NEW YORK // Saudi Arabia's attempts to stage an inter-faith debate at UN headquarters have met with resistance, with analysts criticising the kingdom for denying citizens and residents basic religious freedoms.
Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, president of the UN General Assembly, is finalising plans this week for a two-day, high-level meeting on religion to take place in New York next month in co-ordination with Saudi officials.
Critics argue that the lack of religious freedoms in the kingdom mean Saudi officials have no right to stage such a conference, and criticise the United Nations for betraying its principles by supporting the project.
"The spectacle of Saudi Arabia pontificating about religious rights borders on the farcical," said Anne Bayefsky, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based policy research body.
"Let's not forget the way they deal with religious minorities or the fact that Christian symbols cannot be publicly displayed."
Ali al Ahmed, director of the Washington-based Institute for Gulf Affairs, said the government denies religious freedoms to non-Muslims.
The scholar said Saudi officials embarked on a "public relations campaign" following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, trying to "clean up" its image.
In its 2008 report on religious freedom around the world, the US state department identified Saudi Arabia as one of eight "countries of particular concern" for having "engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom".
The Saudi delegation to the UN refused to respond to criticism, but a recent letter sent by Prince Saud Al Faisal, the foreign minister, to Mr d'Escoto said the event would "encourage dialogue, understanding and co-operation between religions and cultures, thereby promoting peace and harmony".
The event will follow on from the World Conference on Dialogue organised by King Abdullah in July, which saw Jews, Muslims and Christians meet in Madrid to seek common ground between faiths.
Defenders of King Abdullah have pointed out that by hosting non-Muslim scholars in the Spanish capital, and senior Shiites in Mecca the previous month, the monarch was being progressive by Saudi Arabia's conservative standards.
The king has also been advancing a political agenda, with Saudi helping broker a short-lived power-sharing arrangement between the rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah last year, and another deal between Somalia's transitional government and Islamist insurgents.
While detractors scrutinise Saudi's credentials for such diplomatic efforts, others argue the kingdom is presenting a moderate and acceptable counterbalance to the region's other major power, Iran.
But by co-hosting an interfaith conference under the aegis of the United Nations, human rights advocates said that Mr d'Escoto is undermining the very principles he is supposed to be upholding.
One of the most fundamental UN documents, the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, spells out an individual's "freedom to change his religion" and right "to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance".
The critics argue that Mr d'Escoto, together with Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, who has supported King Abdullah's efforts, are betraying fundamental principles of their organisation.
"The UN's move gives credibility to the violators of human rights and allows them to hide or conceal their true intentions," Ms Bayefsky said.
"It does a disservice to the UN's mission as a whole."
Mr d'Escoto, a Nicaraguan priest, has already become a controversial character at UN headquarters for making anti-US remarks and embracing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, at the General Assembly podium last month.
Enrique Yeves, the assembly president's spokesman, answered the criticism of the Saudi religious project by saying the debates, to be held on Nov 12 and 13, would represent an important "dialogue of religions".
"He believes that we should go beyond the dialogue itself," Mr Yeves said. "Now, the different religions should join forces and work together to try to resolve the most important issues that humanity is facing."
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
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Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
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Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
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Race card
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
6pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-2 Group 3 (PA) Dh300,000 2,200m
6.30pm: Liwa Oaisi Group 2 (PA) Dh300,000 1,400m
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,600m
The National selections: 5pm: Flit Al Maury, 5.30pm: Sadah, 6pm: RB Seqondtonone, 6.30pm: RB Money To Burn, 7pm: SS Jalmood, 7.30pm: Dalaalaat
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
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FIXTURES
December 28
Stan Wawrinka v Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Milos Raonic v Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 29 - semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Stan Wawrinka / Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Milos Raonic / Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 30
3rd/4th place play-off, 5pm
Final, 7pm
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Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
