Breeding programs necessary in a time of biodiversity loss

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Breeding programs necessary in a time of biodiversity loss

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If I can begin by venturing a somewhat non-scientific opinion about our new Arabian leopard triplets, it will be this: They are incredibly cute.

The two males are rambunctious and always ready for some rough-and-tumble play. The female is more the quiet and watchful type. It is easy to become attached to these spirited creatures.

And with each new birth, RCU’s work at the Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Center brings us closer to the day when the Arabian leopard can return to its ancestral habitat in the rocky wilderness of AlUla. Globally, RCU’s work in Arabian leopard conservation is important in the context of the fight to conserve global biodiversity.

While the work of RCU has laid a foundation for the species’ future, we need the public to buy in as well.

Stephen Browne

The triplets are pieces of this larger puzzle. For RCU’s Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Program, they are significant in three respects. They represent three more leopards for the program; their births show that our leopards are in the best possible condition in the breeding center; and, lastly, the births are an incredible motivator for our team as we cope with the highs and lows of a 15-year journey to return the species to the wild.

Since launching the program some four years ago, our leopard population has grown from 14 to 32. We have reached the stage where we are ready to expand. We will be announcing plans soon. It will be a milestone moment with more to follow, and none too soon. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reported in 2023 that the species’ numbers in the wild are diminishing.

Whereas it previously estimated the number at up to 200 mature individuals, its update states there are a maximum of 120. There are fewer Arabian leopards left in the wild than there are spots on a leopard’s coat. While the work of RCU in the past four years has laid a foundation for the species’ future, we need the public to buy in as well.

We want people to understand that the leopard is not a menace to humans, and we want farmers to know that they can co-exist with leopards. We acknowledge that when the leopards return to the ecosystem, they will sometimes take down livestock.

All of us want a better future for the Arabian leopard, in which the triplets’ descendants roam AlUla, unfettered and free.

Stephen Browne

To offset this, we are already working in collaboration with community members to introduce various initiatives, including plans to train dogs from the RCU Animal Welfare Center to serve as farm watchdogs, supporting farmers to build fences that better prevent livestock from straying, and promoting leopard-based ecotourism so that the species acquires economic value for the community.

The popular consciousness on conservation is changing. The Green and Blue series of Arab News is evidence of that. We are honored that Green and Blue’s first story was on the Arabian leopard, and that it is returning to the leopard to close the year. All of us want a better future for this species, in which we see the triplets’ descendants roaming AlUla, unfettered and free.

• Stephen Browne is vice president (wildlife and natural heritage) at the Royal Commission for AlUla.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view

Simeone brace powers Atletico Madrid past Getafe into Copa semifinals

Simeone brace powers Atletico Madrid past Getafe into Copa semifinals
Updated 05 February 2025
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Simeone brace powers Atletico Madrid past Getafe into Copa semifinals

Simeone brace powers Atletico Madrid past Getafe into Copa semifinals
  • The 22-year-old Simeone netted twice in the first 17 minutes and Atletico reached the last-four of the Copa for the second straight season
  • In the other quarterfinals, Real Madrid visit Leganes on Wednesday, while on Thursday it will be Real Sociedad welcoming Osasuna and Barcelona playing at Valencia

MADRID: Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone’s son, Giuliano, scored two early goals as the team eased into the Copa del Rey semifinals with a 5-0 home victory over Getafe on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old Simeone netted twice in the first 17 minutes and Atletico reached the last-four of the Copa for the second straight season.

Samuel Lino also scored a first-half goal for the hosts at the Metropolitano stadium, and Angel Correa and Alexander Sorloth added second-half goals.

Atletico, whO last won the Copa in 2012-13, was eliminated by eventual champions Athletic Bilbao last season.

In the other quarterfinals, Real Madrid visit Leganes on Wednesday, while on Thursday it will be Real Sociedad welcoming Osasuna and Barcelona playing at Valencia.

Simeone opened the scoring with a header in the eighth minute and doubled the lead from inside the area in a breakaway in the 17th. Lino scored the third goal after a neat move to clear a defender and find the far corner with a low shot in the 42nd. Correa made it 4-0 with a low strike from outside the area in the 78th and Sorloth closed the rout in the 86th.

