Day: August 30, 2022

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General Court of Audit President Heads Saudi Arabia’s Delegation to SAI20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia

Riyadh– President of the General Court of Audit (GCA) Dr. Hussam Alangari headed the GCA’s delegation participating in the Supreme Audit Institution 20 (SAI20) Summit held on 29 – 30 August 2022 in Bali, Indonesia, in presence of Vice President of Indonesia Ma’ruf Amin.

The meeting discussed a number of agenda items which are cooperation between SAIs, sharing of knowledge, identification of best practices to promote governance among SAI20, assuring the role of SAIs in the sustainability of the economic recovery plans, emphasis on the need to ensure alignment of efforts, and the response time of SAI20 to the international crises.

Moreover, SAI20 discussed the role of SAIs as independent institutions in launching international initiatives and performing active roles in encouraging efficiency, accountability, effectiveness, transparency in the public sector, and focusing on the priority issues placed by SAI20 leadership.

It is worth mentioning that the meeting comes as part of the G20 meetings hosted by Indonesia focusing on the joint efforts to recover better from the COVID19 crisis and to address the contributions of SAIs to improving and assuring the quality of the performance of the public sector.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

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Belgian Ambassador visits Saudi Polo Federation

Riyadh– Members of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Polo Federation (SPF), Noura Al-Yousef and Fahd Abunayan, have received the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Pascal Grecoire, in the presence of the Executive Director of SPF, Faisal bin Douis, at SPF’s headquarters in Riyadh, to discuss aspects of bilateral cooperation between the two countries in polo.

Al-Youssef reviewed the SPF mission since its establishment in 2018, its objectives and strategic plans for spreading and developing the game in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She shed light on the program for women and age groups to play the game, academies, and future plans, so that the game becomes competitive at the Arab and international levels.

For his part, the Belgian ambassador praised the great and rapid development being witnessed by Saudi sports in many games and international hosting, stressing that there will be fruitful cooperation between the two countries in polo in the near future.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

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As Part of Second Phase to Develop Historic Mosques, Prince Mohammed bin Salman Project Maintains Old Architectural Features for Riyadh Mosques

Riyadh– The second phase of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Project for Developing Historic Mosques has placed much attention to the Riyadh Region through caring for its mosques, where the projects rehabilitate and restore six mosques with the aim of maintaining their old architectural features and enhancing general awareness on caring for historic mosques.

The project in Riyadh Region seeks to achieve balance between old and new construction standards in a way that grants mosques a considerable level of sustainability and mixes development impacts with a set of heritage and historical features.

The mosques in Riyadh include Al-Qibli Mosque in the southern part of Manfouha neighborhood in Riyadh, which was built in 1100 Hijri and is considered the closest mosque to the old palace of the governorate, where the mosque used to receive princes and town dignitaries to pray. The mosque was expanded by King Abdulaziz and reconstructed it in 1364 Hijri, where its pre-renovation area was 642.85 square meters and will increase to 840.32 square meters with a capacity of 440 worshippers after the completion of renovation.

In Al-Thahirah neighborhood, the project aims at developing Al-Rumaileh Mosque, also known as Al Salamah Mosque, which is one of the oldest heritage mosques whose construction methods represent a model for the architecture of the old mosques of Riyadh. Its pre-renovation area stands at 1,184.69 square meters and will stand at 1,555.92 square meters after renovation, with its capacity increasing from 327 to 657 worshippers.

As for Al-Oudah Mosque in the center of Al-Oudeh District in north of Ad-Diriyah city, it represents the oldest mosques of the governorate and was first built from clay. Its pre-renovation area stands at around 794 square meters and will increase to 1,369.82 square meters with its capacity going up from 510 to 992 worshippers.

On the outskirts of Riyadh, the project targets Al-Qalaah Mosque at Al-Hilwah Center in Houtat Bani Tamim, which was built in 1250 Hijri. The mosque was named after the castle of Prince Turki Al Saud and prayers are performed in it until the present except for the Friday prayers that were halted some 50 years ago. The post-renovation area will stand at 625.78 square meters with its capacity remaining at 180 worshippers.

In the east of Laila City in Al-Aflah Governorate, the project will develop the historic Al-Hazimi Mosque that was built more than 100 years ago with a capacity of 110 worshippers.

