Coalition forces have destroyed at least three drones aimed towards the southern areas of Saudi Arabia. Photo: Saudi-led coalition
Coalition forces have destroyed at least three drones aimed towards the southern areas of Saudi Arabia. Photo: Saudi-led coalition
Coalition forces have destroyed at least three drones aimed towards the southern areas of Saudi Arabia. Photo: Saudi-led coalition
Coalition forces have destroyed at least three drones aimed towards the southern areas of Saudi Arabia. Photo: Saudi-led coalition

Gulf

Saudi-led coalition intercepts 8 Houthi drones launched from Sanaa airport

Airport in Yemen has been used as a central point for Houthi operations, Saudi Arabia says

Ismaeel Naar
Ismaeel Naar

January 17, 2022

  • English
  • Arabic

The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen has said it intercepted eight drones launched by the Iran-supported Houthi rebels out of Sanaa International Airport.

“We have observed and are following a hostile escalation via the use of drones by the Houthis. A number of explosive drones were launched from Sanaa International Airport,” the coalition said on its official Twitter account.

The coalition said it intercepted and destroyed the drones launched by the rebels towards the southern areas of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has previously said that the airport was being used by the Houthis as a launching point for attacks. In December, the Saudi Arabian Air Force conducted precision strikes on buildings around the airport, which were assessed as housing Houthi military equipment.

"The operation comes in response to threats and the use of the airport’s facilities to launch cross-border attacks," the coalition said at the time.

"Destroying these targets will not have any effect on the operational capacity of the airport, and will not affect managing the airspace, the air traffic, and ground handling operations," it added.

In pictures: wreckage of Houthi drones

  • An Iranian-built Qasef-1 drone used by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
    An Iranian-built Qasef-1 drone used by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
  • A shot down drone on display. All photos by Victor Besa / The National
    A shot down drone on display. All photos by Victor Besa / The National
  • The remains of a Houthi drone intercepted by the Saudi Arabian Air Force. @SPAregions
    The remains of a Houthi drone intercepted by the Saudi Arabian Air Force. @SPAregions
  • The engine of a Qasef-1 drone shot down by Arab Coalition forces in Yemen.
    The engine of a Qasef-1 drone shot down by Arab Coalition forces in Yemen.
  • A drone used by Houthi rebels to launch attacks on Saudi Arabia. AP
    A drone used by Houthi rebels to launch attacks on Saudi Arabia. AP
  • An IED built with Iranian components and camouflaged as a cooking pot recovered by Arab Coalition forces in Yemen.
    An IED built with Iranian components and camouflaged as a cooking pot recovered by Arab Coalition forces in Yemen.
  • An Iranian-supplied STEYR .50 Calibre sniper riffle being used by the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
    An Iranian-supplied STEYR .50 Calibre sniper riffle being used by the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
  • Two anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM). The one on the right is a Russian-made Kornet, and on the left is an Iranian imitation. Markings show they were built in 2015 indicating they were smuggled to Yemen after the UN arms embargo.
    Two anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM). The one on the right is a Russian-made Kornet, and on the left is an Iranian imitation. Markings show they were built in 2015 indicating they were smuggled to Yemen after the UN arms embargo.
  • IEDs camouflaged inside a fake rock. Arab Coalition officials estimate they have defused up to 30,000 such devices since the war began.
    IEDs camouflaged inside a fake rock. Arab Coalition officials estimate they have defused up to 30,000 such devices since the war began.
  • Farsi language was found enscribed on the wiring of this drone battery from a Qasef-1 UAV indicating its Iranian origins.
    Farsi language was found enscribed on the wiring of this drone battery from a Qasef-1 UAV indicating its Iranian origins.
  • Limpet mines.
    Limpet mines.
  • Electronics of an IED.
    Electronics of an IED.
  • Remains of Houthi drone which the coalition shot down. @SPAregions
    Remains of Houthi drone which the coalition shot down. @SPAregions
  • Weapons supplied by Iran to the Houthi militias in Yemen were put on display at a press conference by the Saudi-led Arab coalition. Victor Besa / The National
    Weapons supplied by Iran to the Houthi militias in Yemen were put on display at a press conference by the Saudi-led Arab coalition. Victor Besa / The National
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Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net

Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.

Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.

A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.

Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.

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While you're here:
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

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Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery

An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo

Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery

Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape

The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides

All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality

Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country

Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow

Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site

Green waste is recycled as compost

Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs

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About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer

Main themes of expo is  ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.

Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months

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"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

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It's up to you to go green

Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.

“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”

When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.

He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.

“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.

One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.  

The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.

Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.

But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”

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Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

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Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

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Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

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The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Sreesanth's India bowling career

Tests 27, Wickets 87, Average 37.59, Best 5-40

ODIs 53, Wickets 75, Average 33.44, Best 6-55

T20Is 10, Wickets 7, Average 41.14, Best 2-12

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Updated: January 17, 2022, 1:38 PM
Saudi ArabiaHouthisYemenSanaa