DOHA: The head of Qatar Airways voiced skepticism on Tuesday over an aviation industry target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, citing inadequate supplies of Sustainable Aviation Fuel and alternative hydrogen designs in their infancy.
“I don’t think that we will be able to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Everybody’s talking about it, but let us be realistic — there is not enough production of sustainable aviation fuel,” Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker told the Qatar Economic Forum, organized by Bloomberg.
The warning by one of the industry’s most high-profile leaders come days before global airlines are due to discuss how to implement the climate pledge at an annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association in Istanbul in June.
Because aviation emissions are seen as hard to abate without radical technology, the main focus has been on “drop-in” fuels that can be placed in the existing generation of jet engines, like plant- or waste-based SAF and synthetic alternatives.
“Really the only significant contributor by way of change in technology is Sustainable Aviation Fuel. That’s the only thing that moves the needle between now and (2050),” Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun told the same Doha event.
In a stand-off with the energy industry over supplies available for aviation, airlines are concerned that a gap would hamper efforts to reach the target. There is also little consensus on who should pay to ramp up production, while some environmental groups say the plans are too modest.
Airbus is promoting efforts to develop a small commercial airplane powered by hydrogen by 2035.
Boeing’s Calhoun said such technology would mature only in the second half of the century.
In 2021, nations at a United Nations body agreed to a long-term aspirational goal for net-zero aviation emissions by 2050, giving political weight to a target adopted by IATA and other industry groups including airports and planemakers in 2019.
Qatar Airways CEO suggests 2050 net-zero goal beyond reach
https://arab.news/vqqdg
Qatar Airways CEO suggests 2050 net-zero goal beyond reach
- "There is not enough production of sustainable aviation fuel,” Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said
Swiatek into Rome Open final as trophy record beckons, Paul battles through
- World No. 1 Swiatek now stands one victory away from duplicating the Madrid-Rome clay trophy double achieved by Serena Williams 11 years ago
- American Paul reached a clay court semifinal for the first time in his career with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 upset of Hurkacz
ROME: Iga Swiatek won her 11th straight clay-court match on Thursday as the top seed moved closer to another record with a 6-4, 6-3 semifinal defeat of Coco Gauff at the Rome Open, after Tommy Paul earlier survived a chaotic ending to emerge victorious from his quarterfinal encounter with Hubert Hurkacz.
World No. 1 Swiatek now stands one victory away from duplicating the Madrid-Rome clay trophy double achieved by Serena Williams 11 years ago.
The 22-year-old Pole defeated third-seed Gauff for the 10th time in their 11 encounters, with her only loss in the series coming last summer in a Cincinnati semifinal.
Swiatek, a four-time Grand Slam winner due to defend her Roland Garros title starting a week from Sunday, will play the Saturday Rome final against either second-seed Aryna Sabalenka or American Danielle Collins.
The top seed spent one and three-quarter hours in dispatching Gauff, the reigning US Open champion.
Swiatek ended with 26 winners and broke four times.
“I’m not thinking about statistics or history,” she said after the victory. “I’m just playing day by day.
“It’s easier that way, it lets you play more freely.
“I’ll just try to play as good as possible in the final, no matter who it is.
“I won’t be thinking of any records, there is still work to do.”
On the men’s side, American Paul reached a clay court semifinal for the first time in his career with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 upset of Hurkacz.
The 14th seed is the first American to reach the final four at the Foro Italico since Reilly Opelka in 2021.
The momentum-shifting quarterfinal came down to the wire, with a 15-minute final game capping off nearly two and three-quarter hours on court.
Paul finally came through on his fourth match point as Poland’s Hurkacz sent a return long.
The match featured 13 breaks of serve, with Paul advancing with 29 winners and 41 unforced errors; and Hurkacz having 22 and 44 respectively.
“I started well but it got away from me in the second and start of the third,” Paul said. “I had to stick around in the match.
“I found the energy to get it going again. I was hitting my forehand bigger and with more intensity because Hubii can really crush the ball.”
Paul will play Nicolas Jarry in the semifinals after the 28-year-old Chilean stunned sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to reach his first Masters semifinal in Rome on Thursday.
Hurkacz, who knocked Rafa Nadal out in the Rome second round, was unable to get his massive serve up to speed as he faced Paul, winner over defending champion Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round.
Hurkacz won the clay title in Estoril last month and suffered only his third loss on clay this spring.
Schauffele gets another major scoring record and sets the pace at PGA Championship
- The three-shot lead matches the 18-hole record held by Bobby Nichols in 1964 at Columbus (Ohio) Country Club and Raymond Floyd in 1982 at Southern Hills
- cord 64 players broke par. The previous record for the first round of a PGA was 60 sub-par rounds in 2006 at Medinah, according to the Elias Sports Bureau
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky: Xander Schauffele is playing some of his best golf without a trophy to show for it. He at least put his name in the PGA Championship record book Thursday with a 9-under 62, and gave himself another entry in the record book for all majors.