In the west of Al-Majmaah City in Riyadh, Al-Rawsa Mosque, which was built in 1365 Hijri, will be reconstructed, where its post-renovation area will reach 663 square meters and its capacity will reach 210 worshippers after prayer was halted in this mosque.

A total of 30 mosques will be included in the second phase of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Project for Developing Historic Mosques that covers all regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where these mosques will be developed according to modern mechanism that guarantees the quality of good material and architectural designs after conducting an accurate assessment of the history, characteristics and features of every mosque.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

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CEO of Food and Drug Authority Meets with Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand

Riyadh– CEO of the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) Dr. Hisham bin Saad Aljadhey met here today with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce of the Kingdom of Thailand Jurin Laksanawisit and his accompanying delegation.

A number of issues of common interest and ways of cooperation between the two countries in the field of food were discussed during the meeting.

They also discussed the current health situation in Thailand and the opportunities for support that could be provided for the Thai side to export meat and poultry to Saudi Arabia.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

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MAWLAWI WELCOMES SAUDI AMBASSADOR, REITERATES LEBANON’S KEENNESS ON SECURITY AND SAFETY OF ARAB COUNTRIES

Caretaker Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Judge Bassam Mawlawi, on Tueday welcomed Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Walid Bukhari, with whom he discussed issues of mutual concern to Lebanon and the KSA.

In the wake of the meeting, Mawlawi said that talks with the Saudi diplomat mainly touched on “all the matters that concern Lebanon and have its best interest at heart, leading to the establishment of an actual Lebanese state.”

Albeit, Mawlawi stressed that Lebanon must first and foremost translate all the policies it had committed itself to whilst handling its affairs with Arab countries, most importantly with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“We are committed to preventing any harm of any kind against our Arab brothers, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, and we are keen on security and safety within the framework of a unified vision of common security,” Mawlawi added.

In turn, Ambassador Bukhari stressed that the diplomatic efforts that were being exerted aimed at securing a sustainable international safety network in the face of challenges and risks that threaten Lebanon’s security, stability, and unity.

The Saudi diplomat went on to warn against the grave danger and repercussions of “hostile policies emanating from Lebanon towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab Gulf States, which completely contradict with values, moral principles, and international norms.”

“We call upon the competent Lebanese security apparatuses to complete the necessary legal and security measures vis-a-vis the terrorist threats that have been published by the so-called Ali Hashem, and to apprehend him and hand him over to the security authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Bukhari said.

“I would also like to stress that the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the field of combating the scourge of drugs really reveal the magnitude of the challenge facing the KSA preserving the security of societies and protecting human beings,” the Saudi Ambassador added.

I’m this vein, Bukhari voiced appreciation to the efforts made by the Lebanese army, the competent security apparatuses, the Information Division of the Internal Security Forces, and the follow-up of Lebanon’s Minister of Interior, saying that they have jointly and successfully accomplished qualitative operations in the field of drug control.

Source: National News Agency

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WHO EMRO | COVID-19 situation updates for week 33 (14-20 August 2022)

The coronavirus disease COVID-19 continues to spread at the regional and global levels. As of 20 August 2022, the global cumulative incidence reached 592 650 798 reported cases and 6 460 197 associated deaths at a case-fatality ratio (CFR) of 1.10%. Meanwhile, the 22 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) have reported a total of 22 921 467cases, representing about 3.87% of the global count, with 346 921 associated deaths (CFR 1.51%). Most countries in the Region are in the community transmission phase.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, the country that has reported the highest number of total cases in the Region is Islamic Republic of Iran (7 503 369; 32.74% of the Region’s total), followed by Iraq (2 456 555; 10.72%) and Jordan (1 731 549; 7.55%). Islamic Republic of Iran also reported the highest number of total COVID-19-associated deaths (143 332; CFR 1.91%) followed by Pakistan (30 552; CFR 1.95%) and Tunisia (29 209; CFR 2.56%). The highest CFRs were reported by Yemen (18.7%) followed by Sudan (7.85%) and Syria (5.56%), while the lowest CFRs were reported by United Arab Emirates (0.23%), Bahrain (0.23) and Qatar (0.16%) respectively.

