Qatar Says it Will Build World's Biggest Blue Ammonia Plant
Business
Asharq Al-Awsat
Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said the plant would cost $1.2 billion. QNA
Qatar announced Wednesday that it will build the world's biggest plant making blue ammonia -- one of the new fuels being touted as a cleaner energy source. Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said the plant would cost $1.2 billion and start production in early 2026. State-owned Qatar Energy, a firm that is making huge profits from liquefied natural gas, said the plant would produce 1.2 million tons of ammonia a year "making it the world's largest such facility". "We see increasing interest in using ammonia as fuel, driven by the need to reduce CO2 emissions in the energy ecosystem," said al-Kaabi, who is also Qatar Energy's CEO. "Potential customers have expressed a desire for low-carbon fuels -- including blue ammonia -- and we have reacted in a pragmatic and meaningful manner and with scale," he added, according to AFP. Ammonia is already a huge part of the global fertilizer industry. CO2 is captured and stored as part of the production of blue ammonia. The foul-smelling chemical is being touted by gas-producing nations such as Qatar as an alternative to hydrogen. Due to its high hydrogen content, it can also be used to store or transport the chemical. Japan is already looking into using ammonia to power former coal fired electricity generators.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3848526/qatar-says-it-will-build-worlds-biggest-blue-ammonia-plant
Regragui Appointed Morocco Coach Ahead of World Cup
Sports
Asharq Al-Awsat
Walid Regragui has been appointed head coach of Morocco before the 2022 World Cup Mustafa. AFP
Former Moroccan international Walid Regragui has been appointed head coach of the national side just three months before the 2022 World Cup, the football federation announced Wednesday. The 46-year-old takes over from Franco-Bosnian Vahid Halilhodzic, who was dismissed on August 11 because of "differences of opinion" over preparations for the global tournament which kicks off in Qatar on November 20. "We are all behind (Regragui) in his new mission at the head of the national team, and we wish him good luck," Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) president Fouzi Lekjaa told journalists in Rabat. AFP quoted Regragui as saying that the Moroccan public were "expecting good results". "We want to do great things ... and we'll give our all to make you happy," he said. Regragui was born south of Paris and played as a defender for Toulouse, Ajaccio, Dijon and Grenoble as well as chalking up 45 caps with Morocco's national team. He was coach of FUS Rabat between 2014-2020 and briefly led Qatari club Al-Duhail. He then coached Wydad Casablanca for one triumphant season, leading the club to victory against Egypt's Al-Ahly to win the African Champions League as well as clinching the Moroccan league title. He quit Wydad earlier this month and has now become the first Moroccan national to lead the Lions of the Atlas since 2016. Regragui will be seeking to repeat Morocco's success of 1986, when they became the first African team in history to reach the round of 16. In Qatar, Morocco will face Croatia, Belgium and Canada in Group F.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3848491/regragui-appointed-morocco-coach-ahead-world-cup
There’s been a lot of talk of shifting the manufacturing supply chain away from China. Other countries want to cut their dependence on the world’s biggest factory floor, wary that Beijing is wielding too much power over the global economy. Rebuilding manufacturing and replacing China, though, isn’t all that easy. Constructing highways and production lines that work like clockwork, with tightly-knit networks of suppliers, is a gargantuan task. Over the last two decades, Beijing pampered global manufacturers with its meticulously built-up infrastructure and copious industrial supplies. The country’s hold on production processes, even in sectors it doesn’t dominate, meant it rapidly grew in importance. The debt state-owned companies took on to build highways ended up ensuring logistics and supply chains can run smoothly. China, no doubt, has a lot of economic imbalances, but its dominance in the world economy won’t change any time soon. Countries from the US to Vietnam and Indonesia are all trying to present themselves as alternatives. The $53 billion Chips Act was an attempt by the White House to reclaim chip manufacturing, as is the national blueprint to build a lithium-ion battery supply chain by the end of the decade. For electronics, Vietnam has been hailed a viable option. Even Indonesia, the biggest producer of nickel, a critical component of electric vehicle batteries, wants to move up the ladder and capture the value-add from a global shift into EVs. Parts of the supply chain may shift away from China, but for now, no country can come close to building the intricate network of factories across such a broad range of sectors. Switching agreements and suppliers isn’t an overnight process, nor is setting up operations that have been in place for years. Vietnam makes a good test case. Just as Apple Inc.’s suppliers such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., better known as Foxconn, plan to expand capacity there, sending industrial land prices to new highs, global manufacturers are finding that Vietnam can be easily ensnared by shortages. Right now, building materials like aluminium window sills — which are abundant in China — are hard to come by there. This is because Vietnam, along with the rest of Asia, imports a lot of basic industrial products such as chemicals and plastic, from its northern neighbor. Even though its economy has been open since March, as long as China continues with Covid-zero lockdowns, the Southeast Asian nation will continue to suffer from supply chain bottlenecks. Vietnam’s PMI suppliers’ delivery times index, which captures the extent of supply chain delays in an economy, remained in contraction in July. Over the years, China’s ambitions to climb the value chain meant a shift of its production toward higher-end equipment and industrial goods. It has built out a vast manufacturing sector that supplies a significant portion of components, or intermediate goods, that go into final products. It is now the top global exporter of such parts in terms of value. That means cutting the country’s manufacturers out of the equation will cause a headache in Asia, and will inevitably become a problem for industrial companies in the US, too. Say what you will about China’s debt-fueled expansion, it has built a comprehensive transport network including rail, seaports and airports, as well as 5G base stations, with much of the financial burden borne by local governments and state-owned enterprises. According to the latest Global Competitiveness Report, while China does not rank well on governance or institutional transparency, it has distinguished itself in aspects that are important to hard-tech supply chains, such as road, shipping lines and airport connectivity. It has also spent heavily on research and development. By comparison, US attempts to whip up an EV supply chain only highlight its infrastructure challenge. Kansas recently brought in Panasonic Holdings Corp. to build a $4 billion battery facility. One of the draw cards for the Japanese company was a push to upgrade the state’s infrastructure. The reality is, businesses aren’t patient enough to re-shore operations and then wait for infrastructure build-outs. New pockets of manufacturing may emerge but logistics just won’t be as efficient to global operators who are used to China. Will they pay to recreate what isn’t broken? On a recent trip to Vietnam, an entrepreneur bemoaned that an express mail package from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City can take up to four days. These kinds of delays just don’t happen in China. All of this has come at a high cost to Beijing, including ballooning corporate debt of over 200% of the nation’s gross domestic product and ineffective credit. It has paid to build all this and foreign companies are, in practice, getting a free ride on its smooth supply chains. It’s not surprising, then, that foreign businesses have continued to invest in China this year. Are the dangers of depending on China rising? Certainly, but such risks also exist in other replacements like Vietnam, Turkey or Malaysia. That’s just the cost of business. Bloomberg
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3848456/anjani-trivedi/good-luck-taking-away-china%E2%80%99s-manufacturing-mojo
Japan Says Financial Aid for Tunisia Hinges on IMF Deal
Business
Tunis - Mongi Saidani
Japan will consider financial assistance to Tunisia once an International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal is reached. (Reuters)
