Category: General

Riyadh: April 2024, Deputy Chair of the IMF International Monetary and Financial Committee Dr. Ryadh Al-Khuraif has participated in a high-level United Nations Economic and Social Council meeting.

Bretton Woods Institutions and World Trade Organization (WTO) representatives took part in the meeting as well.

Dr. Al-Khuraif reviewed the most important results achieved last week when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia held the presidency of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, and said that Minister of Finance Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan, Chairman of the Committee, issued a statement on the outcome of the 49th meeting, which included the policy priorities agreed upon by the committee members.

In the statement, he said, was the member states’ commitment to achieve price stability, ensure the sustainability of public finances, promote financial stability, and support inclusive and sustainable growth.

He added that member states look forward to reviewing the debt sustainability framework for low-inc
ome countries developed by the fund and the World Bank Group, and that it is important for the fund to exert more effort to develop the capacity of and provide the necessary finances to countries in need.

Al-Khuraif said that the committee the 25th seat on the IMF Executive Board will be filled next November by a representative of Sub-Saharan Africa, and this will help amplify the African continent’s voice in the IMF Executive Board.

The committee, he said, appreciates IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva’s efforts and welcomes her election for a second five-year term.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Jeddah: The Royal Court issued the following statement today: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud entered on Wednesday, King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah to undergo routine checkup for a few hours.

May Allah protect the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and grant him health and wellness.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Makkah: The Muslim World League (MWL) has condemned in the strongest terms the relentless horrific war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces in Gaza Strip.

MWL Secretary General and Chairman of the Organization of Muslim Scholars Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Al-Issa condemned in a statement the crimes committed in Gaza Strip, the latest of which discovered upon finding mass graves at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis.

Al-Issa denounced the international community’s failure to stop these continuous violations of all humanitarian and international values and norms, which unleashes further brutality and exacerbation of human tragedies and destruction, and reiterated the call for the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities and bring about a cessation of mass murders and destruction.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Manama, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, today issued a circular on the upcoming Labour Day.

According to the circular, ministries and all other public institutions will close on Wednesday, 1 May 2024, marking Labour Day.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Gaza – Together – Israeli aircraft continued their bombing of various areas of the Gaza Strip on the 201st day of the war, leaving dozens of martyrs and wounded.

The Israeli occupation committed three massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, claiming 32 martyrs and 59 injuries during the past 24 hours, bringing the toll of the Israeli aggression to 34,183 martyrs and 77,143 injuries since the seventh of last October.

The occupation forces asked the residents of Beit Lahia to leave their homes towards Gaza City and the Jabalia camp on a new exodus.

The number of people who returned to Beit Lahia is estimated at about fifty thousand citizens.

The occupation aircraft launched a series of raids on the town located northwest of the Gaza Strip, which led to the destruction of a large number of homes and a mosque, the death of three citizens, and the wounding of many others.

The neighboring town of Beit Hanoun was also subjected to heavy artillery shelling.

The occupation targeted a house for the Dardouna
family in the Al-Salam neighborhood, east of Jabalia.

In Gaza City, two citizens were martyred and many others were injured in a bombing on a house for the Shteiwi family in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, while a number of citizens were injured by fragments of a missile fired by a reconnaissance plane in the Shujaiya neighborhood.

The occupation army destroyed Al-Raed Tower on Al-Jalaa Street in central Gaza City.

In the center of the Gaza Strip,

four martyrs died as a result of the occupation targeting a group of citizens in the vicinity of the Hyper Mall in the Nuseirat camp, while injuries occurred as a result of the occupation aircraft targeting agricultural land in the Trans-Baba area in the town of Al-Zawaida.

East of Al-Bureij camp was subjected to artillery shelling.

The occupation aircraft launched a raid on the vicinity of Al-Salhi Towers in the new camp, north of Nuseirat, and two raids on the vicinity of Wadi Gaza, north of Nuseirat.

In the south of the Gaza Strip

and in Khan Yunis, civil de
fense crews recovered on Tuesday in Khan Yunis Governorate 51 bodies of martyrs of different categories and ages from the Nasser Medical Complex.

The Civil Defense confirmed that 30 of the bodies were identified and the rest were unknown, bringing the total number recovered to date to 324 martyrs, while crews recovered nine martyrs from various places in Khan Yunis.

In Rafah, three citizens from the Al-Bahabsa family were martyred in a bombing that targeted their house east of Rafah.

The martyrs were a father and two of his sons.

Source: Maan News Agency

Ramallah – Together – The Global Campaign for Education called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and to allow the displaced to return to their homes in the northern Strip, with the need to provide medicine, food, and protection for children from military targeting.

