Sheikh Mishal Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah took oath before the National Assembly on Thursday as Kuwait’s Crown Prince, Kuwait News Agency, KUNA, reported.
“I swear by Almighty Allah to respect the Constitution and the laws of the State, to defend the liberties, interests and properties of the people and to safeguard the independence and territorial integrity of the country and be loyal to the Amir,” Sheikh Mishal said.
Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah officially named Sheikh Mishal as Crown Prince.
Sheikh Nawaf succeeded the late Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah who passed away on September 29th.
The emergency relief fund has been rolled out by Sharjah in collaboration with the Sharjah World Book Capital Office 2019 (SWBC Office) and the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA)…Reports Asian Lite News
Sharjah has announced an emergency relief fund for Lebanese publishers affected by the tragic blast in Port Beirut in early August.It was a part of an act of solidarity with its UNESCO World Book Capital peer
The emergency relief fund has been rolled out by Sharjah in collaboration with the Sharjah World Book Capital Office 2019 (SWBC Office) and the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), and will translate into both financial and in-kind assistance to help Lebanese publishers recover the huge losses they have suffered in the aftermath of this tragedy and bounce back into business.
To this end, SWBC Office has designed a support fund of AED 200,000 split into two grants. The first grant has been directed towards aiding the hosting of the next edition of the Beirut International Book Fair. The grant aims to reduce the event’s logistical expenses to facilitate the participation of the bookmakers in one of the oldest book fairs in the Arab world.
The second grant has been set aside for Lebanese publishers who have suffered great losses due to a dip in their sales exacerbated by the cancellation or postponement of Arab book fairs and exhibitions. The Sharjah Book Authority will be forming a committee, which will assess the publishers’ eligibility for these grants and will get in touch with them directly. Lebanese publishers who want to avail this grant may contact the committee at grant@sibf.com.
SBA has also announced that its subsidiary, the Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone (SPCFZ), will offer Lebanese publishers interested in regional or global expansion exemption from setup fees for an entire year. Twenty furnished offices are also part of SBA’s support. Interested applicants can get in touch with SPCFZ by writing to info@spcfz.com.
Moreover, SWBC Office is restoring and renewing three public libraries managed by the Assabil Association, which were damaged in the Beirut explosion. This includes the internal and external restoration of the Mono Library; upgradation of equipment in Al Bashura and Al Jeitawi libraries; as well as the provision of institutional support to Assabil, a non-governmental organisation established in 1997 to promote public libraries in Lebanon that are free and open to all.
Supporting the Arab world’s publishing sector is one of our top priorities at SWBCO and a pillar on which the celebrations of the title began on. Publishers are the core of the book industry, and providing support will reflect positively on the cultural movement and help attract more investment into the cultural sector locally and internationally. said Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Vice President of the International Publishers Association (IPA) and Head of the Advisory Committee of Sharjah World Book Capital (SWBC),
In a joint statement, the Ministers highlighted the role of tourism as a means to achieve sustainable socio-economic development…Reports Asian Lite News
G20 Tourism Ministers held a meeting where they discussed a revival plan for the tourism sector, one of the worst-hit by the global coronavirus pandemic, it was reported on Thursday.
The virtual meeting on Wednesday was chaired by Saudi Arabia, which holds the presidency of the G20 this year.
In a joint statement, the Ministers said that during the meeting, they highlighted the role of tourism as a means to achieve sustainable socio-economic development; promoted recovery of the travel and tourism sector and realize its potential to drive faster economic recovery post health crisis; and further develop the sector as a key and resilient industry, contributing to the global economy and generating decent work.
Due to the pandemic, the tourism sector suffered severe setbacks, after many countries banned international travel or imposed other restrictions.
The global health crisis led to anticipated 60-80 per cent decline in international tourism in 2020.
Last year, the sector had contributed to 10.3 per cent of the world’s GDP, 330 million jobs and also accounted for 28 per cent of global service exports.
The Ministers also pledged to work together to “support those most impacted by the crisis within the sector, including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and developing economies that rely on travel and tourism, especially in Africa and small island states”, the statement said.
