percent over the next year on the back of stronger sukuk issuances and continued industry standardization, S&P Global said in a report.
Financing growth in Saudi Arabia will remain ...

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1852826/business-economy

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Author:Reutersarticle author:ReutersID:1620897298008053200Thu, 2021-05-13 09:03
BENGALURU:Turkeys lira fell to a six-month low on Thursday as risks of tighter US monetary policy after strong inflation data weighed on most emerging market assets, with stocks set for their worst day since late March...

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1858181/business-economy

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Iranians mock US President Biden during a rally outside the former US embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 2021. (AFP) Short Url When your bridegroom boasts that he has been cheating on you all the way up to the night before the wedding, there are grounds for giving the forthcoming marriage second thoughts. One might have expected similar misgivings from America when, on the cusp of a revised nuclear deal with Tehran, Iranian proxies have been running amok, gleefully firing missiles at US targets across the Middle East.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2152206

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article author:Frank KaneSat, 2021-05-15 00:00
The Middle Easts water challenge is summed up in one stark statistic: The region is home to 6 percent of the worlds population but has just 1 percent of its fresh water.

Rami Ghandour, managing director of UAE-based water company Metito Utilities, ...

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1858846/business-economy

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