Preparations for the United Nations climate change conference (Cop27) in November are well under way in Sharm El Sheikh, which the Egyptian government hopes to transform into a fully functional, green and smart city.
The Red Sea resort’s recently renovated roads, flanked by bustling shops, are in marked contrast to the state of disrepair the city was in last year, a result of two years of Covid-19 travel bans keeping tourists away.
During the pandemic, most of its shops and hotels were closed and the vast majority of workers in the tourism sector were forced to leave and find jobs elsewhere. But this year, the city’s beaches have filled up with tourists and its streets with construction workers, rushing to complete the makeover before the conference.
“It’s amazing how much things can change in one year,” Hassan Ahmed, 53, a taxi driver and long-time Sharm El Sheikh time resident, tells The National.
“During Covid-19, municipal authorities did not even bother to turn on the streetlamps in many of the city’s districts because they were deserted. And now, you can’t look anywhere without seeing a new building being constructed or another being repainted.
"I, for one, am ecstatic that things are picking up again and I hope that this conference will result in more tourists arriving.”
The sheer scale of the development has caught the attention of many locals, most of whom are familiar with the international conferences that regularly take place in Sharm El Sheikh, earning it the title of City of Peace because of the numerous diplomatic talks it has hosted over the years.
In 2005, the city hosted a summit attended by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, then prime minister of Israel Ariel Sharon, Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah II of Jordan. The meeting effectively ended the second Palestinian intifada that had been going on for five years at the time.
“People living here are used to conferences," says Ahmed Hassanein, 36, a shop owner in Sharm El Sheikh. "They happen here quite often and they’re always the same.
"On one day, the airport will be very busy when a bunch of men in suits arrive and then there is higher security than usual for a few days and then they leave.
"We have learnt not to pay attention to them. But this climate change one is difficult to ignore. The amount of work that has been done in the past few months is astounding.”
Changing face of Sharm El Sheikh
Several residents also told The National they have noticed a sharp rise in the number of security personnel over the past few weeks.
Last month, the country’s Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad, who is also serving as Cop27’s ministerial co-ordinator and envoy, said the government’s plan comprises 27 national projects, including the establishment of two solar power plants (bringing the total to four stations that can produce up to 20 megawatts of power), a widening of its main roads and the construction and inauguration of a city council headquarters within a 126,000 metre-squared central park.
The plan includes the construction of two fuelling stations for a new fleet of public buses set to be delivered by September 30, a statement last week by Egypt’s Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir, who was in Sharm El Sheikh at the weekend with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly to inspect the preparations.
One of the stations will be used to recharge up to 140 electric buses at a time, while the other will be dedicated to refuelling those that operate on natural gas, with a capacity of 120.
Fifty charging stations for private use will also be completed by November at various places throughout the city, Mr El Wazir said.
The ministers visited the city’s relatively small airport to inspect a continuing project to expand it in time for the arrival of Cop27 attendees.
Although a fair amount of progress has been made, the majority of construction remains unfinished. The allocated space for the much-anticipated central park remains unplanted and yellow with sand, despite an initial projected completion date of March 2022.
Aside from building projects, the city’s authorities are launching a number of new campaigns to make it more sustainable, including reinstating a citywide ban on single-use plastics. The initiative, which was first undertaken in 2019, fell short of its goals due to the onset of the pandemic, which effectively halted most activity in Sharm El Sheikh.
"What was great about the plastic ban in 2019 was that it worked so well," Bahaa, 31, a local diving instructor tells The National, "The city is small so enforcing these rules is easy and I remember at the time, all the shops made away with plastic bags and we were using these recycled bags instead. But then Covid-19 happened and the rest is history."
Ms Fouad promised in March that the beach town would again be entirely free of single-use plastic by the end of June with the relaunch of the campaign.
In a bid to make the city’s vital tourism sector more sustainable, green certificates are being given to hotels and recreational centres that adjust operations to make them more environmentally friendly.
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Meg%202%3A%20The%20Trench
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBen%20Wheatley%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJason%20Statham%2C%20Jing%20Wu%2C%20Cliff%20Curtis%2C%20Page%20Kennedy%2C%20Cliff%20Curtis%2C%20Melissanthi%20Mahut%20and%20Shuya%20Sophia%20Cai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
Profile
Company: Libra Project
Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware
Launch year: 2017
Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time
Sector: Renewable energy
Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Political flags or banners
-
Bikes, skateboards or scooters
Tomb%20Raider%20I%E2%80%93III%20Remastered
%3Cp%3EDeveloper%3A%20Aspyr%0D%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Aspyr%0D%3Cbr%3EConsole%3A%20Nintendo%20Switch%2C%20PlayStation%204%26amp%3B5%2C%20PC%20and%20Xbox%20series%20X%2FS%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The biog
Name: Salem Alkarbi
Age: 32
Favourite Al Wasl player: Alexandre Oliveira
First started supporting Al Wasl: 7
Biggest rival: Al Nasr
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The biog
Age: 59
From: Giza Governorate, Egypt
Family: A daughter, two sons and wife
Favourite tree: Ghaf
Runner up favourite tree: Frankincense
Favourite place on Sir Bani Yas Island: “I love all of Sir Bani Yas. Every spot of Sir Bani Yas, I love it.”
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sav%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Purvi%20Munot%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24750%2C000%20as%20of%20March%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Angel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
The Specs:
The Specs:
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Power: 444bhp
Torque: 600Nm
Price: AED 356,580 incl VAT
On sale: now.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
THE%20HOLDOVERS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlexander%20Payne%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Paul%20Giamatti%2C%20Da'Vine%20Joy%20Randolph%2C%20Dominic%20Sessa%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
