RIYADH: Saudi Aramco said on Thursday it plans to sell 1.545 billion shares worth more than $10 billion, one of the biggest such offerings in recent years.
In a statement posted to the Saudi stock exchange, Aramco announced a “secondary public offering of 1.545 billion shares,” with an expected price range between 26.70 and 29 Saudi riyals ($7 to $7.70).
The sale on the local bourse, which represents approximately 0.64 percent of the company’s issued shares, will commence on Sunday, Aramco said.
It is the firm’s second listing after an initial public offering in December 2019 that raised $25.6 billion, the biggest flotation in history.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest crude oil exporter and, before the announcement on Thursday, the government owned about 82 percent of its shares.
Saudi Aramco says to offer shares worth over $10 billion on Saudi bourse
https://arab.news/6mjwx
Saudi Aramco says to offer shares worth over $10 billion on Saudi bourse
- It is the firm’s second listing after an initial public offering in December 2019 that raised $25.6 billion
South Korea’s mountain of plastic waste shows limits of recycling
- South Korea says that it recycles 7% of its plastic waste, compared to about 5%-6% in the US
SEOUL: South Korea has won international praise for its recycling efforts, but as it prepares to host talks for a global plastic waste agreement, experts say the country’s approach highlights its limits.
When the talks known as INC-5 kick off in Busan next week, debate is expected to center around whether a UN treaty should seek to limit the amount of plastic being made in the first place.
South Korea says that it recycles 73 percent of its plastic waste, compared to about 5 percent-6 percent in the United States, and the country might seem to be a model for a waste management approach.
The bi-monthly MIT Technology Review magazine has rated South Korea as “one of the world’s best recycling economies,” and the only Asian country out of the top 10 on its Green Future Index in 2022.
But environmental activists and members of the waste management industry say the recycling numbers don’t tell the whole story.
South Korea’s claimed rate of 73 percent “is a false number, because it just counts plastic waste that arrived at the recycling screening facility — whether it is recycled, incinerated, or landfilled afterward, we don’t know,” said Seo Hee-won, a researcher at local activist group Climate Change Center.
Greenpeace estimates South Korea recycles only 27 percent of its total plastic waste. The environment ministry says the definition of waste, recycling methods and statistical calculation vary from country to country, making it difficult to evaluate uniformly.
South Korea’s plastic waste generation increased from 9.6 million tons in 2019 to 12.6 million tons in 2022, a 31 percent jump in three years partly due to increased plastic packaging of food, gifts and other online orders that mushroomed during the pandemic, activists said. Data for 2023 has not been released.
A significant amount of that plastic is not being recycled, according to industry and government sources and activists, sometimes for financial reasons.
At a shuttered plastic recycling site in Asan, about 85km south of Seoul, a mountain of about 19,000 tonnes of finely ground plastic waste is piled up untreated, emitting a slightly noxious smell. Local officials said the owner had run into money problems, but could not provide details.
“It will probably take more than 2-3 billion won ($1.43 million-$2.14 million) to remove,” said an Asan regional government official. “The owner is believed unable to pay, so the cleanup is low priority for us.”
Reuters has reported that more than 90 percent of plastic waste gets dumped or incinerated because there is no cheap way to repurpose it, according to a 2017 study.
NO CONCRETE GOALS
South Korean government’s regulations on single-use plastic products have also been criticized for being inconsistent. In November 2023, the environment ministry eased restrictions on single-use plastic including straws and bags, rolling back rules it had strengthened just a year earlier.
“South Korea lacks concrete goals toward reducing plastic use outright, and reusing plastic,” said Hong Su-yeol, director of Resource Circulation Society and Economy Institute and an expert on the country’s waste management.
Nara Kim, a Seoul-based campaigner for plastic use reduction at Greenpeace, said South Korea’s culture of valuing elaborate packaging of gifts and other items needs to change, while other activists pointed to the influence of the country’s petrochemical producers.
“Companies are the ones that pay the money, the taxes,” said a recycling industry official who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, adding that this enabled them to wield influence. “The environment ministry is the weakest ministry in the government.”
The environment ministry said South Korea manages waste over the entire cycle from generation to recycling and final disposal.
The government has made some moves to encourage Korea Inc. to recycle, including its petrochemical industry that ranks fifth in global market share.
