Search Results for: saudi arabia

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AS with many projects inspired by the start of the next 997 years and the last three, the framing of the United Nations’ (UN) Millennium Development Goals was an ambitious enterprise.

Imposing statistically measurable targets for international organisations and national governments in making improvements in global poverty, education, gender equality, health, the environment and education, they have proved tough to attain.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A PHD in rocket science is not required to understand that corruption is a problem worldwide. But such a qualification – and more – would be required to devise an effective plan to fight this financial plague. The United Nations’ (UN) is drafting an international convention on corruption and asked a string of experts to write reports to illuminate some issues.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
TWO international organisations have highlighted opportunities for European water companies, which may be called upon in the next few decades to boost supplies to arid parts of the world, notably the Middle East.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) World Water Development Report says this region is the poorest in terms of water availability, with Kuwait being the most parched (10 m³ is available per person annually), followed by Gaza Strip (52 m³), the United Arab Emirates (58 m³), Bahamas (66 m³), Qatar (94 m³), Maldives (103 m³), Libya (113 m³), Saudi Arabia (118 m³), and Malta (129 m³).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WHEN the New Year is upon us, pessimists tend to herald the approach of apocalypse, gloomy tidings and battening down the hatches. And in a year that may see war in the Middle East, the naysayers may say more in 2003 than usual.…

BY MATTHEW WELLS
A UNITED Nations (UN) envoy is urging the Saudi Arabian government to speed up an unprecedented, yet tentative, judicial reform process.

Speaking after a week-long mission to the country, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Dato Param Cumaraswamy, said the kingdom’s legal system was improving following the introduction of a new criminal procedure code in May.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations’ (UN) Food and Agriculture Organisation has welcomed the development of a privately funded fish farming sector in Saudi Arabia, following 20 years of research to identify the ideal fish for local aquaculture.

A note published by the FAO says that the Saudi Fish Company, at Al-Shaqiq near the southern Red Sea, is already producing 1,500 tonnes of fish-a-year; the National Shrimp Company, in the Al-Laith area, also on the Red Sea, is expecting to produce 10,000 tonnes annually soon; and the Gizan Agricultural Company is building farming facilities for 1,000 tonnes-a-year.…

BY MARK ROWE
THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund is to help set up an Islamic Financial Services Board to regulate and lay down standards for financial transactions throughout the Islamic world. A key aim of the project is to incorporate the special insurance tenets that exist in the Islamic business world into the wider capitalist system.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
TALISMAN Energy Inc. are in talks with Asian companies and Saudi princes interested in buying the firm’s controversial Sudanese oil assets, reports the London Financial Times.

It says Jim Buckee, the companies’ CEO, claimed “issues would be resolved by Christmas,” and that projects in Malaysia and Trinidad would replace Sudanese oil production, which contributes 11 per cent, of Talisman’s worldwide output.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN AFRICAN livestock disease has spread beyond its home continent to hit Saudi Arabia and Yemen, from where it is threatening to infect sheep, goats and cattle in Iraq. Rift Valley Fever is a highly contagious disease spread mainly by mosquitoes and the movement of animals; it causes abortion and death and can also infect humans, sometimes killing them.…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKE
DEMAND for ostrich leather, particularly from south Asia, has been one the result of the recent spread of foot-and-mouth disease across the globe, notably to Britain, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The problems have created a scarcity in the market for bovine leather and there have been industry reports from India saying that there has been a resulting good demand for printed leathers, especially ostrich leather print, reflecting positive opinions that it is distinctive and elegant.…