LONDON (13 October 2014)—Increasing access to modern forms of energy is crucial to unlocking faster economic and social development in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Africa Energy Outlook, a special report in the 2014 World Energy Outlook series. More than 620 million people in the region (two-thirds of the population) live without electricity, and nearly 730 million people rely on dangerous, inefficient forms of cooking.

(13 October 2014)—Between 2 and 7 October, the Haj 1435 H pilgrimage drew more than 3 million pilgrims to the holy quarter of Mashaer in Mecca.

Extensive preparation was required in order to deliver services to this location, which is a desert for the rest of the year. Saur helped to distribute clean drinking water and sanitation, both essential services for the pilgrims from both a ritual standpoint as well as for health and hygiene.

DUBAI (13 October 2014)—Petrochemical companies in the United Arab Emirates employed 38,100 people in 2013, according to new data from the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA). The country is now the GCC’s second largest petrochemicals hubs in terms of employment, accounting for 26 percent of the Gulf’s total chemical workforce.

The UAE manufactures an estimated US$11 billion worth of chemical products, including plastic and fertilizers.

SAN FRANSISCO (Oct. 13, 2014) – Elected officials and senior water officials from San Francisco, San Mateo County, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA) celebrated the first Hetch Hetchy drinking water deliveries through the new Bay Tunnel on Oct. 15.