Japan will consider financial assistance to Tunisia once a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is reached, head of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Tanaka Akihiko has announced. Tunisian Minister of Economy and Planning Samir Saied signed last week a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for several projects in many sectors, such as infrastructure, renewable energy, and others. The projects will be presented to Japanese officials to obtain the necessary financial funds. The Fund's approval is Japan's top condition to launch the projects. The Japanese official added that the IMF deal would be the basis for discussions with financial institutions, including JICA. "Once an agreement concluded, Tunisia will be required to introduce necessary economic reforms," he said. Japan will be ready to provide financial assistance when reforms are undertaken. The Fund required an "economic reform package" directed towards subsidizing essential consumer products, reforming the financial balances of central government institutions and the tax system, and reducing wages in the public sector. Economist and financial expert Ezzeddine Saidane said that obtaining funds from major international financial institutions are coupled with the progress of Tunisia's negotiations with the IMF. Saidane said Tunisia is awaiting the IMF's approval for the economic reforms program to be implemented between the two parties. He stressed that organizing major economic forums and conferences is essential to explaining the advantages of investment in Tunisia, noting that establishing an appropriate investment environment is essential. The expert stressed that the state is required to lead the investments, indicating that in 2010, it invested about 25 percent of the country's budget for development, which now dropped to no more than three percent. Saidane believes that if the state is reluctant to invest, local and foreign private entities will not be incentivized to invest. The Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8), which was held last weekend in Tunis, resulted in presenting a set of economic projects, including 81 by the Tunisian private sector. A set of agreements was also signed during the conference. The Tunisian government submitted 47 projects to the Japanese financing institutions in several fields, including health, environment, higher education, infrastructure, water desalination, transportation, renewable energies, and green economy. Japan provided Tunisia with financial aid of $100 million to mitigate the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3847006/japan-says-financial-aid-tunisia-hinges-imf-deal
Olympics Attack Victims' Families Close to Deal with Germany
World
Asharq Al-Awsat
People cross the border between Germany and Poland in Guben, Germany, October 23, 2021. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi/File Photo
The families of 11 Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian attackers at the 1972 Munich Olympics are close to reaching a deal with the German government over a long-disputed compensation claim, German and Israeli media reported Wednesday. Earlier this month, the families had threatened to boycott Monday's 50-year anniversary ceremony in Munich organized by German authorities because they said the amount they had been offered was too low, The Associated Press reported. Several media reported Wednesday that Germany increased its offer to the families to around 28 million euros (dollars), but that a final deal, while close, had not yet been signed. German media have reported that during negotiations over the last few weeks, the German government initially offered 10 million euros to the families, which would include the payments already made. The government has not publicly revealed how much money it has offered. The negotiations over the amount of the compensation underscores a lingering point of friction between the two countries that have built strong ties despite the enduring legacy of the Nazi Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were murdered during World War II. Members of the Palestinian group Black September broke into the Olympic Village, killed two athletes from Israel’s national team and took nine more hostage on Sept. 5, 1972. The attackers hoped to force the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel as well as two left-wing extremists in West German jails. All nine hostages and a West German police officer died during a rescue attempt by German forces. Relatives of the athletes accuse Germany of failing to secure the Olympic Village, refusing Israeli help and then botching the rescue operation. Immediately after the attack, Germany made payments to relatives of the victims amounting to about 4.19 million marks (about 2 million euros or dollars), according to the country's interior ministry. In 2002, the surviving relatives received an additional 3 million euros, Germany’s dpa news agency reported.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3846901/olympics-attack-victims-families-close-deal-germany
New Russia Gas Halt Tightens Energy Screws on Europe
World
Asharq Al-Awsat
Pipes at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022. (Reuters)
Russia halted gas supplies via a major pipeline to Europe on Wednesday, intensifying an economic battle between Moscow and Brussels and raising the prospects of recession and energy rationing in some of the region's richest countries. The outage for maintenance on Nord Stream 1 means that no gas will flow to Germany between 0100 GMT on Aug. 31 and 0100 GMT on Sept. 3, according to Russian state energy giant Gazprom. Data from the Nord Stream 1 operator's website showed flows at zero for 0600-0700 Central European Time (0400-0500 GMT) on Wednesday, the third hour in a row of no flows. European governments fear Moscow could extend the outage in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed on it after its invasion of Ukraine and have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of using energy supplies as a "weapon of war". Moscow denies doing this. Further restrictions to European gas supplies would heighten an energy crunch that has already sent wholesale gas prices soaring over 400% since last August, creating a painful cost-of-living crisis for consumers and businesses and forcing governments to spend billions to ease the burden. In Germany, inflation hit its highest level in almost 50 years in August and consumer sentiment is projected to hit a record low for the third month in a row next month as households brace for higher energy bills. Unlike last month's 10-day maintenance for Nord Stream 1, the upcoming work was announced less than two weeks in advance and is being carried out by Gazprom not Nord Stream AG, focusing on the last operating turbine at the station. Moscow, which slashed supply via Nord Stream 1 to 40% of capacity in June and to 20% in July, blames maintenance issues and sanctions it says prevent the return and installation of equipment. Gazprom said the latest shutdown is needed to perform maintenance on the pipeline's only remaining compressor. Yet Russia has also cut off supply to Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Poland completely, and reduced flows via other pipelines since launching what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine. Gazprom is just using an excuse to switch off natural gas deliveries to its French contractor, the energy minister in Paris said with regard to a separate dispute over payments, but added that the country had anticipated the loss of supply. ‘Element of surprise’ German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, on a mission to replace Russian gas imports by mid-2024, earlier this month said Nord Stream was "fully operational" and there were no technical issues as claimed by Moscow. Klaus Mueller, president of Germany's network regulator, said while a resumption of flows would help Germany's security of supply, no one was able to say what the consequences would be if flows remained at zero. Europe's largest economy is making better progress than expected in filling its gas storage facilities, but it's not enough to get the country through winter, he said. The reduced flows via Nord Stream have complicated efforts across Europe to fill up vital gas storage facilities, a key strategic goal to make it through the winter months, when governments fear Russia may halt flows altogether. "It is something of a miracle that gas filling levels in Germany have continued to rise nonetheless," Commerzbank analysts wrote, adding Germany had so far been successful at buying sufficient volumes at higher prices elsewhere. In the meantime, however, some Europeans are voluntarily cutting their energy consumption, including limiting their use of electrical appliances and showering at work to save money while companies are bracing for possible rationing. At 83.26%, Germany is already within reach of an 85% target for its national gas storage tanks by Oct. 1, but it has warned reaching 95% by Nov. 1 would be a stretch unless companies and households drastically cut consumption. For the European Union as a whole, the current storage level is 79.94%, just short of an 80% target by Oct. 1, when the continent's heating season starts. Analysts at Goldman Sachs said their base case assumption was that this outage would not be extended. "If it did, there would be no more element of surprise and reduced revenues, while low (Nord Stream 1) flows and the occasional drop to zero have the potential to keep market volatility and political pressure on Europe higher," they said.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3846751/new-russia-gas-halt-tightens-energy-screws-europe
