Author: Steven Sahiounie

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia issued 118 new industrial licenses in February – a 72 percent annual increase as the Kingdom’s manufacturing sector continues to strengthen,

Russia’s government and businesses have been steadily reducing the amount of money they owe to foreign lenders, the latest official data suggests.

Three tankers loaded with Russian Sokol-grade oil have arrived at Indian ports, despite being targeted by Western sanctions, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing vessel-tracking data.

Addressing a meeting of the UN Security Council on “threat to international peace and security”, held in New York on Tuesday, the ambassador and deputy of permanent representative of Iran to the UN called on the Security Council to vehemently condemn the Israel regime’s unjustified criminal act and terrorist attack that resulted in the martyrdom of seven Iranian military advisers in Damascus. What follows is the full text of the speech by Zahra Ershadi: Madam President, At the outset, allow me to congratulate you for assuming the presidency of the Security Council for this month. We thank Russia for requesting…

A sea convoy of undelivered food for Gaza has been returned to Cyprus after the killing of seven aid workers in an Israeli air raid on Monday evening. A cargo ship carrying 240 tonnes of food sailed back to Larnaca in Cyprus following the deadly attack, dropping anchor just outside the port. A second ship arrived earlier, the Open Arms, owned by a Spanish NGO working with World Central Kitchen, whose aid workers were the victims of Israel’s attack. The undelivered aid was part of a consignment of about 340 tonnes sent to Gaza from Cyprus on March 30. The aid workers…

Gaza’s Media Office says the bodies of the six foreign aid workers were transferred to Egypt via the Rafah crossing. The Government Media Office in Gaza announced on Wednesday that the bodies of the six members of the World Central Kitchen WCK had been handed over to the United Nations and then transported out of Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Seven food aid workers were killed in a triple Israeli strike on their vehicle in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah last Sunday. The occupation entity admitted that it was behind the attack, and has received wide condemnation, especially from Western…

The last report by the United Nations secretary-general on the rights of children in conflicts – published in June 2023, four months before Israel’s war on Gaza began – recorded nearly 4,000 confirmed cases, of which almost half were of Israeli forces denying aid to children in the enclave. “Data gathered for our forthcoming 2024 report shows we are on target to witness a shocking increase of the incidents of the denial of humanitarian access globally,” Virginia Gamba, the secretary-general’s special representative for children and armed conflict, told the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday. The UN has, since Israel’s…

Saudi efforts to de-escalate the Gaza conflict are “in line” with Japanese policy, UEMURA Tsukasa, Japan’s special envoy for Middle East peace, said on Tuesday. “Aside from providing humanitarian assistance to Gaza, Saudi Arabia is doing a fairly good job politically, in line with (Japan’s) policy as well. In terms of humanitarian assistance, Saudi Arabia is doing the most efforts,” the former ambassador to the Kingdom, who visited the region to discuss the war, told Arab News Japan. Since March 27, Uemura has visited Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE in efforts to de-escalate the conflict by closely communicating…

An emergency meeting of the Arab League kicked off in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Wednesday to discuss Israel’s ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip. Addressing the emergency meeting, Palestinian delegate Mahend al-Aklouk warned against launching an Israeli ground attack on Rafah city, where more than 1.4 million people have taken refuge from Israel’s war, in the southern tip of the Gaza Strip. “The Israeli attack will have grave repercussions on more than one million displaced people in the city,” he said. Despite international opposition, Israel has announced plans to invade Rafah, one of the last significant communities spared from…

The United Nations has suspended movements at night in Gaza for at least 48 hours to evaluate security issues following the killing of staff working for the World Central Kitchen food charity, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.He said the suspension started on Tuesday. The World Food Programme is continuing operations during the day, including daily efforts to send convoys to the north of Gaza “where people are dying,” Dujarric said.“As famine closes in we need humanitarian staff and supplies to be able to move freely and safely across the Gaza Strip,” he told reporters.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…