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Trio Night Kicks off the New Year in Riyadh

Fireworks lit up the sky above Riyadh for New Year's Eve. (Reuters)
Fireworks lit up the sky above Riyadh for New Year's Eve. (Reuters)
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Trio Night Kicks off the New Year in Riyadh

Fireworks lit up the sky above Riyadh for New Year's Eve. (Reuters)
Fireworks lit up the sky above Riyadh for New Year's Eve. (Reuters)

The Saudi capital saw a legendary evening to bid farewell to the year 2021. The concert was held on the Boulevard Theater in Riyadh, in the presence of a large audience.

A total of 14 singers from the Arab world participated in the Riyadh Trio Night.

The celebration, which is the first of its kind in the Arab world, saw the appearance of Mohammed Abdo, Abdullah al-Rowaished, Angham, Fahad al-Kubaisi, Assala, Majid al-Muhandis, Ahlam, Nawal El Kuwaitia, Rashid al-Majid, Nabil Shuail, Ali Ben Mohammed, Walid Chami, Aseel Abu Baker, Asma Lamnawar.

The Egyptian orchestra led by maestro Walid Fayed added its innovative touch to the celebration as well.

Abdulmajid Abdullah made an unexpected appearance that turned the stadiums into a festival with all attendees clapping.

Governor of the General Entertainment Authority Turki Al-Sheikh described the night as “historical” and extended his thanks to all the participants.

The fireworks lit up the sky of Riyadh in celebration of the new year.

Saudi musician Diya Azzony told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Saudi Arabia is witnessing an annual development, namely during the entertainment seasons and public events. This supports artists of all fields and musical talents.

Taking good care of talents is a key part of the development of the artistic sector, especially the musical sector, said Azzony.

He added to the newspaper that there has been an increase in the number of artists and musical instruments' players, and development in the event organizing companies in a way that creates job opportunities, increases productivity in this field, and enriches the artistic movement.

General manager at Music Home KSA Prof. Ayman Tayseer told Asharq Al-Awsat that the future of arts is promising in the Kingdom, adding that this sector is witnessing significant changes.

Tayseer noted that the musical and artistic talents will find the opportunities awaiting them upon completing their training.

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Varieties

Children Suffer as Schools Go Online in Polluted Delhi

Confined to her home by the toxic smog choking India's capital, Harshita Gautam attends an online class on a mobile phone - AFP
Confined to her home by the toxic smog choking India's capital, Harshita Gautam attends an online class on a mobile phone - AFP
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Children Suffer as Schools Go Online in Polluted Delhi

Confined to her home by the toxic smog choking India's capital, Harshita Gautam attends an online class on a mobile phone - AFP
Confined to her home by the toxic smog choking India's capital, Harshita Gautam attends an online class on a mobile phone - AFP

Confined to her family's ramshackle shanty by the toxic smog choking India's capital, Harshita Gautam strained to hear her teacher's instructions over a cheap mobile phone borrowed from her mother.

The nine-year-old is among nearly two million students in and around New Delhi told to stay home after authorities once again ordered schools to shut because of worsening air pollution.

Now a weary annual ritual, keeping children at home and moving lessons online for days at a time during the peak of the smog crisis in winter ostensibly helps protect the health of the city's youth.

The policy impacts both the education and the broader well-being of schoolkids around the city -- much more so for children from poorer families like Gautam.

"I don't like online classes," she told AFP, sitting on a bed her family all share at night in their spartan one-room home in the city's west.

"I like going to school and playing outside but my mother says there is too much pollution and I must stay inside."

Gautam struggles to follow the day's lesson, with the sound of her teacher's voice periodically halting as the connection drops out on the cheap Android phone.

Her parents both earn paltry incomes -- her polio-stricken father by working at a roadside food stall and her mother as a domestic worker.

Neither can afford to skip work and look after their only child, and they do not have the means to buy air purifiers or take other measures to shield themselves from the smog.

Gautam's confinement at home is an additional financial burden for her parents, who normally rely on a free-meal programme at her government-run school to keep her fed for lunch.

"When they are at school I don't have to worry about their studies or food. At home, they are hardly able to pay any attention," Gautam's mother Maya Devi told AFP.

"Why should our children suffer? They must find some solution."

Delhi and the surrounding metropolitan area, home to more than 30 million people, consistently tops world rankings for air pollution.

The city is blanketed in acrid smog each winter, primarily blamed on agricultural burning by farmers to clear their fields for ploughing, as well as factories and traffic fumes.

Levels of PM2.5 -- dangerous cancer-causing microparticles that enter the bloodstream through the lungs -- surged 60 times past the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum on Monday.

A study in the Lancet medical journal attributed 1.67 million premature deaths in India to air pollution in 2019.

Piecemeal government initiatives include partial restrictions on fossil fuel-powered transport and water trucks spraying mist to clear particulate matter from the air.

But none have succeeded in making a noticeable impact on a worsening public health crisis.

- 'A lot of disruptions' -

The foul air severely impacts children, with devastating effects on their health and development.

Scientific evidence shows children who breathe polluted air are at higher risk of developing acute respiratory infections, a report from the UN children's agency said in 2022.

A 2021 study published in the medical journal Lung India found nearly one in three school-aged children in the capital were afflicted by asthma and airflow obstruction.

Sunita Bhasin, director of the Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute school, told AFP that pollution-induced school closures had been steadily increasing over the years.

"It's easy for the government to give a blanket call to close the schools but... abrupt closure leads to a lot of disruptions," she said.

Bhasin said many of Delhi's children would anyway continue to breathe the same noxious air whether at school or home.

"There is no space for them in their homes, so they will go out on the streets and play."