In 1798, the economist Thomas Malthus outlined his theory that the Earth's capacity to support humans will not be enough to match exponential population growth. Thankfully, he has been proven largely wrong. The number of people on the planet when he was writing stood at 800 million. If his observations were right, we would never have reached today's number of almost eight billion. But the warning is still relevant, particularly as we enter an age of unprecedented environmental instability.
Few threats are more pressing than global water supply. The UN estimates that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in regions with absolute water scarcity, defined as the inability to meet demand after all attempts at preservation have been implemented.
Today, the Middle East is among the earliest regions hit by the crisis. Most countries in the region are still managing to keep the taps on, but some are already being devastated. After a drought that started in March, Iran is now seeing deadly protests in Khuzestan province. Rights group Amnesty International say that at least eight protesters and bystanders have been killed. And on Friday, Unicef, the UN agency for children, announced that four million people in Lebanon are at risk of losing access to safe water. A quarter of those in jeopardy are refugees.
The Middle East is also going to have to deal with scarcity as a geopolitical issue. The dispute between Ethiopia and Sudan and Egypt over Addis Ababa's plan to build a massive dam on the Nile is an example of the complex diplomatic balances that will have to be struck between countries exercising a sovereign right to manage water supplies, against the rights of neighbouring states to not have theirs threatened.
Our region has known about this natural threat for years. But countries such as Iran and Lebanon are faring so much worse because of a non-environmental cause: bad governance. Iran has built 600 dams since the revolution, causing huge evaporation waste rates from reservoirs. Lebanon's preventable economic crisis, fuelled by political corruption and inaction, has pushed its water infrastructure to the brink.
Others are coping because governments have bought valuable time by preparing for a more vulnerable future. At first glance, the deserts of the Gulf would appear to be a more likely victim of shortages than a once fertile, agrarian state such as Lebanon. And while challenges do exist, the Gulf region's earlier acceptance of the need to manage supplies and prepare has allowed it to support a massive, decades-long increase in its population, while avoiding the terrible disruption seen today elsewhere.
There is still hope for countries that have not planned sufficiently to avoid a Malthusian reality, but governments will need to recognise mistakes, act quickly and make amends for their part in fuelling this premature crisis.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Thursday (All UAE kick-off times)
Sevilla v Real Betis (midnight)
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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if you go
The flights
The closest international airport to the TMB trail is Geneva (just over an hour’s drive from the French ski town of Chamonix where most people start and end the walk). Direct flights from the UAE to Geneva are available with Etihad and Emirates from about Dh2,790 including taxes.
The trek
The Tour du Mont Blanc takes about 10 to 14 days to complete if walked in its entirety, but by using the services of a tour operator such as Raw Travel, a shorter “highlights” version allows you to complete the best of the route in a week, from Dh6,750 per person. The trails are blocked by snow from about late October to early May. Most people walk in July and August, but be warned that trails are often uncomfortably busy at this time and it can be very hot. The prime months are June and September.
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
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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
Sunday's Super Four matches
Dubai, 3.30pm
India v Pakistan
Abu Dhabi, 3.30pm
Bangladesh v Afghanistan
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
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'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
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