We have all heard the expression “a heart of gold,” used to describe a kind person held in high regard. But can adding a crinkled piece of real gold on top of a juicy burger launch it to new culinary heights and force food lovers to hold the once-humble patty in high regard too?
This week, a tweet by a well-known Saudi journalist went viral due to its delicious subject — a SR5,000 burger served at The Ritz-Carlton, Jeddah.
The five-star hotel located in the Al Hamra District is known for its hospitality around the world but now it is making waves in Saudi Arabia for one of its more costly menu items.
One staff member told Arab News that there is indeed demand for this high-priced dish.
“It is called the Royal Burger due to its high price,” the staff member, who asked not to be named, said.
The burger is made with high-end ingredients such as Kobe beef, black truffle, foie gras, gruyere cheese, wild mushrooms, caviar and flaked gold leaf.
The world of fine dining is no stranger to the use of edible gold leaf, but it is usually reserved for desserts and sweet treats.
Since ancient times, Far Eastern cultures and civilizations have used edible gold in their dishes, saving the luxury metal for the most special of occasions.
If the gold leaf is what really makes this burger expensive, then it is readily available online — from specialty gold distributors, auction sites and even Amazon.com — if you wish to whip up a decadent dish at home.
Despite the staff member’s statement that the burger had garnered fans at the hotel, there have been some quizzical reactions on Twitter.
“I wonder how this person will feel in a few hours after the SR5,000 is digested,” one user tweeted.
Another said: “People, please stop these stupid comments, these royal foods are available all over the globe!”
“This is haram, go and help the poor, the world is witnessing famines,” another user commented.
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Decadent ‘Royal Burger’ sells for SR5,000 at Jeddah hotel
Decadent ‘Royal Burger’ sells for SR5,000 at Jeddah hotel
West Indies cricket team to arrive for first Test tour of Pakistan in 19 years on Jan. 6
- West Indies to play two Test matches against Pakistan in Multan from Jan. 17-29, says PCB
- West Indies last toured Pakistan for a Test series in November 2006 for three-match series
ISLAMABAD: The West Indian national men’s cricket team will arrive for their first Test tour of Pakistan in 19 years on Jan. 6, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Tuesday, during which they will play two Test matches.
The last time the West Indies played a Test series on Pakistani soil was in November 2006, when they played three Tests. Their last Test away Test series against Pakistan was in the UAE in October 2016, which was selected as Pakistan’s home venue for cricket series after 2009 when a militant attack in Lahore scared away international cricket teams from touring the country.
The former two-time ODI World Cup champions have, however, thrice toured Pakistan since April 2018— one for an ODI series in June 2022 and twice for a bilateral T20I series in April 2018 and December 2021.
“The West Indies cricket team will arrive in Islamabad on 6 January and after playing a three-day match against Pakistan Shaheens from 10-12 January at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, they will take on Pakistan in back-to-back Tests in Multan,” the PCB said. “The first Test will be played from 17-21 January, while the second Test will be held from 25-29 January.”
International cricket teams refused to play cricket in Pakistan for years after militants attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team’s bus in Lahore in 2009, wounding six players and killing two civilians and six security officials.
International cricket and its stars, however, slowly returned to playing in the country as the security situation in Pakistan gradually improved. The South Asian country is gearing up to host the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 from February to March next year.
This will be the first time that Pakistan will be hosting an ICC tournament on its home soil since 1996 when it co-hosted the ICC ODI World Cup won by Sri Lanka.
Shrinking, aging population makes South Korea ‘super-aged society’
- Asia’s fourth-largest economy recorded just 0.7 births per woman late last year
- The government has poured billions of dollars into encouraging more births, with Seoul authorities offering subsidies for egg freezing in one recent effort
Seoul: South Korea has become a “super-aged society,” with 20 percent of its population aged 65 or older, official data showed on Tuesday, a gloomy trend driven by an alarmingly low birth rate.
Asia’s fourth-largest economy recorded just 0.7 births per woman late last year — one of the lowest birth rates in the world and far below the replacement rate of 2.1 needed to sustain the current population.
That means South Korea’s population is aging and shrinking rapidly.
Those aged 65 and older “account for 20 percent of the 51.2 million registered population, numbering 10 million,” the interior ministry said in a news release on Tuesday, placing South Korea alongside Japan, Germany and France as a “super-aged society.”
It also means the elderly population has more than doubled since 2008, when it numbered fewer than five million, according to the ministry.
Men account for 44 percent of the current 65-and-older group, the data showed.
The government has poured billions of dollars into encouraging more births, with Seoul authorities offering subsidies for egg freezing in one recent effort.
However, such efforts have failed to deliver the intended results and the population is projected to fall to 39 million by 2067, when the median population age will be 62.
Experts say there are multiple causes for the twin phenomena of low marriage and birth rates, ranging from high child-rearing costs and soaring property prices to a notoriously competitive society that makes securing well-paid jobs difficult.
The double burden on working mothers, who shoulder the bulk of household chores and childcare while maintaining their careers, is another key factor, they say.
US military says it conducts airstrike in Syria, killing two Daesh operatives
- The Daesh operatives were moving a truckload of weapons in Dayr az Zawr Province
WASHINGTON: The US military said on Monday it conducted an airstrike in Syria that killed two Islamic State operatives and wounded one.
