Category: General

Doha: The Department of Zakat Affairs at the Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs has issued the table of zakat percentages on shares for 42 companies listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange for the past fiscal year.

Director of the Zakat Affairs Department Saad Omran Al Kuwari said that the Department is keen to issue this bulletin every year to help shareholders calculate the zakat on the shares they own in these companies to pay it on time.

He pointed out that, as the official government body authorized to collect Zakat funds and spend them on its legitimate zakat destination from eligible people inside Qatar, the department also undertakes calculating the Zakat of small and medium private companies not listed on the stock exchange upon their request.

Al Kuwari pointed out that the Department has a qualified team of researchers, Sharia experts, and financial accountants specialized in calculating corporate zakat, to issue a bulletin on the percentage of zakat on shares for joint-stock companies, noting
that the Department of Zakat Affairs holds an annual specialized course in calculating corporate zakat, presented by one of the most prominent scholars in the zakat calculation.

He explained that during this course, finance managers and accountants will be trained to calculate the zakat of the companies in which they work according to legal foundations and standards and a global process approved in the field of calculating corporate zakat. He called on all large, medium and small companies, banks and businessmen to pay the zakat on time.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani met at his office in Lusail Palace on Wednesday with HE Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Spain Dr. Pedro Sanchez.

During the meeting, they discussed the friendship and cooperation relations between the two countries. They also discussed regional and international developments, especially those related to the developments in the occupied Palestinian territories and the Gaza Strip.

In that regard, HH the Amir and HE the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Spain stressed the need to make efforts to reduce the escalation and spare civilians from the consequences of the fighting, open safe corridors in Gaza for relief and humanitarian efforts, and ensure that the violence does not expand regionally.

The meeting was attended by HE Chief of the Amiri Diwan Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, HE Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi, and a number of senior officials.

On Spain’s side, the meeting was attended by
Secretary of State for Economic Affairs and G20 Manuel de la Rocha, Secretary General of Foreign Affairs Emma Aparici, and a number of senior officials.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Riyadh, The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA) of Saudi Arabia has localised the production of banana seedlings through tissue culture and propagation of several varieties suitable for the Kingdom’s climate, especially in Jazan.

The ministry’s centre for plant tissue culture and biotechnology has successfully cultivated high-quality, disease-free seedlings both in greenhouses and in open fields. This achievement has a significant effect on the agricultural sector, as it boosts sustainability and productivity, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The ministry has launched the first phase of two: to plant 45 million fruit trees on agricultural terraces and four million lemon trees using renewable water by 2030. These initiatives are part of the Saudi Green Initiative, conducted in collaboration with private sector institutions and the Agricultural Development Fund.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Doha: On the occasion of Eid Al Fitr, the Amiri Diwan announced that the Eid holiday will be as follows: Eid holiday for ministries, other government entities, and public institutions starts on Sunday 28 Ramadan 1445 AH, corresponding to April 7, 2024, and ends on Monday, corresponding to April 15, 2024. Employees are to resume work on Tuesday, April 16, 2024.

As for Qatar Central Bank (QCB), banks, and financial institutions working under the supervision of QCB and Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA), the Governor of Qatar Central Bank shall specify the start and the end of the holiday.

Source: Qatar News Agency

Doha: The Orphan Care Center (Dreama), one of the centers of the Qatar Foundation for Social Work, a Ministry of Social Development and Family affiliate, celebrated the Arab Orphan Day, which falls on the first Friday of April annually.

The Arab Orphan Day aims to highlight society’s role in integrating orphans and preparing them for a bright future.

The event was held at the Old Doha Port, allowing participants and visitors a unique experience of Ramadan’s vibes.

Assistant Undersecretary for Social Development Affairs at the Ministry of Social Development and Family Fahd Mohammed Al Khayarin and Dreama Executive Director Sheikha Najla bint Ahmed Al-Thani attended the event, along with the executive directors of Qatar Foundation for Social Work affiliate centers, together with Dreama partners, and an audience from the general public.

This year’s celebration adopted the cube as a theme, where participants could write appreciation and encouragement messages to orphans on small cubes, which when put together
, form a larger cube with Dreama’s logo on it, symbolizing how members of society complement Dream’s mission in caring for and integrating orphans into society and offering them a bright future.

Dreama Executive Director Sheikha Najla bint Ahmed Al-Thani stressed that the responsibility of preparing orphans for a better future lies on society as a whole, which must integrate them, treat them well, and offer them all kinds of encouragement and support.

The Dreama Executive Director added, “On this special occasion, I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to the supporting company, which has proven its dedication and firm belief in the efforts of the Orphan Care Center “Dreama”, and the services provided to the target groups. We would like to express our deep gratitude to FMM for its generous support of our event for the second consecutive year. The company’s positive interaction and honoring of this activity contributes greatly to achieving our goals and providing appropriate opportunities for orphans to
build their future with confidence and optimism.”