Iraqi Allies, Rivals Hail Sadr’s Call to End Protests, Maliki Critical
Arab World
Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat
30 August 2022, Iraq, Baghdad: A supporter of Iraqi influential Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, dismantles an encampment near the parliament building inside Baghdad's Green Zone, as Shiite protesters withdraw from their protest site. (dpa)
Iraqi and foreign powers were mostly unanimous on Tuesday in praising Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr for calling off the protests by his supporters in Baghdad in wake of the violence that erupted on Monday. All Iraqi parties, but one, praised the move as “national” and as having spared bloodshed in Iraq. Only former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a longtime rival of Sadr, was critical of the cleric. “Force cannot impose a political reality against the will of others,” he declared. “The one who sparks the war cannot be the one to stop it, control its course or reap its spoils,” he added. Rather, he said internal and foreign factors are responsible for starting or halting the “bloody scene.” Maliki thanked the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) for their “commitment and discipline” and calm approach towards crises. He also thanked the members of the armed forces “who showed great discipline and patience as they were confronted with arbitrary fire and rockets.” In contrast, caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi praised Sadr’s move, saying it “reflects the highest levels of nationalism and keenness on protecting Iraq.” Sadr’s armed supporters, who clashed with security forces in the capital began to withdraw from the streets Tuesday, restoring a measure of calm after a serious escalation of the nation's political crisis. Following two days of deadly unrest that sparked fears instability might spread throughout the country and even the region, Sadr told his supporters to leave the government quarter where they had rallied. Within minutes, some could be seen heeding the call, dismantling their tents and walking out of the area known as the Green Zone. Sadr's move to de-escalate tensions raised questions of how issues such as the dissolution of parliament and the holding of early elections will be handled between rival groups. Kadhimi, in a speech late Tuesday, threatened to vacate his post if the political crisis continues. Protesters supporting Sadr's rivals in the pro-Iran Coordination Framework also withdrew from their demonstration outside the government zone. Iraq’s government has been deadlocked since Sadr’s party won the largest share of seats in October parliamentary elections but not enough to secure a majority government. That led to months of political infighting between Sadr's Shiite followers and his Iran-backed Shiite rivals before it became violent Monday. The chaos began when Sadr announced he would resign from politics. Many dismissed the move as a ploy to gain greater leverage, and his supporters stormed the Green Zone, home to Iraqi government offices and foreign embassies. They eventually breached the gates of the government palace, rushing into its lavish salons and marbled halls. At least 30 people were killed, officials said, before Sadr urged those loyal to him to go home, following pleas for restraint from several Iraqi officials and the United Nations. “This is not a revolution,” the cleric said in a televised address. Kadhimi said an investigative committee was formed to uncover who shot at al-Sadr’s supporters during protests Monday, “despite our clear and strict orders prohibiting the use of live ammunition.” “It is also imperative to determine who opened fire and launched rockets and mortars on governmental institutions throughout the night,” he said in the speech. “Undisciplined groups will face legal consequences.” In addition to the dozens killed, over 400 were wounded, two Iraqi medical officials said Tuesday. Sadr's initial announcement that he would leave politics implicitly gave his supporters the freedom to act as they see fit. His speech on Tuesday effectively reined them back in. President of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani praised Sadr, saying he supports his “national and responsible position” to withdraw his followers. He reiterated his call for dialogue to all parties and forces to resolve the country’s political crisis and “save Iraq from this difficult situation.” Head of the Fatah Alliance, Hadi al-Ameri lauded Sadr’s “brave initiative” to put an end to the violence. “It came at a critical time when the enemies were keen on expanding the fighting between brothers,” he remarked in a statement. Head of the Sovereignty Alliance, Khamis Khanjar praised Sadr’s “historic” speech to end strife. “It is time for national forces to begin forming a new phase that paves the way for early elections,” he tweeted. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit praised Sadr’s call to end the violence in Iraq, calling on all parties to comply with it. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq welcomed Sadr’s announcement, tweeting: “Restraint and calm are necessary for reason to prevail.”
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3846681/iraqi-allies-rivals-hail-sadr%E2%80%99s-call-end-protests-maliki-critical
To Fight Monkeypox and Other Viruses, Look Harder in the Sewers
Opinion
Lisa Jarvis
Lisa Jarvis -
Evidence is growing that monkeypox, like Covid, can be reliably detected in wastewater. Yet the US has moved far too slowly to include the virus in its regular scans of sewage for coronavirus. By the time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launches a program in the next month or two to look for monkeypox, the worst of the outbreak is likely to have passed. When someone is infected with a virus, they “shed” it in various ways — feces, urine, saliva, semen, or, if there is a rash involved as with monkeypox, through skin that is sloughed off in the shower. All of it goes down the drain, and with it, evidence of the level of infections in a community. Since 2020, researchers have looked for bits of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid, in sewage. The idea is that infected people are flushing a lot of viral genetic material down the toilet before they show symptoms or the virus can be detected by a PCR or at-home test. That makes sewage a good sentinel for a rise in cases, allowing public health authorities to control the outbreak by adjusting their recommendations on things like wearing masks or social distancing. With Covid, it has also become the most reliable indicator. The advent of easy-to-use at-home tests has meant far fewer cases are being formally reported to public health authorities. Only wastewater testing reflected the true spread of the virus in the delta and omicron waves. Scientists still have a limited understanding of how people shed monkeypox. Still, any signal in the sewage in recent months could have helped direct scarce resources — testing, vaccines and treatments — and increase education in places where cases might be bubbling up. So why not make every effort to immediately expand the existing infrastructure to look for monkeypox? What is learned could help rein in the current outbreak of a sometimes-painful disease that as of Aug. 29 totaled more than 18,100 cases. And even as cases decline in New York City, giving health officials there hope that the virus is receding, a better surveillance effort would help the country respond to future outbreaks, whether of monkeypox or some other pathogen. The problem in the US is the piecemeal system for wastewater detection. The Covid-19 pandemic prompted the CDC to set up the National Wastewater Surveillance System, which acts as a kind of clearing house for data from individual health departments. The agency provides funding for wastewater testing, which is performed by a wide range of groups from universities to hospital systems to city public health systems. And the CDC makes recommendations about methods to collect and analyze samples for Covid, though not yet for monkeypox. But they are just that — recommendations. When it comes to determining which pathogens to test for, the decision remains in the hands of local authorities, not the CDC. That’s