The Sun rose on Thursday on the first day of Ramadan in a region that suffered a huge earthquake last month and faces an array of other challenges.
Some Middle East residents will be celebrating the holy month while dealing with water shortages, soaring prices and economic crises.
For the second year, Ramadan is taking place against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, which began in February last year.
This has disrupted grain exports from Ukraine and Russia and caused prices to soar around the world — with a particular impact in Yemen and Lebanon, which are in the midst of economic crises.
In recent days, Lebanese people criticised a shop for pricing lentil soup — a Ramadan staple — at $5, as part of the outlet's iftar menu. This comes at a time when food prices have gone up by 2,000 per cent, in some instances, since 2019.
A Twitter user under the name Falullahh asked: “If a casual place like this is charging this much, what will 'fancier' places be charging? A kidney?”
In Yemen, providing drinking water is a burden that largely falls on the shoulders of women and girls, who often have to drop out of school to be able to walk long distances to fetch supplies for their families.
In the Arab world's poorest country, water was already difficult to find before the conflict between the internationally recognised government and Iran-backed Houthi rebels began in 2014.
Now, 90 per cent of the population relies on some form of assistance for survival and development projects are vital for millions of people.
Local non-governmental organisation Food4Humanity has just completed a solar-powered water station in Yemen's south-western province of Ibb, helping 11,500 people in five villages.
“We don't go to school. We can't,” a young Yemeni child said in a video published by the group.
“We are busy travelling to other nearby villages to carry water back home. So, we don't have time to go to school.”
This year, too, is the first time Ramadan is being spent away from home for many of those displaced by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that rocked Syria and Turkey in February, killing more than 52,000 people across both countries.
“We used to look forward to Ramadan as the most beautiful month of every year,” Rama Jamal, 19, told AP, recalling how her family would decorate the house and sit together reading the Quran.
Now, she lives alone in the war-ravaged northern Idlib province of Syria. After surviving more than a decade of war, her parents and brother were killed in the earthquake.
“Now I’m by myself, and there’s no mood of Ramadan, there’s no joy,” Ms Jamal said.
“I’m missing my family all the time, every hour.”
The Ramadan fast is one of Islam's five pillars and a requirement for all able-bodied Muslims, with the exception of children, people who are sick, pregnant, breastfeeding and menstruating women and people who are travelling.
In addition to from refraining from drinking and eating from dusk until dawn, observant Muslims are also required to abstain from smoking and having sex during the fast.
Swearing and angry outbursts are also discouraged.
During the month, many Muslims spend more time reading the Quran, often aiming to read it from cover to cover.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE
Sector: Online rental marketplace
Size: 40 employees
Investment: $2 million
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
No more lice
Defining head lice
Pediculus humanus capitis are tiny wingless insects that feed on blood from the human scalp. The adult head louse is up to 3mm long, has six legs, and is tan to greyish-white in colour. The female lives up to four weeks and, once mature, can lay up to 10 eggs per day. These tiny nits firmly attach to the base of the hair shaft, get incubated by body heat and hatch in eight days or so.
Identifying lice
Lice can be identified by itching or a tickling sensation of something moving within the hair. One can confirm that a person has lice by looking closely through the hair and scalp for nits, nymphs or lice. Head lice are most frequently located behind the ears and near the neckline.
Treating lice at home
Head lice must be treated as soon as they are spotted. Start by checking everyone in the family for them, then follow these steps. Remove and wash all clothing and bedding with hot water. Apply medicine according to the label instructions. If some live lice are still found eight to 12 hours after treatment, but are moving more slowly than before, do not re-treat. Comb dead and remaining live lice out of the hair using a fine-toothed comb.
After the initial treatment, check for, comb and remove nits and lice from hair every two to three days. Soak combs and brushes in hot water for 10 minutes.Vacuum the floor and furniture, particularly where the infested person sat or lay.
Courtesy Dr Vishal Rajmal Mehta, specialist paediatrics, RAK Hospital
MATCH INFO
Borussia Dortmund 0
Bayern Munich 1 (Kimmich 43')
Man of the match: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
RACECARD%20
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The past Palme d'Or winners
2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda
2017 The Square, Ruben Ostlund
2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach
2015 Dheepan, Jacques Audiard
2014 Winter Sleep (Kış Uykusu), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2013 Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2), Abdellatif Kechiche, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux
2012 Amour, Michael Haneke
2011 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2009 The White Ribbon (Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke
2008 The Class (Entre les murs), Laurent Cantet
THE DETAILS
Kaala
Dir: Pa. Ranjith
Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar
Rating: 1.5/5
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