Coach Diego Simeone used a few reserve players ahead of the team’s crucial Spanish league match at first-place Real Madrid on Saturday. Atletico trail Madrid by one point.

Getafe, who had only one attempt on target in the first half, have only one win in their last four matches across all competitions. It have not made it to the Copa semifinals since 2009-10.


Saudi Arabia says no to displacement of Gazans, rejects relations with Israel without Palestinian state

Saudi Arabia says no to displacement of Gazans, rejects relations with Israel without Palestinian state
Updated 18 min 15 sec ago
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Saudi Arabia says no to displacement of Gazans, rejects relations with Israel without Palestinian state

Saudi Arabia says no to displacement of Gazans, rejects relations with Israel without Palestinian state

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday said a long-held position that Palestinians must have their own independent state was firm and not open to negotiation, a stance Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has reiterated many times before.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry statement came shortly after President Donald Trump said he wants the US to own the Gaza Strip after all Palestinians are displaced from there and sent to other countries, where settlements will be constructed for them.

The Kingdom’s position has been a longstanding one with its leaders repeatedly calling for justice for Palestinians, who they say deserve a state of their own alongside Israel as a way to find a lasting solution to the decades long conflict.

Saudi leaders have repeatedly said any formal relations between the Kingdom and Israel hinge on the creation of a viable Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.

The ministry statement highlighted a speech by the crown prince at the Shura Council on September 18, 2024, where he stressed that Saudi Arabia will continue its tireless work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, adding the Kingdom will not normalize ties with Israel without it.

The crown prince expressed a similar sentiment during the extraordinary Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh on Nov. 11, 2024, where he stressed the continuation of efforts to establish a Palestinian state and demanded an end to Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

He also urged more countries to recognize the State of Palestine, stressing the importance of mobilizing the international community to support the rights of Palestinians, which were expressed in the resolutions of the UN General Assembly by considering Palestine eligible for full membership of the world body.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also stresses its previously announced categorical rejection of any violation of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, annexation of Palestinian territories, or attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land,” the statement added.

Trump, standing next to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday, said the Palestinians would be better off living outside of Gaza which has been bombed to rubble during Israel’s brutal 15-month attack.

“I don’t think people should be going back,” Trump said. “You can’t live in Gaza right now. I think we need another location. I think it should be a location that’s going to make people happy.”

The president insists Egypt and Jordan would have to take the Gazans he plans to displace. Both countries have rejected the idea outright.

Trump also did not rule out the use of American troops to help reconstruct the enclave and ensure the ownership of the territory, which he said could become the “Riviera of the Middle East,” given its temperate climate and prime location on the Mediterranean coast.

The Kingdom said that it’s the international community’s duty to work to alleviate the severe human suffering of the Palestinian people, who will remain in their land.

“Lasting and just peace cannot be achieved without the Palestinian people obtaining their legitimate rights in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions, and this is what was previously explained to the previous and current American administrations,” the ministry statement said.


Hamas ready for talks with Trump administration, Hamas official tells RIA

Mousa Abu Marzouk, senior Hamas Politburo member. (Wikipedia)
Mousa Abu Marzouk, senior Hamas Politburo member. (Wikipedia)
Updated 05 February 2025
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Hamas ready for talks with Trump administration, Hamas official tells RIA

Mousa Abu Marzouk, senior Hamas Politburo member. (Wikipedia)
  • Trump vowed on Tuesday that the US would take over the war-shattered Gaza Strip after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere and develop it economically, a move that would shatter decades of US policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

GAZA CITY: The Palestinian Hamas movement is ready to establish contact and hold talks with the administration of US President Donald Trump, Russia’s RIA state news agency cited a senior Hamas official as saying in remarks published early on Wednesday.
“We are ready for contact and talks with the Trump administration,” RIA cited senior Hamas Politburo member Mousa Abu Marzouk as saying.
“In the past, we did not object to contacts with the administration of (former US President Joe) Biden, Trump or any other US administration, and we are open to talks with all international parties.”
It was not clear when RIA interviewed Marzouk, who was visiting Moscow on Monday for talks with the Russian foreign ministry.
Trump vowed on Tuesday that the US would take over the war-shattered Gaza Strip after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere and develop it economically, a move that would shatter decades of US policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Marzouk told RIA that talks with the US have become a kind of necessity for Hamas, considering that Washington is a key player in the Middle East.
“That is why we welcomed the talks with the Americans and have no objection to this issue,” he added.

