Saudi foreign minister meets Spanish counterpart

Saudi foreign minister meets Spanish counterpart
Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Jose Manuel Albarez. (SPA)
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Updated 04 July 2024
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Saudi foreign minister meets Spanish counterpart

Saudi foreign minister meets Spanish counterpart
  • Saudi and Spanish FMs reviewed bilateral relations and explored ways to enhance cooperation across various fields
  • Meeting attended by Saudi Ambassador to Spain Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz Al-Muqrin

MADRID: Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi minister of foreign affairs, met on Thursday the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Albarez on the sidelines of the annual European Council on Foreign Relations meeting in Madrid.

During the meeting, the two reviewed bilateral relations and explored ways to enhance cooperation across various fields. They also discussed regional and international developments, particularly the situation in Gaza and efforts to address it.

The meeting was attended by Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz Al-Muqrin, Saudi ambassador to Spain, and Abdulrahman Al-Daoud, director-general of the minister of foreign affairs’ office.


Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing

Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
Updated 3 min 4 sec ago
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Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing

Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
  • The child was found in an overloaded dinghy when migrants issued a call for assistance on Saturday morning
  • The boat was carrying nearly 90 people and suffered engine failure off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France

CALAIS, France: A two-year-old child was crushed to death and several adult migrants died in two separate tragedies overnight when their overcrowded boats tried to cross the Channel to Britain, French officials said Saturday.
The child was found in an overloaded dinghy when migrants issued a call for assistance on Saturday morning. The boat was carrying nearly 90 people and suffered engine failure off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer in northern France.
Citing initial information, regional prosecutor Guirec Le Bras said the child was “crushed” to death.
Fourteen other migrants were picked up by French authorities including a 17-year-old teenager who had to be hospitalized with burns to his legs, officials said. The other passengers continued their journey.
French authorities say they seek to stop people taking to the water but do not intervene once they are afloat except for rescue purposes, citing safety concerns.
Another boat overcrowded with migrants also suffered engine failure off the coast of Calais, leading to panic. Some migrants fell into the sea and were rescued.
Three people — two men and a woman aged around 30 — were then discovered unconscious at the bottom of the boat, Pas-de-Calais regional prefect Jacques Billant told reporters.
The three were “probably crushed, suffocated and drowned” in the water at the bottom of the boat, added the prefect.
The interior ministers of France and Britain condemned the “appalling” tragedies.
“A child was trampled to death in a boat,” France’s hard-line interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, said on X, adding that several other people had died in the “appalling tragedy.”
“The smugglers have the blood of these people on their hands and our government will intensify the fight against these gangs who enrich themselves by organizing these deadly crossings,” Retailleau added.
British Interior Minister Yvette Cooper struck a similar note.
“It is appalling that more lives have been lost in the Channel today, including a young child, as criminal smuggler gangs continue to organize these dangerous boat crossings,” she said.
“The gangs do not care if people live or die — this is a terrible trade in lives.”
Cooper said on X she was in touch with Retailleau, adding the two met this week to discuss “our determination to increase cooperation and law enforcement to pursue and dismantle criminal gangs.”
The latest tragedies bring to 51 the number of migrants who have died attempting to reach England from France so far this year, according to Billant.
Channel crossings to Britain by undocumented asylum seekers have surged since 2018 despite repeated warnings about the perilous journey. The Channel has heavy maritime traffic, icy waters and strong currents.
Migrants sometimes get crushed or trampled to death in overcrowded boats.
In July, a 21-year-old woman from Kuwait was crushed to death in a migrant boat off the French coast.
The French and British governments have sought to stop the flow of undocumented migrants, who may pay smugglers thousands of euros per head for the passage to England from France aboard small boats.
France’s new right-wing prime minister, Michel Barnier, said on Tuesday the country needed a stricter immigration policy.
He vowed to be “ruthless” with people traffickers, who he said “exploit misery and despair” that pushed undocumented asylum seekers to risk trying to cross the Channel and the Mediterranean.
The latest tragedies come after eight migrants died in mid-September when their overcrowded vessel capsized while trying to cross the Channel.
In early September at least 12 people including six minors, mostly from Eritrea, died off the northern French coast when their boat capsized.
The number of migrants arriving in Britain by crossing the Channel in small boats has topped 25,000 since the start of the year.
Stopping the small boat arrivals on England’s southern coast was a key issue in Britain’s general election in July.
Britain’s Cooper has said the government aims over the next six months to achieve the highest rate of deportations of failed asylum seekers in five years.


