Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has delivered the annual royal speech on behalf of King Salman for the first time on Wednesday.
The speech inaugurated the work of the 150-member Shura Council, in its fourth year, and addressed the kingdom's progress as well as the war in Gaza.
It acts as a road map for Saudi Arabia's domestic and international plan, council member Sheikh Abdullah Al Sheikh said.
Prince Mohammed said Saudi Arabia had pursued a foreign policy based on respect for the sovereignty of all countries, non-interference in their internal affairs and permanent commitment to international legitimacy.
The kingdom hosted a number of major summits that brought together more than 100 countries last year and worked to create an Arab and Islamic movement to stop Israeli aggression against Gaza, he said.
More than 21,100 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, when Israel launched an air and ground campaign in retaliation for an attack led by Hamas that killed about 1,200 people.
In November, Saudi Arabia hosted an extraordinary joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh with the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation and the Arab League.
The summit was held to address “the painful events facing our brothers in Gaza, through which the kingdom worked to create a joint Arab and Islamic movement to put pressure on the international community to take serious and firm stances to stop the Israeli aggression and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza”, Prince Mohammed said.
The summit adopted a final resolution that said: “We express our joint stance in condemning the brutal Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank, including Al Quds Al Sharif.
“We affirm addressing together this aggression and the humanitarian catastrophe that it causes.
"We seek to stop and end all Israeli illegal practices that perpetuate the occupation and deprive the Palestinian people of their rights, especially their right to freedom and to have an independent sovereign State on all their national territory.”
The summit was also Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's first visit since Riyadh and Tehran reached a rapprochement deal in March, ending seven years of severed ties.
Vision 2030 and tourism
Prince Mohammed also hailed Saudi Arabia's economic progress under its Vision 2030 plan.
Riyadh's selection to host Expo 2030 “confirmed global trust in Saudi Arabia as an ideal host for the world's most prominent international forum”, he said.
Saudi Arabia hosted the Future Investment Initiative in October, which brought together 5,000 delegates from 90 countries.
Prince Mohammed also pointed to the kingdom's growing tourism sector.
“Our country achieved historic performance in tourism, during the first quarter of 2023, growing by 64 per cent, and we will continue to work on the process of economic transformation in accordance with the goals of the Vision 2030,” he said.
Visitors from 120 countries attended the World Tourism Day event in Saudi Arabia in September.
He said that the kingdom had advanced in many sectors, “including its progress in more than 50 per cent of the UN sustainable development indicators".
Prince Mohammed also hailed the successful handling of the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages to the Islamic holy cities this year.
The kingdom welcomed more than 1.8 million who performed Hajj and more than 10 million Umrah pilgrims in this year, he said.
“Your country is continuing its development renaissance in accordance with Vision 2030 and its ambitious programmes, which, God willing, will contribute to the kingdom maintaining its advanced position globally, achieving further development and prosperity, and providing a decent life for citizens,” he said.
Last year, King Salman, 87, delivered the annual royal speech. This is the first year that his son has stood in for him.
Prince Mohammed, 38, is seen as representing the new generation of Saudi Arabia.
He became Crown Prince in 2017 and Prime Minister last year.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting
- Don’t do it more than once in three days
- Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days
- Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode
- Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well
- Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days
- Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates
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- Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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FIXTURES
All games 6pm UAE on Sunday:
Arsenal v Watford
Burnley v Brighton
Chelsea v Wolves
Crystal Palace v Tottenham
Everton v Bournemouth
Leicester v Man United
Man City v Norwich
Newcastle v Liverpool
Southampton v Sheffield United
West Ham v Aston Villa
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
