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Riyadh Named Arab Environment Capital

A group photo of Arab environment ministers following the Jeddah meeting (Ministry of Environment)
A group photo of Arab environment ministers following the Jeddah meeting (Ministry of Environment)
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Riyadh Named Arab Environment Capital

A group photo of Arab environment ministers following the Jeddah meeting (Ministry of Environment)
A group photo of Arab environment ministers following the Jeddah meeting (Ministry of Environment)

Riyadh has been named the “Arab Environment Capital” for two years, during the 35th session of the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment, held in Jeddah. Additionally, the Saudi Green Initiative received the award for the Outstanding Environmental Project in the government sector.

The 35th session brought about several key decisions focused on natural reserves, the Arab response to emerging climate change issues, and the follow-up on international environmental agreements and meetings, including policies connecting water and agriculture sectors.

The meeting, chaired by Saudi Arabia and organized by the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture in collaboration with the Arab League, emphasized the importance of linking water, agriculture, and environmental policies in Arab nations.

Dr. Osama Faqeeha, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture for Environmental Affairs, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the session addressed numerous topics aimed at enhancing joint cooperation, unifying Arab positions on international environmental agreements, and coordinating with regional and international organizations.

One of the most notable outcomes of the session was the selection of Riyadh as the Arab Environmental Capital, following competition from 10 countries. Additionally, the Saudi Green Initiative won the award for Outstanding Environmental Project in the Arab Government Sector.

According to Faqeeha, this achievement reflects Saudi Arabia’s leading role in adopting strategic, innovative, and sustainable environmental projects through its initiatives at both the local and international levels. The Kingdom has hosted many international environmental gatherings, underscoring its leadership in this field.

Faqeeha added that the ministry is working under various strategies related to the environment, water, and agriculture, all of which place sustainability at their core. Efforts are underway to improve waste management, with the goal of reducing landfill waste by over 95% by 2035.

He also noted significant targets for increasing environmental protection, including expanding protected areas, which were only 4% in 2016 but have now reached around 18%.

For his part, Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli, emphasized that Saudi Arabia embraces a comprehensive vision for ecosystems in line with its ambitious Vision 2030. He added that the Kingdom is committed to achieving its goals by implementing national strategies and plans aimed at protecting the environment, combating land degradation, preserving vegetation, enhancing biodiversity, ensuring food and water security, and launching national, regional, and global initiatives to combat land degradation and preserve habitats.

Water Crisis

Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, emphasized that the Arab world faces a more severe water crisis than any other region.

Dr. Ali Al-Malki, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Economic Affairs Sector at the Arab League, noted that this session comes following significant Arab participation in hosting COP climate change conferences, citing COP27 in Egypt and COP28 in the UAE. He added that the positive outcomes and initiatives launched during these conferences received global recognition.

Saudi Arabia is also preparing to host the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in December. This session is expected to address critical issues for Arab countries, including the implementation of the UNCCD’s 2018-2030 strategic framework, as well as addressing drought and dust storms.

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Varieties

Israel Cleared to Stay in Eurovision; Spain, Ireland and Others Quit in Protest

Pro-Palestinian protestors hold a flag and a banner outside the RTE (Radio Telefis Eireann) Irish public service broadcaster television studios as demonstrators call for an Irish boycott of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest if there is Israeli participation, in Dublin, Ireland, November 1, 2025. (Reuters)
Pro-Palestinian protestors hold a flag and a banner outside the RTE (Radio Telefis Eireann) Irish public service broadcaster television studios as demonstrators call for an Irish boycott of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest if there is Israeli participation, in Dublin, Ireland, November 1, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel Cleared to Stay in Eurovision; Spain, Ireland and Others Quit in Protest

Pro-Palestinian protestors hold a flag and a banner outside the RTE (Radio Telefis Eireann) Irish public service broadcaster television studios as demonstrators call for an Irish boycott of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest if there is Israeli participation, in Dublin, Ireland, November 1, 2025. (Reuters)
Pro-Palestinian protestors hold a flag and a banner outside the RTE (Radio Telefis Eireann) Irish public service broadcaster television studios as demonstrators call for an Irish boycott of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest if there is Israeli participation, in Dublin, Ireland, November 1, 2025. (Reuters)

Israel was cleared on Thursday to enter the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest by the organizer, prompting Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Slovenia to withdraw over the Gaza war and plunging the competition into one of the biggest rows in its history.