Hezbollah says targets north Israel ‘military industries’ firm

Hezbollah says targets north Israel ‘military industries’ firm
Updated 9 min 42 sec ago
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Hezbollah says targets north Israel ‘military industries’ firm

Hezbollah says targets north Israel ‘military industries’ firm
  • The group said it launched “a rocket salvo” toward a “military industries company” east of Acre

BEIRUT: Hezbollah said it launched rockets at a defense company in northern Israel Saturday, the latest attacks after Israel intensified its bombing campaign last week, nearly a year into cross-border clashes with the group.
The Iran-backed group said in a statement that it launched “a rocket salvo” toward a “military industries company” east of Acre.


Pakistan to face touring England in three-Test series as visitors target hosts’ losing streak

Pakistan to face touring England in three-Test series as visitors target hosts’ losing streak
Updated 17 min 18 sec ago
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Pakistan to face touring England in three-Test series as visitors target hosts’ losing streak

Pakistan to face touring England in three-Test series as visitors target hosts’ losing streak
  • England’s 3-0 whitewash on their 2022 Pakistan trip was the first clean sweep by any visiting team to the country
  • England will begin the series without talismanic leader Ben Stokes, who will miss the first Test due to hamstring

MULTAN: Pakistan play England in a three-Test series starting Monday in Multan with the visitors favorites to inflict more damage on a team mired in a painful losing streak.

England’s 3-0 whitewash on their last trip to Pakistan in 2022 was the first clean sweep by any visiting team to the country, and plunged the hosts into a slump that has left them winless in their last 10 home Tests.

The visitors will be buoyed by memories of that famous win, but begin the series without talismanic leader Ben Stokes, who will miss the first Test due to a hamstring injury.

While England sit in third place in the ICC Test rankings, five spots above Pakistan, they travel to South Asia with an inexperienced pace attack following the retirement of James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

Pakistan, meanwhile, are known for their unpredictability and will be desperate to wipe away the humiliation of a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of low-ranked Bangladesh last month.

Captain Shan Masood, whose tenure has been marked by a run of five consecutive defeats, said his players were motivated to prove themselves.

“We took steps in the right direction in Australia despite losing, but we could not take them forward in the Bangladesh series,” Masood said this week.

“We are eager to stage a comeback in this important series.”

Pakistan cricket is flailing in all formats, with a revolving door of bosses and allegations of nepotism crushing the development of the nation’s most popular sport.

Superstar batsman Babar Azam relinquished the white-ball captaincy this week, saying he wanted to focus on his batting after a run-drought of 16 Test innings without a half-century.

The three Tests in Multan and Rawalpindi scheduled to wrap up on October 28 will be the first trial of the 29-year-old’s renewed commitment to his craft.

“We all know how good a player he is,” said Masood. “The good thing is that he is not out of form, and we can hope he is just one innings away from producing his best.”

While all eyes are on Azam to score big, Pakistan will hope pace spearheads Shaheen Shah Afridi -- who missed the 2022 Test with a knee injury -- and Naseem Shah can crack England’s robust batting order.

“We have told our fast bowlers that they are very important in taking 20 wickets,” said Masood.

Stokes will miss the first Test as he struggles to recover from a hamstring injury inflicted while playing for Northern Superchargers in The Hundred on August 11.

There are doubts over his return for the second match starting October 15, but England’s record has remained strong in his absence.

Top-order batter Ollie Pope led them to a 3-0 whitewash of the West Indies and a 2-1 win over Sri Lanka.

Two years ago, it was England’s batting that set the tone for the 3-0 victory on the very first day of the series, smashing 506-4 to set a new record for an opening day total in Tests.

Top batter Joe Root will also be eyeing the record books, needing just 71 runs to best Alastair Cook’s tally of 12,472, the most by any England batter.

Even without Stokes, England will have five pace bowlers led by fast-rising Gus Atkinson who has taken an impressive 34 wickets since his debut earlier this year. But the quintet will all be bowling for the first time in Pakistani conditions.