Schauffele seized on the rain-softened conditions at Valhalla with a bogey-free 62, the lowest round in PGA Championship history, and matched the PGA record for largest margin after 18 holes with a three-shot lead over Tony Finau, Sahith Theegala and Mark Hubbard.
Schauffele, a 30-year-old who oozes California chill, kept this one in perspective.
“It’s just one day,” he said. “Very happy with how I played. I can’t think much more of it. I have to tee it up tomorrow.”
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler saw Schauffele’s score and cared only about putting together a good round in his first competition since his son was born last week.
That he did, holing out with a 9-iron from 167 yards on the first hole for eagle, the highlight in a round of 67. Scheffler failed to birdie the par 5s on the back nine and had a few other mistakes that sent him to the range after his round, but otherwise felt OK about it.
“I felt like there was a couple things I can clean up going into tomorrow, but overall today was a solid round,” Scheffler said after his 41st consecutive round at par or better.
This was an easy day to keep that streak going. A record 64 players broke par. The previous record for the first round of a PGA was 60 sub-par rounds in 2006 at Medinah, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Even players who stumbled from the start had ample opportunity to turn it around.
Jon Rahm opened with four bogeys in six holes, threw a club in disgust on the 16th hole and still managed a 70 by making four birdies down the stretch. Collin Morikawa was 2 over through five holes, but he responded with three straight birdies and finished with a 65.
Even so, this was a special round. Schauffele one-putted 12 times — two of them for par that he considered crucial to his round — and he didn’t go more than one hole without a birdie until the very end when he finished par-par for the record.
The three-shot lead matches the 18-hole record held by Bobby Nichols in 1964 at Columbus (Ohio) Country Club and Raymond Floyd in 1982 at Southern Hills. Both went on to win.
Schauffele had plenty of attention, playing alongside Louisville native Justin Thomas and in the group ahead of Tiger Woods, who was followed by Rory McIlroy. Thomas rallied late for a 69 that required some perspective of his own.
“When you’re playing with one of the easiest 9 unders you’ve ever seen, it makes you feel like you’re shooting a million,” Thomas said.
Finau closed with four pars for his 65. Theegala had 65 by finishing with three straight birdies. Hubbard had three birdies over his last four holes to join them late in the afternoon.
McIlroy, back on the course where he won his last major 10 years ago, ran off three birdies late in his round for a 66 that left him in a large group that included Morikawa and Tom Kim.
“You knew there were a lot of birdies out there,” Morikawa said. “It played soft and the greens were pretty slow.”
Defending champion Brooks Koepka played his final three holes in 3 under for a 67, while Jordan Spieth bogeyed his last hole for a 69 in his bid for the final leg of the Grand Slam.
There had been 17 scores of 63 at the PGA Championship, most recently Koepka in the opening round at Bethpage Black in 2019. The list includes Jose Maria Olazabal at Valhalla in 2000 during the third round.
Schauffele had to get up-and-down from behind the green on the par-3 eighth to a front pin, a chip of 60 feet that was right in the jar until stopping 2 feet short. His two-putt par from about 30 feet on the ninth hole gave him the PGA record.
That makes four rounds of 62 in all the majors, and Schauffele has two of them. He and Rickie Fowler shot 62 in the first round of the US Open last year at Los Angeles Country Club (par 70), while Branden Grace shot 62 in the third round at Royal Birkdale in the 2017 British Open.
And then he began the 24-hour wait before his next shot on Friday afternoon.
“The greens will be a little bit bumpier with a lot of foot traffic coming through. Who knows with the weather — it might rain — so the course might be playing completely different,” Schauffele said. “Just going to bed knowing I’m playing some pretty good golf, might just wipe the slate clean.”
Good golf, indeed. Just no trophy since the summer of 2022.
Schauffele had a one-shot lead last week in the Wells Fargo Championship and McIlroy zoomed by him on the back nine with a 65 to win by five. He also had a one-shot lead going into the final round at The Players Championship until Scheffler shot 64 to win by one.
“I’ve just been playing some really solid golf,” he said. “Been having close calls. My team and I, we just say let’s keep chugging along.”
This felt like a sprint from when he hit 6-iron to a pin back and left on the par-3 11th to 2 feet, followed by a 15-foot par save on the 12th, one of the few times he was out of position. Schauffele birdied three of the last four holes on the back nine for a 31, and then he ran off three birdies in a four-hole stretch — no putt longer than 10 feet — on the front nine.
It was the perfect recipe for scoring — the sun above, soft turf below, not much wind, and greens still relatively smooth.