President Yoon Suk Yeol said at the G-20 summit on Tuesday that “efforts to reduce plastic pollution must also be made” for sustainable development, and that his government will support next week’s talks.
The government has changed regulations to allow companies like leading petrochemical producer LG Chem to generate naphtha, its primary feedstock, by recycling plastic via pyrolysis. SK Chemicals’ depolymerization chemical recycling output has already been used in products such as water bottles as well as tires for high-end EVs.
Pyrolysis involves heating waste plastic to extremely high temperatures causing it to break down into molecules that can be repurposed as a fuel or to create second-life plastic products. But the process is costly, and there is also criticism that it increases carbon emissions.
“Companies have to be behind this,” said Jorg Weberndorfer, Minister Counsellor at the trade section of the EU Delegation to South Korea.
“You need companies who really believe in this and want to have this change. I think there should be an alliance between public authorities and companies.”
Marathon polo tournament draws huge crowds in Pakistan’s picturesque north
- Ten-day tournament played among 17 teams of Gilgit-Baltistan as part of independence day celebrations
- GB Independence Day celebrated on Nov. 1 every year to mark region’s independence in 1947 from Dogra Raj
KHAPLU, Gilgit-Baltistan: Large crowds have been gathering daily in the northern mountain town of Gilgit for a 10-day polo tournament being held to mark Gilgit-Baltistan’s Independence Day, the military’s media wing and government officials said on Thursday, the last day of the event.
GB is administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory and consists of the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947. The impoverished, remote and rugged mountainous territory borders Afghanistan and China and is the gateway of the $65 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure plan.
The Gilgit-Baltistan Independence Day is celebrated on Nov. 1 every year to mark the region’s independence in 1947 from Dogra Raj, the erstwhile rulers of the now disputed Jammu and Kashmir region.
“The big event of Jashan Azadi Polo Tournament was held at Wahab Shaheed Polo Ground in Gilgit, a remote area of the northern region under the management of Pak Army,” the military’s media wing said in a statement, saying Force Command Northern Areas, Maj. Gen. Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gillani, was the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the event in which 17 teams participated.
“The final match was won by Chilas in civil and NLI teams in departmental categories respectively,” the statement added.
Gilgit-Baltistan is also known for the annual polo festival at Shandur, an area between the northern Pakistani towns of Gilgit and Chitral, and at over 12,000 feet (3,700 meters) the world’s highest polo ground.
Polo in GB is played without rules and at a blistering pace, suggesting more of a clash of cavalry than a sport. Locals believe polo was born in their land and Gilgit is home to the famous polo inscription: “Let other people play at other things, the King of Games is still the Game of Kings.”
Faizullah Faraq, the spokesperson for the G-B government, said thousands had come to watch the matches and celebrate the Gilgit-Baltistan Independence Day.
“Polo is the national game of Gilgit-Baltistan. And thousands of people reached Gilgit’s playground to watch the polo matches daily,” he told Arab News on Thursday.
“Such kinds of activities unite the youth and they play their role to create harmony in the society. The promotion of polo is a need of time to maintain peace in society.”
Afrad Gul, the team captain of the winning Chilas team, appreciated locals who supported the tournament.
“I have been playing polo for the last 15 years, my son was also part of my team,” Gul said in a phone interview. “We have left no stone unturned to keep this regional game alive.”
From struggles to innovation: How Saudi calligrapher Abdulaziz Al-Rashedi revolutionized Arabic script
- ‘I feel there is a holy light within the letters,’ says Abdulaziz Al-Rashedi
DUBAI: Saudi calligrapher and arts instructor Abdulaziz Al-Rashedi’s first love was the pen. His fascination with writing began in elementary school in the Eighties in his hometown of Madinah.
Al-Rashedi talks about holding a pen in the same way a musician might discuss holding their instrument. In the eyes of the calligrapher, writing is an artistic act, like a dance, that has its own kind of magic.
“What I loved about the pen was the way the ink was flowing out of it,” he tells Arab News. “The pen led me to my love of writing Arabic calligraphy.”
But there were challenges imposed by the conservative social environment of the Kingdom in the Eighties and Nineties.
“People didn’t regard art as something important. During that time, people thought that art couldn’t generate money. For them, it was a waste of time,” he says. “In such a depressing environment, I was suffering from people’s lack of interest. They were saying that the writing would distract me from my studies. But actually, it encouraged me to study.”