Experienced Jack Leach heads the spin attack, accompanied by Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed.

Harry Brook led the way with three hundreds in the 2022 series while Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett and Pope also feasted on slow and flat tracks.

“I know that Shan Masood has been asking for quicker, more lively wickets for their fast bowlers. Obviously last time we were there they were slow, dry and spun a bit,” Stokes said before arrival.

“So, we’ve got to go there with an open mind about what we’re going to get.”

 


Pakistani court bans ‘unlawful protests’ in Islamabad ahead of SCO summit

Pakistani court bans ‘unlawful protests’ in Islamabad ahead of SCO summit
Updated 9 min 56 sec ago
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Pakistani court bans ‘unlawful protests’ in Islamabad ahead of SCO summit

Pakistani court bans ‘unlawful protests’ in Islamabad ahead of SCO summit
  • Islamabad High Court says there should be no lockdown situation in the capital during the period of the summit
  • Court order comes in response to a petition by local businessmen who complained about Islamabad’s situation

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani court issued a brief order in response to a petition on Saturday, saying no “unlawful protest” could be held in Islamabad during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.

Pakistan will host the SCO conference in the federal capital on October 15 and 16, with several high-profile foreign dignitaries expected to participate from various regional countries. The government has already deployed the army in Islamabad, whose top officials will oversee the city’s security until October 17.

The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration has also imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code to prevent large gatherings, though former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has ignored the legal provision while attempting to hold a protest near the parliament building.

“The respondents shall ensure that no unlawful protest is held in ICT that creates situation of lockdown or disrupt peace in ICT during the period of SCO Summit,” Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamir Farooq said in his written order.

The petition was filed by local businessmen who said life had come to a standstill in the federal capital, with the PTI trying to protest in the city and the government using shipping containers to block the roads in a bid to prevent the demonstration from taking place.

The court also observed in its order that people could not even access the airport or medical facilities under the circumstances.

Justice Farooq noted the Section 144 had already been imposed in the city, though he asked the Islamabad administration to allocated a place where the PTI could hold its protest.

The PTI has tried to hold the protest for the release of its founding leader, Imran Khan, at the D-Chowk in Islamabad which is located right next to some of the most sensitive government installations in the city.

The ruling administration has also accused the party of resorting to violence against police, adding that its supporters want to sabotage the SCO summit.

 


Saudi Arabia’s hosting Olympic Esports Games 2025 underlines the Kingdom’s economic and social transformation

Saudi Arabia’s hosting Olympic Esports Games 2025 underlines the Kingdom’s economic and social transformation
Updated 54 min 39 sec ago
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Saudi Arabia’s hosting Olympic Esports Games 2025 underlines the Kingdom’s economic and social transformation

Saudi Arabia’s hosting Olympic Esports Games 2025 underlines the Kingdom’s economic and social transformation
  • Kingdom hosting the Olympic Esports Games will position the Middle East as a major player in digital entertainment, say experts

RIYADH: History was made in July when the International Olympic Committee decided to create Olympic Esports Games, with the first edition being set to be held in 2025 in Saudi Arabia.

The event is set to be a game-changer for competitive gaming globally, with the industry’s value expected to reach over $1 trillion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 11.60 percent during the forecast period 2023-2032, according to market research firm Inkwood Research.

With this event expected to be held at the same level as the Winter and Summer Olympics, it will position the Middle East as a major player in digital entertainment, leveraging the country’s young, tech-savvy population and strong government support.

The Esports Olympics is also set to attract international talent and showcase advanced gaming technology, highlighting the region’s potential as a global esports hub.

Impact and opportunities on global esports industry

According to Shahid Khan, partner and global head of Media, Entertainment, Sports, and Culture at international management consulting firm Arthur D. Little, the hosting of the Esports Olympics in the Kingdom legitimizes the pastime on an international stage and aligns it more closely with traditional sports.

“This event will likely accelerate investment in esports infrastructure, not just in Saudi Arabia but across the Middle East and beyond. It presents opportunities for game developers, tournament organizers, and esports teams to expand their presence in the region. Additionally, it could spark increased interest in esports careers among young people in the Middle East,” Khan said.

The substantial prize pool of $62.5 million, will undoubtedly elevate the profile of esports in the Middle East and globally, he added.

