Arab News Headlines
Manama: Field Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the Commander-in-Chief of the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF), received His Highness Staff Lieutenant Commander Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
During the meeting, the Commander-in-Chief commended the efforts of HH Staff Lieutenant Commander Shaikh Isa bin Salman in supporting and strengthening the role of the BDF.
Source: Bahrain News Agency
The Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission, in cooperation with the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), is organising the 13th Gulf Poetry Forum 2024. The event will take place from July 5 to 6 in the Taif Governorate.
The Gulf Poetry Forum 2024 aims to bring together poets, critics, specialists, and enthusiasts from the GCC countries to promote cultural communication, uphold the values of poetry, emphasise the importance of the Arabic language in the region, and deepen the appreciation of poetry in the Gulf national culture.
Additionally, the forum seeks to identify new poetic voices in each GCC country, showcase distinguished poets, and explore contemporary poetry trends and movements in the member states.
The event will also feature analytical and critical studies on the movement of Arabic poetry in the GCC countries, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The forum’s agenda includes an opening session, artistic performances, an introductory video, and multiple poetic
evenings. On the closing day, there will be a symposium titled “The Poetic Image in the Gulf Poem between Tradition and Modernity.” Participants will discuss contemporary Arabic poetry in the GCC countries and the Arab world, supporting cultural and common social goals among the member states.
The symposium will cover topics such as the history of the poetic image, the characteristics of the poetic image in Gulf and Arabic poetry, and presenting the existing and new aspects of Gulf poetry with a modern vision. Additionally, the programme will include an accompanying artistic exhibition and pavilions for entities showcasing their contributions to Arabic poetry and literature.
The Gulf Poetry Forum 2024 is held once every two years in a different member state and is organized in coordination with the General Secretariat of the GCC. The forum aims to elevate the art of poetry and its values, featuring the participation of poets from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
Source: Bahrain News Agency
Manama: Lieutenant General Shaikh Abdulaziz bin Saud Al Khalifa, the National Guard Staff Director, inspected one of the naval units in the northern part of the Kingdom.
Lt. Gen. Shaikh Abdulaziz bin Saud was briefed on the unit’s readiness and its training and operational plans, as well as efforts in meeting the development goals within the National Guard’s five-year strategic plans.
He underscored the progress and development achieved by the unit on both land and sea, under the directives of General His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Commander of the National Guard, to strengthen its role within the Kingdom’s security and defence system.
Source: Bahrain News Agency
Manama: The King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence (KHGC) launched a joint postgraduate diploma on peaceful coexistence, in cooperation with the United Nations University for Peace (UPEACE) and the Gioya Higher Education Institution (HEI) in Malta.
Dr. Shaikh Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of KHGC, said that the programme was launched to develop capabilities, organise educational and training programmes, and conduct scientific research to spread the culture of peace, tolerance, and solidarity.
He said that the academic programme, supervised and conducted by an elite group of international experts and officials of international organisations, comes within the framework of implementing the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in March between KHGC and UPEACE. The MoU aims to enhance cooperation in security, peace, tolerance, human rights, and religious freedoms, in line with international law and the objectives of the United Nations Charter.
Dr. Shaikh Abdulla
noted that the launch of the diploma is part of the centre’s initiatives, guided by the vision of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and supported by the government, headed by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. The initiatives aim to promote the culture of peace and reinforce the values of tolerance, understanding, and dialogue between all religions, cultures, and civilisations.
He underscored the centre’s commitment to strengthening the Kingdom’s positio, showcasing its humanitarian and civilisational heritage and advancing the role of education and media in fostering the culture of dialogue, rejecting hatred, and solidarity for a better future for humanity that enjoys security, harmony, peace, and sustainable prosperity.
The programme will accept 50 candidates locally and internationally. It will include online and offline classes that will highlight Bahrain’s peaceful coexistence model.
Source: Bahrain News Agency
Mercedes’ George Russell celebrated a surprise Austrian Grand Prix win on Sunday after Red Bull’s triple world champion Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris collided late in the race while fighting for the lead.
Oscar Piastri finished second for McLaren, 1.906 seconds behind, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz taking third at Spielberg’s scenic Red Bull Ring.
The gifted victory was a first for once-dominant Mercedes since November 2022, when Russell also triumphed in Brazil 33 races ago, and only the second of the Briton’s Formula One career.