They also welcomed the progress that has been made in tourism initiatives during the Saudi Arabia’s tenure, “including global commitments made in response to the pandemic, the progression of inclusive community development through tourism, and the advancement of safe travel”
Jordan’s King Abdullah has appointed Bisher Al-Khasawneh, a royal palace adviser, as the country’s new Prime Minister. This move follows former PM Omar Razzaz’s resignation from the post.
Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, the Royal Hashemite Court said: “His Majesty King Abdullah II tasks Bisher Khasawneh with forming a new Cabinet.” the Amman-based Roya News reported.
According to the palace, Al-Khasawneh, also a former Minister of Foreign Affairs and a top envoy, will now oversee the upcoming parliamentary elections on November 10.
Wednesday’s development comes after the Monarch accepted the outgoing Prime Minister’s resignation on October 3.
On September 27, King Abdullah had dissolved the House of Representatives paving the way for the upcoming polls.
The House of Representatives or the lower House comprises 130 seats, of which 115 members are elected by an open list proportional representation from 23 constituencies of between three and nine seats in size and 15 seats reserved for women.
Nine of the 115 proportional representation seats are reserved for the Christian minority, with another three reserved for the Chechen and Circassian minorities.
Sultan Haitham bin Tariq bin Taimour al-Said, the Monarch of Oman.
The European Union (EU) has welcomed the Sultanate of Oman’s decision to share taxation data with the European body. Oman has implemented amendments to its laws allowing automatic exchange of information in the filed of taxation, as well as the Sultanate’s completing procedures related to the activation of information exchange with the EU.
The Sultanate recently undertook various measures related to international cooperation in the field of taxation, including the issuance of a Royal Decree in this regard.
The Sultanate has also joined the General Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting.
The Sultanate also joined the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax and signed a set of multilateral agreements supervised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the most important of which is the Multinational Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related to Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne.
“Canada continues to be concerned by the ongoing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting in shelling of communities and civilian casualties said Champagne …Reports Asian Lite News
Canada has suspended its arms export permits to Turkey after it was claimed that Ankara was using drone-sensor technology created by an Ontario company in the fight between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“In line with Canada’s robust export control regime and due to the ongoing hostilities, I have suspended the relevant export permits to Turkey, so as to allow time to further assess the situation. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said on Monday
“Canada continues to be concerned by the ongoing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting in shelling of communities and civilian casualties.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Champagne has also ordered a probe into a claim by Canadian peace research institute Project Ploughshares that it had evidence a Canadian-developed sensor technology was being used in Turkish military drones, CTV News reported.
Ploughshares researcher Kelsey Gallagher told CTV News the decision showed that “Canada’s arms control regime is working how it should”.
“These arms have posed a risk in Turkish hands for some time now and really should have tripped Canada’s risk assessment a long time ago, this is kind of overdue,” he added.
Also in a briefing on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he has asked Champagne to travel to Europe to work with allies on the “developments in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, particularly in Nagorno-Karabakh”.
Canada prime minister Justin Trudeau.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory, is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but but mostly governed by the Republic of Artsakh, a de facto independent state with an Armenian ethnic majority.
Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war over the region in 1988-94, eventually declaring a ceasefire. However, a settlement was never reached.
The current fighting is the worst seen since the ceasefire and the two former Soviet republics have been blaming each other.
Earlier this week, Armenia said it stood “ready to engage” with mediators from France, Russia and the US to try to agree a ceasefire.
But Azerbaijan, which is openly backed by Turkey, has demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas seized by ethnic Armenian troops, the BBC reported.
Since the latest conflict erupted on September 27, Nagorno-Karabakh authorities have confirmed that 201 of their personnel and a number of civilians have died.
Azerbaijan has said that 22 civilians were killed, but did not provide information about military casualties.
Jerusalem, Sept. 13, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a briefing on COVID-19 pandemic in Israel at his office in Jerusalem, on Sept. 13, 2020. Israel will reimpose a nationwide lockdown for three weeks, beginning on Friday, to slow a rapid resurgence of coronavirus infections, the government decided on Sunday. (Yoav Dudkevitch/JINI via Xinhua/IANS)
His remarks came after the coronavirus cabinet convened a meeting on Monday to discuss the pandemic situation in the country…Reports Asian Lite News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that although the country has witnessed a drop in Covid-19 infections, it was still “too early” to ease the ongoing three-week anti-coronavirus lockdown.
