ABU DHABI // Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has sacked a well-known Kuwaiti television personality as director of an Islamic TV channel for belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Prince Alwaleed said on Twitter yesterday that his Rotana Group, which owns Al Resalah channel, did not welcome Muslim Brotherhood members and he was firing Tareq Al Suwaidan "for admitting he belongs to the Brotherhood terrorist movement".
Mr Al Suwaidan, 59, a US-educated petroleum engineer whose popular talk shows and motivational speeches have won him nearly 2 million Twitter followers, was gracious about his dismissal, thanking Prince Alwaleed for the "precious privilege" of running the channel and wishing the endeavour luck.
The channel had built a "wonderful professional team so that it does not depend on one person", he said on Twitter.
Mr Al Suwaidan, who has also made shows for networks such as Qatar TV and Kuwait TV, has been outspoken in his opposition to the military-backed government in Cairo, following the removal of the Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, on July 3.
Those views brought Mr Al Suwaidan into direct conflict with the official diplomatic positions of both his home country and his employers.
Both Riyadh and Kuwait City have voiced support for the military-backed government in Cairo and described continuing protests by Mr Morsi's supporters as "terrorism".
After being removed from his post, Mr Al Suwaidan called on his Twitter feed for Mr Morsi's supporters to keep up pressure on the interim Egyptian government by "all means except violence" until it was forced to step down.
Previous posts included accusations that Egyptian Coptic Christians were siding with the military and failing to turn away from violence.
Mr Al Suwaidan's sacking could be seen by his fans "as a war against the Muslim Brotherhood", said Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor of the daily newspaper Al Quds Al Arabi, published in London.
"This man is very well known figure, and most of his followers are in the Arabian Gulf."
Mr Al Suwaidan is a prominent figure in the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood, a group that has been taken aback by Mr Morsi's removal. Unlike many Gulf-based branches of the organisation, Kuwait's Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM) operates openly and has often historically been allied with the government.
But the group has adamantly opposed the Kuwaiti government's decision to back the Egyptian interim government with US$4 billion (Dh14.7bn) in aid.
On Saturday night, a group of Islamist, Salafist and youth activists rallied in front of the Egyptian Embassy in Kuwait City, demanding that their government halt aid to Cairo.
The Kuwaiti government should "not transfer any funds or oil or other materials supporting the authority of the military coup in Egypt", the protesters wrote on the ICM's Facebook page.
Mr Al Suwaidan's popularity drew largely from his mixing of entertainment and religious content. He once described Al Resalah as "an Islamic MBC", referring to the Saudi network known for its soap operas and reality TV.
"We don't have any politics on the channel, but we would like to re-educate our viewers to look at life in a positive way," he said in 2006, when the channel launched.
"I know I will make a lot of people angry, which is fine. This is life."
edickinson@thenational.ae
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 2 (Heaton (og) 42', Lindelof 64')
Aston Villa 2 (Grealish 11', Mings 66')
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Dirham Stretcher tips for having a baby in the UAE
Selma Abdelhamid, the group's moderator, offers her guide to guide the cost of having a young family:
• Buy second hand stuff
They grow so fast. Don't get a second hand car seat though, unless you 100 per cent know it's not expired and hasn't been in an accident.
• Get a health card and vaccinate your child for free at government health centres
Ms Ma says she discovered this after spending thousands on vaccinations at private clinics.
• Join mum and baby coffee mornings provided by clinics, babysitting companies or nurseries.
Before joining baby classes ask for a free trial session. This way you will know if it's for you or not. You'll be surprised how great some classes are and how bad others are.
• Once baby is ready for solids, cook at home
Take the food with you in reusable pouches or jars. You'll save a fortune and you'll know exactly what you're feeding your child.
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Fixtures
Tuesday - 5.15pm: Team Lebanon v Alger Corsaires; 8.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Pharaohs
Wednesday - 5.15pm: Pharaohs v Carthage Eagles; 8.30pm: Alger Corsaires v Abu Dhabi Storms
Thursday - 4.30pm: Team Lebanon v Pharaohs; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Carthage Eagles
Friday - 4.30pm: Pharaohs v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Team Lebanon
Saturday - 4.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Team Lebanon
Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
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Transmission: 10-speed automatic
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On sale: Now
Rooney's club record
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
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
How to help or find other cats to adopt
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