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Riyadh, Secretary General of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology (Etidal) Mansour Alshammari received here today President of the Iraqi Defense University for Higher Studies Lieutenant General Saad Mazhar and the accompanying delegation.
Discussions during the meeting included issues of mutual interest and means to enhance cooperation in combating extremist ideology.
Source: Saudi Press Agency
Chevening, Dr. Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), met here yesterday with UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
During the meeting, they discussed the importance of strengthening relations of bilateral cooperation and friendship between the GCC countries and the UK in various fields, including political dialogue, security, foreign policy, trade, investment and development. They also discussed the latest developments of the regional and international issues of common interest, particularly with regard to promoting regional security and stability.
Source: Saudi Press Agency
Dubai, Saudi Deputy Minister of Culture Hamed bin Mohammed Fayez has met with Tunisian Minister of Cultural Affairs Dr. Hayat Guermazi, during his visit to the UAE to participate in the 22nd Conference of Ministers Responsible for Cultural Affairs in the Arab World and Al-Burdah Festival on behalf of Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, the Minister of Culture.
During the meeting, both sides discussed means to enhance cultural cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Tunisia in several cultural fields, including heritage, antiquities and traditional arts.
The Deputy Minister of Culture highlighted the importance of culture in further boosting brotherly ties between the Saudi and Tunisian peoples, stressing the keenness of the Ministry of Culture to develop joint cultural action to serve the interests of the Arab culture.
Source: Saudi Press Agency
Riyadh, Saudi Stock Exchange’s main index ended trading higher here today, losing 90.80 points to close, at 11261.28 points.
The total value of the trading reported was SAR 5.5 billion, while the toll of shares traded was 142 million, divided into over 290,000 deals.
The Saudi Parallel Equity Market Index (NOMU) ended the day losing 220.89 points, to close at 27156.16 points, with a valuation of SAR 116 million and an overall tally of more than 830,000 stocks traded and divided into as many as 4563 deals.
Source: Saudi Press Agency
PORT-UA-PRINCE, HAITI — More than a dozen people severely injured in a gas truck explosion last week have died, raising the total number of deaths to 90, the deputy mayor of Cap-Haitien, the city in Haiti where the tragedy occurred, said Monday.
The count is “still unfortunately incomplete” due to severe injuries suffered by those still hospitalized, said Patrick Almonor.
The previous tally released last Wednesday by Haitian authorities stood at 75 deaths with 47 victims severely burned.
According to Almonor, during the night of December 13, the driver of the gas truck lost control when he swerved to avoid a motor-taxi, and subsequently overturned. Residents tried to collect the spilled fuel, which then exploded.
On Tuesday, national funerals will be observed in the city’s main cathedral, but only 25 caskets will be set up. The majority of the victims were buried shortly afterward in a mass grave in Cap-Haitien.
In a country plagued by natural disasters and political instability, more than 60% of Haiti’s 11 million inhabitants live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.
Fuel shortages have been a frequent occurrence in recent years, with authorities regularly running out of cash to pay gas distributors.
“Fuel is worth its weight in gold these days in the country, and there it was free for the taking,” Almonor said, describing the scene of the explosion. “That’s what worsened the toll.”
The tragedy also underscored the weakness of Haiti’s national health care system: the only structure specializing in the care of severe burns in the country is managed by Doctors Without Borders (Medecins sans Frontieres, or MSF) which is located in the capital, 200 kilometers (120 miles) to the south of Cap-Haitien.
The international NGO dispatched an emergency team to the northern city to help local hospital staff.
Jean Gilbert Ndong, MSF’s medical coordinator, said the injured still in hospital included two children.
“We are at Justinien University Hospital where we have 15 patients including two children who should be discharged today,” he said.
“The care of these patients is long-term, it will be at least three to four months,” Ndong said, insisting that MSF professionals stand “ready to support the Haitian government.”
Lamenting the deaths of the injured over the weekend, both at the MSF hospital in Port-au-Prince and in Cap-Haitien, he said that the deceased had suffered “significant burns which ranged from 80 to 95% of the body.”
Source: Voice of America