‘MDLBEAST’ Ignites the Riyadh Season

Elissa performing at MDLBEAST SOUNDSTORM (Photo Credit: Saleh Al-Ghannam)
Elissa performing at MDLBEAST SOUNDSTORM (Photo Credit: Saleh Al-Ghannam)
TT
20

‘MDLBEAST’ Ignites the Riyadh Season

Elissa performing at MDLBEAST SOUNDSTORM (Photo Credit: Saleh Al-Ghannam)
Elissa performing at MDLBEAST SOUNDSTORM (Photo Credit: Saleh Al-Ghannam)

Riyadh is set to feel the beat with the region’s biggest music festival, MDLBEAST SOUNDSTORM, kickstarting on Thursday and featuring a line-up of more than 200 international and Arab performers. Crowds of fans will be attending the massive event despite the cold waves that will be hitting the Saudi capital.

Held in Banban in Riyadh, MDLBEAST SOUNDSTORM will welcome festivalgoers and EDM fans to its stages: “BIGBEAST,” “DOWNBEAST,” “DANCEBEAST,” and “UNDERGROUNDBEAST.”

MDLBEAST SOUNDSTORM will run from Dec. 16-19.

On the festival’s first day, several Arab artists like Elissa, Majid al-Muhandis, Mohamed Hamaki, Rashed Al-Majed performed alongside a number of EDM DJs.

Festival organizers said that visiting MDLBEAST SOUNDSTORM presents an opportunity to enjoy a unique experience that is not limited to music, but also includes a wide and varied list of artistic performances.

The festival is drawing in youth from Saudi Arabia and the region as it is set to feature leading international stars as well as local and regional talents.

Its eight stages witnessed the attendance of more than 45 artists from all over the world.

The international musical event recorded a public turnout that broke all expectations, logging more than 400,000 visitors within three days.

This is the second time that Riyadh hosts an MDLBEAST festival.



Greece to Create New Marine Reserves to Protect Underwater Wildlife

Greece banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs. Handout / Under the Pole/AFP
Greece banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs. Handout / Under the Pole/AFP
TT
20

Greece to Create New Marine Reserves to Protect Underwater Wildlife

Greece banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs. Handout / Under the Pole/AFP
Greece banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs. Handout / Under the Pole/AFP

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday said that his government was creating two new protected marine areas, fulfilling a promise he made at a United Nations conference on the oceans in June.

The new protected areas -- in the Ionian Sea and in the Southern Cyclades in the Aegean Sea -- would be "among the largest marine protected areas in the entire Mediterranean", he said in a video message in English.

The prime minister said that the "hugely damaging practice of bottom trawling" by commercial fishing boats would be banned within the new marine reserves and in all Greece's marine protected areas by 2030, making it the first country in Europe to take such a significant step in preservation, reported AFP.

Fishing is generally allowed in protected marine areas worldwide, even by trawlers which scrape the seabed with a huge funnel-shaped net, to devastating effect.

Mitsotakis said that he had "made a promise to honor (Greece's) unique marine heritage" at last month's UN Oceans Conference in southern France, "and to protect it for generations to come".

"Today I am delivering on that promise with the establishment of two new marine national parks... because when we protect our ocean, we protect our own future."

Greece is located in the eastern Mediterranean and has around 13,600 kilometers (8,450 miles) of coastline and thousands of islands.

Greece, Brazil and Spain all used the UN conference in Nice, to announce new protected marine reserves and measures to ban bottom trawling, in order to better protect marine wildlife.

Mitsotakis said that the size of the new Greek marine reserves "will enable us to achieve the goal of protecting 30 percent of our territorial waters by 2030".

He said that the government would work with "local communities, local fishermen, scientists (and) global partners (to) make these parks examples of what is possible".

The oceans are 'life itself'

In May, Athens banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs that are exceptionally rich in marine wildlife.

Neighboring Türkiye, whose western coast is close to the Aegean islands, responded to Monday's announcement by criticizing such "unilateral action".

"International maritime law encourages cooperation between the coastal states of these seas, including on environmental issues," the foreign ministry in Ankara said.

It said that Türkiye was willing to cooperate with Greece and would soon announce its own plans to protect maritime areas.

Greece and Türkiye, both members of NATO, have historical disputes over maritime boundaries in the Aegean Sea.

They signed an agreement in 2023 aimed at easing tensions.

Mitsotakis said that "Ocean", a new documentary by British natural history broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, had inspired Greece to accelerate efforts to protect life below the waves.

"Ocean", which features spectacular footage of undersea habitats and marine life, emphasizes the importance of healthy seas for tackling climate change and the current sweeping loss of wild species across the planet.

Mitsotakis said "Ocean" showed that the sea was "not just beautiful scenery".

"It is life itself. Delicate. Powerful. And under threat."