The broadcasters who had threatened to boycott the event cited the death count in Gaza and accused Israel of flouting rules meant to guard the contest's neutrality. Israel accuses its critics of mounting a global smear campaign against it.

After a meeting in Geneva, the European Broadcasting Union, or EBU, decided not to call a vote on Israel's participation, saying it had instead passed new rules aimed at discouraging governments from influencing the contest, Reuters said.

Right after that announcement by the contest organizer, the Dutch, Spanish, Irish and Slovenian broadcasters said they would withdraw, meaning singers from their countries would not compete in the contest that draws millions of viewers worldwide.

Ben Robertson, a Eurovision expert from fan website ESC Insight, said the contest's integrity was at its lowest ebb.

"Never in the history of the contest have we had such a vote, and such a split, between the member broadcasters of the European Broadcasting Union," he said.

Both the Israeli government and opposition leaders celebrated the country's inclusion.

Golan Yochpaz, CEO of Israeli broadcaster KAN, likened the efforts to exclude Israel to a form of "cultural boycott."

Rounding on the countries withdrawing, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on X: "The disgrace is upon them."

IRELAND SAYS ITS PARTICIPATION 'UNCONSCIONABLE'

The Eurovision Song Contest dates back to 1956 and reaches around 160 million viewers, according to the EBU - more than the almost 128 million recorded for this year's US Super Bowl, according to figures from Nielsen.

Israel's participation has divided opinion in the competition that has a history of entanglement in national rivalries, international issues and political voting.

Its 2025 entrant, Yuval Raphael, was at the Nova music festival, a target of the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.

A total of 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in the assault by Hamas, according to Israeli tallies. More than 70,000 people have been killed in Gaza in the ensuing conflict, according to health authorities in the enclave.

Irish broadcaster RTE said it felt "Ireland's participation remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there which continues to put the lives of so many civilians at risk".

Jose Pablo Lopez, head of Spanish state broadcaster RTVE said on X: "What happened in the EBU Assembly confirms that Eurovision is not a song contest but a festival dominated by geopolitical interests and fractured."

RTV Slovenija said it together with Spain, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Türkiye, Algeria and Iceland requested a secret vote on Israel's participation, but it was not held.

Icelandic public broadcaster RUV said its board will make a decision on Wednesday on whether to participate in the next Eurovision, which will be held in Vienna in May.

"I feel sad that other countries are not going to compete next year," said 33-year-old Tel Aviv Eurovision fan Jurij Vlasov, adding the Netherlands' song this year was his favorite.

In Austria, which backed Israel, Eurovision fans welcomed its inclusion, even as some in Spain took the opposite view.

"Why should the population, or a part of the population, not participate?," said Vienna resident Bernhard Kleemann. "If countries decide not to participate because they condemn the government and the prime minister, that's their decision."

"BORN FROM THE ASHES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR"

Instead of voting on Israel, the EBU said its members backed rules intended to discourage governments and third parties from disproportionately promoting songs to sway voters after allegations that Israel unfairly boosted its 2025 entrant.

"This vote means that all EBU Members who wish to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 and agree to comply with the new rules are eligible to take part," it said.

Israel's President Isaac Herzog thanked his country's supporters, saying he hoped the song contest would continue to champion "culture, music, friendship between nations".

Germany, a major Eurovision backer, had signaled it would not take part if Israel was barred. Germany's culture minister Wolfram Weimer told the Bild newspaper he welcomed the decision.

"Israel belongs to the Eurovision Song Contest like Germany belongs to Europe," he said.

Martin Green, the contest's director, said EBU members showed they wanted to protect the neutrality of the competition.

