DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates has launched a fundraising campaign to provide potable water to five million people facing shortages in Asia and Africa, local press said yesterday.
The campaign that began on Saturday has already collected Dhs33.5m ($9.1m, ¤6.7m), mostly from top companies, and the government called for more donations before it ends on July 17.
The drive was timed to start with the fasting month of Ramadan, a period favoured by believers to pay alms. The UAE Red Crescent has already started work on boring wells in 10 countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Niger, Somalia, Ghana, Sudan, Indonesia, Togo and Iraq, the Khaleej Times daily said. The oil-rich UAE donated Dhs1.014bn between 2009 and 2013 in aid to solve water problems in 61 countries, according to official statistics.
Saudi hostage freed in Yemen
RIYADH: A Saudi citizen kidnapped in Yemen has been freed by his abductors and returned home yesterday after “huge efforts” to secure his release, the foreign ministry said.
In a statement carried by the official SPA news agency, the ministry gave no details on when Ayedh bin Jibran Mikali had been abducted or who had kidnapped him. It said only that he was released “following huge and painful efforts”. Saudi media reported that Mikali had been abducted by a Yemeni tribe, but gave no further details. Hundreds of foreigners have been kidnapped in Yemen over the past two decades by tribesmen who use them as bargaining chips in disputes with the Sanaa government.
Agencies