partly a reflection of a CDC culture better geared to operating as a data and research hub than as the frontline public-health agency that quickly responds to an emerging threat. That has meant few places have bothered to test wastewater for monkeypox. Those that have added the virus to their analyses have been frustrated by the lack of a system at the CDC for formally collecting and publicly sharing the data. The beauty of wastewater is that it is an unbiased reading. A single sample can reflect thousands of people in a given community, whether or not they have symptoms. Monkeypox virus was first detected in wastewater in the San Francisco Bay Area in late June by a group of researchers from Stanford University and Emory University, who since late 2020 have run the Sewer Coronavirus Alert Network, or SCAN. That result came barely a month after the first case of the virus was identified in the US, and at a time when clinical testing was frustratingly limited. By mid-July, the team had discovered the virus in seven of the 11 sites it monitors in the Bay Area. A few weeks later, after expanding monitoring to sites in seven other states, the group had detected monkeypox in wastewater in Georgia, Idaho, Michigan and Texas. That’s proof that wastewater can be quickly deployed for emerging infections. Scientists are becoming adept at understanding how to determine the best way to collect samples (stomach-turning as it may be, there is debate over testing liquids versus solids) and quickly designing ways to accurately analyze them. Better, the group’s work suggests wastewater testing for monkeypox can be quite sensitive. At the time the first sewage samples from Idaho came back positive for monkeypox, the state had reported only seven cases of the virus. CDC’s wastewater team is slowly starting to adapt. The agency said it would temporarily expand its data collection to include monkeypox in the next four to six weeks and by early 2023 would ask its partners to look for influenza, norovirus, a fungus called Candida aurus and certain kinds of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. That progress is welcome, but belated. The US might only be a few months into the monkeypox outbreak, but imagine if a concerted effort to detect it in sewage had materialized sooner. Public health authorities would have had a better handle on the scope of the spread and could have ensured vulnerable communities were informed about the virus. Covid, polio, monkeypox — these won’t be the last pathogenic threats. The US should be prioritizing a robust and well-coordinated wastewater detection system that can quickly pivot to and guide our response to whatever health emergency comes next. Bloomberg
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3846606/lisa-jarvis/fight-monkeypox-and-other-viruses-look-harder-sewers
Bahraini King, French President Discuss Boosting Ties, Cooperation
Gulf
Paris - Asharq Al-Awsat
French President Emmanuel Macron (C) welcomes Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa (L) to the Elysée Palace in Paris, France, 29 August 2022. (EPA)
Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa held official talks on Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée Palace in Paris. Their meeting focused on a number of regional and international issues that pose a threat to international peace and security. They tackled ways to resolve these issues through peaceful and diplomatic means in a way that would guarantee global peace and prosperity. King Hamad and Marcon also reviewed the climate challenges facing the world and discussed mechanisms of joint coordination to address them, in order to ensure the protection of the global environment, through joint international initiatives under the framework of the United Nations and its agencies. The leaders addressed ways to boost bilateral relations and cooperation between their countries at all levels. They stressed the importance of developing bilateral relations towards broader horizons, particularly in the economic, trade, investment, cultural and tourism sectors to achieve common benefits. King Hamad expressed his sincere gratitude to Macron for his remarkable efforts in strengthening the long-standing relations of friendship and cooperation between their countries and peoples, in a way that achieves their top interests across various fields. He noted the steady growth that relations are witnessing, which reflects the unique nature of the friendly Bahraini-French ties. King Hamad praised the pivotal role played by France in strengthening the pillars of security and stability in the world, hailing its “commendable” efforts to bolster global peace and security despite the ongoing challenges. He reiterated Bahrain’s stance in support of peace, coexistence and tolerance across the world, in addition to its belief in dialogue, settlement of disputes through peaceful and diplomatic means, as well as its rejection of terrorism, violence and extremism.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3844586/bahraini-king-french-president-discuss-boosting-ties-cooperation
'Third' of Pakistan under Water as Flood Aid Efforts Gather Pace
World
Asharq Al-Awsat
People retrieve bamboos from a damaged house following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Dera Allah Yar, district Jafferabad, Balochistan, Pakistan August 25, 2022. REUTERS/Amer Hussain
Aid efforts ramped up across flooded Pakistan on Tuesday to help tens of millions of people affected by relentless monsoon rains that have submerged a third of the country and claimed more than 1,100 lives. The rains that began in June have unleashed the worst flooding in more than a decade, washing away swathes of vital crops and damaging or destroying more than a million homes, AFP said. Authorities and charities are struggling to accelerate aid delivery to more than 33 million people affected, a challenging task in areas cut off because roads and bridges have been washed away. In the south and west, dry land is limited, with displaced people crammed onto elevated highways and railroad tracks to escape the flooded plains. "We don't even have space to cook food. We need help," Rimsha Bibi, a schoolgirl in Dera Ghazi Khan in central Pakistan, told AFP. Pakistan receives heavy -- often destructive -- rains during its annual monsoon season, which are crucial for agriculture and water supplies. But such intense downpours have not been seen for three decades. Pakistani officials have blamed climate change, which is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather around the world. "To see the devastation on the ground is really mind-boggling," Pakistan's climate change minister Sherry Rehman told AFP. "When we send in water pumps, they say 'Where do we pump the water?' It's all one big ocean, there's no dry land to pump the water out." She said "literally a third" of the country was under water, comparing scenes from the disaster to a dystopian movie. Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said Pakistan needed more than $10 billion to repair and rebuild damaged infrastructure. "Massive damage has been caused... especially in the areas of telecommunications, roads, agriculture and livelihoods," he told AFP Tuesday. The Indus River, which runs along the length of the South Asian nation, is threatening to burst its banks as torrents of water rush downstream from its tributaries in the north. Pakistan as a whole had been deluged with twice the usual monsoon rainfall, the meteorological office said, but Balochistan and Sindh provinces had seen more than four times the average of the last three decades. - International help - The disaster could not have come at a worse time for Pakistan, where the economy is in free fall. Appealing for international help, the government has declared an emergency. Aid flights have arrived in recent days from Turkey and the UAE, while other nations including Canada, Australia and Japan have also pledged assistance. The United Nations has announced it will launch a formal $160 million appeal on Tuesday to fund emergency aid. Pakistan was already desperate for international support and the floods have compounded the challenge. Prices of basic goods -- particularly onions, tomatoes and chickpeas -- are soaring as vendors bemoan a lack of supplies from the flooded breadbasket provinces of Sindh and Punjab. There was some relief on Monday when the International Monetary Fund approved the revival of a loan program for Pakistan, releasing an initial $1.1 billion. Makeshift relief camps have sprung up all over Pakistan -- in schools, on motorways and in military bases. In the northwestern town of Nowshera, a technical college was turned into a shelter for up to 2,500 flood victims. They sweltered in the summer heat with sporadic food aid and little access to water. "I never thought that one day we will have to live like this," said 60-year-old Malang Jan. "We have lost our heaven and are now forced to live a miserable life."