“This event could reshape perceptions of esports, particularly in regions where it’s still gaining mainstream acceptance. It positions Saudi Arabia as a serious player in the global esports landscape and could inspire other countries in the region to invest more heavily in their esports ecosystems,” the Arthur D. Little partner said.

Firms contributing to the growth of the gaming and esports industry in the region

Numerous companies in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East are actively participating in advancing and prospering the gaming and esports sector across the Kingdom and the wider region.

One such firm is Dubai-headquartered Shaffra.

The technology, information and Internet company is looking to redefine productivity and innovation, crafting a future where work is not just a place you go, but a space you shape and share, according to the company’s co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Marc Wehbi.

He told Arab News: “Our AI-driven Workforce solutions are tailored to handle complex tasks such as managing in-game analytics, optimizing player performance, and generating engaging content.”

Wehbi went on to say that through the integration of advanced technologies, Shaffra’s objective is to strengthen the region’s esports infrastructure and position it as a global leader in technological innovation and competitive gaming.

Another illustration of this is MENATech Entertainment, a technology company with projects related to the video games and education sector.

The firm’s CEO Mario Perez told Arab News that his firm recognizes the government’s significant push to cultivate a strong gaming and esports environment, complemented by private initiatives that open a wide range of opportunities for consumers.

“By leveraging our global experience and success, particularly through initiatives like Amazon UNIVERSITY Esports, which has seen a 57 percent growth in student participation in Saudi Arabia, we aim to foster talent and enhance the esports ecosystem in the region,” he said.

Perez explained that his firm has expanded its reach to over 220 universities across the region, which contributes to the region’s economic and cultural upliftment and helps position Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East as leading players in the global esports arena.

Similarly, the Sports Lead Partner at PwC Middle East Nick Oakley shed light on how the firm has been extensively involved in the esports sector for the past five years and have delivered several strategic projects which have had a real impact in growing the industry.

“We are continuing to collaborate with key partners in the industry, including the Saudi Esports Federation, on various joint initiatives,” Oakley said.

Managing consulting company Kearney is also seen to be contributing to the rise of the gaming and esports industry, as is global law firm Reed Smith.

According to Jamie Ryder, partner at Entertainment and Media Industry Group at Reed Smith, the company has team members throughout the US, Europe, the Middle East and Asia with gaming and esports expertise which allows it to provide advice and guidance in line with international best practice and learnings from different territories.

“Our footprint allows us to combine international best practice with our local experience which is always crucial in understanding how and why things may need to be done differently in different territories,” Ryder told Arab News.

Arthur D. Little’s Khan said the benefits of hosting major events, such as the Esports Olympics, help Saudi Arabia in a financial regard – with an increase in tourism – but also enhance the Kingdom’s image as a modern, tech-savvy nation.

“The gaming and esports industry can play a crucial role in realizing Vision 2030 goals by fostering innovation, attracting foreign investment, and creating high-skilled jobs for young Saudis. Moreover, as a digital-first industry, it supports the Kingdom’s ambitions to become a leading digital economy,” Khan said.

From MENATech Entertainment’s perspective, Saudi Arabia hosting the Esports World Cup, Esports Olympics and the construction of Qiddiya City Esports Arena are “monumental steps toward” realizing the Kingdom’s digital economy goals.

Pérez said: “KSA’s esports market is projected to soar to $6.8 billion by 2030, with the rollout of the National Gaming and Esports Strategy expected to contribute SR50 billion to the nation’s GDP, create 39,000 new jobs, generate over 30 competitive games within local studios and make KSA one of the top three nations in professional esports.”

The CEO went on to say how these initiatives are not just milestones in realizing Vision 2030 but also elevate Saudi Arabia’s global status, embedding esports into the cultural and economic fabric of the region, driving tourism, infrastructure development, and international investment.

From Kearney’s side, Hammoud argued that as Vision 2030 focuses on both economic and social transformation, the gaming and esports industry can play a crucial role in both.

“Socially, it enhances the Quality-of-Life Program by fostering a dynamic, youth-driven culture and promoting digital literacy. By aligning with Vision 2030, the industry supports economic diversification, creates new opportunities for young Saudis, and positions Saudi Arabia as a leader in the global digital economy,” he said.