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Qatar General Electricity & Water Corp (Kahramaa) announced its comprehensive operational and strategic preparations to support the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025 through integrated plans covering the sectors of electricity, water, conservation and energy efficiency, district cooling services, and renewable energy.In a statement Monday, the Corp explained that this advanced state of readiness reaffirms its commitment to enhancing operational efficiency and ensuring the sustainability of essential services in alignment with Qatar National Vision 2030 and the Third National Development Strategy 2024-2030.His Excellency President of the Qatar General Electricity & Water Corp (Kahramaa) Eng. Abdullah bin Ali al-Deyab said, "Kahramaa continues to advance the readiness of the State's vital infrastructure in line with Qatar's aspirations to host major sporting events, contributing to a model organisational experience built on the highest standards of efficiency and sustainability.""Our preparations for the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025 reflect a deep-rooted commitment to providing reliable and uninterrupted services that support Qatar National Vision 2030 and highlight the level of development achieved across the country's operational sectors," he added.Kahramaa said it continues to enhance the readiness of the electricity sector for the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025 through an integrated operational approach focused on grid stability, supply flexibility, and precision in emergency response. This readiness is supported by a network of high-efficiency electrical stations, including high and medium-voltage transmission substations, all of which undergo comprehensive preventive-maintenance programs designed to ensure full reliability with zero downtime.In this context, Sector Director of Electricity Networks Affairs at Kahramaa Eng. Ahmad Ali al-Kuwari said, "The Electricity Networks Affairs continues to implement precise operational plans based on the highest technical standards to ensure stable electricity supply across all facilities of the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025. Our teams have enhanced the readiness of transmission and distribution substations, activated advanced load-monitoring systems, and carried out comprehensive protection-system testing to ensure safe and continuous operations. We are committed to providing a reliable electrical network that supports the success of the tournament and reflects the State's readiness to host major sporting events."Kahramaa relies on an advanced and wide-scale water system as part of its preparations for the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025. This system is supported by a robust infrastructure that includes large-capacity strategic reservoirs distributed across various regions of the country to always ensure water availability, even during peak operational periods.The Corp manages this system according to strict standards that ensure supply stability, including the distribution of water through flexible networks capable of accommodating high demand during the tournament days.Sector Director of Water Networks Affairs at the Corp Eng. Fahad Yousef Tolefat also stated that "the Water Networks Affairs places great importance on ensuring a stable and secure water supply throughout the tournament. We have strengthened the readiness of strategic reservoirs and distribution networks, activated digital monitoring systems to track water levels and pressure in real time, and implemented advanced laboratory testing programmes along with continuous field inspections to ensure water quality and the safe supply of water to stadiums and facilities. Our full readiness reflects Kahramaa's commitment to supporting the tournament with the highest levels of efficiency and reliability."On the other hand, Kahramaa strengthened its conservation efforts during the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025 through an integrated system that relies on the latest technologies, the implementation of effective regulatory policies, and awareness programs targeting users inside and outside sports facilities.Kahramaa, represented by the District Cooling Services Department, is working to ensure the readiness and efficiency of district cooling systems in stadiums and facilities associated with the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025, considering varying climatic conditions and high operational requirements.As part of its preparations for the tournament, Kahramaa is developing cooling systems in accordance with the highest technical standards by identifying actual thermal-load requirements and applying smart technologies to manage loads and ensure smooth operations. District cooling systems in Qatar have demonstrated their prominent role during previous tournaments, where they significantly contributed to reducing energy and water consumption.In the context of the tournament, Kahramaa also monitors the performance of the solar-energy systems serving the sports facilities and ensures seamless integration of renewable-energy generation with the national grid through updated digital platforms that provide real-time data on production and consumption. This strengthens sustainability and reduces emissions associated with operating the event's facilities.Kahramaa reaffirmed its full readiness to support the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025 through smart operational systems, advanced infrastructure, and highly trained technical teams ensuring uninterrupted essential services across all tournaments, venues and reinforcing Qatar's global leadership in hosting major sporting events.  