 


Iraq’s top court suspends new legislation that activists say undermines women’s rights

Iraq’s top court suspends new legislation that activists say undermines women’s rights
Updated 05 February 2025
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Iraq’s top court suspends new legislation that activists say undermines women’s rights

Iraq’s top court suspends new legislation that activists say undermines women’s rights
  • Women’s rights advocates argue that the changes undermine previous reforms that created a unified family law and established safeguards for women
  • Proponents of the amendments, which were advocated by primarily conservative Shiite lawmakers, defend them as a means to align the law with Islamic principles and reduce Western influence on Iraqi culture

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s top court suspended implementation Tuesday of three controversial bills passed last month by the country’s parliament, including a measure that activists said undermines women’s rights.
A number of members of parliament filed a complaint alleging that the voting process was illegal because all three bills — each supported by different blocs — were voted on last month together rather than each one being voted on separately. The Federal Supreme Court issued an order, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, to suspend their implementation until the case is adjudicated.
The measures include an amendment to the country’s personal status law to give Islamic courts increased authority over family matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance.
Women’s rights advocates argue that the changes undermine previous reforms that created a unified family law and established safeguards for women. Proponents of the amendments, which were advocated by primarily conservative Shiite lawmakers, defend them as a means to align the law with Islamic principles and reduce Western influence on Iraqi culture.
Earlier versions of the measure were seen as potentially opening the door to child marriage since some interpretations of Islamic law allow the marriage of girls in their early teens — or as young as 9. The final version passed by the parliament states that both parties must be “adults,” without specifying the age of adulthood.
The second bill was for a general amnesty law seen as benefiting Sunni detainees. Some fear it could allow the release of people involved in public corruption and embezzlement as well as militants who committed war crimes.
The third bill aimed to return lands confiscated from the Kurds under the rule of Saddam Hussein. It is opposed by some Arab groups, saying it could lead to the displacement of Arab residents.

 


Vietnamese man sentenced to 44 years for plotting suicide attack at London’s Heathrow

Metropolitan Police officers stand guard in central London, on January 21, 2023. (AFP)
Metropolitan Police officers stand guard in central London, on January 21, 2023. (AFP)
Updated 05 February 2025
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Vietnamese man sentenced to 44 years for plotting suicide attack at London’s Heathrow

Metropolitan Police officers stand guard in central London, on January 21, 2023. (AFP)
  • He spent a year in Yemen, where he received “military-type” training and helped prepare the group’s magazine, Inspire, working directly with Samir Khan, a US citizen who served as its editor and died in a US drone strike in 2011, according to the departme

LONDON: A Vietnamese man was sentenced to 44 years in prison for attempting to carry out a suicide attack at Heathrow International Airport in London, the US Department of Justice said on Tuesday.
Minh Quang Pham, 41, who was alleged to have traveled to Yemen to receive military training from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, had previously pleaded guilty charges that included providing material support to the group.
US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle R. Sassoon described his actions not only as an affront to the safety of the US “but to the principles of peace and security that we hold dear.”
“Today’s sentencing underscores our collective resolve to stop terrorism before it occurs, and place would-be terrorists in prison,” Sassoon said in a statement.
The Justice Department said Pham traveled from the United Kingdom to Yemen in December 2010 and took an oath of allegiance to the militant group, which the United States lists as a terrorist organization.
He spent a year in Yemen, where he received “military-type” training and helped prepare the group’s magazine, Inspire, working directly with Samir Khan, a US citizen who served as its editor and died in a US drone strike in 2011, according to the department.
Pham was arrested by British authorities in 2011 and extradited to the United States four years later to face terrorism charges, it added.