For about 18 hours this week, the world got a glimpse of what life could be like without the luxury of modern conveniences and technology that rely on electricity. Monday’s power cut across Spain, Portugal and – for a brief time – parts of France left tens of millions without it until Tuesday morning, when services largely resumed.
While the scale of this disruption isn’t quite in the top 10 in global terms, it is the largest yet to affect nations in Western Europe. In some regions, trains were evacuated, traffic lights were out, surgeries were cancelled, and shops and restaurants were plunged into darkness. The internet was also affected, and mobile phone networks as well as ATMs were reportedly down in Spain.
As a consequence, there was a complete information blackout for a period. Batteries, powerbanks and candles were invaluable to get through the night. Reading books or conversing with those around you offered the easiest ways to pass the time enjoyably. Tinned food was back on the menu. It might have seemed funny and perhaps even nostalgic for many – a nice respite from the grind.
But, despite several ongoing investigations, the power cut remains unexplained. It could be a sign of worse things to come if no cause can be properly identified and resolved, or that if there isn’t a resolve to ensure that such moments must remain rare. Sadly, I’m thinking of Lebanon and Iraq as examples for Europe to not emulate.
Indeed, the biggest power cuts in history have largely been confined to what we now call the Global South and what we previously referred to as the Third World. That’s why many emerging countries, including in this region, have been working tirelessly and over decades to match the access to safe, reliable energy the so-called First World has.
But there is a lesson to be learnt here.
In the EU, the shift in terms of the power mix this century has been nothing short of astonishing. Solar and wind have emerged as the biggest sources of electricity generation. In the long term, the rise of renewable sources of energy at the expense of fossil fuel use is only a good thing as the international community collectively works to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and their impact on the planet. In the short term, however, like with any new technology, their increasing prominence introduces a new unpredictability for supply and prices. Clearly, the world must now factor in the element of surprise.
Whatever the reason for this week’s power cut on the Iberian Peninsula – climate change, or cyber attack, accident or negligence – such a thing strikes at the very fabric of a society. And what begins as an uncharacteristic conflict or crisis – spurring only brief bouts of frustration, fear, pressure – could become a doorway to a slippery slope.
This is one where denial or apathy reigns supreme and problems end up becoming chronic, with intermittent power cuts becoming a part of the national fabric and the focus of gallows humour.
A rising frequency of extreme weather events have already made them more likely, but a lack of appropriate investment levels across all types of energy sources, including in hydrocarbons, and blinkered policies have added to the vulnerability of hitherto reliable markets across the US, the UK and Europe. In comparison, balanced policies and higher levels of investment have made the UAE and other Gulf economies more resilient.
This week should be something the world can look back on and say that this was the moment humanity understood that only real change would save us. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel Yergin, writing in The Times, talked about a “new turbulence … arising from trade wars, tariffs, protectionism and the increasingly shaky relationships between nations … These are the realities that are impelling the rethink of the energy transition, which will be balanced against the need for energy access, security and affordability”.
The future is never just a plan. It is not a five-year goal. That’s just PR. The future comes about by meeting each moment as it is
Mr Yergin said that “the restructuring of energy demand and flows in the coming years creates difficult choices”.
“Today’s energy transition is meant to be fundamentally different from all preceding energy transitions … The wide range of challenges facing the transition mean that it will not unfold in a linear way,” he pointed out. Instead, he added, it will continue as it already is: “multidimensional, developing at varying rates of speed in different regions with different mixes of technologies and, definitely, with different priorities”.
Often, we are so busy fighting our corner, believing that we are trying to fix one specific problem, to notice something deeper is usually stirring. Beneath the surface, societies and economies are being pushed towards a reckoning.
This particular reckoning is one that we thought we had arrived at and resolved when the Paris climate deal was agreed in 2015. In fact, that has since proved to only be a single staging post and not the solution. This is because the future is never just a plan. It is not a five-year goal. That’s just PR. The future comes about by meeting each moment as it is.
How can we do this? With agility and flexibility. And emotionally, by facing up to reality, not what we want the “truth” to be – which itself keeps evolving. What we believed to be good enough a decade ago no longer is, and we need to accept it – regardless of principles or ideology.
To some extent, the long-standing structural problems of the Middle East have meant that in the UAE we cannot afford to be led by any fixed manifesto if the country is to prosper and thrive. We understand that it must respond to the shifting sands.
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
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
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
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
The%20specs
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
Results
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner: Barack Beach, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
7.05pm: Handicap Dh170,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Way Of Wisdom, Connor Beasley, Satish Seemar.
7.40pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Woodditton, Connor Beasley, Ahmad bin Harmash.
8.15pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Secret Trade, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.50pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Mark Of Approval, Antonio Fresu, Mahmood Hussain.
9.25pm: Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Tradesman, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
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
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
More on Quran memorisation:
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
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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
