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☆ Saudi says The Line will be the world's first 'eco-city.' Construction and design specialists aren't so sure.
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Neom's flagship city, known as The Line, has grand plans to be a futuristic "eco-city." Experts told BI that these plans offered exciting solutions for issues like urban sprawl, excessive carbon emissions, and inefficient energy use. AdvertisementLovgreen pointed to issues "such as disrupting natural habitats, carbon emissions from building materials, and the transferring of these materials to areas remote from where they are produced." "Transportation accounts for less than a quarter of global carbon emissions, while the construction and operation of buildings represent nearly 40% of emissions," Baum said. She added that it can be particularly difficult to maintain sustainable construction in hot and dry regions of the world.

Persons: Mohammed bin Salman's, Giles Pendleton, Neom, Andreas Krieg, Philip Oldfield, Mona Lovgreen, Mara Baum, Baum, Krieg, Ben Bauer Organizations: Service, Saudi, Business, Wall Street Journal, The Journal, Lawrence Technological University, Institute of Middle Eastern, King's College London, UNSW Built Environment, Dialog Locations: Neom's, Saudi, Gulf, Sydney

The strike on Beirut was the first time during this war that Israel has targeted such an influential Hezbollah leader in Lebanon’s capital. Hours later, the killing in Iran of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was considered the most brazen breach of Iran’s defenses in years. Image A protests in Tehran on Wednesday after Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, was assassinated in Iran. Despite his title as Hamas’s political leader, Mr. Haniyeh is replaceable, said Joost Hiltermann, the Middle East and North Africa program director for the International Crisis Group. In January, Israeli strikes killed a senior Hamas leader in Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut, leading to fears that Hezbollah would mount a particularly fierce response on Hamas’s behalf.

Persons: Amira, Hassan Fadlallah, Fuad Shukr, Ismail Haniyeh, Diego Ibarra Sanchez, Iran —, Michael Stephens, Haniyeh’s, Stephens, Mr, Andreas Krieg, Arash Khamooshi, ” Mr, Krieg, ”, it’s, Haniyeh, Joost Hiltermann, “, Israel, Israel Katz, Katz, Itamar Rabinovich, Israel’s, Rabinovich, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Vivian Yee Organizations: Israel’s, The New York Times Iranian, Foreign Policy Research Institute, King’s College ,, The New York Times, International Crisis, United Nations, Hezbollah Locations: Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Gaza, Israel, Iran, simultaneity, Yemen, Iraq, Credit, United States, Philadelphia, King’s College , London, Tehran, East, North Africa, Hezbollah’s, Syria, Bourj el Barajneh, U.S, Washington

☆ The Line in Neom is a 'completely ludicrous' design with no purpose, a Middle East-focused professor says
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-14 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewThe Line — a part of Neom that comprises two mirrored skyscrapers — is one of the most famous regions of the planned megacity. Andreas Krieg, a Gulf specialist at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at King's College London, called plans for The Line "completely ludicrous." "The Line is a project that is not sustainable; it's a completely ludicrous megaproject that was never realizable because of the sheer cost of it," he told Business Insider. Executives working on Neom reportedly have dismissed the official Suadi figure of $500 billion as unrealistically low. "The world has never seen anything like The Line," Krieg said.

Persons: —, Andreas Krieg, Krieg, Neom, Peter Cook Organizations: Service, Business, Institute of Middle Eastern, King's College London, Bloomberg, Wall Street, Architects Locations: Neom, Saudi, Gulf, British

☆ US, Britain Carry Out Strikes Across Yemen in Retaliation for Houthi Attacks
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-11 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +6 min

A U.S. official said more than a dozen locations were targeted in strikes that were not just symbolic but intended to weaken the Houthis' military capabilities. The United States and allies had deployed a naval task force to the area in December, and the situation had escalated in recent days. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who is in hospital due to surgery complications, said in a statement that the strikes targeted Houthi drones, ballistic and cruise missiles, costal radar and air surveillance. The United States also accused Iran of being involved operationally in the Houthi attacks, providing the military capabilities and intelligence to carry them out. The United States has troops on the ground in Syria and Iraq, and has previously retaliated for attacks there by Iran-backed groups.

