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Abu Dhabi, UAE
Act Daily News
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Electronic music, strobe lights, glittered faces and tons of of hundreds of individuals in mixed-gender gyrations are all a part of a brand new form of ritual in Saudi Arabia that didn’t exist simply three years in the past.
The kingdom’s Soundstorm music competition, which started in 2019, is again once more for its fourth yr and can begin on Thursday.
In simply 5 years since Saudi Arabia lifted its ban on musical occasions, the dominion’s live performance scene has arguably outshined even that of Dubai, lengthy seen because the Gulf area’s premier leisure hub.
The nation that has been higher generally known as the birthplace of Islam than a rave capital has gone via an incredible makeover since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (generally known as MBS) took management of the on a regular basis operating of the dominion in 2017. Soundstorm is an attention grabbing image of that change.
For three days each winter, tons of of hundreds of individuals from throughout Saudi Arabia and the area descend on a desert website exterior the capital Riyadh to take heed to a few of the high Western and Arab acts .
The rave is a manifestation of the ethos behind Saudi Arabia’s socioeconomic transformation, in keeping with Anna Jacobs, a senior analyst on the Crisis Group suppose tank. “(It) is a particularly powerful example because it seeks to bring together young people and women from across Saudi Arabia and the world,” she stated.
David Guetta, Post Malone and Bruno Mars are only a few of the celebrities acting at this yr’s occasion, which prides itself as being “the loudest festival in the region,” aiming to “amplify the unseen” because it helps native and worldwide music within the Middle East. Tickets value between 149 riyals (round $40) for a single day and 6,699 riyals (round $1,800 ) for a three-day VIP therapy.
The competition reportedly welcomed 730,000 partygoers final yr. By distinction, Las Vegas’ Electric Daisy Carnival, thought-about North America’s greatest dance music competition, had an attendance of over 400,000 this yr.
An occasion like Soundstorm was inconceivable within the nation simply six years in the past, when the infamous non secular police would roam the streets and censure Saudis for mixing with the other intercourse or flouting social norms. But it’s now a part of a liberalization initiative spearheaded by MBS, the dominion’s de facto ruler. It accompanies a sequence of steps to chill out social guidelines, together with lifting the ban on ladies’s driving and reining in the non secular police.
In 2016, Saudi Arabia established the General Entertainment Authority in tandem with Vision 2030 – the crown prince’s plan to diversify its economic system past oil, which accounts for greater than half of the federal government’s income. Among its targets was to virtually double family spending on cultural and leisure actions inside the kingdom. Riyadh is now seeing greater than $64 billion in leisure funding, reported Arab News, with a major proportion of that going to the reside music business.
Vision 2030 prides itself on providing “world-class entertainment” and says that it has organized as much as 3,800 leisure occasions within the nation, attended by greater than 80 million folks.
“The whole principle about allowing festivals is to provide youth with domestic entertainment and local tourism opportunities so they don’t need to travel abroad in search of fun,” stated Ali Shihabi, a Saudi writer and analyst.
Some conservatives could discover the competition unacceptable, Shihabi stated, however on condition that youth make up the vast majority of the nation’s inhabitants, they continue to be the first beneficiaries.
Around two-thirds of Saudi Arabia’s inhabitants is 34 years outdated or youthful, in keeping with the Saudi General Authority for Statistics. Analysts say it’s the youth that MBS must placate, not the conservatives.
Alcohol continues to be banned within the kingdom, as are sexual relations between males, and single {couples}.
The competition just isn’t, nevertheless, with out worldwide criticism and accusations of whitewashing the dominion’s human rights document. Last yr, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that performers ought to both “speak up” about Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations or not attend the competition in any respect.
“Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars hosting massive entertainment and cultural events in a deliberate (attempt) to whitewash the country’s abysmal human rights record and the Soundstorm music festival is no different,” Joey Shea, a researcher at HRW informed Act Daily News. “The creation of the country’s local entertainment industry was accompanied by waves of arbitrary arrests of dissidents, activists, human rights defenders and ordinary Saudi citizens.”
