Bahrain-Saudi solid relations highlighted

Riyadh, Sustainable Development Minister Noor bint Ali Al Khulaif hailed strong fraternal relations binding the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, led by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

She noted growing cooperation between the two countries, supported by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister and HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

She made the statement as she met Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal bin Fadhel Al Ibrahim to discuss joint cooperation and exchanging expertise, in addition to adopting strategies and initiatives supporting sustainable development goals.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Saudi Arabia Gets Elected to Lead Executive Office of Arab Council for Population and Development

Riyadh, During the fourth session of the Arab Council for Population and Development, held in Riyadh in December 2022, that was chaired by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia represented by the Ministry of Economy and Planning, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was elected as the President of the Executive Office of the Arab Council for Population and Development for a two-year term.

The Executive Office of the Arab Council for Population and Development offers and follows up on policy proposals and recommendations made in the Council’s sessions.

The Arab Council for Population and Development was launched in Amman, Jordan in 2019. The Council aims at unifying Arab efforts in supporting population and development issues, offering technical assistance to member states to remain aware of regional and international developments, and helping Arab national councils to draw population strategies in line with their national needs.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Saudi-Thai Parliamentary Friendship Committee Meets with Its Counterpart of Thai Senate

Riyadh, The Saudi-Thai Parliamentary Friendship Committee of the Shura Council, headed by member of the council and chair of the committee Osama Al-Rabeeah, in the presence of members of the committee, has virtually met with the Thai-Saudi Friendships Committee of the Thai Senate.

During the meeting, the two sides stressed the significance of strengthening bilateral ties between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and expanding cooperation in various fields, particularly those related to parliamentary relations. They also reviewed a number of topics and issues of mutual interest and discussed ways to activate visits between the two committees to strengthen parliamentary relations between the two countries.

Source: Syria Arab News Agency

Russia, Turkey discuss the situation in Syria

Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed on Thursday with President of Turkish regime Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a phone call, the situation in Syria and Ukraine.

“Prospects for resolving the crisis in Syria were discussed, and a positive evaluation was given to the meeting of the defense ministers of Syria, Turkey and Russia, which was held in Moscow in December 2022, with the participation of the heads of the intelligence apparatus in the three countries”, RT website quoted a statement by the Kremlin as saying.

The statement pointed out that enhancing communication in this tripartite format would contribute to improve the situation in Syria, including restoring its territorial integrity and resolving the problem of refugees and combating the international terrorism.

Source: Syria Arab News Agency

Sabbagh: Syria determined to cooperate with OPCW to close the chemical file

New York, Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh said Syria is determined to cooperate with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to close “the Chemical file.”

“Syria has repeatedly condemned the use of chemical weapons by anyone, at any time or in any place, and it affirmed that it has never used any kind of these banned weapons or any toxic substances,” Ambassador Sabbagh said during a session of the UN Security Council on the Chemical file in Syria.

He added that Syria calls on OPCW member countries to deal with that file according to its technical nature, and “to not jump to premature conclusions.”

Sabbagh affirmed that Syria has joined the Chemical Weapons Convention ( CWC ) by freewill in 2013 and it had eliminated all its stockpile in 2014 despite difficult conditions.

Source: Syria Arab News Agency

BENEFIT announces new feature on “BenefitPay” application

Manama, BENEFIT, Bahrain’s electronic financial transactions service, has recently announced several security enhancements to the BenefitPay application with the aim of enhancing user experience when switching mobile phones.

The latest enhancements include prompting users to deactivate the BenefitPay account used on their old phone before activating it on their new device, as this step contributes to enhancing user safety and security, while limiting electronic fraud risks.

“As part of its efforts to improve and protect users’ experiences, BENEFIT is eager to periodically introduce improvements to its services and evaluate best practices,” Head of BENEFIT’s Business Development and Services Department Ahmed AlMahri said.

“In this regard, we recently modified the activation mechanism of the BenefitPay application in a new phone, as the new procedure requires that the user first cancels the activated account on the old phone before proceeding to install the application on the new phone, by selecting the Deactivate feature in the Settings menu on the old device.”

In the event that the old phone is not available for any reason or due to formatting the old device, the customer must visit BENEFIT’s customer service center at the Company’s headquarters in Seef District, where the deactivating process will be completed by a qualified employee after verifying the customer’s identity, he added.

“This measure is taken to ensure security and compliance with consumer identity verification regulations in order to protect them from fraudsters.”

BENEFIT Company staff will not contact consumers and ask for passwords, OTPs, or customer data, and if customers are subjected to such a situation, it is a fraud attempt, he warned.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Secretary General of Federation of Saudi Chambers Discusses Prospects for Cooperation with Swedish Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

Riyadh, Hussain Al-Abdulkader, Secretary General of the Federation of Saudi Chambers, discussed today with Swedish Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Petra Menander a joint Saudi-Swedish economic action plan for 2023 to advance the trade and investment relations between the two countries.

They also discussed the prospects for trade and investment relations, advancing the cooperation between the business sectors of the two countries, as well as the opportunities available to Swedish companies in the Saudi market.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Governor of Riyadh Region Performs Funeral Prayer for Princess Haya bint Saud bin Abdullah

Riyadh, Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh Region, performed here today the funeral prayer for Princess Haya bint Saud bin Abdullah bin Saud bin Faisal Al Saud at Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque after Al-Asr (afternoon) prayer.

The prayer was performed by the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars, General President of Scholarly Research and Ifta, Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Al-Sheikh, and a number of princes, officials and a gathering of citizens.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

KSrelief Distributes 1,765 Food Baskets in Sudan

Khartoum, King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) distributed yesterday 1,765 food baskets in the Republic of Sudan, benefiting 8,160 people.

This comes as part of the emergency food aid provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, through the KSrelief, to those affected by the floods and the most needy families in the Republic of Sudan.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah: Syria’s steadfastness foiled the US’s schemes in the region

Beirut, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah affirmed that Syria’s and Iran’s steadfastness nullified and thwarted the US’s scheme in the region to fully impose its domination, ransack the wealth and natural resources of these countries and to confiscates their political decision.

Commemorating the third martyrdom anniversary of Haj Qassem Suleimani, the commander of the IRGC Quds Force, Sayyed Nasrallah said on Tuesday that “the steadfastness of Iran, Syria, and the resistance in Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq thwarted the American schemes, which aims to ransack and loot the wealth of these countries, destroy their peoples, and destroy everything in the region, to start a new version, which is the economic war”.

Source: Syria Arab News Agency

Syria condemns in strongest terms storming of flocks of Israeli settlers into Aqsa courtyards

Damascus, Foreign and Expatriates Ministry on Wednesday condemned in strongest terms storming of Israeli occupation entity’s settlers and officials into al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards, calling upon the UN to condemn these violations and work to stop them and ensure that they do not repeat.

The Ministry said in a tweet that Syria condemns in strongest terms the storming of flocks of Israeli settlers and officials into al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards under protection of the occupation forces.

The Ministry stressed that these provocative practices are part of this occupation’s systematic policy by attacking the Palestinian holy places, attempt to obliterate their identity and seize them.

The Ministry held the Israeli entity and the countries which support it, full responsibility towards this escalation and its repercussions.

Syria calls upon the UN to condemn these violations, work to stop them, guarantee that they do not repeat and implement the international legitimacy resolutions on the occupied Palestinian territories, on top of which Jerusalem, the Ministry added.

The Ministry stressed Syria’s stand by the Palestinian people in their struggle to liberate their lands, restoring their rights and protecting their sanctities.

Source: Syria Arab News Agency