Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a graduation ceremony for the 95th batch of cadets from the King Faisal Air Academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2018. Reuters
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a graduation ceremony for the 95th batch of cadets from the King Faisal Air Academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2018. Reuters
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a graduation ceremony for the 95th batch of cadets from the King Faisal Air Academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2018. Reuters
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a graduation ceremony for the 95th batch of cadets from the King Faisal Air Academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2018. Reuters

Saudi crown prince discusses regional green initiatives with Arab leaders


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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called the leaders of Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, and Sudan to discuss a massive reforestation project for the region.

"The Middle East Green Initiative aims, in partnership with the countries of the region, to plant 50 billion trees as the largest reforestation programme in the world," the Saudi Press Agency said.

The crown prince also discussed the project with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, during a call.

"Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed praised Prince Mohammed bin Salman's initiative and its lasting impact on overcoming economic and social challenges faced by the region's environment and improving quality of life in the communities," UAE's state news agency Wam reported.

Saudi crown prince unveiled the ambitious campaign on Saturday with two initiatives to position the kingdom in the vanguard of the global fight against climate change.

The Saudi Green Initiative and The Middle East Green Initiative will provide an ambitious roadmap that makes Saudi Arabia plant 10 billion trees in coming decades and work with other Arab states to plant another 40 billion trees, to reduce carbon emissions, combat pollution and land degradation.

This ambitious project will restore an area equivalent to 200 million hectares of degraded land and help to reach 5 per cent of the global tree planting target of 1 trillion trees.

This also represents 2.5 per cent of the global carbon reduction target.

Just as the kingdom has underpinned energy markets during the oil and gas era, the crown prince said, it aimed to become a global leader in forging a greener world.

He highlighted desertification and air pollution as two of the significant challenges facing the kingdom currently.

The initiative, according to the SPA also aims "to enhance the efficiency of oil production and increase the contribution of renewable energy, in addition to multiple efforts to preserve the marine and coastal environment, and increase the percentage of natural reserves".

The Saudi Green Initiative is part of the crown prince's Vision 2030 plan to reduce its reliance on oil revenue and improve quality of life.

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

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How to vote in the UAE

1) Download your ballot https://www.fvap.gov/

2) Take it to the US Embassy

3) Deadline is October 15

4) The embassy will ensure all ballots reach the US in time for the November 3 poll

Key findings of Jenkins report
  • Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
  • Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
  • Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
  • Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Islamophobia definition

A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.

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Our legal columnist

Name: Yousef Al Bahar

Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994

Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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