Not everyone disregarded his interest in pursuing calligraphy, however. Al-Rashedi’s late father was always a supporter.
“He was a believer in writing, and conserving it,” Al-Rashedi says. “He thought I was doing something important with my life, even though others thought it wasn’t important. They likened it to making scribbles. I was literally making art on my own. None of my friends shared this interest with me and there were no calligraphy institutes to encourage this talent. The situation was very difficult.”
But in 1993, Al-Rashedi learned there was, in fact, a master Saudi calligrapher living in Madinah: Ahmad Dia. He kindly agreed to teach Al-Rashedi the basics of Arabic calligraphy. And, perhaps just as importantly, to do so in his home, which Al-Rashedi compares to a school and a museum, as well as a meeting place for calligraphers.
“I was young, but he treated me like a man,” the artist recalls. “For us calligraphers, he was like a spiritual father figure, who planted a seed of determination in us. He always encouraged us and never told us off if our writing wasn’t on point.”
Al-Rashedi remained in contact with his tutor until Dia’s death in 2022 during the COVID pandemic. “When he died, it felt as if the light went off,” Al-Rashedi says.
Al-Rashedi also trained himself by copying the work of another important figure: Hashem Al-Baghdadi, the influential Iraqi calligrapher and educator who published books on the rules of Arabic calligraphy. Al-Rashedi describes the pre-social media era as a “truly dark period” when there were no opportunities to host exhibitions or share his work with others.
“People weren’t communicating with each other. It was a period that lacked (opportunity) and even good materials, such as pens and paper,” he recalls.
But with the advent of social media, most notably Facebook, and the opening of a few art galleries, including Jeddah’s Athr Gallery in 2009, things improved drastically. Today, Al-Rashedi is able to share his work on Instagram and other platforms, displaying the skills he has honed over three decades of practice.
Arabic calligraphy is an internationally respected art form that has existed for thousands of years, exercised in Islamic texts and found on monuments around the world. So, what is its long-lasting secret?
“I often ask myself why the curves of Arabic calligraphy have bewitched people for so long, and I believe it inevitably has something to do with its holiness,” he says. “Allah has been an inspiration for calligraphers and their innovation of writing. I feel there is a holy light within the letters of Arabic calligraphy.”
But Al-Rashedi also believes that, for many years, calligraphy has been stuck in a rut, untouched by modern innovation or creativity.
“Many calligraphers have literally said that Arabic calligraphy has reached its end and no one could add anything new to it,” he says. “Such an idea is incorrect.”
Indeed, Al-Rashedi has invented his own form of Arabic calligraphy, which he calls “3punt.” (He says the name refers to the size of the letters, which are written using three different pens.)
“It depends on the idea of lessening the thickness of the letter. Usually, one pen is used in Arabic calligraphy. But I discovered that the original bulkiness of Arabic scripture and the usage of just one pen prevents Arabic calligraphy from having new forms of writing being added to its system.”
Based on a strict set of rules, Al-Rashedi’s 3punt calligraphy contains 55 “subtypes of writing,” he says. It has its own lightness and elegance, with carefully choreographed flowing lines of slender Arabic script.
Ultimately, Al-Rashedi believes that Arabic calligraphy is about connections.
“If we look at Latin or Chinese scripture, on letters like ‘n,’ ‘e,’ or ‘r,’ they are based on separate components. But with Arabic calligraphy, you can connect six or seven letters in one go,” he says. “Without a doubt, Arabic writing — as an art form — is superior to other types of writing.”
Pakistan government slams Imran Khan’s wife for using Saudi Arabia for ‘political point scoring’
- Deputy foreign minister urges political forces to desist from compromising Pakistan’s foreign policy for political objectives
- Khan has been in prison since August last year and facing a slew of legal challenges which he says are politically motivated
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government on Friday rejected comments by Bushra Bibi, the wife of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, that Saudi Arabia had been opposed to her husband’s government, calling on political forces to desist from compromising the country’s foreign policy for the sake of “petty” political point scoring.
In a rare public message on Thursday, Bushra assured state institutions Khan had no plans to seek revenge from opponents if he was freed from jail, as she rallied supporters to join a protest planned by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Islamabad on Nov. 24. In the message, she also made remarks that were widely seen as implying that the Saudi government had been opposed to Khan.
