Electricity was restored in three Syrian provinces on Wednesday morning, hours after a nationwide power cut in the country suffering from severe shortages.
Khaled Aboudi, director general of the Public Corporation for Electricity Transmission and Distribution, told state media that power “has been restored to the provinces of Homs, Hama and Tartous” in central and coastal Syria. “It will gradually return to the remaining provinces,” he added.
A nationwide power cut in Syria plunged the country into darkness on Tuesday evening after a “technical malfunction in the electrical system”, according to authorities. Technical teams were working to repair the issue and gradually restore electricity across the country.
Syria faces chronic power shortages, with state-supplied electricity available for only two to three hours a day in most areas. Damage to the electricity grid means that generating or supplying more power is only part of the challenge. Syria’s estimated electricity demand is 6,500 megawatts. Authorities pledged two weeks ago to increase daily supply hours to eight. However, they said that 24-hour electricity coverage remains out of reach.
Years of civil war has devastated much of Syria's energy infrastructure, including its power grid and gas refineries. Once an oil exporter, Syria has been unable to export petroleum since 2011 due to stringent international sanctions.
Damascus previously relied on Iranian oil for power generation, but those supplies have been cut off since the overthrow of president Bashar Al Assad in December. The interim government has promised to quickly increase the power supply, partly by importing electricity from Jordan and using floating power barges that have yet to arrive.
Last month, Qatar began supplying Syria with gas through Jordan. The Qatar Fund for Development said the supplies would enable the generation of 400 megawatts of electricity per day in the first phase, with production capacity gradually increasing at the Deir Ali power plant.
The language of diplomacy in 1853
Treaty of Peace in Perpetuity Agreed Upon by the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast on Behalf of Themselves, Their Heirs and Successors Under the Mediation of the Resident of the Persian Gulf, 1853
(This treaty gave the region the name “Trucial States”.)
We, whose seals are hereunto affixed, Sheikh Sultan bin Suggar, Chief of Rassool-Kheimah, Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon, Chief of Aboo Dhebbee, Sheikh Saeed bin Buyte, Chief of Debay, Sheikh Hamid bin Rashed, Chief of Ejman, Sheikh Abdoola bin Rashed, Chief of Umm-ool-Keiweyn, having experienced for a series of years the benefits and advantages resulting from a maritime truce contracted amongst ourselves under the mediation of the Resident in the Persian Gulf and renewed from time to time up to the present period, and being fully impressed, therefore, with a sense of evil consequence formerly arising, from the prosecution of our feuds at sea, whereby our subjects and dependants were prevented from carrying on the pearl fishery in security, and were exposed to interruption and molestation when passing on their lawful occasions, accordingly, we, as aforesaid have determined, for ourselves, our heirs and successors, to conclude together a lasting and inviolable peace from this time forth in perpetuity.
Taken from Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925-1939: the Imperial Oasis, by Clive Leatherdale
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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GAC GS8 Specs
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
HWJN
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
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