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3844581/third-pakistan-under-water-flood-aid-efforts-gather-pace
Saudi Arabia's Kattan Embarks on Fifth African Tour
Gulf
Riyadh - Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Royal Court Adviser Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Kattan. (SPA)
Saudi Royal Court Adviser Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Kattan will kick off on Tuesday a tour of Africa where he will meet several of its leaders. He will meet with leaders of Cape Verde, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. He is scheduled for talks with head of the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) in Gabon. A Saudi source said Kattan’s fifth tour of Africa is in implementation of directive of Custodian of the Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with the aim to bolster Saudi-African relations in all fields. Kattan has so far visited 45 African countries and met with various heads of African organizations and agencies that have backed Riyadh’s hosting of Expo 2030.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3844576/saudi-arabias-kattan-embarks-fifth-african-tour
In May the literary critic Christian Lorentzen published a Substack newsletter about being bored. “Hollywood movies are boring. Television is boring. Pop music is boring. The art world is boring. Broadway is boring. Books from big publishing are boring,” he wrote. Since I have been rather bored, too, I paid $5 to read the entire piece, but was unconvinced by his conclusion, which lays the blame for artistic stasis on the primacy of marketing. The risk aversion of cultural conglomerates can’t explain why there’s not more interesting indie stuff bubbling up. I’d hoped that when the black hole of the Donald Trump presidency ended, redirected energy might allow for a cultural efflorescence. So far that hasn’t happened. An obvious caveat: I’m a white middle-aged parent, so whatever is truly cool is, by definition, happening outside my purview. Still, when I go to coffee shops where young people are hanging out, the music is often either the same music I listened to when I was young, or music that sounds just like it. One of the year’s biggest hit singles is a Kate Bush song that came out in 1985. I can think of no recent novel or film that provoked passionate debate. Public arguments people do have about art — about appropriation and offense, usually — have grown stale and repetitive, almost rote. The articles written about the mildly transgressive Manhattan micro-scene known as Dimes Square are themselves evidence of a cultural drought; chroniclers of the zeitgeist are desperate for new fodder. (I’m guilty of writing one such piece myself.) Lots of people are looking for something scintillating and new and not finding it. The best explanation I’ve read for our current cultural malaise comes at the end of W. David Marx’s forthcoming “Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change,” a book that is not at all boring and that subtly altered how I see the world. Marx posits cultural evolution as a sort of perpetual motion machine driven by people’s desire to ascend the social hierarchy. Artists innovate to gain status, and people unconsciously adjust their tastes to either signal their status tier or move up to a new one. As he writes in the introduction, “Status struggles fuel cultural creativity in three important realms: competition between socioeconomic classes, the formation of subcultures and countercultures, and artists’ internecine battles.” One of his most resonant examples involves the avant-garde composer John Cage. When Cage presented his discordant orchestral piece “Atlas Eclipticalis” at Lincoln Center in 1964, many patrons walked out. Members of the orchestra hissed at Cage when he took his bow; a few even smashed his electronic equipment. But Cage’s work inspired other artists, leading “historians and museum curators to embrace him as a crucial figure in the development of postmodern art,” which in turn led audiences to pay respectful attention to his work. (Yoko Ono once divided the history of music into Before Cage and After Cage.) “There was a virtuous cycle for Cage: His originality, mystery and influence provided him artist status; this encouraged serious institutions to explore his work; the frequent engagement with his work imbued Cage with cachet among the public, who then received a status boost for taking his work seriously,” writes Marx. For Marx, this isn’t a matter of pretension. Cachet, he writes, “opens minds to radical propositions of what art can be and how we should perceive it.” The internet, Marx writes in his book’s closing section, changes this dynamic. With so much content out there, the chance that others will recognize the meaning of any obscure cultural signal declines. Challenging art loses its prestige. Besides, in the age of the internet, taste tells you less about a person. You don’t need to make your way into any social world to develop a familiarity with Cage — or, for that matter, with underground hip-hop, weird performance art, or rare sneakers. In some ways, this is great. People can easily find things they like and waste less time pretending to like things that they don’t. Using cultural capital to signal your place in the status hierarchy is snobby and exclusionary. (Avant-garde art can also be, as Susan Sontag wrote, pretty boring itself.) But people are, obviously, no less obsessed with their own status today than they were during times of fecund cultural production. It’s just that the markers of high social rank have become more philistine. When the value of cultural capital is debased, writes Marx, it makes “popularity and economic capital even more central in marking status.” As a result, he says, there’s “less incentive for individuals to both create and celebrate culture with high symbolic complexity.” It makes more sense for a parvenu to fake a ride on a private jet than to fake an interest in contemporary art. We live in a time of rapid and disorientating shifts in gender, religion and technology. Aesthetically, thanks to the internet, it’s all quite dull. The New York Times
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3844571/michelle-goldberg/book-explains-our-cultural-stagnation
Russia Has Faced ‘Failures’ with Iranian-Made Drones, Says US Official
Iran
Asharq Al-Awsat
A view of a drone during a military exercise in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on August 24, 2022. (Iranian Army/WANA/Handout via Reuters)
Russia has faced technical problems with Iranian-made drones acquired from Tehran this month for use in its war with Ukraine, according to Biden administration officials. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the US intelligence assessment, did not detail the “numerous failures.” They added that the US assesses that the delivery of Mohajer-6 and Shahed-series unmanned aerial vehicles over several days this month is likely part of a Russian plan to acquire hundreds of Iranian UAVs. The Associated Press reported last week that Russia had recently obtained hundreds of Iranian drones capable of being used in its war against Ukraine despite US warnings to Tehran not to ship them. The Washington Post first reported that Russia has faced technical problems with the Iranian drones. Russian operators continue to receive training in Iran on how to use these systems, which can conduct air-to-surface attacks, electronic warfare and targeting, on the battlefield in Ukraine, the officials said. The Biden administration last month released satellite imagery indicating that Russian officials visited Kashan Airfield on June 8 and July 5 to view the Iranian drones. At the time, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan asserted that the administration has “information that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with several hundred UAVs.” Facing economic sanctions and limits on its supply chains due to its invasion of Ukraine, Russia is turning to Iran as a key partner and supplier of weapons. Russian aircraft was loaded with the UAV equipment at an airfield in Iran over several days this month before the weaponry was flown to Russia, the officials said. White House national security council spokesman John Kirby told reporters earlier Monday that the administration had “no update” on whether the drones had been delivered. He added that the US has “seen nothing that that gives us a sense of comfort” and that “the procurement, and delivery is still looming, is still in the offing.” Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein-Amir Abdollahian, said last month that Tehran had “various types of collaboration with Russia, including in the defense sector.” “But we won’t help either of the sides involved in this war because we believe that it (the war) needs to be stopped,” he said. The administration officials confirmed details of Iran supplying Russia with drones at a moment when the White House is also trying to prod Tehran to resume its compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. The administration last week completed its review of Iran’s comments on a European proposal to restart the agreement that was brokered during President Barack Obama's administration and scrapped by in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump in 2018.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3844566/russia-has-faced-%E2%80%98failures%E2%80%99-iranian-made-drones-says-us-official
