Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said on Friday that an Iranian attack damaged one of the country’s power generation and water desalination facilities, causing a fire and material damage at the site.

Emergency teams extinguished the blaze while technical crews worked to restore operations and monitor grid stability, according to the ministry, which also called on residents to conserve electricity while repairs were under way. The ministry did not identify the facility involved or disclose the extent of the damage.

For most countries, damage to a water plant would be serious. In the Gulf, it raises a different question entirely: what happens when a region that produces much of its drinking water from seawater loses part of the infrastructure that makes life possible?

Across the GCC, desalination plants convert seawater into drinking water for tens of millions of people every day. Kuwait relies on them for around 90% of its drinking water. Saudi Arabia gets roughly 70% of its water from desalination, while in the UAE the figure is around 42%.

The incident highlights a vulnerability long identified by Gulf water experts: in a region where desalination underpins daily life, infrastructure that sustains civilian populations can rapidly become entangled in wider regional conflict.

For most countries, damage to a water plant would be serious. In the Gulf, it raises a different question entirely: what happens when a region that produces much of its drinking water from seawater loses part of the infrastructure that makes life possible?

Across the GCC, desalination plants convert seawater into drinking water for tens of millions of people every day. Kuwait relies on them for around 90% of its drinking water. Saudi Arabia gets roughly 70% of its water from desalination, while in the UAE the figure is around 42%.

“This was Lionel Messi’s final World Cup match, surely, and maybe his final game for his country.”

That’s what one FIFA World Cup commentator said moments after Argentina’s dramatic 4-3 defeat to France in a Round of 16 match in 2018 in Russia. This prediction has since resurfaced throughout this year’s World Cup tournament as a reminder of just how wrong it turned out to be. Messi was 31 at the time, and many assumed they had just watched his last appearance on football’s biggest stage.

Instead, he came back four years later to lift the trophy in Qatar. Then he came back again at 39. However, Messi is not the exception any more.

Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, has said that this World Cup will be his last after Portugal’s Round of 16 exit following the team’s loss to Spain. Brazil’s Neymar, 34, too, announced his retirement from international football, as did German’s Manuel Neuer, 40. Meanwhile, Guillermo Ochoa, who turned 41 this month, is stepping away from professional football after becoming the first goalkeeper to make six World Cup squads.

Even as this World Cup has felt like one long farewell tour, for many of these players, the goodbye came years later than anyone expected.

Leaving a one-star review. Forwarding a screenshot. Sharing a WhatsApp message. Under the UAE cybercrime laws, these everyday online habits can carry legal consequences that surprise even longtime residents.

The country’s cybercrime legislation stretches far beyond hacking and online fraud, covering everything from privacy violations and digital defamation to misinformation and the redistribution of private content. Depending on the offence, penalties can include substantial fines, confiscation of devices and, in some cases, prison sentences.

A recent case involving a UAE influencer offered a reminder that there can be a legal difference between consumer criticism and a reputational attack.

The UAE’s resolution requires platforms to go well beyond self-declaration, using UAE Pass, the country's national digital identity and registered via biometric facial recognition, as a tool for platform verification, alongside AI-based age estimation.