‘Avoid Driving’: Dust Alerts as Storms Return to UAE

Vehicles during a heavy sandstorm in Gulf emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 14 August 2022. (EPA)
Vehicles during a heavy sandstorm in Gulf emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 14 August 2022. (EPA)
TT
20

‘Avoid Driving’: Dust Alerts as Storms Return to UAE

Vehicles during a heavy sandstorm in Gulf emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 14 August 2022. (EPA)
Vehicles during a heavy sandstorm in Gulf emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 14 August 2022. (EPA)

Large parts of the United Arab Emirates were hit by dust and sandstorms on Sunday as authorities urged caution on the roads and battened down for expected heavy rain.

Homes and landmarks in major cities were caked in a fine layer of brown dirt and visibility plunged in the latest adverse weather following a series of choking dust storms around the Middle East.

On Saturday, Abu Dhabi's official media office urged motorists to "avoid driving unless absolutely necessary". Visibility was below 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) in Abu Dhabi and Dubai on Sunday.

Forecasts of rainstorms this week, unusual in high summer in the desert state, follow the deaths of seven Asian migrants in flash flooding last month.

Emergency services said they had answered hundreds of calls for help as floodwaters swamped the streets of the port city of Fujairah and other eastern districts.

A series of sandstorms, widely thought to be exacerbated by climate change, have smothered Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran and others this year, closing airports and schools and sending thousands to hospital with breathing problems.

The UAE is highly vulnerable to global warming, according to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, as temperatures soar, rainfall dries up and storms increase, while rising sea levels threaten its low-lying coast.



MWL Condemns Knesset’s Motion to Impose Sovereignty' over West Bank

The Muslim World League (MWL) logo
The Muslim World League (MWL) logo
TT
20

MWL Condemns Knesset’s Motion to Impose Sovereignty' over West Bank

The Muslim World League (MWL) logo
The Muslim World League (MWL) logo

The Muslim World League (MWL) has strongly condemned the Israeli Knesset's approval of a declaration calling for the imposition of "Israeli sovereignty" over the West Bank, the Saudi Press Agency said on Thursday.

MWL said the move reflects Israel's continued provocations against the Arab and Islamic nations and all peace-and justice-loving peoples around the world. The MWL denounced Israel's ongoing disregard for international laws and norms, and its deliberate undermining of all efforts aimed at stopping war and achieving peace.

In a statement issued by the MWL General Secretariat, MWL Secretary-General and Organization of Muslim Scholars Chairman Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Al-Issa denounced the Israeli government's persistent policy of undermining the lives, dignity, and legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. He stressed that Israel continues to violate all international and humanitarian laws and values in the Palestinian territories, describing the extremist government's criminal behavior as a major obstacle to a just and comprehensive peace and the stability sought by all in the region.

Al-Issa reiterated the justice and centrality of the Palestinian cause in the Arab and Islamic consciousness, as well as in the conscience of every fair-minded person. He stressed the historical and legal rights of the Palestinian people that no de facto situation can strip away.

He also called on the international community to take a sincere and serious stand and to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities to end the ongoing humanitarian tragedy facing the Palestinian people. The secretary-general urged support for the Palestinians' legitimate right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with relevant international legitimacy resolutions.