NATO responsible for the current situation in Afghan
Putin said it is necessary to unfreeze Afghanistan’s assets so the country could begin to tackle urgent social and economic challenges…reports Asian Lite News
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) bears primary responsibility for the current situation in Afghanistan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
“While the participation of both China and Russia and other Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries is important, those countries that were fighting there (in Afghanistan) for 20 years bear primary responsibility for what is happening there,” Xinhua news agency quoted Putin as saying at the plenary session of the 18th annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi on Thursday.
The President said Moscow and Beijing will continue to work together with the aim of promoting dialogue with relevant structures in Afghanistan and ensuring the safety of both countries’ citizens.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: “We will continue to do this within the framework of the SCO by allocating the necessary resources and creating conditions so citizens of our countries feel safe, regardless of what is happening in Afghanistan.”
Putin said it is necessary to unfreeze Afghanistan’s assets so the country could begin to tackle urgent social and economic challenges.
The Kuwait International Airport is ready to operate at full capacity from Sunday…reports Asian Lite News
The airport will gradually operate commercial flights of all aviation companies in accordance with the government’s decision, Xinhua news agency quoted Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Director General Yousef Al-Fawzan, as saying.
The DGCA succeeded in operating under the challenges and requirements of the coronavirus pandemic crisis, he said, calling on airliners and passengers to abide by the Covid-19 safety restrictions needed to enter Kuwait.
The Kuwaiti government announced on Wednesday the start of the last phase of the five-phase plan for a gradual return to normal life, easing health restrictions in the country.
The plan is subject to discussions with the Indian authorities to finalise necessary approvals…reports Asian Lite News
Australia’s flag carrier Qantas on Friday announced its plans to launch a new route from Sydney to Delhi in December with three return flights per week, building to daily flights by end of the year.
The plan is subject to discussions with the Indian authorities to finalise necessary approvals, according to the company’s announcement on Friday.
Qantas to launch a new route from Sydney to Delhi
If approved, it would be the first commercial flight for Qantas between Australia and India in almost a decade, reports xinhua news agency.
The flights would initially operate until at least late March 2022, with a view to continuing if there is sufficient demand.
Flights from Sydney to Delhi would operate via Darwin, while flights from Delhi to Sydney would operate non-stop.
The new route is among an array of movements as Qantas and Jetstar gear up for accelerated border opening.
Qantas flights between Sydney to Singapore will resume on November 23 this year, four weeks earlier than scheduled, operating three days per week.
Jetstar will fly from Melbourne and Darwin to Singapore from December 16 this year.
Qantas flights between Sydney to Fiji will be brought forward to December 7 with four return flights a week. Jetstar flights to Fiji will resume on December 17.
Flights from Sydney to Johannesburg will resume on January 5, 2022, three months earlier than scheduled with three return flights a week.
Flights from Sydney to Bangkok will resume on January 14, 2022, more than two months earlier than scheduled with five return flights a week.
Jetstar will also resume flights from Sydney to Phuket on January 12, 2022, more than two months earlier than scheduled with three return flights a week.
Flights to Honolulu, Vancouver, Tokyo and New Zealand are still scheduled to commence from mid-December this year, with other destinations to restart in the new year.
Due to the current border policy, all these flights are limited to Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate families and parents, but Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said he expects tourists from Singapore, South Africa and India to take advantage of these flights once borders reopen to international visitors.
Delhi Airport
He also hailed the scraping of hotel quarantine for arrived international travellers by the state of New South Wales (NSW).
“The decision by the NSW government to join many cities from around the world by removing quarantine for fully vaccinated travelers means we’re able to add these flights from Sydney much earlier than we would have otherwise,” said Joyce.
For domestic routes, Qantas and Jetstar are also preparing to ramp up capacity between Melbourne and Sydney as quarantine-free travel is set to resume between Australia’s two largest cities.
With all these decisions, the group’s 22,000 employees, who were stood down in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, will be able to return to work in December.
“This is the best news we’ve had in almost two years and it will make a massive difference to thousands of our people who finally get to fly again,” Joyce said.
The simplified framework has three levels: green, orange and red. Vaccine certificates will provide greater freedom at each level…reports Asian Lite News
New Zealand on Friday outlined its fresh Covid-19 protection framework to deliver greater freedom for vaccinated citizens, which is more flexible than the current alert level system.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
The framework provides pathway out of lockdown and ability for businesses and events to re-open to vaccinated New Zealanders, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a press conference.
It is a “simpler framework” to minimize cases and hospitalisations without use of widespread lockdowns, Ardern said, adding Auckland, the largest city, will move into the new framework when 90 per cent of eligible population are fully vaccinated, reports Xinhua news agency.
Likewise, the rest of the country will move into the new system when 90 per cent of eligible population are fully vaccinated across all regions, she said.
The simplified framework has three levels: green, orange and red. Vaccine certificates will provide greater freedom at each level, Ardern said.
The new traffic light framework will allow businesses previously considered with high risk to fully open to vaccinated customers at green and orange, and continue to operate with some restrictions at red, she said, adding businesses that choose to open to the unvaccinated will face restrictions in order to suppress the virus amongst those most likely to have it.
