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It made me pause and echo on how different things were during my high school years in the UAE when news broke out on the current crisis.The Board exam season was intense and when we
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For Dr Vahid Suljic, the meaning of safety, stability, and human dignity is not an abstract concept, it is something he understands through lived experience. A survivor of the Srebrenica genocide, the worst atrocity in Europe since the Second World War, in which Serb forces systematically killed more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys over several days, Dr Suljic knows what it means to lose everything. During those tragic days, he lost half of his family members. “During the war, our childhood had only one purpose, survival,” Dr Suljic recalls. “We were children, but we were surrounded by fear and loss. Many of us grew up without the sense of safety that every child deserves.” Today, after more than two decades of living in Qatar, he says the country has given him something priceless in return: security, opportunity, and a place he proudly calls home. Earlier, his life took a remarkable turn when he arrived in Qatar as an international student, supported by a scholarship made possible through the vision and generosity of the Father Amir, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. “That opportunity changed my life forever,” he said. “Coming to Qatar opened the door to education, knowledge, and opportunity. I will always remain deeply grateful to Qatar and to its leadership for giving young people like me the chance to rebuild our lives.” Over the past 20 years, Dr Suljic has built his life in Qatar through education, professional work, and community engagement. But beyond personal success, he says what stands out most is the culture of care, organisation, and stability that defines the country. “Qatar is a country where people feel protected,” he said. “The leadership, institutions, and society work together to create an environment where citizens and residents alike can live with dignity and confidence.” Dr Suljic has also dedicated himself to supporting the student community. He is the founder of @Students_Qatar, one of the country’s largest student-focused platforms, which today connects more than 145,000 followers. Through the platform, he shares daily educational resources, scholarship opportunities, career guidance, and well-being support, helping thousands of students navigate their academic journeys in Qatar. “Education transformed my life, and I believe in giving back,” he said. “Students_Qatar exists to support students and highlight the incredible opportunities available in Qatar’s education system.” Having lived in the country for more than two decades, Dr Suljic says he has witnessed how Qatar’s leadership has built a nation recognised globally for its vision, stability, and commitment to human development. From world-class universities and healthcare to modern infrastructure and strong institutions, he says Qatar has created an environment where people from across the world can live, learn, and contribute with confidence. “Qatar has shown the world that progress can go hand in hand with compassion,” he said. “The country’s leadership has built a system where people feel valued and supported.” Reflecting on the current tensions in the Gulf region, Dr Suljic emphasised that the Bosnian community in Qatar remains calm, confident, and deeply loyal to the country that welcomed them. “We are not leaving Qatar, we are staying,” he said firmly. “This country gave us safety when we needed it most. It gave us opportunities, stability, and a future. Standing with Qatar is not a question for us, it is something we do with pride.” He added that residents continue to feel reassured because of Qatar’s strong institutions, professional security forces, and highly organised governance. “We feel safe in Qatar,” he said. “Even when the region faces challenges, the country demonstrates its ability to protect everyone who lives here. That sense of security is something we never take for granted.” Dr Suljic also praised Qatar’s internationally respected role as a nation of dialogue and diplomacy, expressing confidence that the country will continue contributing to regional stability and peaceful solutions. “Qatar has become a global symbol of constructive diplomacy,” he said. “Its leadership believes in dialogue, co-operation, and building bridges. These values inspire confidence among people who live here.” He expressed heartfelt gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, whose leadership he says continues to strengthen Qatar’s reputation as a country that protects and empowers people. “We are deeply thankful to His Highness Sheikh Tamim, to the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and to all Qatari institutions for everything they do,” he said. “Their vision and dedication have created a country where millions of people from different nations live together peacefully.” For Dr Suljic, who once experienced war and displacement as a child, the peace he has found in Qatar carries a profound meaning. “When you have lived through conflict, you understand the true value of safety,” he said. “In Qatar, people from many nationalities live side by side with respect and opportunity. That is something extraordinary.” And for him, and for many members of the Bosnian community, the message is clear: “Qatar welcomed us, protected us, and gave us the chance to rebuild our lives,” he said. “That is why today we proudly say: we stand with Qatar, we feel safe here, and Qatar will always be our home.”
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Asia’s energy-importing economies are scrambling to contain the impact of a widening Middle East war that has upended oil and gas markets and is now battering ordinary buyers. Oil and gas markets have been rocked by disruption to supply out of the Arabian Gulf. Prices of both commodities have jumped as the US and Israel continue to strike Iran, and the Islamic Republic retaliates with missiles and drones across the Middle East. On Monday, oil prices topped $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022, when they spiked in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Strait of Hormuz, which is in near-paralysis now, is a chokepoint for the bulk of oil exports from the Gulf. Almost 90% of the crude and condensate transported through the waterway last year went to Asia. During an emergency meeting on Monday, South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung became the latest to call for a swift cap on fuel prices. Taiwan, which also depends almost entirely on energy imports, has already set a weekly limit on oil-price increases, while Japan’s prime minister has said the country is examining measures to ensure gasoline prices do not exceed acceptable levels. South Asia’s price-sensitive buyers are among the worst hit. At least one province in Pakistan has curbed civil servants’ travel and the government has directed officials to draw up an austerity and savings plan within 48 hours. India has benefited from a US waiver providing access to Russian crude, but has struggled to alleviate pressure in liquefied petroleum gas, used for cooking, and liquefied natural gas, used from power production to manufacturing. The historic energy crunch has left some countries, including South Korea, to consider the option of drawing on petroleum reserves. Japanese refiners have also asked for such a measure. Group of Seven nations are preparing scenarios for the release of emergency oil stockpiles. Such co-ordinated drawdowns are rare, though there were two in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Asia’s governments will have to stretch their budgets or risk unleashing an inflation shock as the deepening conflict in the Middle East pushes oil prices past $100 a barrel. That could raise new credit risks for emerging markets, warned Fitch Ratings, as higher oil prices bloat subsidy and import bills and disrupt remittances, tourism and investment flows. It tagged India and the Philippines as among the most at risk, with net fossil fuel imports exceeding 3% of their gross domestic product. According to Fitch, the strain is most acute in countries with thin financing buffers or wide current account deficits, such as Pakistan, and in economies that subsidise fuel. Tourism and remittance flows from the Gulf — a critical source of foreign inflows for South Asia — also face disruption risks. Surging oil prices following the Iran war are expected to impact China less than in past years as the country has built large crude stockpiles and diversified its energy sources, including renewables. Oil tumbled yesterday after US President Donald Trump said the Iran war will end soon, while the conflict continues to disrupt crude production and refining in the Middle East. Still, prices remain up by more than 50% this year as fears a conflict would hinder supplies from the Middle East increasingly materialise. A sustained increase in energy costs could trigger a surge in inflation and squeeze economic growth, raising fears of stagflation. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday a 10% rise in oil prices, if persistent through most of the year, would result in a 40-basis-point increase in global inflation. An inflation shock triggered by the US-Israel attack on Iran could wreck a fragile global economic recovery that had been expected to gain momentum this year.
