Day: April 23, 2023

The National Center of Meteorology forecast that thunderstorms will continue from medium to heavy, accompanied by showers of hail and active winds, leading to torrents in the regions of Riyadh, Hail, Najran, Jazan, Asir and Baha extending to Makkah. There is still a chance of thunderstorms accompanied by showers of hail and activity in the surface winds that raise dust in parts of the regions of Qassim, Madinah, Tabuk, Jawf, Northern Borders and parts of the Eastern Region, it said in its report on the weather for today.

It indicated that the movement of surface winds on the Red Sea is northwesterly to southwesterly over the northern part, at a speed of 18-38 km/h, and southeasterly turning to southwesterly over the southern and central part, at a speed of 15-38 km/h. Meanwhile, the movement of surface winds in the Arabian Gulf is westerly to southwesterly at a speed of 12-32 km/h.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

The General Authority for Survey and Geospatial Information, on behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, participated in the inaugural meeting of the United Nations Global Geospatial Knowledge and Innovation Centre’s International Advisory Committee (UN-GGKIC IAC ) from April 20 to 22 in Deqing, China.

Dr. Mohammed bin Yahya Al Sayel, President of the General Authority for Survey and Geospatial Information, represented the Kingdom at the meeting, which focused on various agenda items and reviewed the experiences of member states.

During the meeting, the Kingdom presented the experience of the General Authority for Survey and Geospatial Information in harmonizing the National Geospatial Strategy, which is currently under development by the Authority, with the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework (IGIF).

The Kingdom also emphasized the importance of the nine strategic pathways outlined in the IGIF, which cover Governance and Institutions, Legal and Policy, Financial, Data, Standards, Innovation, Partnerships, Capacity and Education, and Communication and Engagement, providing guidance for addressing challenges in the survey and geospatial information sector.

In April, Dr. Al Sayel was granted royal approval to serve as a member of the UN-GGKIC IAC.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

The Swedish parliament approved today the government’s plan to send troops to Sudan to evacuate Swedish nationals there.

The Swedish parliament approved a proposal to allow the government to send a unit of up to 400 soldiers to evacuate Swedish citizens and foreigners from Sudan, according to the Committee on Foreign Affairs’ proposal.

The Committee said that sending these forces should be done in close coordination with other countries and international organizations.

The approval comes a day after the Minister of Foreign Affairs Tobias Billstrom and the Minister of Defense Pal Jonson announced that they will ask Parliament to agree to send an armed unit to Sudan to evacuate nationals, since Swedish Parliament’s approval is a condition for sending armed forces abroad.

Jonson said that the unit must be able to carry out protection, rescue, and liberation tasks on its own or with partner countries.

Since April 15, armed clashes have continued between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces. The situation there prompted a number of countries to evacuate their nationals from Sudan.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Somali army announced today that it had launched a military operation against the strongholds of the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab movement in Galmudug province in the center of the country.

In a statement, the army said that the operation was in cooperation with the popular resistance. Targeting the strongholds of the movement’s militants in the Ail Qansah area, the army said that its forces were able to destroy sites belonging to the movement’s members, arrest five of them, and confiscate a truck, military equipment and fuel.

The operation came hours after Somali army announced that it killed 18 Al-Shabaab militants after heavy fighting between the group fighters and Somali army and local forces in Masagawa town in Galgudud region.

Source: Qatar News Agency

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced today that a member of the Egyptian embassy to Sudan was shot, without providing further details.

Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid urged Egyptians in Sudan to exercise the utmost caution for the sake of the safety of Egyptian nationals and diplomatic mission staff.

Abu Zeid added that evacuating a number like 10,000 Egyptians in Sudan requires careful planning to ensure the safety and efficiency of the operation.

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also urged Egyptian nationals outside Khartoum to head to the nearest point to them be it Port Sudan or Wadi Halfa in preparation for evacuation by the Egyptian authorities.

The Ministry urged Egyptians currently in Khartoum to remain in their homes until the security situation and violence in the capital abate. It added that the situation in Khartoum is being reassessed in coordination with the Sudanese authorities to allow for the evacuation of Egyptians in Khartoum as part of the evacuation strategy for all Egyptians in Sudan.

Source: Qatar News Agency

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa today received a phone call from the Prime Minister of the Isalamic Republic of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif.

During the call, HM the King and the Pakistani Prime Minister exchanged Eid Al Fitr congratulations, wishing their countries and peoples, as well as the Arab and Islamic nations further progress and prosperity.

Source: Source: Bahrain News Agency

The Kingdom of Bahrain joins the world in celebrating the World Immunization Week, which is observed in the last week of April every year. This year’s theme “The Big Catch-Up” aims to boost awareness of the importance of vaccines and their role in preventing many diseases and protecting the community.

The Kingdom of Bahrain has brought about many accomplishments in this respect thanks to the support and directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Highly secure and effective vaccines are provided to protect the health and safety of all.

The extended immunization programme in the Kingdom of Bahrain is considered as a main pillar of public health and primary healthcare. Recommended vaccines are administered from birth through routine childhood vaccination and extend to include different age categories like school pupils, women of childbearing age, the elderly, highly vulnerable groups to diseases, health workers and travelers to various travel destinations.

The Kingdom of Bahrain is proud of its achievements in combating communicable diseases and controlling pandemics through vaccination, which has become apparent mainly in fighting Covid-19, thus setting a model to emulate that won the praise of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Source: Source: Bahrain News Agency