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French Traveler Crosses 13 Countries on Foot to Perform Umrah, Pray at Two Holy Mosques

French traveler Mohamed Boulabiar. (SPA)
French traveler Mohamed Boulabiar. (SPA)
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French Traveler Crosses 13 Countries on Foot to Perform Umrah, Pray at Two Holy Mosques

French traveler Mohamed Boulabiar. (SPA)
French traveler Mohamed Boulabiar. (SPA)

French traveler Mohamed Boulabiar spent eight months on a journey on foot to perform the Umrah in Saudi Arabia.

His 8,000-kilometer journey started from Paris and he trekked through 13 countries to reach the city of Madinah. He will then proceed to the holy city of Makkah to perform the Umrah.

The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) met Boulabiar in the courtyards of the Prophet's Mosque on Tuesday, mere hours after completing his journey through various terrains and enduring numerous weather conditions. Despite the difficulties and dangers, he was undeterred from his goal of reaching the holy sites on foot.

Boulabiar, born in France to a Tunisian father and a Moroccan mother, remarked: "I did not encounter any problems on the road, but the biggest challenge was the weather. I departed in the summer and arrived in the spring, passing through autumn and winter, enduring storms and thunder. At one stage, a snowstorm at the Greek border delayed my trip by a week."

"I walked in temperatures of around 40°C, but thankfully, everything went smoothly. I am overjoyed to be here," he added.

He revealed that this was his first visit to the Gulf, adding that he has received a warm welcome. "People stopped me on the road to offer food and drink. I am immensely grateful to be here and to have completed the journey."

Boulabiar explained that he started preparing for his journey both physically and mentally two years ago. He kicked it off on August 27, starting from the Eiffel Tower.

His trek took him through France, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Türkiye, and Jordan, before finally reaching Saudi Arabia.

He relied on a map and essential provisions, slept in a tent and occasionally spent nights in mosques. Benevolent strangers would also sometimes learn of his journey and invite him to spend the night.

"This has been a childhood dream. I yearned to arrive in Makkah on foot, emulating the Prophet, peace be upon him, and his companions," he added.

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Climate Change Causing More Change in Rainfall, Fiercer Typhoons, Scientists Say 

People and vehicles wade through the water along a street that was flooded by Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
People and vehicles wade through the water along a street that was flooded by Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
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Climate Change Causing More Change in Rainfall, Fiercer Typhoons, Scientists Say 

People and vehicles wade through the water along a street that was flooded by Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
People and vehicles wade through the water along a street that was flooded by Typhoon Gaemi in Kaohsiung on July 25, 2024. (AFP)

Climate change is driving changes in rainfall patterns across the world, scientists said in a paper published on Friday, which could also be intensifying typhoons and other tropical storms.

Taiwan, the Philippines and then China were lashed by the year's most powerful typhoon this week, with schools, businesses and financial markets shut as wind speeds surged up to 227 kph (141 mph). On China's eastern coast, hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated ahead of landfall on Thursday.

Stronger tropical storms are part of a wider phenomenon of weather extremes driven by higher temperatures, scientists say.

Researchers led by Zhang Wenxia at the China Academy of Sciences studied historical meteorological data and found about 75% of the world's land area had seen a rise in "precipitation variability" or wider swings between wet and dry weather.

Warming temperatures have enhanced the ability of the atmosphere to hold moisture, which is causing wider fluctuations in rainfall, the researchers said in a paper published by the Science journal.

"(Variability) has increased in most places, including Australia, which means rainier rain periods and drier dry periods," said Steven Sherwood, a scientist at the Climate Change Research Center at the University of New South Wales, who was not involved in the study.

"This is going to increase as global warming continues, enhancing the chances of droughts and/or floods."

FEWER, BUT MORE INTENSE, STORMS

Scientists believe that climate change is also reshaping the behavior of tropical storms, including typhoons, making them less frequent but more powerful.

"I believe higher water vapor in the atmosphere is the ultimate cause of all of these tendencies toward more extreme hydrologic phenomena," Sherwood told Reuters.

Typhoon Gaemi, which first made landfall in Taiwan on Wednesday, was the strongest to hit the island in eight years.

While it is difficult to attribute individual weather events to climate change, models predict that global warming makes typhoons stronger, said Sachie Kanada, a researcher at Japan's Nagoya University.

"In general, warmer sea surface temperature is a favorable condition for tropical cyclone development," she said.

In its "blue paper" on climate change published this month, China said the number of typhoons in the Northwest Pacific and South China Sea had declined significantly since the 1990s, but they were getting stronger.

Taiwan also said in its climate change report published in May that climate change was likely to reduce the overall number of typhoons in the region while making each one more intense.

The decrease in the number of typhoons is due to the uneven pattern of ocean warming, with temperatures rising faster in the western Pacific than the east, said Feng Xiangbo, a tropical cyclone research scientist at the University of Reading.

Water vapor capacity in the lower atmosphere is expected to rise by 7% for each 1 degree Celsius increase in temperatures, with tropical cyclone rainfall in the United States surging by as much as 40% for each single degree rise, he said.