A Gaza company that operates water desalination plants serving nearly half of the enclave's population said Wednesday it had resumed operations after Hamas-led security freed a staff member whom they detained on Monday. A statement issued by the Abdul Salam Yassin Company, whose services reach more than 1mn people, said the decision to resume operations came after the issue was resolved, adding that the staff member was "fine and in good health".The company apologised for what it said was a "misunderstanding" that led to the detention of its employee and affirmed its respect for the Hamas-led government in Gaza. Hamas government officials declined comment on the arrest, but a source Wednesday confirmed the employee had been freed, without elaborating on the reasons for his detention.The Palestinian fighter group has been gradually reasserting control in areas of Gaza from which Israeli forces have withdrawn under an October 10 ceasefire deal as talks over the war-devastated Palestinian territory's future grind on. Israel halted all water and electricity supply to Gaza early in the war triggered by Hamas' cross-border storming in October 2023, but partially eased the utilities blockade later.Most of Gaza's water and sanitation infrastructure has been destroyed and pumps from its aquifers often rely on electricity from small generators. But fuel for generators is rarely available given Israel's curbs on deliveries into the enclave, citing the risk of diversion into Hamas' hands.The company's work is vital to the population in Gaza, where clean water is scarce. It owns three major desalination plants, and 80 smaller ones across the territory. It also runs over 70 trucks that carry water containers across Gaza. US President Donald Trump's 20-point plan for post-war Gaza, whose first stage was the ceasefire, stipulates that Hamas disarm and renounce any future role in governance of the enclave, but who would replace them has yet to be agreed. Hamas has refused to yield its weaponry before a Palestinian state is established. Israeli forces continue to control around half of the coastal Gaza Strip.

Water levels at the dam reservoirs supplying Iran's northeastern city of Mashhad plunged below 3%, media reported Sunday, as the country suffers from severe water shortages. "The water storage in Mashhad's dams has now fallen to less than three percent," Hossein Esmaeilian, the chief executive of the water company in Iran's second largest city by population, told ISNA news agency. He added that "the current situation shows that managing water use is no longer merely a recommendation -- it has become a necessity". Mashhad, home to around four million people and Iran's holiest city, relies on four dams for its water supply. **media[379422]** Esmaeilian said consumption in the city had reached around "8,000 litres per second, of which about 1,000 to 1,500 litres per second is supplied from the dams". It comes as authorities in Tehran warned over the weekend of possible rolling cuts to water supplies in the capital amid what officials call the worst drought in decades. In the capital, five major dams supplying drinking water are at "critical" levels, with one empty and another at less than 8% of capacity, officials say. "If people can reduce consumption by 20%, it seems possible to manage the situation without rationing or cutting off water," Esmaeilian said, warning that those with the highest consumption could face supply cuts first. Nationwide, 19 major dams -- about 10% of the country's reservoirs -- have effectively run dry, Abbasali Keykhaei of the Iranian Water Resources Management Company said in late October, according to Mehr news agency. **media[379423]** President Masoud Pezeshkian has cautioned that without rainfall before winter, even Tehran could face evacuation, though he did not elaborate. The water crisis in Iran follows month of drought across the country. Authorities over the summer announced public holidays in Tehran to cut back on water and energy consumption as the capital faced almost daily power outages during a heatwave. Local papers Sunday slammed what they described as the politicisation of environmental decision-making for the water crisis. The reformist Etemad newspaper cited the appointment of "unqualified managers... in key institutions" as being the main cause of the crisis. Shargh, another reformist daily, said that "climate is sacrificed for the sake of politics".