Source: Bahrain News Agency
Represented by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the Sultanate of Oman today signed in Tunis an air services agreement with the Republic of Tunisia.
The agreement was signed by Naif Ali Al Abri, Chairman of the CAA, Oman News Agency (ONA) reported.
The agreement updates an agreement signed in 1985 by the governments of the two countries to regulate air services between their regions and beyond them. The updated agreement, based on principles of open skies, allows the respective airlines to operate any number of direct flights.
The 23-article pact regulates operational and technical aspects in a manner that serves the common interests of the two countries. It introduces a special appendix that outlines the schedule of air routes
Source: Bahrain News Agency
Aramco President and CEO, Aramco, one of the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, has awarded contracts worth more than $25 billion to advance its strategic gas expansion, which targets sales gas production growth of more than 60% by 2030 compared to 2021 levels.
The contracts pertain to the phase two development of the vast Jafurah unconventional gas field, the phase three expansion of Aramco’s Master Gas System, new gas rigs, and ongoing capacity maintenance.
Amin H. Nasser, the Aramco President and CEO said “These contract awards demonstrate our firm belief in the future of gas as an important energy source, as well as a vital feedstock for downstream industries. The scale of our ongoing investment at Jafurah and the expansion of our Master Gas System underscores our intention to further integrate and grow our gas business to meet anticipated rising demand. This complements the diversification of our portfolio, creates new employment opportunities, and supports the Kingdom’s transit
ion towards a lower-emission power grid, in which gas and renewables gradually displace liquids-based power generation. To get where we are today, a lot of hard work, innovation, and a strong ‘can do’ spirit has been demonstrated by teams across our vast network of suppliers and service providers, who have joined Aramco on this journey to build and expand our world-class energy infrastructure”.
Nasser appreciated the continuous support provided by His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Minister of Energy, which always pushes Aramco forward. He noted the Minister’s keenness to make the energy industry in the Kingdom a global model in growth, reliability, development, and diversity, and to contribute positively to supplying the country and the world with energy to achieve sustainability and prosperity, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The company has awarded 16 contracts, worth a combined total of around $12.4 billion, for phase two development at Jafurah. The work wil
l involve constructing gas compression facilities and associated pipelines, expanding the Jafurah Gas Plant, including the construction of gas processing trains, utilities, sulfur, and export facilities. It will also involve constructing the company’s new Riyas Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) fractionation facilities in Jubail including NGL fractionation trains, and utilities, storage, and export facilities to process NGL received from Jafurah.
Another 15 lump-sum turnkey contracts, worth a combined total of around $8.8 billion, have been awarded to commence the phase three expansion of the Master Gas System, which delivers natural gas to customers across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The expansion, conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, will increase the size of the network and raise its total capacity by an additional 3.15 billion standard cubic feet per day (bscfd) by 2028, through the installation of around 4,000 km of pipelines and 17 new gas compression trains.
An additional 23 gas rig contr
acts worth $2.4 billion have also been awarded, along with two directional drilling contracts worth $612 million. Meanwhile, 13 well tie-in contracts at Jafurah, worth a total of $1.63 billion, have been awarded between December 2022 and May 2024.
The Jafurah unconventional gas field is estimated to contain 229 trillion standard cubic feet of raw gas and 75 billion stock tank barrels of condensate. Phase one of the Jafurah development program, which commenced in November 2021, is progressing on schedule, with initial start-up anticipated in the third quarter of 2025. Aramco expects total overall lifecycle investment at Jafurah to exceed $100 billion and production to reach a sustainable sales gas rate of two billion standard cubic feet per day by 2030, in addition to significant volumes of ethane, NGL, and condensate.
Aramco’s Master Gas System is an extensive network of pipelines that connects Aramco’s key gas production and processing sites throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Its expansion will increa
se access to domestic gas supplies for customers in the industrial, utility, and other sectors, providing a lower greenhouse gas emission alternative to oil for power generation. Since 1982, the network has transported associated gas, also known as “waste gas” released during oil production, instead of being flared, illustrating Aramco’s innovation and early adoption of solutions that help mitigate emissions. This pioneering network, which now transports associated gas and sales gas, has helped Aramco achieve near-zero routine gas flaring and maintain a flare volume of less than 1% of total raw gas production since 2012, contributing to the company having one of the lowest upstream carbon intensities in the industry.
Source: Bahrain News Agency