Persons: Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Mohammed Ghobari WASHINGTON, Joe Biden, Houthis, Sanaa, Ali Ahmad, Mahmoud, James Heappey, Brent, Lloyd Austin, Tesla, Andreas Krieg, Andrew Mills, Maher Hatem, Jeff Mason, Kanishka Singh, Eric Beech, Peter Graff, Angus MacSwan Organizations: British, U.S, Hamas, U.S . Defense, Washington, King's College, United, West Bank Locations: ADEN, Yemen, Iran, Gaza, Sanaa, Taiz, Hodeidah, Hajjah governorate, United States, Israel, Europe, Asia, U.S, Britain, Africa, Germany, London . Saudi Arabia, U.N, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Washington, Doha, Dubai

☆ Qatar: How a small Arab state became indispensable in talks with Hamas
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

But some have said that Qatar’s relationship with Hamas may become a liability. “(Qatar’s) relationship with Hamas has been a key component of the mediation strategy,” said Andreas Krieg, an associate professor at King’s College London who focuses on Gulf states. What is the nature of Qatar’s relationship with Hamas? That relationship has made Qatar an important mediator with Hamas during its conflicts with Israel. Despite its mediation efforts, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen last week accused Qatar of financing Hamas and harboring its leaders.

Persons: ”, Andreas Krieg, “, David Barnea, –, Israel, Tzachi Hanegbi, ” Hanegbi, Biden, ” Krieg, Majed Al, Ansari, Krieg, ” Hiltermann, Eli Cohen, ” Cohen, Antony Blinken, Joost R, Hiltermann, Qatar’s coziness, Hamas’s, “ You’ll, ” Israel, Becky Anderson, Ibrahim Dahman, Hamdi Alkhshali, Aimee Look, Abu Dhabi Organizations: UAE CNN, Qatar, King’s College London, Israel, CNN, National Security, United Arab, Reuters, NATO, Doha, Al, Hamas, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, US, UN, Washington Post, Qatari, “, Group Locations: Abu Dhabi, UAE, Qatar, Israel, Gaza, Egypt, United States, Rafah, Al, Arish, Washington, Hamas, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Doha, Western, Arab, Al Jazeera, Tehran, Afghanistan, “ Qatar, North Africa, Brussels, “, Atlanta, Abu

When Israeli ground forces advanced en masse into the Gaza Strip on Friday evening, just after the Jewish Sabbath began, they did it so secretly that it was hours before the outside world understood what had happened. In the three days since the long-anticipated invasion began, Israel’s military has operated with a similar ambiguity, defying expectations by carrying out a more incremental ground operation than was initially anticipated. While it has continued to decimate Gaza and its people with aerial bombardments, much of the ground force appears to have hung back from Gaza City, Hamas’s stronghold in northern Gaza, and stayed instead in the countryside on the city’s fringes. Under U.S. pressure to temper their response to the Hamas killing of more than 1,400 people on Israeli soil, Israel has even avoided describing the operation as an invasion. The loss of life, though, in Gaza continues to rise, with the Palestinian death toll so far over 8,000, according to Hamas officials.

Persons: ”, Andreas Krieg Organizations: U.S, King’s College, London Locations: Gaza, Gaza City, Hamas’s, Israel

During the current fighting Egypt has joined calls for an effective ceasefire while saying they consider the conflict an internal matter for Sudan. The most important regional ally for Hemedti before the conflict was the United Arab Emirates. Hemedti said he advised Sudan to cut ties to Wagner after the U.S. imposed sanctions on the private military contractor. Saudi Arabia has had close ties to Burhan and Hemedti, both of whom sent troops to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Israel, which had been hoping to move forward in normalising ties with Sudan, has also offered to host talks.

Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERSWASHINGTON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The Biden administration ruled on Thursday that Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has immunity from a lawsuit over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, drawing immediate condemnation from the slain journalist's former fiancee. In late September, Saudi King Salman named Prince Mohammed prime minister in a royal decree which a Saudi official said was in line with responsibilities that the crown prince was already exercising. FIST-BUMPBiden was criticized for fist-bumping the crown prince on a visit to Saudi Arabia in July to discuss energy and security issues. The White House said Biden had told Prince Mohammed that he considered him responsible for Khashoggi's killing. In a highly charged global atmosphere, the United States is keen to prevent its long-time ally from further distancing itself.

A helicopter flies over the downtown skyline, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, as seen from the Cleveland Clinic hospital in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, April 20, 2020. ADQ, the smallest of Abu Dhabi's three main sovereign wealth funds, began in 2018 as a vehicle for holding state assets. ADQ and the UAE foreign ministry did not respond to emailed requests for comment. Among recent deals, ADQ launched a $300 million technology fund in March with Turkey's sovereign wealth fund to invest in venture capital funds and opportunities inside Turkey. "They are the ones that promote UAE economic diplomacy, its regional and global influence," he said.

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