Iran was laying plans Saturday to cut off water supplies periodically to Tehran's 10mn-strong population as it battles its worst drought in many decades.Rainfall in the capital has this year been at its lowest level in a century, local officials say, and half of Iran's provinces have not seen a drop fall in months.Now, to save water, the government is planning water cuts in Tehran -- and several local news outlets have already reported pipes running dry overnight in some areas."This will help avoid waste even though it may cause inconvenience," Iran's Energy Minister Abbas Ali Abadi said on state television.In a speech broadcast on Friday, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian had warned that Tehran might have to be evacuated if no rain falls before the end of the year.But he gave no details about how such a vast operation would be conducted.Tehran nestles on the southern slopes of the Alborz mountains and has hot dry summers usually relieved by autumn rains and winter snowfall.Tehran is by far the country's biggest city and its inhabitants use three million cubic metres of water per day, according to local media.The main Amir Kabir dam on the Karaj river, one of five reservoirs serving the capital, is running dry and holds only 14mn cubic litres, according to Behzad Parsa, director general of the Tehran water company, cited by the official news agency IRNA.During the same period last year, the reservoir held 86mn cubic metres, he added, but now it only has enough to maintain supplies to the Tehran region for less than two weeks.Saturday, state television broadcast images of several dams, serving the central city of Isfahan and Tabriz in the northwest, showing significantly lower water levels compared to previous years.Hassan Hosseini, the deputy Iran's second-largest city Mashhad, told IRNA agency on Thursday that night-time water cuts were being considered to address the water shortage.And over the summer on July and August, two public holidays were declared in Tehran to save water and energy, at a time when power outages were almost daily during the intense heatwave.

Head of the Gaza Water Authority, Eng. Saadi Ali revealed the extent of the losses and massive destruction of the water sector and irrigation networks in the strip, which the occupation deliberately destroyed and cut off services to citizens during the aggression on Gaza.Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Ali said that the extent of the damage and losses in the water sector exceeds 85 percent, explaining that the occupation forces targeted critical water infrastructure, including sources, distribution networks, wastewater treatment facilities, sewage lines, and desalination plants, severely disrupting access to clean water for the population.He estimated the value of destroyed international water projects in Gaza at around $3 billion, encompassing infrastructure, equipment, solar energy systems, desalination pumps, and other vital assets. He also reported the destruction of 725 central water wells and 134 freshwater projects, while over 700,000 meters of water pipelines were damaged due to bombardment and ground incursions.The Head of the Water Authority warned that the Gaza Strip is facing a major crisis, affecting the entire water sector and all its components and facilities, directly negatively impacting citizens.He explained that, in light of the fuel shortage, the Water Authority, municipalities, and relevant authorities have been unable to provide services to citizens except partially and limitedly, with the remaining facilities that were not destroyed. They rely on aging energy generators that are worn out and in need of maintenance and spare parts. He pointed out that during the two years of the aggression on Gaza, no spare parts or oil have been imported for the generators, which are at risk of shutting down at any time and are only operated for six hours per day.Despite a ceasefire agreement, he stressed that no materials, equipment, or machinery have been allowed into Gaza to support the water and sanitation sectors, further deepening the crisis. Clean water remains largely unavailable across neighborhoods and displacement camps, home to thousands of displaced people.To address the crisis, the Water Authority has developed recovery plans in coordination with local and international partners. However, implementation remains stalled due to the continued closure of border crossings and restrictions on importing necessary supplies.Ali emphasized that restoring basic water services, ensuring at least 50 liters per person per day, requires urgent rehabilitation of destroyed wells, desalination facilities, and sewage treatment plants.He also warned that water and sewage systems in the neighborhoods and streets of the Gaza Strip are intertwined due to Israeli destruction and bulldozing, raising the threat of disease outbreaks, particularly among children.With winter approaching, he highlighted the risk of flooding in Gaza City, especially due to the destruction of the Sheikh Radwan water basin. Eight sewage pumps in Gaza have stopped functioning completely or partially, further compounding the risk of sewage leakage into groundwater and drinking supplies.Ali concluded by calling for the immediate reopening of border crossings to allow the entry of spare parts, pipes, and pumps essential for repairs and reconstruction, stressing that this is a cornerstone for restoring water services and preventing a full-scale environmental and health catastrophe.