The campaign had called on countries to maintain funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

This call comes at a time when the Global Campaign for Education decided to make one of the days of this year’s Global Action Week for Education a global day of solidarity to protect education in the Gaza Strip, which began yesterday, April 23.

For its part, the Ministry of Education called, in a letter sent to the education directorates, to organize a drum-beating event on this day in order to protect education in the Gaza Strip. The Ministry had sent a message to international institutions calling on them to assist and integrate and to hold activities on this International Day of Solidarity with the Gaza St
rip.

On the other hand, students in all schools in the West Bank will beat drums at eight in the morning, simultaneously with other schools in different regions of the world, with the same effect, in reference to what education is going through in the Gaza Strip.

Source: Maan News Agency

An intelligence force from the 54th Brigade within the Popular Mobilization Forces Command of Anbar Governorate found on Wednesday, a number of war remnants belonging to ISIS members in Anbar.

A statement by the Popular Mobilization Forces stated that this came after receiving accurate intelligence information indicating the presence of 11 cans of C4 and seven cans of explosive devices in the thermals area, where the force, in conjunction with the engineering effort in the Iraqi army, removed these wastes and detonated them safely./End

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani visited Ramadi Teaching Hospital to review the work of the second phase of its rehabilitation.

The Prime Minister directed to intensify efforts to quickly complete the project, which serves a large number of people in the governorate./ End

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon on Wednesday issued the following statement: “In support of our steadfast Palestinian people in Gaza and in solidarity with their courageous and honorable resistance, and in response to the Israeli attacks on the resilient southern villages and civilian homes, especially the Hanine massacre which resulted in the martyrdom and injury of several civilians, the fighters of the Islamic Resistance targeted on Wednesday, 24-4-2024, an enemy gathering in the Netu’a Forest with appropriate weapons and inflicted direct hits.”

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

Marib, The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) distributed emergency shelter assistance yesterday in the Marib Governorate, which was affected by the air depression that struck the region. The aid included 70 tents and 236 shelter bags, benefiting 1416 individuals from 236 families.

This assistance comes within the framework of a series of relief and humanitarian projects implemented by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through KSrelief to help needy and affected countries and people worldwide.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Madinah: The pavilion of the General Authority for the Care of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque at the exhibition held in parallel with the Umrah and Ziyarah Forum at the King Salman International Convention Center in Madinah, attracts numerous visitors, particularly the activity involving the weaving and stitching of the Kaabah Kiswah (cloth cover).

Skilled craftsmen spend hours writing Quranic verses on wooden boards designed to hold the silk fabric, using silver and golden threads to embroider them in Thuluth calligraphy that shows great craftsmanship.

Ammar Al-Sindi, one of the weavers of the Kiswah at the pavilion, said: “The production of the Kiswah goes through 10 stages that adhere to adopted standards characterized by precision and quality in writing, and integration of golden fabric.”

He said that the Kiswah contains 52 golden pieces woven with 670 kilograms of natural silk and adorned with around 120 kilograms of gold and 100 kilograms of silver.

The production of the Kiswah, which is
replaced every year on the first day of Muharram with a new one, takes 10 months, said Al-Sindi, noting that the cost of the Kiswah ranges between SAR20 million and SAR25 million, and is given as a gift by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh: King Abdulaziz Center for Cultural Communication hosted yesterday here the seminar “Tolerance among Followers of Religions and Cultures and its Role in Fostering Cultural Communication”.

Attending it were Chairman of the center’s Board of Trustees Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Sebail, other officials, intellectuals, writers, and media figures.

The seminar, moderated by member of the center’s board of trustees Dr. Numan Kaddouh, hosted Dr. Mohammad Al-Sammak, winner of the 2024 King Faisal Award for Service to Islam, who spoke about the religious, social, cultural, and political dimensions of the concept of tolerance, and the historical perspective on tolerance as a value that fosters cultural communication.

Al-Sammak said: “The Kingdom is one of the prominent countries in the world that always calls for peace and communication among the peoples of the world, based on its religious, cultural, human, and social constants, as it is the destination for millions of Muslims every year who come for Hajj, Umrah, and to
visit the two holy mosques.”

He praised the Kingdom for its endeavor to nurture cultural communication, which, among others, resulted in the establishment of the King Abdulaziz Center for Cultural Communication and the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue.

Al-Sammak reviewed the role of education and media in fostering cultural communication, dialogue and coexistence among followers of religions and cultures, and the contribution of cultural communication to reinforcing common human values.

Source: Saudi Press Agency