Day: June 4, 2023

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National Initiative to Empower AI-enhanced Economy Launched

The Ministry of Economy today launched an initiative to integrate artificial intelligence applications and technologies into development projects and programmes in economic diversification sectors specified in the 10th Five Year Plan (2021-2025).

Titled “”National Initiative to Empower a National Economy Enhanced by Artificial Intelligence”, the initiative seeks to enable government departments to use artificial intelligence applications and technologies in development projects, besides boosting investment opportunities based on technology and innovation.

The initiative will also contribute to upgrading the efficiency of development spending by raising productivity, cutting down cost and developing smart government services to ensure quality in performance.

The Ministry earmarked a sum of RO 10 million for the initiative’s 2024 projects. In the first stage, it targets government institutions and governorates, and it will later cover other sectors.

A first step in implementing the initiative begins with government departments’ submitting their own initiatives and projects to the Ministry of Economy. The projects/initiatives will then be assessed and studied by a specialized team comprising members from the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology.

Source: Oman News Agency

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Brain-Dead Donor Lends Three Patients Hope to Be Treated for Chronic Organ Failure

A specialized medical team at the Royal Hospital succeeded in carrying out three organ transplants on three patients, using organs donated by a brain-dead donor. The patients were treated for chronic organ failure.

The first operation was a liver transplant for an adult patient suffering from chronic liver failure. It was performed by an Omani surgical team specialized in liver transplants. It was conducted under the supervision of a liver transplant team from King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam.

The operation constitutes a new achievement to be added to the accomplishments of the National Transplantation Programme endorsed in Oman.

Dr. Salah Mohammed Al Jabri, Liver Surgery and Transplant Consultant, Head of Liver Transplantation Committee at the Royal Hospital, told Oman News Agency (ONA) that the operation took about 8 hours and met with success. He pointed out that liver resection requires well-trained staff capable of shifting the target organ in a precise and rapid manner to avoid inadvertent damage.

The second and third operations involved the transplantation of kidneys for two children, aged 9 and 10 years. The children were undergoing proton dialysis for years. The transplants came as a blessing to the two, who spent their childhood days frequenting hospital wards and facing grim chances of treatment, due to the fact that did not have donors from among their relatives.

Source: Oman News Agency

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Coastal Ecosystems Act as Net Greenhouse Gas Sink: Study

International researchers, led by Australia’s Southern Cross University, have revealed in a recent study that coastal ecosystems worldwide act as a net greenhouse gas sink for carbon dioxide (CO2).

However, the study also highlights that emissions of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) partially counterbalance the CO2 absorption.

The new findings of the coastal greenhouse gas balance (CO2 + CH4 + N2O), encompassing ten regions globally, were recently published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

They found the strongest coastal greenhouse gas (GHG) sink was in Southeast Asia because of its extensive and productive tropical coastal wetlands that take up CO2. A second sink hotspot is North America, with its large areas of coastal wetlands but also CO2-uptaking fjords.

At the same time coastal wetlands, also called coastal ‘blue carbon’ wetlands, can be strong sinks of CO2 and some also take up N2O, which, on balance, makes them a net GHG sink for the atmosphere when all three greenhouse gases are considered.

Source: Oman News Agency

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Shura Elections Supreme Committee Holds Second Meeting

The Supreme Committee of the Shura Council’s 10th Term Elections today held its second meeting under the auspices of Sheikh Al Mokhtar Abdullah Al Harthy, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court, Chairman of the Committee.

The meeting endorsed the minutes of the previous meeting and procedures governing the announcement of preliminary lists of candidates for the Shura Council membership through the 10th Term, among other issues of relevance.

Earlier, the Ministry of Interior unveiled the initial lists that comprised 883 candidates, among them 33 were women. The process took place via the elections’ app “Intikhab”, as well as the elections website (elections.om).

The Ministry pointed out that it is permissible for any person to object to any name(s) included in the preliminary lists of candidates. Objections have to be submitted through the elections’ website within five days from the date of announcement of candidates’ names, said the ministry. The applicants who submit the objections have to quote the reasons for their objection, along with supporting documents, to be attached to the claims.

A verdict on the objections will be issued within 10 days from the date of expiry of the period set for objections, the ministry affirmed.

Source: Oman News Agency

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Masirah Recognized as 1st Healthy Island in Eastern Mediterranean

The Ministry of Health today celebrated Masirah Island obtaining a certificate of International Recognition from the regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO) as the First Healthy Island in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

Abdulhamid Ali Al Abri, Deputy Wali of Masirah and Head of the Executive Office of Masirah Healthy Island said that the ‘Masirah Healthy Island’ project is a unique model regionally and globally despite various challenges, such as the large number of evaluation standards that include the Island’s area, population and distances separating residential communities.

The certificate handing over ceremony was held under the patronage of Hilal Ali Al Sabti, Minister of Health, with the presence of Dr. Fatma Mohammed Al Ajmi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health for Administrative, Financial and Planning Affairs and Dr. Yahiya Badr Malik Al Ma’awali, Governor of South Al Sharqiyah. The event was also attended by several Walis, members of the Shura Council and officials from the Ministry of Health.

Source: Oman News Agency

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The Higher Committee for the Iraqi National Day Celebrations launches the hashtag #Iraq_Press_Our_Eid

The Higher Committee for the National Day celebrations of the Iraqi press, headed by the head of the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate, President of the Federation of Arab Journalists Moayad Al-Lami, launched the hashtag “Iraq-Press_Our Eid” on the occasion of the 154th anniversary of the Iraqi National Press Day on June 15th.