Shihabi rejects the argument that the competition whitewashes the nation’s rights document, saying that it “has little to do with any global image and is purely focused on servicing local needs.”
Mdlbeast, the organizers of Soundstorm, didn’t reply to Act Daily News’s request for remark.
Some nevertheless argue that opening up nations to worldwide norms and values can permit for higher dialogue on human rights shortcomings.
“I think there is a way for these major international events – whether that be the World Cup in Qatar or music festivals in Saudi Arabia – to help open public discourse to critical debate,” stated Jacobs.
“They can help cultivate healthy criticism and discussion around human rights issues in the region,” she added, “and as the Gulf continues to solidify its position as the region’s center of gravity, I think this is what we will see.”
The households of Iran’s World Cup soccer group had been threatened with imprisonment and torture if the gamers did not “behave” forward of the match in opposition to the United States on Tuesday, a supply concerned within the safety of the video games stated.
Following the refusal of Iranian gamers to sing the nation’s nationwide anthem of their opening match in opposition to England on November 21, the supply stated that the gamers had been known as to a gathering with members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The supply stated that they had been informed that their households would face “violence and torture” if they didn’t sing the nationwide anthem or in the event that they joined any political protest in opposition to the Tehran regime.
Here’s the newest:
- The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group stated on Tuesday that not less than 448 folks have been killed within the unrest surrounding the protests. Act Daily News can not independently confirm the demise toll.
- Members of the activist artwork group Pussy Riot wore shirts in assist of Iranian protesters at Tuesday’s World Cup recreation between Iran and the United States in Doha.
- Two Iranian footballers had been free of detention on Tuesday, in keeping with reviews. Voria Ghafouri, who was dealing with expenses of incitement in opposition to the regime, was launched on bail, reported Iranian judiciary news website Mizan News. And a former member of Iran’s nationwide group, Parviz Boroumand, who was arrested throughout protests in Tehran, was additionally launched, in keeping with state news company IRNA.
- French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna introduced Monday {that a} third tranche of European Union sanctions in opposition to Iran is “being prepared” over the continuing repression of protests.
Qatar to ship 2 million tons of LNG to Germany in new power deal
QatarVitality signed a deal on Tuesday that can permit Germany to obtain flows of Qatari liquefied pure gasoline (LNG) over a interval of not less than 15 years, Qatar’s state news company QNA stated. The deal is the primary of its sort to Europe from the growth undertaking of Qatar’s North Field, the world’s greatest gasoline area, and is supposed to make up for a few of the scarcity triggered by Russian provide cuts.
- Background: Until the Ukraine battle, Germany was closely reliant on Russian gasoline. Talks with Qatar have been within the works for months, as Germany and different European nations attempt to discover various power sources because the market tightens following sanctions on Russian provides. The contract gives Germany with two million tons of LNG yearly and the primary cargo is due in 2026.
- Why it issues: Tensions had been excessive this month as Germany ramped up its criticism of Qatar forward of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, questioning its human rights document and later opposing the Gulf nation’s ban on the rainbow-colored armband. Europe’s greatest economic system has been operating brief on pure gasoline, with German economic system minister Robert Habeck beforehand saying that rationing couldn’t be dominated out forward of the approaching winter.
US State Department approves potential anti-drone system sale to Qatar for $1 billion
The US State Department has authorised the potential sale of an anti-drone system to Qatar in a deal valued at $1 billion, Reuters cited the Pentagon as saying on Tuesday. The principal contractors will likely be Raytheon Technologies and Northrop Grumman Corp, the Pentagon stated.