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Faced with soaring prices and disruptions to their oil and gas supplies, Asian countries heavily dependent on fossil fuels from the war-struck Gulf are moving to protect their domestic markets. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has said the manufacturing powerhouse, the world’s eighth-largest consumer of crude oil, is moving towards instituting fuel price caps to alleviate pressure on the country’s energy supply. “We should swiftly introduce and decisively implement a price ceiling system for petroleum products that have recently seen excessive price increases,” he told a Monday cabinet meeting. His chief of staff said Friday the country had already secured the “emergency delivery” of 4mn barrels of crude oil from ports in the United Arab Emirates. Vietnam has prepared a draft decree that would slash import tax rates to zero on certain petroleum products in a bid to “stabilise the domestic market”, its finance ministry has said. Current tariffs of 10 percent on unleaded petrol and 7% on diesel, aviation fuel and kerosene would all be temporarily removed under the decree. According to Japanese news agency Kyodo, Tokyo is considering drawing on its national oil reserves to protect itself against possible prolonged supply disruptions — a measure being demanded by the country’s refiners. The government said last week that Japan had stocks equivalent to 254 days of crude oil consumption — including reserves held by the private sector — and three weeks of liquefied natural gas (LNG) consumption. Government departments in the Philippines, a country heavily dependent on oil imports, began adopting a four-day working week Monday to cope with soaring fuel prices. President Ferdinand Marcos has also ordered all government agencies to reduce their fuel and electricity consumption by 10 to 20 percent, while police have warned against hoarding as queues were seen forming at some petrol stations. India has been pushing ahead with imports of Russian oil, after the United States issued a temporary waiver allowing New Delhi to buy Moscow’s oil if it was currently stranded at sea. An Indian government source, however, said that New Delhi does not need any country’s permission to source the fuel from Russia, its largest crude supplier.The source also said India was “well stocked” with more than 250mn barrels of crude and petroleum products to “handle short-term disruptions”. Taiwan, a country dominated by the tech industry and highly dependent on hydrocarbon imports, is moving swiftly to compensate for missing LNG from Qatar. “We need to organise the supply of about 22 shipments of LNG for March and April,” economic affairs minister Kung Ming-hsin said Monday, while noting 20 of those shipments had already been secured. The government was also seeking to keep prices “as stable as possible” for consumers via “a fuel pricing formula” that would take into account neighbouring markets, he said. According to financial outlet Bloomberg News, China, the world’s second-biggest economy, has asked its main refiners to suspend exports of diesel and gasoline to prioritise domestic needs. The Middle East accounted for about 57% of China’s direct imports of crude transported by sea in 2025, according to the analysis firm Kpler. Indonesia, under pressure due to a fiscal policy that worries the markets, warned of the limits of its room for manoeuvre. “If the budget can no longer cope with (oil price increases), there is no other solution than to share... the burden with the population,” Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said Friday. “This means that fuel prices will have to rise and the budget can no longer support” increased energy subsidies, he said. Cambodia’s commerce ministry set retail fuel prices higher for a three-day period to Tuesday, noting the increase was due to the spike in global oil prices. The Southeast Asian country, which relies completely on imported diesel and petroleum for its consumer fuel needs, has enough reserves to last for about three weeks, its energy minister has said. Thailand said last week it had secured two months’ worth of oil supplies but was suspending exports to conserve its holdings. The government also capped the price of diesel at just under 30 baht ($0.94) per litre for a 15-day period.
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Destruction is seen at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the airport road that goes through Beirut’s southern suburbs. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel
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Netflix, the big OTT streamer, has acquired award-winning Hollywood actor-director Ben Aflleck’s InterPositive, set up in 2022, which will enable film production processes with the use of AI technology. The terms of the deal are
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Radhika Sanghani, The Independent“I used to compare prices obsessively,” says Annie Robinson, 39, reflecting on her past. “Money was just for survival and rent. If friends asked me to go to a live music show,
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Louis Chilton, The IndependentFor a moment, I’m worried I’ve offended one of our greatest living country artists. Emmylou Harris has hung up on me, less than a minute into our call. A moment later, though,
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Annabel Nugent, The IndependentIn Britain, free entry to most museums and galleries is a point of national pride, up there with the NHS, properly brewed cups of tea and David Attenborough. But the fact is,
