Author: Steven Sahiounie

Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, today called on the international community to impose sanctions on Israel and suspend diplomatic relations with it until it complies with the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). “Israel intensified its attacks on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip after the International Court of Justice ordered it to stop its operation in the city,” she said on her X account. She added, “The news I receive from the people besieged in the city of Rafah is horrific. Israel will…

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan will have a state visit to China on May 30 following an invitation from his counterpart Xi Jinping. Discussions between the two leaders would mainly be regarding bilateral relations between the two countries, and how to further strengthen their economic, developmental and cultural ties, state news agency WAM reported. Sheikh Mohamed will also attend celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the UAE and China, and will participate in the 10th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum. The UAE leader will have a two-day state visit…

A coalition of 121 human rights and civil society organizations urged US President Joe Biden to respect and support the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) independence and to resist threats of penalties on ICC staff. In a letter to Biden on Thursday, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International underscored the ICC’s role in delivering justice for grave international crimes. They asked the Biden administration to condemn recent threats by US politicians to penalize ICC staff if arrest warrants were issued for key Israeli leaders suspected of war crimes in the Gaza Strip. According to the letter, acting on such calls would “gravely harm the…

Interim Iranian President Mohammad Mokhber says West Asia is in desperate need of improving relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Mokhber made the remarks in a phone conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday as the latter offered his condolences to the Iranian government and nation over the martyrdom of President Ebrahim Raeisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and their companions in a helicopter crash in the northeastern province of East Azarbaijan on Sunday. He described ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia as crucial for the Muslim world, saying, “Despite some powers’ opposition, our relations have reached a…

The International Court of Justice, the top United Nations court, has ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah. Israel must “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” the ICJ said on Friday. In early May, Israel carried out ground incursions into the refugee-packed city of Rafah in defiance of global warnings, forcing more than 800,000 people “to flee”, according to UN figures. The ICJ, widely…

One in every three Lebanese “was poverty-stricken in 2022,” the World Bank said in a report covering about 60 percent of the country’s population

GCC debt capital market (DCM) issuances are steadily reaching $1 trillion outstanding, but remain fragmented, Fitch Ratings said in a new report.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s non-oil exports saw an annual rise of 3.3 percent in the first quarter of 2024, fueled by an increase in the value of re-exports, according to official data. According to the General Authority for Statistics, while national non-oil exports experienced a slight dip of 5.2 percent, the value of re-exported goods surged by 31.5 percent during the same period. This trend underscores Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning role as a logistical hub – a key goal of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 economic diversification strategy. Leveraging its strategic geographic location at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa, the Kingdom has…

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia secured membership in the International Transport Forum on the sidelines of the event held in Leipzig, Germany.

The bloc wants to introduce new sanctions against Belarus, which serves as an import route, the newspaper says