The power and water sectors are experiencing a massive boom in Saudi Arabia, said Deputy Minister for Water Affairs Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Saud. “The Kingdom is set to invest SR500 billion in these vital utility sectors in the next 10 years,” he said.
Speaking at the opening of the 8th Water, Electricity and Power Generation Forum and Exhibition (WEPower 2012) in Dhahran yesterday, Al-Saud said the government had plans to implement a number of water projects by 2022 at a total cost of SR200 billion. “Power projects in the coming 10 years will be worth SR300 billion.”
Al-Saud estimated the annual increase in demand for water at seven to eight percent. “It is one of the highest rates in world,” he said. “We have a project named after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah which makes good use of renewable energy for running desalination plants,” he said.

Two people were killed when fighting erupted overnight in the Lebanese city of Tripoli between members of the Alawite minority loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and members of the Sunni majority, witnesses and security officials said on Sunday.
Rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles were used in the fighting in an Alawite enclave and surrounding Sunni neighborhoods in the port city, 70 km (44 miles) north of Beirut.
“The clashes peaked at dawn. The sound of gunfire is still echoing in the city,” a Lebanese security official said.
The fighting underlines how sectarian tensions in Syria could spill over to neighboring Lebanon.

An exiled Iranian opposition group said on Saturday that Iran has some 60 scientists and engineers involved in a concerted and expanding program to develop nuclear weapons under defense ministry auspices.

However, diplomats say the National Council of Resistance of Iran has had a spotty record with allegations about Iran’s nuclear work since exposing a secret uranium enrichment plant at Natanz in 2002. A top US nuclear expert said the NCRI report, like previous ones, should be treated with great skepticism.

HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani yesterday hosted a luncheon banquet in honour of players, technical and administrative staff of Al Gharafa Club, winners of HH the Emir’s Cup,  and of runner-up Al Sadd Club, as well as representatives of the Cup’s sponsoring companies and a number of media men. HH the Emir’s Personal Representative, HH Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, attended the banquet at the Emiri Diwan

Energy City Qatar Holding Company will be restructured through an “internal IPO” valued at $202mn, led by some 180 investors, including many from Qatar.
The company, at its ordinary and extraordinary general assembly in Doha yesterday, elected a new board of directors with Rashid Nasser Sareyea al- Kaabi as chairman.
Energy City Qatar Holding Company will implement the $3bn Energy City - Qatar at Lusail, which will be the Gulf region’s first oil and gas industry hub.

Facebook has long faced criticism for being too focused on the Web and neglecting its mobile products. On Wednesday, the social network shed more light on its mobile problems in an update to its IPO filing.

A growing number of users are accessing Facebook on mobile devices, where the company doesn't "generate any meaningful revenue." Facebook's tally of daily active users is increasing faster than the number of ads served.

If you're traveling abroad, your laptop could be attacked. That much, is certain, according to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, which warned this week that hackers are "targeting travelers abroad through pop-up windows while establishing an internet connection in their hotel rooms."

The warning comes from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, or the IC3. But it lacks so many key details that security experts wonder if it's of any use. It doesn't say where these attacks have occurred, how prevalent they are, or how exactly they work.

Miami Heat forward LeBron James was named on Saturday as the National Basketball Association’s Most Valuable Player for the 2011-12 season.
It was the third time in four years that the 27-year-old James had won the game’s most prestigious individual award, elevating him to one of the sport’s greatest players.
Only seven other players - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Moses Malone - have won the trophy at least three times.
Abdul-Jabbar holds the record for six MVP wins, one ahead of Jordan and Russell.

“I never dreamt about being an NBA Most Valuable Player,” an emotional James said in a presentation in Miami broadcast live on national television.

Roger Federer matched Rafa Nadal's record of 20 Masters titles when he fought back from a set down to beat Tomas Berdych 3-6 7-5 7-5 in a gripping Madrid Open final yesterday.
The Swiss maestro, who will also climb above his great rival Nadal to No. 2 in the world when the rankings are updated, secured his fourth title of the season with a gritty display on the blue clay at the futuristic Magic Box arena.
Czech sixth seed Berdych made the stronger start and a break of the Federer serve in the second game was enough to settle an otherwise desperately tight first set.
The crowd sweltering in the Madrid heat tried their best to lift the hugely-popular Federer, champion in 2006 and 2009, and he responded with two breaks of serve in the second set that helped him level the match.

A gunman shot dead a top member of the Afghan peace council Sunday at a traffic intersection in the nation’s capital, police said. The assassination strikes another blow to efforts to negotiate a political resolution to the decade-long war.
Arsala Rahmani, a former Taleban official turned Afghan peace negotiator, was in his vehicle when he was killed by an unknown attacker in another vehicle in western Kabul, according to Mohammad Zahir, head of the city police’s criminal investigation division.
The Taleban denied responsibility for the killing, although they had earlier indicated that they would target peace negotiators.
Rahmani was one of about 70 influential Afghans and former Taleban appointed by President Hamid Karzai to try to convince insurgent leaders to reconcile with the government.