- Background: The potential sale approval comes after US President Joe Biden earlier this yr designated Qatar as a serious non-NATO ally of the US, granting particular standing to a key good friend in a turbulent area. Separately, Qatar has additionally performed a job within the Iran nuclear talks and in relations with Afghanistan, the place Washington’s pursuits had been represented by the small Gulf nation.
- Why it issues: The approval comes as using drones rises in Middle East warfare. In 2019, a drone assault blamed on Iran knocked off half of Saudi Arabia’s oil manufacturing. Iran, which has pleasant relations with Doha, has additionally been accused by the US of supplying Russia with drones in its battle with Ukraine. The Pentagon stated the proposed sale will enhance Qatar’s functionality to fulfill threats by offering digital and kinetic defeat capabilities in opposition to drones.
US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces worry Turkish floor invasion might begin in per week
The head of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Tuesday stated a Turkish floor invasion might happen in a matter of days if Turkey doesn’t see forceful opposition to a army incursion from nations such because the US and Russia.
- Background: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched a current sequence of airstrikes in opposition to Kurdish militants in northern Syria, and has warned {that a} floor operation will quickly comply with. The operation is supposed to focus on Kurdish teams that Turkey believes had been behind a lethal bomb assault in Istanbul earlier this month.
- Why it issues: The SDF’s spine is the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, which Turkey considers a wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and seeks to eradicate. But the group has been instrumental within the battle in opposition to ISIS since 2014 and has warned {that a} Turkish assault will complicate the battle in opposition to the militants. It is unclear if the US will heed its calls to restrain Turkey. The US has lowered the variety of patrols with SDF forward of a potential incursion.
Qatar’s World Cup chief Hassan Al-Thawadi stated that between 400 and 500 migrant employees have died on account of work executed on tasks linked to the match – a higher determine than Qatari officers have cited beforehand.
In an interview with Piers Morgan which aired on TalkTV on Monday, Al-Thawadi was requested concerning the variety of migrant employees fatalities on account of building for the World Cup and stated: “The estimate is round 400, between 400 and 500.
“I don’t have the exact number, that’s something that’s been discussed. One death is too many, it’s as simple as that.”
In November 2022, a authorities official informed Act Daily News there had been three work-related deaths on World Cup stadiums and 37 non-work-related deaths.
Read extra:
- The US males’s group superior to the knockout stage with a hard-fought victory over Iran. US President Joe Biden celebrated the win by saying, “They did it. God love ‘em” and not all Iranians were lamenting their team’s loss.
- The match between Portugal and Uruguay was briefly interrupted by a pitch invader waving a rainbow flag on the sector on the Lusail Iconic Stadium on Monday.
- US captain Tyler Adams apologized on Monday after being informed an Iranian journalist that he had been saying the nation’s title incorrectly as “EYE-RAN” as a substitute of “ee-RON.”
On Thursday, the UAE is ready to turn into the primary Arab nation to launch a mission to the moon. The Rashid Rover will start its journey from Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida the place it goals to land on the lunar floor within the coming months.
Beginning building in 2017, the solar-powered rover has been developed by Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and is known as after the emirate’s late ruler Sheikh Rashid Al Saeed.
The rover will take a low-energy route and is anticipated to land on the lunar floor in March 2023. The car will likely be delivered by the Japanese HAKUTO-R lander and can contact down on the Atlas crater.
It will spend one lunar day (equal to 14.75 days Earth time) the place it should analyze the plasma of the moon’s floor and conduct experiments on lunar mud. It will then spend one other lunar day by which it should try and survive the moon’s harsh surroundings, earlier than decommissioning.
The launch goals to be step one within the UAE’s higher area prospects. By 2117, the nation goals to have a colony constructed on Mars’s floor. “We are starting small,” Hamad Al Marzooqi, undertaking supervisor of the Emirates Lunar Mission on the MBRSC, informed Act Daily News. “But we hope that this small step will be eventually the starting point to reach our targets.”
The UAE launched a mission to Mars in February final yr.
By Ollie Macnaughton