During epidemiological week 33, the Region reported a decrease in cases by 13% when compared to the previous week (70 295 cases compared to 81 059 cases). A decrease by 4% was also observed for associated deaths (586 deaths in the current week compared to 610 deaths in the previous week).

The weekly number of cases has decreased in most countries except in three countries in the Region compared to the previous week. This week the number of COVID-19-associated deaths increased in four out of 22 countries of the Region as compared to the previous week.*

In terms of testing, a total of 420 582 464 laboratory tests were conducted since the start of the outbreak across the Region including 2 031 375 tests in week 33, which shows a 2% decrease as compared to the previous week when 1 999 080 tests were conducted. The highest number of PCR tests were reported from United Arab Emirates (181 655 771), followed by Islamic Republic of Iran (53 628 916) and Saudi Arabia (44 050 260). The average positivity rate for the Region is 5.45%. WHO recommends a positivity rate of around 3% to 12% as a general benchmark indicating adequate testing, which was achieved in most countries of the Region.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 vaccination continues across the Region. The total number of doses administered so far in the 22 countries is 817 519 937 Pakistan has administered the highest number of doses at 306 541 665 followed by Islamic Republic of Iran at 153 299 262 and Egypt at 97 076 742. On the other hand, Bahrain (3 465 836), Yemen (880 609) and Djibouti (242 916) administrated the lowest number of COVID-19 vaccine doses in the Region.**

Supporting countries in the Region

The regional incident management support team continues to coordinate the response and provide technical support to countries and partners in the Region in the areas of coordination and partnership, surveillance, laboratory capacity, clinical management, infection prevention and control, risk communication and community engagement, points of entry according to the International Health Regulations (2005), research, health systems, and essential health services among others.

Source: World Health Organization

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KSrelief Launches Voluntary Medical Program to Combat Blindness in Eritrea

Asmara– King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) has launched the voluntary medical program to combat blindness and its diseases in Eritrea, within the “Noor Saudi Arabia” voluntary program, which is being implemented from 19 to 26 August, 2022.

The KSrelief’s voluntary medical team has medically examined 4,800 cases and performed 181 successful surgeries, as well.

This comes within the humanitarian and relief projects, implemented by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the KSrelief, to support the medical sector and help patients in the affected countries.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

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Saudi Stock Exchange Main Index Ends Trading Lower at 12,455.65 Points

Riyadh– Saudi Stock Exchange’s main index ended trading lower here today, losing 75.01 points to close at 12,455.65 points.

The total value of the trading reported was SAR 6.9 billion, while the toll of shares traded was 144 million, divided into over 379,000 deals.

The Saudi Parallel Market Index (NOMU) ended the day gaining 84.88 points, to close at 21,595.16 points, with a valuation of SAR 39,4 million and an overall tally of more than 858,000 stocks traded and divided into as many as 2,726 deals.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

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UN Issues Flash Appeal for $160 Million to Help Pakistan with Floods

Islamabad– The United Nations issued a flash appeal on Tueday for $160 million to help Pakistan cope with catastrophic floods that have killed more than 1,100 people, destroyed infrastructure and crops, and affected 33 million people, Reuters reported.

Early estimates put the damage from the floods at more than $10 billion, the government has said. Torrential rain has triggered flash floods that have crashed down from northern mountains, destroying buildings and bridges, and washing away roads and crops.

Huge volumes of water are pouring into the Indus river, which flows down the middle of the country from its northern peaks to southern plains, bringing flooding along its length.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the $160 million he hoped to raise with the appeal would provide 5.2 million people with food, water, sanitation, emergency education and health support.

Pakistan estimates the floods have affected more than 33 million people, or more than 15% of its 220 million population.

Guterres appealed for a speedy response to Pakistan’s request to the international community for help.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

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Bahrain Two Main Indexes End Trading with Divergence

Manama– The Bahrain General Index ended trading today at 1,915.51, gaining 0.95 points compared to the previous closing. The Islamic Index ended trading at 682.09 level, losing 0.77 points compared to the last closing.

The tally of the shares traded was 808,556 with a total value of 239,626 Bahraini Dinar, carried out through 49 deals.

Source: Saudi Press Agency