The Iraqi Journalists Syndicate has prepared a wide program for celebrating this occasion, which includes holding a central celebration in Al-Zawraa Hall in Al-Rasheed Hotel, a festival for the governorates in Al-Zawraa Park, and a mass celebration in the Cultural and Social Center of One Thousand and One Nights, in addition to hosting meetings of the permanent office and the General Secretariat of the Federation of Arab Journalists.

The Iraqi Journalists Syndicate invited more than 150 Arab and foreign journalists and a number of Arab Ministers of Information and Culture to attend the Syndicate’s celebrations on this occasion.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

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Independent MP: The budget will be approved within days, despite the KDP’s disagreement with most of the amendments made to it

Independent MP Kadhim Al-Fayyad confirmed: The budget was submitted to the Presidency of the Parliament, pending the determination of the voting session, which will be within days.

He told the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA /: The majority of MPs supported its approval after making several amendments to it, most of which did not obtain the approval of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Al-Fayad added: The budget will be passed by majority vote.

The Parliamentary Finance Committee announced that it had completed the draft state budget law for the current year and the next two years, and submitted it to the Presidency of Parliament to determine the voting session.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

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The Minister of Planning arrives in Anbar Province

The Minister of Planning, Muhammad Ali Tamim, arrived today, Sunday, in Anbar Governorate.

A statement by the ministry stated that “Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Planning, Muhammad Ali Tamim, arrived today in Anbar Governorate, and discussed with its governor, Ali Farhan, the reality of service and investment projects in it.”

The minister stressed that “the visit comes in the context of follow-up to the implementation of service projects, which are a priority within the government program,” noting that “the ministry pays great attention to the file of projects that are being implemented in all governorates, whether those implemented within the regional development program or investment programs.”

The statement explained that “there is a permanent and continuous follow-up by the specialized field teams in the ministry of these projects in order to stand on the level of implementation and address the problems they face.”

For his part, the governor of Anbar praised “the level of support and cooperation provided by the Ministry of Planning to all provinces, which was positively reflected in the level of project implementation.”

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

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The Minister of Communications announces a new policy for the work of Internet companies in Iraq

The Minister of Communications, Hayam Al-Yasiri, announced today, Saturday, a new policy for the work of Internet companies in Iraq.

Al-Yasiri said, in a statement, that “the Ministry of Communications has received a heavy legacy in the reasons for the non-compliance of some Internet companies, especially the very large companies that monopolize the market, which control more than 80% of the market and have contracts in force.”

She added, “The ministry is currently taking measures that amount to litigation in the courts against companies that provide poor service to citizens, and that have not adhered to the ministry’s prices.”

She pointed out that “these companies’ contracts expire, some of them during the coming months, so the ministry is working from now on preparing new policies and contracts, and certainly will not allow any company that failed to provide the service over the previous years and past months, to receive new contracts to supply the service, and the space will be made available to qualified companies only.

She emphasized that “the new contracts that will be launched in the last quarter of this year will be different contracts with a new policy, the top of which will be preventing a specific company from monopolizing the Internet market, while tightening procedures against companies and holding the violators accountable, because the contract is the law of the contracting parties.”

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

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Iraq’s oil exports to America decline for the third week

Iraq’s oil exports to America decreased for the third week in a row, reaching an average of 114 thousand barrels per day during the past week.

The US Energy Information Administration stated, “Iraq’s oil exports to America amounted to 114 thousand barrels per day last week, decreasing by 22 thousand barrels as a daily average from the previous week, in which oil exports to America reached an average of 136 thousand barrels per day.”

The administration added, “Most of America’s oil imports during the past week came from Canada, followed by Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and then Colombia.”

It showed, “American imports of crude oil are also from Ecuador, Brazil, Nigeria, and Libya, while it did not import any quantity from Russia.”

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

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LMRA conducts inspection campaign in the Northern Governorate

The Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) conducted a joint inspection campaign in the Northern Governorate, in coordination with the Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs (NPRA) and the Governorate’s respective Police Directorate of the Ministry of Interior.

The campaign resulted in reporting violations related to the Labor Market and Residency laws. The cases were referred for legal action.

The authority stressed its commitment to report any violation through a continuous and intensive inspection plan, in coordination with the relevant government entities.

The LMRA renews its call on all members of the society to support the efforts of government agencies in addressing illegal labor practices, by reporting violations via the electronic form on the authority’s website or by calling the authority’s call center.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

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HM King receives thanks cable from Speaker

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa today received a cable of thanks from the Speaker of the Council of Representatives, Ahmed bin Salman Al-Musallam, following the issuance of a Royal Order adjourning the first session of the Sixth Legislative Term.

Speaker Al-Musallam extended profound thanks and gratitude to HM King Hamad for HM’s constant follow-up on the work of the Council of Representatives, which reflects the royal confidence in the Council’s role in achieving the interests of the kingdom and its people.

He lauded HM King Hamad’s unwavering care for the “Democratic Monument”, the Representatives Council, which is one of the fruits of the royal reform project.

He pledged to remain loyal to HM the King and the cherished homeland, in order to enhance the kingdom’s progress and bring about more achievements to its citizens.

Source: Bahrain News Agency