Tag: Dubai

Dubai roads, airport reel from floods after record rains

By Talek Harris, Sahar Al-Attar and Amanda Mouawad DUBAI, April 17, 2024 (AFP) – Dubai’s giant highways were clogged by flooding and its major airport was in chaos as the Middle East financial centre remained gridlocked on Wednesday, a day after the heaviest rains on record. Tailbacks snaked along waterlogged, six-lane expressways after up to 259.5 millimetres (10.2 inches) of rain, the most since records began 75 years ago, fell on the desert United Arab […]

Dubai airport diverts flights as ‘exceptional weather’ hits Gulf

By Talek Harris with Rasha Al Ebrahim in Manama Dubai’s major international airport diverted scores of incoming flights on Tuesday as heavy rains lashed the United Arab Emirates, causing widespread flooding around the desert country. The world’s busiest air hub for international passengers confirmed a halt to arrivals at 7:26 pm (1526 GMT) before announcing a “gradual resumption” more than two hours later. Earlier the airport, which had been expecting more than 100 flight arrivals […]

COP28 fails to regulate the Wild West of carbon credits

By Mathilde DUMAZET PARIS, Dec 15, 2023 (AFP) – Two weeks of relentless negotiating at COP28 failed to produce an agreement on carbon credit sales, relieving non-profits that had opposed the proposals on the table while stoking fears the regulatory void could escalate greenwashing. Just after COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber announced on Wednesday the historic deal to transition away from fossil fuels, he revealed the talks had failed to agree on a regulatory framework […]

Fury as climate draft deal falls short of fossil fuel phase-out

By Laurent Thomet and Benjamin Legendre DUBAI, Dec 12, 2023 (AFP) – UN climate negotiations dragged into the early hours of Tuesday after the Emirati host of COP28 drew fire from Western powers and environmentalists over a draft deal that stopped short of calling for a phase-out of fossil fuels. With hours to go until the Dubai summit officially ends, US climate envoy John Kerry told ministers that this was “the last COP that we’ll […]

China protests calls to include Taiwan in climate talks

DUBAI, Dec 9, 2023 (AFP) – China on Saturday lodged a protest after calls at the UN climate talks in Dubai to include Taiwan, the self-governing democracy claimed by Beijing. Two of the dwindling number of countries that recognise Taiwan — Guatemala and the tiny Pacific island of Nauru — both hailed support from Taipei in addresses at the COP28 conference. “I would take this opportunity to make special reference to the government of Taiwan, […]

2023 to be hottest year on record after ‘extraordinary’ November

By Daniel Lawler with Benjamin Legendre in Dubai PARIS, Dec 6, 2023 (AFP) – This year will be the hottest in recorded history after an “extraordinary” November became the sixth record-breaking month in a row, Europe’s climate monitor said Wednesday, piling pressure on the COP28 talks to act on climate change. Last month smashed the previous November heat record, pushing 2023’s global average temperature to 1.46 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels, the EU’s Copernicus […]

Walkout, no-shows at COP28 as Israel-Hamas war resumes

By Talek HARRIS and Sahar AL-ATTAR DUBAI, Dec 1, 2023 (AFP) – Iran’s delegation walked out and Israel’s president cancelled his speech as tensions over the Gaza war spilled over at the UN COP28 climate talks in Dubai on Friday. As deadly air strikes resumed after a week-long truce, several of the world leaders gathered to discuss climate change took the chance to lament the Israel-Hamas war that has left thousands dead. “It is impossible […]

US ‘intensely focused’ on hostages despite end of Gaza truce: Blinken

DUBAI, Dec 1, 2023 (AFP) – The United States remains “intensely focused” on freeing hostages held in Gaza despite the resumption of the Israel-Hamas war after a week-long truce, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday. “We remained intensely focused on getting everyone home, getting hostages back, something that I also worked on today,” he said, after meeting Arab foreign ministers in Dubai. Blinken met with the top diplomats of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, […]

King Charles urges ‘genuine’ climate action at COP28

By Laurent Thomet, Nick Perry and Talek Harris DUBAI, Dec 1, 2023 (AFP) – King Charles III told world leaders Friday that the UN’s COP28 talks in Dubai must be a turning point in the fight against climate change, as tough negotiations on fossil fuels began. King Charles kicked off two days of speeches by heads of state and government in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, with a stark warning. “We are carrying out a […]

2023 shatters climate records, set to be hottest year ever: UN

  GENEVA, Nov 30, 2023 (AFP) – This year is set to be the hottest ever recorded, the UN said Thursday, demanding urgent action to rein in global warming and stem the havoc following in its wake. The UN’s World Meteorological Organization warned that 2023 had shattered a whole host of climate records, with extreme weather leaving “a trail of devastation and despair”. “It’s a deafening cacophony of broken records,” said WMO chief Petteri Taalas. […]

Mystery in Dubai as mega-wheel stops turning

By Amanda Mouawad The much-touted Ain Dubai (Dubai Eye) was designed as a tourist-luring landmark in the United Arab Emirates’ glam-hub, which is home to the world’s tallest building. But now it stands idle for undisclosed reasons, its extravagant light fixtures the only parts seemingly still working. “Ain Dubai remains closed until further notice,” says an official website for the attraction. “We continue to rigorously work on completing the enhancement works that have been taking […]

Dubai apartment block fire kills 16: reports

Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | Sunday 4/16/2023 A fire in a residential building in Dubai killed 16 people and injured nine others in the wealthy Gulf emirate, local media reported. The fire broke out at midday Saturday on the fourth floor of the building in the Al-Ras neighbourhood in the old part of the city. The civil defence force, in a statement quoted by UAE media, said that preliminary investigations showed the fire […]