TANGIER, MOROCCO // With barbarians at the gates of Rome, the last emperor abdicated in 476, and for 15 centuries a kaleidoscope of subsequent powers and potentates has struggled vainly to impose order on the Mediterranean world.
Last week, dozens of leaders and intellectuals from Mediterranean countries gathered in Tangier for a three-day conference on prospects for the latest bid, a brainchild of the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, called the Union for the Mediterranean.
The idea is to use co-operation on trade and development among the 43 member states to bring wealth and stability to one of the world's most volatile regions. But several big obstacles stand in the way, notably tense relations between Morocco and Algeria, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and Libya, whose leader, Moamer Qadafi, has criticised the project and held his country at observer status.
Meanwhile, ballooning membership, questions over funding and internal jockeying for influence also complicate the union, analysts said.
Down the beach from the hotel where the conference was held, scenes of rain-lashed poverty evoked the divide separating the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean. A few steps from the sea, working-class Moroccans idled in the cafes, gazing at Spanish headlands thrusting above the Strait of Gibraltar. From secluded beaches, young men desperate for jobs set off by night across the water in flimsy inflatable boats.
Morocco has experienced economic growth recently, but still struggles with about 14 per cent unemployment and is embroiled in political tensions with neighbouring Algeria that keep the countries' border closed, blocking trade.
With political rivalries criss-crossing the region, the difficulties faced by the union go beyond the basic wealth gap between northern and southern countries, said Rory Miller, a senior lecturer in Middle East and Mediterranean studies at King's College London.
"It's not Europe versus the southern Mediterranean - it's the Mediterranean versus the Mediterranean."
Mr Sarkozy has characterised his initiative as modelled partly on the European Union, where integration - first economic, then political - has helped bury old enmities and enable countries to prosper.
"We will build peace in the Mediterranean together, like yesterday we built peace in Europe," he declared at the union's official launch in Paris in July.
Topping the list is finding a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, which has frustrated would-be peacemakers for decades.
"The union extricates the Israelis and the Palestinians from the mental ghetto that is the conflict," said Schlomo Benami, a former Israeli foreign minister, who took part in last week's conference. "It's useful for them to meet in an Arab country - it gives a sense that things are possible."
But Hassan Abderahmane, the Palestinian Authority's ambassador to Morocco, is looking for more than words.
"We've over-negotiated," said Mr Abderahmane, who shared the platform with Mr Benami. "It's time for action."
Action of a kind is coming, said Bernardino Leon, the secretary general of the presidency of Spain, where the city of Barcelona will host the union's headquarters.
"Practical co-operation will allow us to overcome political differences."
So far, the union has vowed to fight pollution, promote solar energy, build land and sea highways, and co-operate on education.
European countries would have to finance such projects, said Taji Eddine el Houssaini, an economics professor at Mohammed V University in Rabat.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has said that up to US$20.6 billion (Dh75.7bn) in EU funds are available. But additional funding will have to come through private sector investment, Mr Houssaini said.
That means southern countries must reform to attract more investors, he said. "They must fight corruption and bureaucracy, modernise their administrations and improve the credibility of their justice systems."
The union itself risks becoming unwieldy as various players have scrambled for influence, Mr Miller said.
When Mr Sarkozy first proposed the union during his 2007 presidential campaign, it included only countries with a Mediterranean coastline. Since then, the entire EU has climbed aboard and the Arab League has won a role in decision-making - moves to dilute French, then European influence, Mr Miller said.
After further power-sharing compromises sealed last month, the previously lean governing structure now has two co-presidents, a secretary general, and five deputy secretary generals parcelled out among northern and southern members.
Today the Union for the Mediterranean encompasses 43 countries, about 800 million inhabitants, and a geographical space stretching from Mauritania to Finland.
The danger is that the project will go the way of the Barcelona Process, an EU-led programme of dialogue and economic co-operation with the southern shore of the Mediterranean launched in 1995 that has stalled on Arab-Israeli disputes, Mr Miller said.
"There's nothing wrong with countries talking," Mr Miller said. "But this could become just another talking shop."
jthorne@thenational.ae
THE DETAILS
Kaala
Dir: Pa. Ranjith
Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar
Rating: 1.5/5
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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LEADERBOARD
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The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: Dh898,000
On sale: now
Fight card
1. Featherweight 66kg: Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)
2. Lightweight 70kg: Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)
3. Welterweight 77kg:Marcos Costa (BRA) v Abdelhakim Wahid (MAR)
4. Lightweight 70kg: Omar Ramadan (EGY) v Abdimitalipov Atabek (KGZ)
5. Featherweight 66kg: Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Kagimu Kigga (UGA)
6. Catchweight 85kg: Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) v Iuri Fraga (BRA)
7. Featherweight 66kg: Yousef Al Husani (UAE) v Mohamed Allam (EGY)
8. Catchweight 73kg: Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Ahmed Abdelraouf of Egypt (EGY)
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10. Catchweight 90kg: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
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On sale: now
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
HAJJAN
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What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
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Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry
4/5
The specs: 2018 Jaguar F-Type Convertible
Price, base / as tested: Dh283,080 / Dh318,465
Engine: 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 295hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 1,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.2L / 100km
Tour de France 2017: Stage 5
Vittel - La Planche de Belles Filles, 160.5km
It is a shorter stage, but one that will lead to a brutal uphill finish. This is the third visit in six editions since it was introduced to the race in 2012. Reigning champion Chris Froome won that race.
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
Pathaan
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LIKELY TEAMS
South Africa
Faf du Plessis (captain), Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Lungi Ngidi.
India (from)
Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wkt), Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