“You for sure know there’s going to be some holes there for the taking,” Finau said. “You’re going to hit some good shots. You’re going to have a lot of looks. That’s what you saw out there today. ... I think you can go on a run here with the conditions.
“And it’s going to make for a fun week.”
It was frustrating for Woods, who holed enough putts and hit enough good shots that he was 1 under going to the final three holes. But he failed to take advantage of the par-5 seventh, and then he three-putted for bogey on his final two holes for a 72. That marked the eighth straight round in which he failed to break par in a major.
“That wasn’t the way I like to finish off a round,” Woods said. “Long way to go, and we’ll see what happens.”
Where We Are Going Today: Armin restaurant in Riyadh
- Armenian cuisine is a blend of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Eastern European influences
RIYADH: Riyadh’s popular Armenian restaurant, Armin, takes visitors on a journey of authentic flavors with its heartwarming, aromatic and herby dishes.
Armenian cuisine is a blend of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Eastern European influences with ingredients such as rice, lamb and sumac.
Armin hits the taste nail on the head with a selection of Middle Eastern dishes featuring chicken and lamb kebabs, tabouleh, fattoush, vine leaves, and a popular eggplant dip, muttabal.
The menu provides guests with options aplenty, with vegetarian and omnivorous diners catered for, making it an ideal spot for dining out.
Upon arrival, guests are spoiled with freshly baked pita bread, perfect to plunge into their dipping of choice.
The best appetizer on the menu is the hummus with meat and topped off with crispy pine nuts, making a perfect combination of nutty flavors.
A must-have side dish is the spicy potato, cooked to perfection with a kick of spice and a touch of garlic and coriander.
The star main course is the shish barak, a traditional Armenian dish consisting of dumplings made with a thin dough wrapper and filled with flavorful beef or lamb with onions and a mix of spices.
Shish barak is boiled, unlike Chinese or Japanese dumplings, which are usually pan fried or steamed.
The only downside of the visit is cost — Armin’s prices are on the high side. But given its customer service and delicious food, it is a price worth paying. Although many dishes on Armin’s menu can be found in Middle Eastern restaurants for a fraction of the price, the quality of the ingredients here is unmatched.
Using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine must align with law, Japan says
TOKYO: Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Friday it is important that discussions will be aligned with international law when asked about a US proposal for using the interest derived from frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine.
“Japan plans to join the discussions at the upcoming Group of Seven meeting from this basic standpoint,” Suzuki said.
Senegalese prime minister criticizes French military bases on territory
- “I reiterate here the desire of Senegal to have its own control, which is incompatible with the lasting presence of foreign military bases in Senegal," PM Sonko said
- Neighbours Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have pushed out French troops and turned to Russia for help fighting jihadist insurgencies on their territory
DAKAR: Senegal’s prime minister Ousmane Sonko raised the possibility of closing French military bases in the West African country on Thursday in a wide-ranging speech that also touched on the euro-backed CFA franc currency, oil and gas deals and LGBTQ rights.
Sonko, a firebrand politician who gained power when his hand-picked presidential candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye won a decisive victory in March, is known for criticizing perceived overreach by France in its former colony.
France has about 350 troops in Senegal.
“More than 60 years after our independence ... we must question the reasons why the French army for example still benefits from several military bases in our country and the impact of this presence on our national sovereignty and our strategic autonomy,” Sonko said at a joint conference with the French left-wing politician Jean-Luc Melenchon in the capital Dakar.
“I reiterate here the desire of Senegal to have its own control, which is incompatible with the lasting presence of foreign military bases in Senegal ... Many countries have promised defense agreements, but this does not justify the fact that a third of the Dakar region is now occupied by foreign garrisons.”
Neighbours Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have pushed out French troops and turned to Russia for help fighting jihadist insurgencies on their territory.
They have also turned away from West African bloc ECOWAS — which condemned their coups — and formed their own alliance of Sahel states.
But Sonko had friendly words for them on Thursday.
“We will not let go of our brothers in the Sahel and we will do everything necessary to strengthen the ties,” he said.
He also said Senegal, which shares the euro-pegged CFA franc currency with seven countries, would like a flexible currency pegged to at least two currencies to help absorb shocks and support export competitiveness.
During the election campaign, Faye had initially pledged to abandon the CFA franc but later backed off his promise.
Sonko reiterated promises to renegotiate oil and gas contracts in Senegal, where production is due to begin this year.
He also called on Western countries to show “restraint, respect, reciprocity and tolerance” on social matters including LGBTQ rights and gender equality.
He said homosexuality had always existed in Senegal, but the country had “managed” it and would continue to do so according to its socio-cultural realities.
“Senegal and many other African countries cannot accept any truth in legalizing this phenomenon.”