Qatar participated in the 31st preparatory meeting of the Electricity and Water Co-operation Committee of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries, held in Kuwait. HE President of Qatar General Electricity and Water Corp (Kahramaa) Eng. Abdulla bin Ali Al Theyab led Qatar's delegation at the meeting. The meeting discussed ways to enhance Gulf integration in the electricity and water sectors, progress on electricity and water interconnection projects, and support for energy efficiency and demand management programs. Governance frameworks and monitoring mechanisms for joint projects were also addressed. HE Eng. Al Theyab affirmed Qatar's commitment to continuing to work with its brothers to develop an integrated Gulf infrastructure that ensures the security and sustainability of supplies and supports the goals of the transition to clean energy.

Palestinians say water shortages are due to settler attacks UN reports increase in settler vandalism of water infrastructure Israeli military acknowledges reports but no suspects identified Israeli agency COGAT blames Palestinian water theft Shortages force reliance on costly deliveriesPalestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank are facing severe water shortages that they say are being driven by increasing attacks on scarce water sources by extremist Jewish settlers.Across the West Bank in Palestinian communities, residents are reporting shortages that have left taps in homes dry and farms without irrigation.In Ramallah, one of the largest Palestinian cities in the West Bank and the administrative capital of the Palestinian Authority, residents facing water shortages are now relying on public taps."We only get water at home twice a week, so people are forced to come here," said Umm Ziad, as she filled empty plastic bottles with water alongside other Ramallah residents.The UN recorded 62 incidents of Jewish settlers vandalising water wells, pipelines, irrigation networks and other water-related infrastructure in the West Bank in the first six months of the year.The Israeli military acknowledged it has received multiple reports of Israeli civilians intentionally causing damage to water infrastructure but that no suspects had been identified.Among the targets have been a freshwater spring and a water distribution station in Ein Samiya, around 16km northeast of Ramallah, serving around 20 nearby Palestinian villages and some city neighbourhoods.Settlers have taken over the spring that many Palestinians have used for generations to cool off in the hot summer months.Palestinian public utility Jerusalem Water Undertaking said the Ein Samiya water distribution station had become a frequent target of settler vandalism."Settler violence has escalated dramatically," Abdullah Bairait, 60, a resident of nearby Kfar Malik, standing on a hilltop overlooking the spring."They enter the spring stations, break them, remove cameras, and cut off the water for hours," he said.The Ein Samiya spring and Kfar Malik village have been increasingly surrounded by Jewish Israeli settlements. The UN and most foreign governments consider settlements in the West Bank to be illegal under international law and an obstacle to the establishment of a future Palestinian state.According to the United Nations' humanitarian office, settlers carried out multiple attacks targeting water springs and vital water infrastructure in the Ramallah, Salfit and Nablus areas between June 1 and July 14. The Ein Samiya water spring had been repeatedly attacked, it said in a July report.Israeli security forces view any damage to infrastructure as a serious matter and were carrying out covert and overt actions to prevent further harm, the Israeli military said in response to Reuters questions for this story. It said the Palestinian Water Authority had been given access to carry out repairs.Kareem Jubran, director of field research at Israeli rights group B'Tselem, told Reuters that settlers had taken control over most natural springs in the West Bank in recent years and prevented Palestinians from accessing them.SETTLER VIOLENCEPalestinians have long faced a campaign of intimidation, harassment and physical violence by extremist settlers, who represent a minority of Jewish settlers living in the West Bank. Most live in settlements for financial or ideological reasons and do not advocate for violence against Palestinians.Palestinians say the frequency of settler violence in the West Bank has increased since the October 2023 Hamas storming of Israel.They say they fear the rise in settler violence is part of a campaign to drive them from the land. The UN has registered 925 such incidents in the first seven months of this year, a 16% year-on-year increase.Since the Hamas fighter attacks which sparked the war in Gaza, several Israeli politicians have advocated for Israel to annex the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967.Reuters reported on Sunday that Israeli officials said the government is now considering annexing the territory after France and other Western nations said they would recognise a Palestinian state this month. The Palestinian Authority wants a future Palestinian state to encompass West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.Palestinians in the West Bank have long struggled to access water. The Western-backed Palestinian Authority exercises limited civic rule in parts of the territory and relies on Israeli approvals to develop and expand water infrastructure. Palestinian officials and rights groups say that's rarely given.B'Tselem said in an April 2023 report that Palestinians were facing a chronic water crisis, while settlers have an abundance of water."The water shortage in the West Bank is the intentional outcome of Israel's deliberately discriminatory policy, which views water as another means for controlling the Palestinians," B'Tselem wrote in the report.COSTLY DELIVERIESAcross the West Bank, water tanks are common in Palestinian homes, storing rainwater or water delivered by trucks due to an already unreliable piped water network that has been exacerbated by the settler attacks.Cogat, the Israeli military agency that oversees policy in the West Bank and Gaza, said in response to Reuters questions the Palestinian Authority was responsible for supplying water to Palestinians in the West Bank. Israel transferred 90mn cubic metres of water to the Palestinian Authority each year, it said, blaming any shortages on water theft by Palestinians.Along with travelling long distances to collect water, Palestinians have become reliant on costly water deliveries to manage the chronic water crisis that they fear will only grow."If the settlers continue their attacks, we will have conflict on water," said Wafeeq Saleem, who was collecting water from a public tap outside Ramallah."Water is the most important thing for us."