His remarks came after the coronavirus cabinet convened a meeting on Monday to discuss the pandemic situation in the country, The Times of Israel reported.
In a video posted on Twitter, the Prime Minister said that “it’s too early to say if it will hold”, as experts have recommended about a week’s wait to see if the trend continued.
He added that while Israel was the first to impose a second complete lockdown, many European countries were preparing to follow suit.
In the meeting, the Cabinet did not make any changes to the ongoing curbs and is slated to meet on October 12 to review the state of the pandemic.
Also on Monday, Defence Minister Benny Gantz said: “If the morbidity rate continues to decrease, we will work to reduce the restrictions, open businesses that do not receive customers, and open early childhood education.”
On Monday, Israel reported less than 3,000 single-day cases registered the previous day, according to the Health Ministry.
However, the Israel Defense Forces’ Coronavirus National Information and Knowledge Center said that the positive test rate was still relatively high, at around 11-12 per cent, The Times of Israel reported.
“A much wider scope of morbidity than actually detected,” it said, adding that more time was needed to see if there was an actual downward trend.
Israel has so far reported more than 272,000 coronavirus cases, with 1,757 deaths.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (Xinhua/SANA) (syq)
Oman has sent an ambassador to Syria, becoming the first Gulf Arab state to do so after they downgraded or shut missions in Damascus in 2012 over attacks by the government there on protests at the start of the war, reports Arab News.
Oman is one of the rare Arab countries that kept diplomatic relations with the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad after the 2011 uprising, despite pressure from the United States and other Gulf allies.
Syria’s foreign minister on Sunday accepted the credentials of Oman’s Ambassador Turki bin Mahmood Al-Busaidy, appointed to the post in a royal decree in March, state news agency ONA said.
Some Arab states are seeking reconciliation with Damascus after decisive gains by pro-government forces in the conflict, aiming to expand their clout in Syria at the expense of non-Arab Turkey and Iran, who have backed Assad.
Israel, which generally avoids public criticism of Turkey, lashed out at Istanbul for disrupting peace efforts and asked NATO members to rein it in…Reports Asian Lite News
Saudi Arabia has blamed Turkey for hostility towards its leadership and asked citizens to boycott everything Turkish after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Arab countries of destabilising the region.
Israel, which generally avoids public criticism of Turkey, lashed out at Istanbul for disrupting peace efforts and asked NATO members to rein it in.
Saudi Arabia’s Chamber of Commerce head Ajlan Al Ajlan on Saturday tweeted,”The boycott of everything Turkish, whether on the level of import, investment or tourism, is the responsibility of every Saudi – trader and consumer – in response to the continued hostility of the Turkish government against our leadership, our country and our citizens.”
Erdogan had recently blamed the Arab countries for instability in the Middle East. Though Turkey has had diplomatic relations with Israel for decades, Erdogan condemned the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain’s decision to normalise ties with Israel.
File photo of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud who attended the first League of Arab States (LAS)-EU Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Feb. 24, 2019. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa/IANS)
During his recent address to the Turkish General Assembly, Erdogan also took a dig at the Arab countries saying, “It should not be forgotten that the countries in question did not exist yesterday, and probably will not exist tomorrow; however, we will continue to keep our flag flying in this region forever, with the permission of Allah.”
In the meantime, Israel’s defence minister blasted Turkey on Sunday for working against its peacemaking efforts.
Media reports said that Defence Minister Benny Gantz, while talking to Gulf Arab media, described Turkey and Iran as “denying promotion of peace and supporting regional aggression”.
Gantz pointed out Turkey’s disruptive actions in northern Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean, intervention in Libya and links to Hamas terror group.
“All of this pushes away from stability,” he said adding, “Definitely the question of Turkey is a very complicated one, because Turkey is part of NATO,” Gantz told a virtual conference organised by The Arab Council for Regional Integration, a group that encourages Israeli-Arab outreach.
“So we must take all the options that we have in our hands and try to influence it through international pressure to make sure that they are pulling their hands from direct terrorism.”
The peace deals between Gulf states and Israel have disappointed the Palestinians, who have been demanding statehood in the West Bank and Gaza. The US and Israel believe the peace deals with the UAE and Bahrain could lead to the fulfilment of a peace deal for with Palestine as well.