The Daesh operatives were moving a truckload of weapons in Dayr az Zawr Province, an area formerly controlled by the Syrian government and Russians, when they were targeted with the airstrike, US Central Command said in a statement on social media platform X.
Pakistan orders resolution of land, power hurdles for Chinese investor in special economic zone
- China’s Century Steel Group has complained of lack of power, high land costs in Rashakai Special Economic Zone
- Minister urges authorities to confirm land prices to Chinese steel giant, maintain reasonable power distribution margin
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has urged authorities to resolve land and power tariff hurdles reported by a Chinese steel giant in a key special economic zone (SEZ) located in the country’s northwest, state-run media reported this week, amid Islamabad’s intensifying efforts to attract foreign investment in vital economic sectors.
Spread over an area of 1,000 acres, the Rashakai Special Economic Zone (RSEZ) is a flagship project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project that aims to connect Pakistan’s Gwadar port to China’s northwestern Xinjiang region.
Pakistani media outlets have reported that China’s Century Steel Group, the primary investor in the RSEZ, has expressed its frustration over the past couple of months at Pakistani authorities for failing to finalize a plot purchase agreement and ensuring power supply for its steel mills operation.
Iqbal held a meeting with China Century Steel Mills officials during which various issues faced by the investor came up, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported on Monday. The minister instructed Pakistan’s Board of Investment (BoI), Power Division and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to address the issues hindering industrial development promptly, it said.
“Specifically, he directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KPEZDMC) to confirm land prices to the company at the earliest, by their demands,” it said.
The KPEZDMC officials briefed Iqbal that the company had requested discounted rates for land per acre. Meanwhile, the Century Steel Group consultant cited examples from China, saying that land there is often provided free of charge to industries in SEZs, APP said. He stressed on the need for similar incentives in Pakistan.
“Addressing concerns over power tariffs, the minister directed authorities concerned to maintain a reasonable distribution margin and ensure that the zone receives power at the same rates as regular consumers,” the state-run media said.
Iqbal instructed the FBR, Pakistan’s premier revenue authority, to conduct a consumption survey in northwestern Pakistan to estimate anticipated power consumption accurately, APP said.
Pakistan has increasingly eyed investment from China and other regional allies, particularly from the Middle East, as it seeks to be less dependent on foreign aid and stabilize its economy.
The South Asian country came close to suffering a sovereign default last year before it clinched a last-gasp $3 billion financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Islamabad has achieved some economic gains since then but Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has spoken repeatedly of bolstering the country’s economy via long-term financial reforms and international investment.
US joins UK, EU in raising concerns over Pakistan military courts sentencing civilians
- Pakistan’s military on Dec. 21 sentenced 25 civilians to imprisonment for violent protests in May last year
- EU, UK have said separately that military courts lack judicial independence and due process guarantees
ISLAMABAD: The US State Department this week joined the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) in expressing concerns over a Pakistani military court’s recent decision to sentence 25 civilians to prison for partaking in violent protests last year, calling on Islamabad to respect citizens’ right to a fair trial and due process.
Pakistan’s military on Dec. 21 sentenced 25 people to periods of two to 10 years of “rigorous imprisonment” for participating in violent protests on May 9, 2023, when hundreds carrying flags of former prime minister Imran Khan’s party attacked government and military installations. The protests erupted after Khan’s brief detention on corruption charges, resulting in damage to major military facilities and martyrs’ monuments in the country.
Khan’s party challenges the military’s version, denying it was involved in the violence and stating that the May 9 incident was a “false flag” operation aimed at crushing it as it faced a nationwide crackdown with hundreds of its supporters arrested.
The EU said on Sunday that the sentencing was “inconsistent” with Pakistan’s international obligations, and that according to them every person is entitled to a fair and public trial in an impartial and independent court. The UK also expressed alarm at the development on Monday, saying that trying civilians in military courts “lacks transparency, independent scrutiny and undermines the right to a fair trial.”
“The United States is deeply concerned that Pakistani civilians have been sentenced by a military tribunal for their involvement in protests on May 9, 2023. These military courts lack judicial independence, transparency, and due process guarantees,” the State Department said in a statement on Monday.
“The United States continues to call on Pakistani authorities to respect the right to a fair trial and due process, as enshrined in Pakistan’s constitution.”
The Pakistan government and military have not yet responded to the statements by the US, UK and EU. However, while announcing the military court verdicts on Dec. 21, the army’s media wing said the sentences were an “important milestone in dispensation of justice to the nation.”
“It is also a stark reminder to all those who are exploited by the vested interests and fall prey to their political propaganda and intoxicating lies, to never take law in own hands,” the army said in a statement.
Others charged over the violence were being tried in anti-terrorism courts but justice would only be fully served “once the mastermind and planners ... are punished as per the Constitution and laws of the land,” the military said, in what was widely seen as a veiled reference to Khan.
The ruling came days after Khan was indicted by an anti-terrorism court on charges of inciting attacks against the military. An army general who served under him as his spy chief, Faiz Hamid, is facing a military investigation on the same charges.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court last week allowed military courts to announce verdicts in concluded trials of nearly 85 supporters of Khan on charges of attacking army installations. However, it made such verdicts conditional on the outcome of appeals against the jurisdiction of military courts over civilians.
The court last year provisionally allowed military courts to try civilians.
