Jamal Ahmad Khashikji, a regular columnist for Saudi Arabia's pro-government newspaper Al Watan, wrote that Saudis would not have considered intervening in Somalia to restore security there a few days ago.
"But Somalia is part of our national security environment and 'failing countries' are an evil that infects all their neighbours," he wrote.
"Terrorism, weapons and illegal immigration are all sources of regional concern and anxiety, but they could have been ignored up until this week, which witnessed the hijacking of a Saudi oil supertanker and a failed attack on another Saudi freighter." The Somali pirates are thus attacking Jeddah, the kingdom's capital of commerce, Khashikji wrote.
Western military intervention and an Ethiopian invasion failed to bring stability. "Why don't we try an Arab Islamic solution?" he asked."Why doesn't Saudi Arabia cooperate with Egypt and Yemen to form a military, political, cultural, and economic campaign directed at the Somalis and that speaks their language, which is similar to our own,and addresses their religion, which is the same as our own?"
Jordan's pro-government Ad Dustour daily ran a lead editorial saying that Prime Minister Nader al Dhahabi's visit to "brotherly Syria" sets a new stage in relations and helps enhance and develop them on the economic and trade levels. "Moreover, the importance of this visit resides in the activation of commerce between the two countries in light of the presence of representatives from the private economic sector in the visiting delegation," the paper said.
Public sector institutions in both countries must facilitate trade and obstacles such as customs must be removed. "Jordanian diplomacy, which is being led by His Majesty the King, has been and still is concerned about enhancing and developing bilateral relations with all the brotherly Arab countries," Ad Dustour wrote.
"This corroborates Jordan's rejection of the axis policy and its belief in the need to abstain from interfering in the domestic affairs of any Arab state and to respect these states' privacy." Jordan also calls for the building of a collective Arab position to face the global economic crisis, as well as the Palestinian-Israeli talks.
"On the day of the death of a tyrant in East Asia, I saw with my own two eyes the tears glistening on the face of a maid that hailed from the country the tyrant used to rule," wrote Ahmad Amiri, a regular columnist for the UAE's independent newspaper Al Ittihad. "When I asked the maid about her tears, she said, crying, that they loved the dictator because he had a good heart!"
The same happened with a worker in an Arab restaurant, who said that the president of his controversial country is excellent and has a good heart. "But I knew for a fact that the president was not excellent and has no heart at all because the country, which he has ruled for decades, hasn't advanced at all and is going from one disaster to another,"Amiri wrote. "Simple people cannot do much, but they can at least refuse to sympathise with rulers that didn't do them any good or with presidents that were known to be corrupt even before they became presidents."
Jordan's pro-government daily Al Ghad ran an article by Jihad al Mihaysen saying that the main reason behind the crisis in the region is the Arab-Israeli conflict, the primary and most dangerous source for instability in the Middle East. "But the electoral campaign that preceded the election of Barak Obama reveals that his administration will consider the Arab-Israeli struggle as a low priority. Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan are top priorities," he wrote.
The domestic situation in the United States will be more pressing, with the new president seeking ways to revitalise the national economy. "Hence, foreign policy will be the least priority for the new administration, and it will take Obama a long time to find a way amid these complicated conflicts in the Middle East, which are the legacies of President Bush and whose solutions have become hard to find." Obama's administration will adopt a new language of dialogue and openness that will be welcome in the Middle East, al Mihaysen wrote. "But the echoes of Obama's desire for change do not target the Arab and Islamic world directly."
* Digest compiled from www.mideastwire.com
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
AL%20BOOM
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AIDA%20RETURNS
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph
Forwards: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck
Company%20Profile
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 3 (Sterling 46', De Bruyne 65', Gundogan 70')
Aston Villa 0
Red card: Fernandinho (Manchester City)
Man of the Match: Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
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Match info:
Portugal 1
Ronaldo (4')
Morocco 0
Simran
Director Hansal Mehta
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
Three stars
The%C2%A0specs%20
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Conservative MPs who have publicly revealed sending letters of no confidence
- Steve Baker
- Peter Bone
- Ben Bradley
- Andrew Bridgen
- Maria Caulfield
- Simon Clarke
- Philip Davies
- Nadine Dorries
- James Duddridge
- Mark Francois
- Chris Green
- Adam Holloway
- Andrea Jenkyns
- Anne-Marie Morris
- Sheryll Murray
- Jacob Rees-Mogg
- Laurence Robertson
- Lee Rowley
- Henry Smith
- Martin Vickers
- John Whittingdale
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
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