Europe is getting back to business after its summer break — but this year feels like jumping into a cold shower. Just listen to Emmanuel Macron. The French President told his ministers during their first formal gathering last week that a new paradigm is on the horizon — it’s the end of abundance in a care-free world. That’s a sobering statement coming out of the country of opulence itself. French history is shaped by splendor; its national ethos pursues grandiosity in the values it represents and the role of puissance d’équilibre — a power of mediation — it seeks to play on the international scene. Luxury is also a veritable moneymaker for the French economy — the industry feeds on insatiable consumer demand. All of this contrasts with Macron’s statements, which critics have called crude, pessimistic, even defeatist. Yet, although the message wasn’t the most palatable, it was an important one. The truth is, Macron’s words are merely catching up to the reality of what Europe faces. Russia is wreaking havoc on the energy market, inflation is rampant and governments are actively seeking demand destruction to avoid rationing. The opposite of abundance is scarcity. The flip-side to opulence is sobriety. Why sugarcoat things? The French president has a habit of shaking public opinion with shock statements. He once described NATO as brain dead and suggested he would gladly emmerder (“piss off”) non-vaccinated people if that helped push up the vaccination rate in France. His tone and language are often divisive. The political left has already accused Macron of being out of touch — a recurring criticism — if he thinks the French working class lives in opulence, especially as the cost-of-living crisis bites into modest salaries. Marine le Pen, his political nemesis, said the crisis scenario he laid out isn’t just the result of the war, but also of his policies. Some of Macron’s ministers rushed to clarify his comments hours later, suggesting the president isn’t defeatist but lucid. It was an exercise in damage control, but the tone had been set. Much of the ensuing TV commentary was spent debating what sacrifices will be demanded of the public. In that sense, Macron’s language contrasts with that of Joe Biden’s administration, which is reluctant to fuel recession talk, and even of the UK’s Liz Truss, frontrunner for Tory party leader, who refuses to believe a recession is inevitable despite the fact that the Bank of England predicts one. And the UK arguably faces a much bleaker picture than France. In 1979, former US President Jimmy Carter pronounced what some described as the pinnacle of pessimism in politics. Against a background of inflation and pain at the gas pump, he argued that America was going through a “crisis of confidence” — in the future and the nation — that threatened the very social fabric of the country. As Europe struggles with the effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Carter’s speech rings relevant today. Much will be decided by the bloc’s resolve to stay united, have confidence and determination. I’ve long argued that many Europeans are still in denial about how a severe winter could hobble the economy. For households and businesses, it could force draconian choices: Buy fuel or buy good, stay open or close shop. Still, a reality check doesn’t mean fatalism. For Macron, who already went through a traumatic period of social unrest with the yellow vest protests in 2018, fatalism risks undermining his own government. The French have capped energy prices, absorbing much of the pain through the state-owned utility Électricité de France, which reported a loss of 5 billion euros ($5 billion) in the first six months of the year, and cushioning the blow for consumers. Despite the malaise, France currently has one of the lowest inflation rates in the euro area. In that sense, Macron is buying social peace, just like he did with his “whatever the cost” stimulus during the pandemic lockdowns. The government shouldn’t sound like it’s throwing in the towel now. Defeatism also risks undermining public support for Ukraine. Russia wants to see Europe reach its breaking point and ease sanctions. Despite the obvious stress in the energy market, where both gas and forward electricity prices are pushing fresh highs almost weekly, the EU so far has signaled it won’t reverse course. Even Macron himself recently suggested there was no room for compromising with Vladimir Putin under the current circumstances. Ultimately, he argued, this is battle of values too. That’s encouraging, but maintaining morale will get harder as the days get colder, especially if we’re told everything is doomed from the get-go. For Ukrainians, who are paying a heavy price in blood and destruction, that is a disservice. Macron also talked about a series of crises, going from the war to climate-related events to supply-chain issues. These are important issues but such blending can confuse public opinion and dilute Putin’s responsibility for the current situation — had he not invaded Ukraine, we wouldn’t be talking about an energy crisis of this magnitude. Europe is entering uncharted waters this winter. We must stay lucid about the risks, but let’s not go into the storm assuming all is lost already. Bloomberg
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3844556/maria-tadeo/europe-can%E2%80%99t-go-winter-thinking-all-lost
Latest Covid Conundrum Is When to Get Yet Another Shot
Opinion
Faye Flam
Faye Flam -
It feels intuitively right that a reformulated booster vaccine aimed at the omicron BA.5 variant would vastly improve our protection against it as well as any offspring that might threaten us in the fall. But intuition doesn’t always agree with scientific data. It’s not intuitive at all to think that waiting six months before getting boosted vastly improves protection. Yet that’s what the data show, and it’s starting to make sense to a few researchers who are looking under the hood at how our immune systems work and what they’re capable of, given enough time. There’s almost no public data on the efficacy of the boosters for the currently circulating omicron BA.5. Yet the Joe Biden administration has purchased more than 170 million doses from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Pending recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control, the shots will be available to all adults who are fully vaccinated and, for the Pfizer, to teens as well. “We have no clinical data, not even neutralizing antibody data in people,” said Paul Offit, a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s advisory committee on vaccines. “There’s a mouse study but nobody has seen it.” Scientists did gather some data on the potential efficacy of a booster aimed at an earlier version of omicron, BA.1, by measuring how well antibodies in blood samples from volunteers attacked the virus. They found that including a BA.1 component offered only a modest improvement over the original boosters. The difference, Offit said, was comparable to the differences between the Pfizer and Moderna shots — a difference he says is not clinically significant. The new formulation uses the same mRNA technology as the original shots, but includes new genetic material corresponding to two closely related variants, BA.4 and BA.5. The new shot is very unlikely to pose any new health threat, but if it’s no better than the original, it represents a waste of resources, said John P. Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell Medicine. Most of the people who are hospitalized and dying are unvaccinated or have skipped the initial booster, he said. The one group for whom the new formula should matter are the completely unvaccinated — but they are, inexplicably, not eligible for it. Instead, any holdouts who finally decided to get vaccinated would have to get the original shots first. “I don’t understand that at all,” Moore said. Offit warns that modeling the Covid vaccination campaign after the flu is a mistake. Flu viruses mutate in a way that can render the previous year’s shots completely ineffective, but this is not the case at all for SARs-CoV-2. That’s why those who just had a booster last summer shouldn’t fret. We can wait a few more months without fear we’re missing a major upgrade. Scientists have two ways of thinking about the similar performance of the new and old formulations. One is a phenomenon that’s come to be called immune imprinting. The idea is that the immune system gets stuck focused on the original target of the vaccine and can’t adapt well to a new shot. Scientists admit they don’t have a very good understanding of why it happens or how much it matters for Covid vaccines. Immunologist Duane Wesemann says a better explanation for the similar performances of new and old vaccines is more of a glass half-full idea. The original vaccines work surprisingly well against the new variants if given enough time. Time is the key. Wesemann, who heads a lab associated with Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, looked into the effects of time after puzzling over results of some experiments done right after the omicron variant started spreading late last fall. Back then, scientists warned that antibodies from the blood of fully vaccinated people had almost no power to disable the omicron variant, but antibodies from people who’d been boosted after a period of six months did so reasonably well. Why, he wondered, would giving an additional dose of something that acted so weakly against omicron have such a beneficial effect? After a series of test-tube and animal experiments, he’s put together a theory: It happens because our immune systems are quietly improving the quality of our vaccine or infection-induced protection over time. The immune system keeps making and testing better and better antibodies, each generation of them more perfectly shaped to latch onto the viral proteins. The immune system doesn’t do this with conscious intelligence, but cells undergo a process akin to natural selection. A variety of similar antibodies are produced with each generation, saving only the “fittest” — those whose shapes work best to grab the virus’s essential proteins. How long this process takes may vary some from person to person — Wesemann says it might be between four and six months. Then, once you get boosted, you’re boosting a much higher-quality set of antibodies. Why that helps us fight omicron with a vaccine designed for a much older variant comes back to the way coronaviruses differ from influenza viruses. The flu can switch out whole components to foil immunity completely, but with Covid-19, at least so far, no variant has been able to change all the components of its spike protein. There’s always something that’s “conserved,” as the scientists call it. So while the original vaccine can only attack part of omicron’s spike protein, a months-long period of refinement and a booster can do it with deadly precision — a small knife that cuts to the virus’s heart. There are human genetic differences that make the boosters more effective in some people than others, and some severely immune compromised people won’t get the same protection from vaccines. But for most of us, there’s a big upside to getting a booster after your body has had time to refine its antibody library. So maybe an upside of the Biden administration’s embrace for the new boosters will be that it pulls in people who haven’t had any boosters and who stand to benefit from either version. It’s possible that getting a second BA.5 booster six months later will give people even better protection but by then this variant may have disappeared. And what will replace it is unpredictable — as everything else has been in the nation’s two-and-a-half-year battle against Covid-19. Bloomberg
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3844551/faye-flam/latest-covid-conundrum-when-get-yet-another-shot
Quiet Quitters Are Looking in the Wrong Place for Meaningful Work
Opinion
Allison Schrager
Allison Schrager -
If you expect your job to give your life meaning, you’re setting yourself up for failure. There was a time when a job was just an economic transaction: Someone paid you for your labor and that enabled you to live and support your family. But for a variety of reasons, many workers today expect more. They want purpose and meaning from their work. And if they don’t find it, some are leaving jobs, or just putting in minimal effort for their paycheck. This is a costly mistake, though I understand why it’s tempting. I love my job and find it incredibly rewarding. I wish the same for everyone else. But I didn’t always find my work especially meaningful. Job satisfaction doesn’t come easy; it’s something you achieve over time as you gain skills and status in your field. My best advice to you if you’re looking for a job is to just go for the money — or the chance to learn something new, or the work-life balance you need — and steer clear of any employer that touts a mission or promises to give your life purpose. Such promises lead to disappointment, more than anything. If that sounds craven, then the better solution is to adjust your definition of what you find meaningful. Employers have been forced to compete for workers as recent labor shortages grew more intense. To help their recruiting, several consulting firms surveyed workers to find out what they’re looking for in a job. And those surveys show it’s not about the money; workers today are looking for more meaning. One survey found workers would take a 23% pay cut for a job they find meaningful. There are a lot of different ways people define “meaning” in their jobs, but a popular answer is work that serves a higher purpose. It’s not surprising that the need is most pronounced in young people, some of whom have begun to brag on social media about “quietly quitting” — which is to say, shirking on jobs they don’t deem worthy of additional effort. Outgoing Whole Foods CEO John Mackey recently complained that younger people weren’t working as hard because they’re demanding meaningful jobs before they’ve earned them. That perceived “lack of meaning” isn’t because the current younger generation is more idealistic than its predecessors, but because early-career jobs involve lots of grunt work that often feels pointless. Developing skills can be an unpleasant process, full of boring tasks that are needed to gain mastery, and with inevitable failures that feel frustrating and humiliating at times. It’s hard to find meaning while you’re endlessly slugging back coffee or staying up nights obsessing about the font on someone else’s PowerPoint presentation. But this is how you learn skills like customer service, time management and negotiating workplace culture. So early jobs are not that different. What may have changed is the expectation that every job is supposed to be meaningful in a particular save-the-world way. Those new expectations are a reflection of a world that has changed, especially recently. Working from home means less time kibitzing with colleagues, which leaves more time to question what the point of it all is. Work also feels less meaningful if you don’t feel like part of a team because you don’t see yourself helping your coworkers. A tight labor market also means people can be a little fussier about what job they choose to do. There are also bigger cultural shifts that have been brewing for decades. MBAs don’t want to be Gordon Gekko anymore, they want to be Bill Gates (at least, during his philanthropy stage). Many tech firms promise workers a mission to make the world a better place, and that sounds compelling. And all over the country, many people are less connected to their communities or churches, and now their job has to fill that void. This is not just economically inefficient; jobs with lofty missions and promises of spiritual fulfillment often lead to frustration. In reality, a big part of job satisfaction comes from feeling like there is a path for advancement. That’s one reason the military (where keeping up morale is especially critical) has such rigid and clear paths forward. If you work at a company where the mission is earning a profit, the metrics to advance are clear. When the mission is fuzzier, advancement becomes more arbitrary, and that can be a morale killer. Take the online shoe store Zappos, which once promised to provide purpose — to be the kind of place you’d even work for free. Eventually the culture became toxic because employees didn’t have a sense of what success meant or what they needed to do to advance. Consider this: While McKinsey’s survey found workers want to find meaning in their jobs, the industry with one of the highest rates of attrition is non-profits. Employers need to make hard choices to stay in business. That may mean working with a customer who doesn’t fit your moral standards, or avoiding contentious political issues. It may mean moving some jobs abroad where labor is cheaper. These choices are understandable when the mission is profit. But if the mission is making the world a better place, every employee will have different ideas of what’s acceptable (especially if you take less money and are working very long hours in service of this mission). Then, it’s hard not to take everything personally, which leads to a much more toxic culture. Most of us spend a large share of our lives at work. It’s important to feel a sense of purpose and to be motivated by what we do. But what few people will tell you is that meaning doesn’t come from a mission to change the world. People feel valuable when they can apply their skills to solve problems. Sometimes that satisfaction come from solving the world’s big problems, but more often it’s conquering the little ones. People who report high levels of job satisfaction often aren’t working at cool startups or NGOs — you’ll find them at all kinds of jobs, like truck driving. They do their jobs well, apply their skills and are paid accordingly — it’s not complicated. All jobs are meaningful. If someone pays you to do something it has value. And if a desire for a job with a big mission that will give your life meaning prevents you from working hard or staying in a job long enough to develop skills, you will not only earn less money, you will never find what you are looking for. Bloomberg
