Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Lebanon hosted an iftar with key Lebanese political figures and western ambassadors on Monday night, only days after Riyadh reinstated its envoy to Beirut.
Saudi Arabia was one of four Arab states that withdrew their ambassadors from Lebanon in October last year after comments by George Kordahi, who was Lebanon’s information minister, about the Saudi-led Arab coalition's intervention in Yemen. The four Arab states also asked their citizens to return home.
Mr Kordahi resigned as a result of the fallout.
On Monday night, after holding meetings with key players in Lebanon, Saudi ambassador Walid Bukhari welcomed prime minister Najib Mikati and other figures, mostly from the now-defunct pro-western, pro-Gulf March 14 political alliance, to the banquet.
Mr Mikati will also reportedly visit Saudi Arabia soon — probably during Ramadan — in another sign that relations are on the mend. Kuwait’s ambassador to Lebanon, who was also reinstated last week, attended the iftar.
Also present were former presidents Amine Gemayel and Michel Suleiman, former prime ministers Fouad Siniora and Tammam Salam. As was the head of the Lebanese Forces party, Samir Geagea, the veteran Druze leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Joumblatt, and Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel and former MP Bahia Hariri.
Amine Gemayel welcomed the return of the Saudi ambassador, while Mr Siniora underlined the importance of restoring and maintaining strong relations with countries including Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states were once major donors to Lebanon, but relations frayed amid the growing influence of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.
Along with withdrawing its ambassador, Saudi Arabia accused Hezbollah of turning Lebanon into “a launching pad for implementing projects of countries that do not wish well for Lebanon and its brotherly people".
Speaking at the iftar, the Saudi Press Agency reported, Mr Mikati said: “This is the significance of the month of Ramadan, the month of mercy and solidarity, the occasion to strengthen the bonds of amicability that bind Lebanon to Saudi Arabia, and the solidarity that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince have been experiencing, hoping that it will be a new page towards developing relations between the two countries.”
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Mr Bukhari had earlier said “we wish Lebanon and the Lebanese people good fortune” before a meeting with Sheikh Ali Al Khatib, the deputy head of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council.
Lebanon’s Grand Mufti Abdul Latif Derian welcomed the return of the Saudi ambassador, saying on Monday: “We are interested in relations between the Kingdom and Lebanon, and hope that Lebanese-Arab relations will remain at the highest level of rapprochement and fraternity.
“As long as things are going in the right direction, and as long as we maintain the right path, these relations will be good and there will be no future crises with Saudi Arabia.”
The Saudi ambassador also met top religious leaders from the Maronite and Druze communities.
The ambassadors of France, the UK and US, and the UN's special co-ordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka, were also at the iftar banquet.
On announcing the return of its ambassador last Thursday, Saudi state media said the kingdom made the decision after the “calls and appeals of the moderate national political forces in Lebanon.”
It also said that Lebanon had agreed to “stop all political, military and security activities affecting” it and other Gulf Arab nations.
Mr Mikati welcomed the move, adding: “We affirm that Lebanon is proud of its Arab affiliation and wants the best relations with the Gulf states, which were and will remain our support.”
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The Voice of Hind Rajab
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Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
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The specs
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Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
'The Ice Road'
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
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.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
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Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Top Hundred overseas picks
London Spirit: Kieron Pollard, Riley Meredith
Welsh Fire: Adam Zampa, David Miller, Naseem Shah
Manchester Originals: Andre Russell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sean Abbott
Northern Superchargers: Dwayne Bravo, Wahab Riaz
Oval Invincibles: Sunil Narine, Rilee Rossouw
Trent Rockets: Colin Munro
Birmingham Phoenix: Matthew Wade, Kane Richardson
Southern Brave: Quinton de Kock
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Boulder shooting victims
• Denny Strong, 20
• Neven Stanisic, 23
• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65
Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
Recipe: Spirulina Coconut Brothie
Ingredients
1 tbsp Spirulina powder
1 banana
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (full fat preferable)
1 tbsp fresh turmeric or turmeric powder
½ cup fresh spinach leaves
½ cup vegan broth
2 crushed ice cubes (optional)
Method
Blend all the ingredients together on high in a high-speed blender until smooth and creamy.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.6-litre turbo
Transmission: six-speed automatic
Power: 165hp
Torque: 240Nm
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On sale: Now
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