“Implicating Saudi Arabia for petty political point scoring is regrettable and indicative of a desperate mindset,” Pakistan’s deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said in a statement after Bushra’s video was released. “We urge all political forces to desist from compromising Pakistan’s foreign policy in pursuance of their political objectives.”
“Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are close friends and brothers. This relationship is based on mutual respect,” Dar added. “We have great admiration for Saudi Arabia’s journey of development and prosperity. The Pakistani nation is proud of its close relationship with Saudi Arabia which has always stood by Pakistan through thick and thin.”
After his ouster from the PM’s office in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in 2022, Khan had also alleged that he was removed by his political rivals and the all-powerful military with the backing of the United States government. All three deny the charge.
Khan has been in prison since August last year and facing a slew of legal challenges. He denies any wrongdoing, and alleges all the cases registered against him are politically motivated to keep him in jail.
Arsenal, Man City and Bayern advance to Women’s Champions League quarterfinals
- Arsenal, Bayern and City join Chelsea, Lyon and Real Madrid in the quarterfinals
- Two-time defending champions Barcelona routed Austrian champion St. Polten 4-1
LONDON: Arsenal, Manchester City and Bayern Munich all advanced to the Women’s Champions League quarterfinals with with two games to spare on Thursday.
Late substitute Lina Hurtig scored the winner in Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over Juventus in London.
Khadija Shaw scored twice for City in a 2-1 win at Swedish club Hammarby. City stayed perfect in Group D with four victories and reached the last eight for the first time since 2021.
Bayern Munich was held 1-1 at Vålerenga in Norway and still earned a quarterfinal berth after Juventus’ loss.
Arsenal, Bayern and City join Chelsea, Lyon and Real Madrid in the quarterfinals.
Two-time defending champions Barcelona routed Austrian champion St. Polten 4-1. The Catalan club trails City by three points in their group and is in a strong position to advance.
Bayern tops Group C with 10 points, Arsenal has nine followed by Juventus (3) and Vålerenga (1).
Back to winning
Man City responded to their first loss of the season, 2-0 at Chelsea in the Women’s Super League on Saturday.
Still without injured star Vivianne Miedema, Shaw took charge, proving her scoring instincts after half an hour.
The forward scored from inside the penalty area with a deflected shot that flew over goalkeeper Anna Tamminen to frustrate more than 20,000 noisy fans at the Stockholm Arena in the Swedish capital.
Ellen Wangerheim equalized soon after the interval from close range to rejuvenate the crowd but Shaw struck again to restore the lead just minutes later.
This time, she delivered a powerful right-footed finish from the edge of the area.
Bayern and Harder contained
Bayern dominated possession but could not translate it into goals until the 75th minute. It had to rely on substitute Jovana Damnjanovic, who gave the visitors a late lead after connecting on a pass from Giulia Gwinn.
The Norwegians, who have retained their domestic title, equalized in the 88th on Elize Thorsnes’ header following a corner.
Pernille Harder, who found the back of the net five times for Bayern in the previous three games, could not do it again on Thursday and was substituted.
Hurtig’s night
Hurtig came on with 10 minutes remaining and made her presence immediately felt with several headers.
She finally made the breakthrough with a minute remaining in regulation, tapping in from close range after Juventus’ poor clearance of a low cross by Stina Blackstenius.
Hurtig won the Italian title with Juventus in 2021 and 2022 before joining the Gunners.
Juventus seemed to learn a lesson from its 4-0 loss to Arsenal last week as its defense held firm till Hurtig’s arrival.
Putellas scores her 200th Barcelona goal
In an 11-minute span in the first half, Francisca Nazareth netted twice and 18-year-old Vicky Lopez scored once to put Barcelona in control.
Nazareth’s double was followed by Lopez hitting the third with a shot high into the net for her first Champions League goal.
Alexia Putellas made it 4-0 in the second half, finishing a fast attack that tore apart the defense in Vienna. It was her 200th goal for Barcelona and the 100th the club scored in the Champions League’s group stage.
Valentina Madl, an 18-year-old forward, netted a consolation goal for the hosts.
Barcelona have scored 20 goals in its past three games and can still become the first club to win its group in all four years since the introduction of the format.