Through this, vaccinated people will regain everyday freedoms when the country moves to the new framework that doesn’t rely on nationwide lockdowns as the main measure to stop the virus spreading, Ardern said, adding localized lockdowns will still be an option if a rapid growth in cases in areas occurs with high levels of unvaccinated people.
“Fully vaccinated people will be able to reconnect with family and friends, go to bars and restaurants and do the things they love with greater certainty and confidence,” she said.
The government is also providing up to NZ$940 million per fortnight to support businesses through the challenging period, particularly those in Auckland, and NZ$120 million are also being provided to accelerate the vaccination rate of the aboriginal Maoris in the coming weeks.
Yemen’s Houthi militia have claimed responsibility for launching five ballistic missiles at a military base in Saudi Arabia…reports Asian Lite News
“We fired five ballistic missiles at the headquarters, weapons depot and warplane hangars in Alwajib camp in Jizan city,” Houthi military spokesman Yehya Sarea was quoted by the militia’s al-Masirah TV as saying on Thursday night.
“The attack killed and wounded more than 35 Saudi soldiers and pilots,” Sarea claimed, adding “the attack was in response to the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on the group in Yemen”.
Earlier in the day, the Saudi-led coalition launched a series of airstrikes targeting Houthi militia’s positions in the capital Sanaa and the adjacent Marib Province.
Cross-border missile and drone attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis have escalated since February when the group began a major offensive against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government army to capture the oil-rich province of Marib.
Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of Sanaa.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in March 2015 to support Hadi’s government.
DUBAI, 21st October, 2021 (WAM) — Brazil is seeking the UAE’s collaboration in its projects to produce vaccines for the existing and future pandemics and other tropical diseases, a senior Brazilian official told Emirates News Agency (WAM).
“We are going to test the first Brazilian vaccine [against COVID-19] this month that can be [useful] for even future pandemics,” said Marco Pontes, Brazilian Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, who is on a working visit to the UAE.
In an exclusive interview with WAM in Dubai, the astronaut-turned minister said that Brazil has invested in 15 strategies [with 15 types of different technologies] for vaccines. Clinical trials of four of them are starting soon. One among them – an RNA messenger vaccine named RNA-MCTI-Cimatec-HDT – will have phase one and two clinical trials this month.
“I think they will be ready for production next year. Brazil will be one more player [in vaccine industry] to be able to help other countries. It is important for South America to have a country [in the continent] to provide vaccines for future pandemics as well,” Pontes said.
He added that Brazil will develop vaccines for diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever etc. that are prevalent in tropical countries, including Brazil.
Asked about Brazil’s potential collaboration with the UAE in such vaccine projects, the minister said, “For sure! This is one of the reasons I brought my team here now, not only to demonstrate what we are doing there in Brazil in several different areas, but also to try and get some partnership, collaboration or cooperation, especially with companies [in UAE] that want to work with Brazil.”
He pointed out that Brazil is a big country with more than 200 million people. “So it’s a big market. It’s a good opportunity for us and for other countries or investors that can invest in Brazil [in projects including vaccine research and production],” Pontes said.
Before becoming the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation of Brazil on 1st January 2019, he had an illustrious career as an astronaut.
Pontes is the only Brazilian to go to space and the first astronaut to officially represent a southern hemisphere country in a space expedition. He was a mission specialist on Centenary Mission in 2006, a partnership between the Brazilian and the Russian space agencies. He was responsible for the maintenance of spacecraft systems and execution of research projects, working 10 days at the International Space Station (ISS).
Pontes said Brazil is interested in forging collaboration in the UAE’s space projects. About the UAE’s announcement early this month about a new interplanetary mission to be launched in 2028, with the primary goal of exploring the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, the minister said, “I think this is wonderful. I went to the Space Agency here. I talked with some of the guys there and they are amazing. It’s really good to have more countries going ahead in space sector. I hope we can work together in some of those projects,” he said. Pontes added that students or researchers from both countries can work together.
Both countries can also work together in new and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, biotechnology and related sectors, he said.
A drone attack targeted a US base in the al-Tanf area in Syria..reports Asian Lite News
Multiple explosions rocked the US base late Wednesday night as a result of the attack, Xinhua news agency quoted SANA as sayonh without giving any other details.
Drone attack targets US base in Syria
Meanwhile, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the explosions, saying it was not yet clear whether the attack was carried out by pro-Iran militia or not.
It’s worth noting that Israel has carried out its recent attacks from over the al-Tanf area, targeting positions of pro-Iran fighters.
Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Egyptian Prime Minister, has received an Emirati delegation headed by Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs…reports Asian Lite News
Also present were Dr. Hala El Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, and Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Government Development and The Future.
Dr. Madbouly expressed his appreciation for the distinguished and effective Emirati participation in the “The Egypt Award for Government Excellence” in its second session, expressing his sincere greetings to the UAE leadership, government and people.