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3844541/allison-schrager/quiet-quitters-are-looking-wrong-place-meaningful-work
Lapid: Deal with Iran Depends on ‘Credible Military Option’
Iran
Tel Aviv - Nazir Magally
Lapid speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem. AP
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid considered that the nuclear agreement with Iran was “possible if a credible military threat is put on the table,” stressing that he instructed the army and Mossad leaders to prepare to defend Israel’s security. “We are making a concerted effort to ensure the Americans and Europeans understand the dangers involved in this agreement,” Lapid said, stressing that the agreement signed in 2015 was “not a good deal,” and that the one currently being discussed involved “greater dangers.” According to the Israeli premier, a new agreement would have to include an expiration date, and tighter supervision that would also “address Iran’s ballistic missile program and its involvement in terrorism throughout the Middle East.” “We can reach such an agreement if a credible military threat is put on the table, if the Iranians realize that their defiance and deceit will have a heavy price,” Lapid said. He added that the army and Mossad had “received instructions from us to prepare for any scenario.” Meanwhile, an Israeli security source noted that official contacts were underway to arrange a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Lapid during the United Nations session next month in New York. The source said that the proposed date was Sept. 20, following Biden’s speech before the UN, adding: “It is expected that the meeting, which may not take place on its announced date due to the two officials’ busy schedule, would be preceded by a telephone conversation that will be coordinated in the upcoming week.” In parallel, a group of generals in Tel Aviv warned against any conflict with Washington over the ongoing talks with Iran. General Amos Gilad, former head of the Political and Security Department in the Ministry of Defense, and General Yaakov Amidror, former head of the National Security Council in the Prime Minister’s Office, said that any attempt to prevent the nuclear agreement would fail. “The US administration cannot force Iran to stop its nuclear or regional policy, neither through diplomatic means nor through sanctions,” they said, stressing the need for “a serious and convincing threat of the military option.” Gilad said that Iran’s policy was a “central strategic threat to Israel.” He pointed out that the country was seeking to turn into a “state with nuclear capabilities”, in addition to its ability to launch electronic attacks.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3842651/lapid-deal-iran-depends-%E2%80%98credible-military-option%E2%80%99
Cairo - Fathia Eldakhakhny
Leaders at the Arab League summit in Tunisia in 2019. (Egyptian presidency)
Disputes between Arab countries and differences over the reinstatement of Syria are threatening to postpone the upcoming Arab League summit, scheduled for Algeria in November. Algeria has been preparing to host the 31st summit since 2019. It will be the first in-person summit for Arab leaders since the coronavirus pandemic. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune stressed earlier this month that the summit will be a success “because it seeks Arab reconciliation after years of division and fragmentation.” Syria’s return? Algeria politician and lawyer Mohammed Adam Mokrani noted, however, that Syria’s return to the Arab fold will be among the main hurdles at the summit. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said that Algeria has for months been supporting Syria’s return seeing as it is founding member of the Arab League. Syria was suspended in wake of its regime’s brutal crackdown on peaceful protests that broke out in 2011. Syria’s return has not been advocated by all Arab countries. Mokrani suggested the issue could be put up to a vote during the summit so that it would not remain as a sticking point or a reason to postpone the meeting. Moroccan former MP Adil Benhamza described the situation in the Arab world as “extremely divided”. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the pandemic was used as an excuse to postpone summits in the past, but it can no longer be used to justify repeated delays. Several other issues could prompt the delay, among them the dispute over Syria’s return, he added. Dr. Hassan Abou Taleb, of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said it would be “very difficult” to hold the summit given the “major disputes over how to handle Syria and Algeria’s efforts to end the boycott against it.” There is no Arab consensus over this issue and leaders appear unwilling to even discuss it at the summit, he noted. Hussein Haridy, Egyptian former Assistant Foreign Minister for Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Affairs, said it was “difficult to predict” whether the summit will be held on time. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that numerous developments have taken place in the Middle East since the last regular summit was held, so the Algeria meeting must be held to allow Arab leaders to agree on how to address them. “Failure to hold the summit on schedule will send an unwanted message to regional and international powers that Arab leaders lack the joint will to address regional and international developments and pressing financial and political affairs,” he warned. However, he said that Algiers’ insistence on reinstating Syria’s membership “in spite of the opposition of influential Arab powers” may ultimately lead to the postponement of the summit. On the official level, Arab League Assistant Secretary General Hossam Zaki had last month stated that no specific time can be set regarding Syria’s return to the organization. Its return is not imminent, but it is not far either, he said. An Arab diplomatic source said this position has not changed. Speaking on condition of anonymity to Asharq Al-Awsat, the source confirmed that preparations are still underway to hold the summit on schedule in spite of Arab disagreements. Maghreb tensions Another sticking point at the summit is the tensions between Morocco, Algeria and recently Tunisia. Rabat and Algiers had severed relations in wake of the dispute over the Western Sahara. Over the weekend, Morocco summoned its ambassador to Tunis after Tunisian President Kaies Saied received Polisario Front movement chief Brahim Ghali. Morocco said Tunisia's decision to invite Brahim Ghali to a Japanese development summit for Africa that Tunis is hosting this weekend was “a grave and unprecedented act that deeply hurts the feelings of the Moroccan people”. Tunisia, in response to Morocco's decision, announced it was recalling its ambassador to Rabat for consultation. Tunisia's ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement early on Saturday that the country maintains its complete “neutrality over Western Sahara issue in compliance with international legitimacy”. In a terse foreign ministry statement, Morocco said it would no longer take part in the Africa summit. It also accused Tunisia of having recently “multiplied negative positions” against Morocco, and said its decision to host Ghali “confirms its hostility in a blatant way”. Abou Taleb said relations between the Maghreb countries are “very strained”, posing a challenge for plans to hold any Arab summit. The tensions may lead to countries even lowering their level of representation or calling for the delay of the meeting altogether, he added. “The Arab region is boiling with tensions and crises, casting doubts that the summit will be held as scheduled,” he stated. Mokrani and Benhamza speculated that Morocco may even skip the summit given its dispute with Algeria. The diplomatic source stressed that Algeria was determined to hold the summit and would not allow disputes to hinder it even if it had to make concessions over Syria’s reinstatement. Algeria wants to use the summit to demonstrate its “strong return to the international and regional scene. It may therefore abandon its demand over Syria to avoid being held responsible for the failure of the summit,” he explained.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3842626/will-arab-disputes-postpone-algeria-summit