Like his father, Iraqi buffalo herder Watheq Abbas grazes his animals in Iraq's southern wetlands, but with persistent drought shrinking marshland where they feed and decimating the herd, his millennia-old way of life is threatened."There's no more water, the marshes are dead," said 27-year-old Abbas, who has led his buffaloes to pasture in the marshland for the past 15 years."In the past, the drought would last one or two years, the water would return and the marshes would come back to life. Now we've gone without water for five years," the buffalo herder said.This year has been one of the driest since 1933, authorities have said, with summer temperatures topping 50C across Iraq, which is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.The Unesco-listed swamplands in the country's south — where tradition has it that the Garden of Eden was located have sustained civilisations dating back to ancient Mesopotamia.But the unrelenting dry spell has reduced the mythical waterways to a barren land of cracked earth, stripped of the slender reeds that once dominated the landscape.Abbas and tens of thousands of Iraqis like him who rely on the marshes — livestock herders, hunters and fishermen — have watched helplessly as their source of livelihood evaporated.At the Chibayish marshes, scarce water still fills some channels, which authorities have deepened so that animals like Abbas's 25 buffaloes could cool off.For years, he and his herd have been on the move, heading wherever there was still water, in Chibayish or in the neighbouring province of Missan.'BATTLE FOR WATER' But it has become an increasingly challenging feat. Last year, seven of his animals died.Just recently Abbas lost another of his buffaloes which drank stagnant, brackish water that he said had "poisoned it".The drought has been brought about by declining rainfall and soaring temperatures that increase evaporation.But upstream dams built in Turkiye and in Iran have dramatically reduced the flow of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq and exacerbated the effects of climate change.With the Iraqi government forced to ration water supply to ensure the country's 46mn people have enough to drink and to meet agricultural needs, the marshes appear to be at the bottom of their priorities."There's a battle for water" in Iraq, said environmental activist Jassim al-Assadi, from the Nature Iraq NGO.He was among a group of activists and engineers who two decades ago sought to re-flood 5,600 square kilometres of marshland.They were part of the areas that Saddam Hussein's government had drained in the 1990s to chase out militants sheltering there.Today, only 800 square kilometres of the marshes are submerged, Assadi said, with many residents leaving the dried-up region.The ecosystem of the marshes is also suffering irreversible damage, with turtles, otters and migratory birds among the victims."We used to have 48 species of fish but now only four remain, and from 140 species of wild birds we are now down to 22," said veterinarian Wissam al-Assadi.'WE HAVE NOTHING ELSE' In collaboration with a French agriculture and veterinarian NGO, he helps treat the buffaloes, which in summer typically need TO be in the water for 14 hours a day and drink dozens of litres to avoid heat exhaustion.But the reduced water flow means "the water does not renew, and salinity and pollution levels increase," the veterinarian explained."Animals that used to weigh 600 kilos are now 400 or 300 kilos, their immune systems weaken and diseases multiply," he added.The Mesopotamian water buffaloes now produce one-third of their usual output of milk, which is used to make cheese and geymar, a thick clotted cream that is a popular breakfast food in Iraq.A UN report issued in July warned that "without urgent conservation measures", the buffalo population was "at risk of extinction".Citing water scarcity as the cause, it said their numbers in the marshes have gone from 309,000 in 1974 to just 40,000 in 2000.Towayeh Faraj, 50, who has lived in the hamlet of Hassja in Chibayish for the past two years, said he has been wandering the marshes for three decades to find water for his buffaloes."If the livestock is alive, so are we," he said."We have nothing else: no salary, no jobs, no state support." He has 30 animals — down from the 120 he began his career with, selling many off one-by-one to buy fodder for the remaining herd.Faraj inherited the profession from his father, but the family tradition might end with him. His eldest of 16 children works for a Chinese oil company, and another is a minibus driver.