"Eurovision was born from the ashes of the Second World War," he said. "It was designed to bring us together, and it will hit bumps in the road, and we have a complicated world, but we hope it's a temporary situation, and we'll move forward."

Varieties

Study Says African Penguins Starved En Masse Off South Africa

Yellow-eyed penguins fights in their colony in Katiki Point, on the southern end of the Moeraki Peninsula in New Zealand's South Island, about 80 kilometers north of Dunedin on November 12, 2025. (Photo by Sanka VIDANAGAMA / AFP)
Yellow-eyed penguins fights in their colony in Katiki Point, on the southern end of the Moeraki Peninsula in New Zealand's South Island, about 80 kilometers north of Dunedin on November 12, 2025. (Photo by Sanka VIDANAGAMA / AFP)
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Study Says African Penguins Starved En Masse Off South Africa

Yellow-eyed penguins fights in their colony in Katiki Point, on the southern end of the Moeraki Peninsula in New Zealand's South Island, about 80 kilometers north of Dunedin on November 12, 2025. (Photo by Sanka VIDANAGAMA / AFP)
Yellow-eyed penguins fights in their colony in Katiki Point, on the southern end of the Moeraki Peninsula in New Zealand's South Island, about 80 kilometers north of Dunedin on November 12, 2025. (Photo by Sanka VIDANAGAMA / AFP)

Endangered penguins living off South Africa's coast have likely starved en masse due to food shortages, a study said Friday, with some populations dropping by 95 percent in just eight years.

Fewer than 10,000 breeding pairs of the small, black and white African Penguin are left globally, according to scientists, and the species was listed as critically endangered last year by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Two of the most important breeding colonies near Cape Town had collapsed between 2004 and 2011, with some 62,000 birds estimated to have died, the study by the UK's University of Exeter and the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment said.

In those eight years, sardine populations in South African waters -- a main food source for penguins -- were consistently below 25 percent of their peak abundance, Agence France Presse quoted co-author and biologist Richard Sherley as saying.

This drop in sardine stocks was due to fishing practices combined with environmental causes such as changes in water temperatures and salinity.

This "appears to have caused severe food shortage for African penguins, leading to an estimated loss of about 62,000 breeding individuals", Sherley said.

The global population of the species had declined by nearly 80 percent in the past 30 years, the scientists said.

Conservationists say that at the current rate of population decrease, the bird could be extinct in the wild by 2035.

For 10 years, authorities have imposed a commercial fishing ban around six penguin colonies, including Robben and Dassen islands, the two sites observed in the study.

Other initiatives underway include artificial nests and creating new colonies.

The birds are a strong attraction for tourists to South Africa, with thousands of people visiting colonies each year.

But the pressure from tourism also disturbs the birds and causes enhanced stress.

Varieties

Saudi Post Issues Stamp Marking Int’l Day of Persons with Disabilities

Saudi Post (SPL) issued a set of commemorative stamps to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Saudi Post (SPL) issued a set of commemorative stamps to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
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Saudi Post Issues Stamp Marking Int’l Day of Persons with Disabilities

Saudi Post (SPL) issued a set of commemorative stamps to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Saudi Post (SPL) issued a set of commemorative stamps to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Saudi Post (SPL), the Kingdom's national postal and logistics provider, has issued a set of commemorative stamps valued at SAR3 to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, observed annually on December 3.

The day is celebrated worldwide, including in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to reinforce care for persons with disabilities, empower them to achieve their aspirations, enhance their quality of life, ensure their rights, and include them in all activities and events by highlighting their talents and diverse abilities, said the Saudi Press Agency on Thursday.

The launch took place during a ceremony organized by the Authority for the Care of People with Disabilities (APD).

The event included the unveiling of a campaign titled “Say It Right,” which promotes the correct and officially adopted terminology for persons with disabilities.

The stamp features several individuals with disabilities who participated in the campaign.

APD continues to work collaboratively with various sectors to enhance service quality and raise awareness of the rights of persons with disabilities.