Egypt PM receives UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs
The Egyptian Prime Minister congratulated the UAE on its stead progress and development, which culminated recently in the launch of Expo 2020 Dubai, held under the slogan ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’.
For his part, Al Gergawi stressed that promoting Emirati-Egyptian relations is of paramount importance to the leaders of the two countries under the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan; His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai; His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, together with their brother, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.
Al Gergawi pointed out that the brotherly relations between the two countries cover many areas of cooperation in various sectors, foremost of which is government modernisation as a focal point that will enhance the effectiveness of government work and raise its ability to implement development plans and strategies, stressing the keenness of the Egyptian and Emirati sides to open new avenues for joint cooperation in this regard
He added that the UAE leadership believes in the importance of building an advanced model of Arab partnerships that contributes to supporting development efforts and enabling governments to keep pace with future requirements, develop frameworks on sustainable foundations, and thrive the human capabilities as the centre of any effort, initiative or project.
During the meeting, the developments of the strategic partnership in government modernisation between the government of the UAE and the government of Egypt were reviewed.
It is worth mentioning that the government of the UAE and that of Egypt signed in February 2018, a strategic partnership agreement in the areas of developing and modernising government work.
Slovak PM visits Dubai’s Smart Police Station at Expo 2020
Eduard Heger, Prime Minister of Slovakia, has recently visited the Dubai Smart Police Station (SPS) at Expo 2020…reports Asian Lite News
Eduard Heger, Prime Minister of Slovakia, has recently visited the Dubai Smart Police Station (SPS) at Expo 2020, which provides policing service to visitors of the global event round the clock and without human intervention.
Slovak PM visits Dubai’s Smart Police Station at Expo 2020
During the visit, Heger and the accompanying delegation were briefed on the self-service station, which enables customers to complete transactions smoothly and without visiting the traditional police stations or waiting in queues.
The SPS offers Expo 2020 visitors 27 key services, such as reporting crimes and traffic incidents, and 33 community-based services. They can also visit the SPS to obtain permits and certificates conveniently and easily communicate with officers who speak seven different languages through video calls.
Slovak PM visits Dubai’s Smart Police Station at Expo 2020
At the end of his visit, Heger commended the smart and innovative services provided by Dubai Police towards ensuring the safety, security and happiness of Expo 2020 visitors.
ABCC AND SRTIP explores innovation potentials between UAE and Brazil
Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) and Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park (SRTIP) have jointly organized ‘Brazil – UAE Business Seminar on Innovation’…reports Asian Lite News
The seminar focused on two major topics themed ‘Innovation Environment in Arab Countries and Brazil: Opportunities and Challenges’ and ‘Investments in Science, Technology and Innovation in Arab countries and Brazil: Opportunities and Challenges’.
The seminar kicked off in the presence of Marcos Pontes, Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation of Brazil; H.E. Hossein Mohamed Al Mahmoudi, CEO of Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park, H.E Fernando Igreja, Brazilian Ambassador to the UAE, Ms. Karen Jones, COO of APEX Brazil Office for the Middle East and North Africa and Osmar Chohfi, President, Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, attended the inaugural session of the seminar. The event was held to accelerate efforts aimed at developing a platform to nurture fruitful discussions between business leaders in the UAE and Brazil, where they can share insights and experiences on the latest developments in their business and support their respective business communities.
Osmar Chohfi, President of Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce said: “Innovation is integral to economic development, and fast-paced changes in digitalization is resulting in the advancement of ‘frontier technologies’ namely artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, biotechnology, and nanotechnology, all of which are vital for countries to achieve their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
The inaugural session of the seminar focused on both countries’ position in the scientific frontier, highlighting the role of knowledge production, technological developments, goods, and services. It further addressed the role of industries in digital transformation, perspectives on community participation, and how they can enhance businesses in the future. The agenda of the seminar also included delivering proposals and recommendations which can contribute to the acceleration of digital transformation and enhancement of services. The discussions focused largely on raising Brazil’s profile in foreign innovation ecosystems, identifying partnerships, attracting investments, supporting the internationalization of startups, supporting the mobilization of the Brazilian scientific diaspora abroad and fostering the collaboration between Brazilian and UAE technology parks and innovation environments.
OSMAR CHOHFI, PRESIDENT OF ARAB BRAZILIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: “Through this seminar, we aim to stimulate the growth of new industries and services that produce jobs and contribute to human development, and to set strategic research and innovation plans to take on emerging challenges. We aim to continue strengthening our strategic relations with the UAE which enjoys a strong bond of close economic cooperation, cultural ties and robust trade relations. It is worth noting that both countries are actively pursuing sustainable development based on technology and innovation. ABCC is at the forefront in supporting both countries’ goals.”
One of ABCC’s latest initiatives in innovation include the ABCC Lab, an innovation ecosystem where Brazilian and Arab startups are encouraged to seek solutions of interest to both regions. It has also developed the “Ellos business platform” and “Easy Trade”, a fraud-resistant, blockchain model which is a real revolution in customs clearance. It has contributed effectively in efforts to advance a smarter, more sustainable and modern bilateral trade between Brazil and the Arab countries.
