Day: August 8, 2023

President Bashar al-Assad issued on Tuesday Decree No. 206 for 2023, stipulating for naming Dr. Muhammad Amer Mardini as Minister of Education.

Dr. Mardini was born in Damascus in 1959. He holds PhD in Pharmacy in pharmaceutical quality control, from Humboldt University, Germany, in 1988.

He occupied several positions, including Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy at al-Andalus University for Medical Sciences, and Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Damascus, and currently he is Rector of al-Andalus University for Medical Sciences.

He is member of the Board of Trustees of the Distinction and Creativtiy Agency and member of the Board of Trustees of Aamal.

He also occupied several positions, including, Director of Academic Programs in the Excellence and Creativity Authority, Minister of Higher Education, Rector of Damascus University, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Damascus

He won al-Basil Awards for the best research project and has several contributions in many scientific societies and bodies, in addition to publishing scientific books, nonfiction books, and about 55 scientific papers in many scientific journals.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

Undersecretary of Ministry of Interior Dr. Hisham bin Abdulrahman Al-Faleh has held a virtual meeting with his Kuwaiti counterpart, Anwar Al-Barjas, to discuss issues of common interest.

The event is part of the meetings of the Security and Military Coordination Committee of the Saudi-Kuwaiti Coordination Council.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

The United Nations (UN) reported that war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Myanmar have become “increasingly frequent and brazen.” It was stated in the annual report of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), that evidence points to a dramatic increase in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country, with widespread and systematic attacks against civilians.

Strong evidence shows that the Myanmar military and its affiliate militias have committed three types of combat-related war crimes with increasing frequency and brazenness.

Case files are being built that can be used by courts to hold individual perpetrators responsible, the report said.

Head of the IIMM Nicholas Koumjian said that the Myanmar army is harming entire communities by directing air strikes and setting fire to villages, as well as committing massacres against civilians and detainees.

Koumjian said that the Naypyidaw authorities did not authorize the IIMM to enter the country. However, the investigation team interviewed more than 700 sources and collected and analyzed more than 23 million pieces of information data which include eyewitness reports, documents, photos, videos, forensic evidence and satellite images.

He also noted that the findings of the report intersect with data collected by other UN agencies, non-governmental organizations and countries regarding the acts of violence that the country has witnessed since the military coup in 2021.

The IIMM, which cooperates with several parties, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), expressed its aspiration to speed up the process of collecting evidence on the most serious international crimes to share it with investigators, prosecutors and courts capable of prosecuting those responsible.

The IIMM focuses in particular on specific individuals such as senior officials, especially since the disregard of higher authorities for these crimes shown in the report may indicate that they are behind it.

Source: Qatar News Agency

One hundred displaced Iraqis, who were living in camps in the Dohuk governorate, have returned to their original areas of residence in the Sinjar district of the northern Nineveh governorate.

Iraqi Minister of Migration and Displacement Evan Faik Jabro said, in a statement Tuesday, that this return comes within the ministry’s plan to end the displacement file in the country, in coordination with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), stressing the authorities’ readiness to overcome all obstacles that prevent the return of the rest of the displaced to their areas voluntarily, and to provide them with relief assistance.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh reviewed on Tuesday with the new Head of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) mission to the West Bank and Gaza Strip Kerstin Gerling, the status of economic development in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Shtayyeh affirmed in the meeting that the Israeli occupation is the main obstacle to the development process in Palestine.

He also expressed his appreciation for the important periodic reports issued by the IMF, which shed light on the economic challenges posed by the occupation.

The Palestinian Prime Minister called for setting up a mechanism to follow up the recommendations, especially with the Israeli side, stressing that Israel is working to systematically destroy the two-state solution.

The current Israeli government represents an ideological transition towards extremism, which poses a threat to stability in the region, especially in light of its escalating attempts to undermine the Palestinian Authority and increase the pace of settlements, Shtayyeh said.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Rwandan President Paul Kagame received a verbal message from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, pertaining to bilateral relations and means of strengthening the joint cooperation.

The message was delivered by Saudi Royal Court adviser Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Kattan during his meeting with President Kagame Tuesday, where cooperation relations between the two countries and ways to enhance them in various fields were reviewed.

On this occasion, the Rwandan President expressed his country’s welcome for the two summits, the First Saudi-African Summit and the 5th Arab-African Summit which will be held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this year.

The two sides discussed regional and international developments of common concern.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen discussed with his South Korean counterpart Park Jin relations between the two countries, and ways to support them in the bilateral and multilateral fields.

During a meeting on the occasion of celebrating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Addis Ababa and Seoul, the two ministers expressed their countries’ desire to increase their partnership on multilateral platforms, pledging to deepen and expand their partnership relations in the financial field.

They also discussed a number of regional and international files of common interest.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Mohammed bin Thamer Al-Kaabi, the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, received Vilayeth Abbas, Regional Station Manager of KLM Group, in the presence of Dinesh Shetty, KLM Bahrain Station Manager.

The minister praised KLM Royal Dutch Airlines’ distinction as one of the major airlines operating at Bahrain International Airport, stressing the Civil Aviation Affairs’ continuous support for the company’s activities.

He highlighted the distinguished relationship between the two parties, which extends for nearly 50 years of successful and regular operations of commercial flights from the Bahrain International Airport.

Source: Bahrain News Agency