عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Hunger Continues to Rise in Middle East

File photo: Syrian children queue to receive food distributed by aid workers at a makeshift camp for displaced people in northern Aleppo. Nazeer Al Khatib / AFP
File photo: Syrian children queue to receive food distributed by aid workers at a makeshift camp for displaced people in northern Aleppo. Nazeer Al Khatib / AFP
TT
TT

Hunger Continues to Rise in Middle East

File photo: Syrian children queue to receive food distributed by aid workers at a makeshift camp for displaced people in northern Aleppo. Nazeer Al Khatib / AFP
File photo: Syrian children queue to receive food distributed by aid workers at a makeshift camp for displaced people in northern Aleppo. Nazeer Al Khatib / AFP

Hunger continues to rise as conflicts and protracted crises have worsened in the Middle East since 2011, which is likely to affect food security for years to come, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned.

FAO's Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition underscores that since 2011, 52 million people across the Near East and North Africa (NENA) now suffer from chronic undernourishment – with stunting, wasting and undernutrition amplified by fighting.

“Conflicts and civil instability have long-lasting impacts on the food and nutrition security of both affected and surrounding countries in the regions," FAO's Assistant Director-General and NENA Representative Abdessalam Ould Ahmed said, noting that more than two-thirds of hungry people there live in conflict-affected countries, threatening efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the key goal of Zero Hunger. 

“The impact of conflict has been disrupting food and livestock production in some countries and consequently affecting the availability of food across the region”, Ould Ahmed said.  

"Rising hunger is also compounded by rapid population growth, scarce and fragile natural resources, the growing threat of climate change, increasing unemployment rates, and diminished rural infrastructure and services", he added.

The report also highlights that as the region hosts the highest obesity rates, it puts pressure on people’s health, national health systems and economies.  Addressing this means raising public awareness and ensuring access to healthy nutritious food.

The report shows that not only do conflicts undermine the region’s Zero Hunger efforts, but also rural development.

“Countries that are not in conflict and have gone furthest in transforming rural areas in a sustainable way including through better management of water resources, have achieved better food security and nutrition outcomes than those in conflict or with lower levels of rural transformation”, Ould Ahmed observed, noting that more efforts are needed to boost rural employment, stimulate economic growth, reduce urban-rural gaps and improve agricultural productivity and rural infrastructure and services.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Forbes Travel Guide Grants Red Sea Destination the World’s First Comprehensive Destination Accreditation

This accreditation follows a year of rigorous efforts and meticulous evaluations aimed at elevating hospitality standards across The Red Sea. - SPA
This accreditation follows a year of rigorous efforts and meticulous evaluations aimed at elevating hospitality standards across The Red Sea. - SPA
TT
TT

Forbes Travel Guide Grants Red Sea Destination the World’s First Comprehensive Destination Accreditation

This accreditation follows a year of rigorous efforts and meticulous evaluations aimed at elevating hospitality standards across The Red Sea. - SPA
This accreditation follows a year of rigorous efforts and meticulous evaluations aimed at elevating hospitality standards across The Red Sea. - SPA

Red Sea Global announced in a press release today a historic milestone in the global tourism sector as The Red Sea became the first destination ever to receive a comprehensive accreditation from Forbes Travel Guide.

This accreditation follows a year of rigorous efforts and meticulous evaluations aimed at elevating hospitality standards across The Red Sea. The process included a strategic collaboration with Forbes Travel Guide to develop and implement exceptional service standards across five key stages of the guest journey: reservations, land transport, marine transport, air transport, and guest experiences, SPA reported.

Red Sea Global CEO John Pagano stated: "At Red Sea Global, we have always believed that true luxury is defined not only by the beauty of a place, but by how guests feel throughout their entire journey. Receiving Forbes Travel Guide’s accreditation at a destination level is a powerful testament to the culture of exceptional service we have embedded across our teams and operators at every guest touchpoint. This is not merely a hotel standard, but a fully integrated destination-wide system."

Forbes Travel Guide CEO Hermann Elger also praised the milestone, saying: "We congratulate Red Sea Global and The Red Sea team on earning the world’s first accreditation of its kind as a Verified Destination. This achievement marks a significant moment for the hospitality industry. Delivering and sustaining service excellence at a destination scale requires deep commitment across every stage of the guest experience—from booking to farewell. The Red Sea has successfully established a new international benchmark for tourism destinations."

To ensure the consistency of this excellence, Red Sea Global established 182 precise service standards, organized into eight core categories: personalized service, courtesy, efficiency, cleanliness, luxury, comfort, technical skills, and professional appearance. These standards were embedded through a comprehensive institutional framework integrating training, communication, and continuous review, ensuring guests experience this level of excellence throughout the entire destination—not only within resort boundaries.

In parallel with this accomplishment, the first resorts opened at The Red Sea were included in Forbes Travel Guide’s prestigious Star Awards list for this year. The list featured three iconic properties: Six Senses Southern Dunes, The Red Sea; The St. Regis Red Sea Resort; and Nujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve.