Using a crutch to bear her weight, 85-year-old Molly Aluoch trudges from her mud-walled room on the outskirts of a sprawling Nairobi slum, shouldering a sack of used plastic to exchange for a shower or a safe toilet.For the 31 years she has lived in Kibera, Kenya's largest informal settlement, water and sanitation have remained scarce and costly — often controlled by cartels who charge residents prices beyond their means.The Human Needs Project (HNP) seeks to mitigate that. Residents can trade discarded plastic for "green points", or credits, they can redeem for services such as drinking water, toilets, showers, laundries and even meals."With my green points, I can now access a comfortable and clean toilet and bathroom any time of the day," Aluoch said.Before, she would spend 10 shillings (eight US cents) to use a toilet and another 10 for a bathroom, a significant chunk from the residents' average daily income, 200 to 400 shillings, before food and housing costs."It meant that without money, I would not use a toilet," she said.Unable to use Kibera's pit latrines owing to her frailty meant she would have to resort to "unhygienic means".Now, that money goes towards food for her three grandchildren.Aluoch, a traditional birth attendant, is among some 100 women who collect plastics for green points, helping them access water, sanitation, and hygiene services.She takes her plastic to a centre 200 metres from her home, where one kilogramme of recyclable plastics earns 15 green points, equivalent to 15 shillings.The project serves some 800 residents daily, allowing them access to modern bathrooms, clean water and menstrual hygiene facilities — services that are out of reach for many Kibera households.Since 2015, the project has distributed more than 50 mn litres of water and more than 1mn toilet and shower uses.In 2024 alone, it distributed 11mn litres of water and enabled 124,000 bathroom and toilet uses.'DAYS WITHOUT WATER'With water a scarce commodity in Kibera, it is common for vendors to create artificial shortages to inflate prices, forcing residents to pay more than 10 times the normal price.The city's water service charges between $0.60 and $0.70 per cubic metre for connected households, but by comparison, Kibera residents have to stump up as much as $8 to $19 for the same amount."Getting water was hard. We could go several days without water," said Margaret John, 50, a mother of three.Today, her reality is different."The water point is at my doorstep. The supply is steady and the water is clean. All I need is to collect plastics, get points, redeem and get water," she said.John, who has lived in Kibera for nine years, says the project has been a game changer, especially for women and girls."Access to proper sanitation services guarantees women and girls their dignity during menstruation." Now, with 10 water points spread across Kibera — pulled from a borehole with a daily capacity of half a million litres — NHP shields some residents from informal vendors' exploitative pricing.The project's dual mission is to meet basic human needs while tackling Kibera's mounting waste problem.HNP's director of strategic partnerships Peter Muthaura said it helps to improve health and the daily living conditions in Kibera."When people cannot access dignified toilets and bathrooms, the environment bears the impact," he said.It also fosters development, he said.In the first quarter of 2025 alone, Kibera residents delivered two tonnes of recyclable plastic, with around 250 women directly engaged in daily collection and delivery.For Aluoch, every sack of plastics and every green point earned goes beyond clean water and sanitation: it restores a sense of dignity."My prayer is that this project spreads to every corner of Kibera, and reaches thousands of women whose dignity has been robbed by a lack of sanitation services," she said.