Forbes Travel Guide ratings are known for their objectivity and independence, with anonymous inspectors posing as guests to evaluate hundreds of exacting standards focused on service excellence and facility quality. Assessments also extend to intangible elements that shape memorable stays, such as a property’s ability to enhance well-being and the unique sense of place created by design and location.

Varieties

SpaceX Launches 12th Long-duration Crew to ISS

NASA’s Crew-12 members, Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway, Jessica Meir, and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot walk out of the Operations & Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center before transport to Launch Complex 40, ahead of their launch to the International Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, February 13, 2026. REUTERS/Steve Nesius
NASA’s Crew-12 members, Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway, Jessica Meir, and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot walk out of the Operations & Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center before transport to Launch Complex 40, ahead of their launch to the International Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, February 13, 2026. REUTERS/Steve Nesius
TT
TT

SpaceX Launches 12th Long-duration Crew to ISS

NASA’s Crew-12 members, Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway, Jessica Meir, and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot walk out of the Operations & Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center before transport to Launch Complex 40, ahead of their launch to the International Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, February 13, 2026. REUTERS/Steve Nesius
NASA’s Crew-12 members, Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway, Jessica Meir, and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot walk out of the Operations & Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center before transport to Launch Complex 40, ahead of their launch to the International Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US, February 13, 2026. REUTERS/Steve Nesius

A SpaceX rocket lifted off from Florida early on Friday with a crew of two US NASA astronauts, a French astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut headed to the International Space Station for an eight-month science mission in Earth orbit.

The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, topped with an autonomously operated Crew Dragon capsule dubbed Freedom, was launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, along Florida's Atlantic Coast, at about 5:15 a.m. EST (1015 GMT).

A live NASA-SpaceX webcast showed the 25-story-tall vehicle rising from the launch tower as its nine Merlin engines roared to life, gulping 700,000 gallons of fuel per second, emitting clouds of vapor and a reddish fireball that lit up the predawn sky, Reuters reported.

The four crew were set to ‌reach the space ‌station on Saturday afternoon after a 34-hour flight, docking with ‌the orbiting ⁠laboratory platform some ⁠250 miles (420 km) above Earth.

The mission, designated Crew-12, marks the 12th long-duration ISS team that NASA has flown aboard a SpaceX launch vehicle since the private rocket venture founded in 2002 by billionaire Elon Musk began sending US astronauts to orbit in May 2020.

Crew-12 was led by Jessica Meir, 48, a veteran astronaut and marine biologist on her second trip to the space station, nearly seven years after making history with NASA colleague Christina Koch by ⁠completing history's first all-female spacewalk.

Joining her was Jack Hathaway, 43, ‌a former US Navy fighter pilot and rookie ‌astronaut; European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, 43, a master helicopter pilot from France; and Russian cosmonaut ‌Andrey Fedyaev, a former military pilot on his second mission to the ISS.

Upon ‌arrival, the team will get busy with a host of scientific, medical and technical research tasks in microgravity, according to NASA.

Those include studies of pneumonia-causing bacteria to improve treatments on Earth, and experiments with plant and nitrogen-fixing microbe interactions to boost food production in space.

Crew-12 will be welcomed aboard ‌the space station by three current ISS occupants - NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev.

Four Crew-11 ⁠members who were ⁠supposed to have stayed aboard until the arrival of Crew-12 departed a few weeks early, when an undisclosed serious health condition affecting one forced an unprecedented medical evacuation flight home in mid-January.

The ISS, which spans the length of a football field and ranks as the largest human-made object in space, has been continuously operated by a US-Russian-led consortium that includes Canada, Japan and 11 European countries.

The first hardware for the outpost was launched more than a quarter century ago. It was conceived as part of a multinational venture to improve ties between Washington and Moscow following the Soviet Union's collapse and the end of Cold War rivalries that spurred the original US-Soviet space race in the 1950s and 1960s.

NASA has said it is committed to keeping the space station operating until the end of 2030.

Varieties

Saudi Arabia: King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Plants 10,000 Native Trees to Combat Desertification

The project engaged 300 volunteers from government agencies and educational institutions to rehabilitate local ecosystems. SPA
The project engaged 300 volunteers from government agencies and educational institutions to rehabilitate local ecosystems. SPA
TT
TT

Saudi Arabia: King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Plants 10,000 Native Trees to Combat Desertification

The project engaged 300 volunteers from government agencies and educational institutions to rehabilitate local ecosystems. SPA
The project engaged 300 volunteers from government agencies and educational institutions to rehabilitate local ecosystems. SPA

The King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority, in partnership with the Green Dahna Association, has launched an initiative to plant 10,000 Arta trees in the Al-Dahna sands.

The project engaged 300 volunteers from government agencies and educational institutions to rehabilitate local ecosystems and promote a culture of environmental stewardship.

Chosen for its high adaptability to harsh desert climates and its effectiveness in soil stabilization, the Arta tree serves as a strategic investment in biodiversity and desertification control.

Authority CEO Maher AlGothmi‏ highlighted that this collaboration exemplifies the institutional integration required to meet Saudi Green Initiative and Vision 2030 goals, ensuring the sustainability of natural resources for future generations through research and community engagement.