Source: Qatar News Agency

Gaza – Ma’an – On Wednesday, the Hamas movement denounced Israel’s continued prevention of teams from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from reaching the northern Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid, considering this “an insistence on the part of the occupation leaders to continue the fascist war of starvation” against Palestinian civilians. .

The movement said in a statement, ‘What the UN agency announced today about the occupation army continuing to prevent its teams from reaching the northern Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid confirms the insistence of the leaders of the terrorist occupation to continue the fascist war of starvation against Palestinian civilians, and the policy of prevention and systematic targeting of all means of relief and delivery.’ basic assistance to them.

It considered that Israel’s goal in doing so was to “punish the Palestinian people and force them to emigrate from their land, under the weight of famine and continuing massacres.”

H
amas called on the international community and the United Nations to ‘take immediate action and put pressure’ on Israel to ‘stop its declared crime (of) using starvation as a weapon, preventing the arrival of aid, and targeting aid workers.’

She also stressed “the necessity of standing up to Israel’s targeting of UNRWA, and taking actual steps to hold it accountable for its ongoing crimes against defenseless civilians in the Gaza Strip, and against all values ??of humanity.”

Earlier Wednesday, UNRWA said, in a post on the ‘X’ platform, ‘Israel continues to prevent us from reaching the northern Gaza Strip to provide food aid and other basic supplies.’

It indicated that it “provided more than half of the international aid delivered in Gaza through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings last March.”

It noted that 176 of its employees were ‘tragically killed’ since the beginning of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, criticized Israel’s strict p
olicies and its prevention of agency teams from reaching the northern Gaza Strip, warning of the resulting “man-made famine.”

Source: Maan News Agency

Ramallah – Ma’an – The Prisoner’s Club said that the Israeli occupation army has arrested 66 male and female journalists since the start of the aggression against our people on October 7, and is now keeping 45 of them in detention.

The club added, in a statement today, Wednesday, that the number of detained female journalists has risen to 4, the most recent of which is the arrest of journalist Asma Noah Harish (32 years old) at dawn today from her home in Ramallah, noting that her father Noah and her brother Ahmed have also been detained for some time.

He explained that this escalation comes within the framework of the widespread arrest campaigns carried out by the occupation army, including the arrests of women, which have recently escalated significantly, including female journalists.

The club pointed out that during the month of last March and until today, the occupation has arrested three female journalists: former detainee Bushra Al-Taweel, who was transferred to administrative detention, and Rula Has
sanein, who is married and the mother of a 9-month-old daughter, in addition to journalist Harish.

He continued, that 23 journalists were transferred to administrative detention under the pretext of having a ‘secret file,’ including the two journalists, Ikhlas Sawalha and Bushra Al-Taweel, while the majority of them were charged with alleging incitement on social media sites, or in the media outlets in which they work. Pointing out that a number of them had been previously arrested many times.

The Prisoners’ Club confirmed that the majority of detained journalists were subjected to severe beatings and torture, as were all those arrested and targeted after October 7, and today they face all the unprecedented retaliatory measures imposed by the prison administration against them.

He pointed out that the arrests of journalists also come within the framework of the comprehensive aggression and genocide in Gaza, which led to the martyrdom of (140) journalists, in addition to the targeting of their families, and
that a number of detained journalists from Gaza are subject to enforced disappearance, as are all detainees from Gaza.

It is noteworthy that the occupation over the past decades has adopted a policy of arresting journalists, in addition to a number of policies, crimes, and violations against them, in a continuous attempt to silence their voices, fight the Palestinian narrative, restrict freedom of opinion and expression, and intimidate them through continuous threats to them, and directly target them during their field work. By shooting them and detaining them.

The Prisoner’s Club renewed its demand for international human rights institutions to assume their necessary responsibilities in light of the continuing genocide against our people in Gaza, and the targeting of all segments of Palestinian society through widespread and systematic arrest operations.

It is noteworthy that the total number of detainees in the Israeli occupation detention centers reached as of the end of March.

Source: Maan News Agenc
y

Al-Baha, Al Shukran Park of Baljurashi governorate in the Al Baha region marked the arrival of new baby ibexes from the herd recently released into the park by the National Center for Wildlife.

It has been less than a month since the center released seven ibexes into the park during the Hijri month of Sha’ban.

The births took place naturally within the park’s serene environment, and the baby ibexes are in excellent health. The center, in collaboration with the park’s dedicated staff, has been closely monitoring these precious new arrivals.

Moreover, there is more to look forward to, as the park provides the perfect habitat for further ibex births.

The center conducted an extensive study on the park’s biodiversity, both in its current state and its future prospects. The study highlighted the vital importance of releasing such species into the park to enhance biodiversity in the park and surrounding areas.

The initiative not only contributes to the development of eco-tourism in the kingdom but also creates
new economic opportunities that benefit the local community, as the center seeks to foster strong partnerships with local residents and stakeholders.

In addition, the center boasts cutting-edge and top-notch breeding centers that specialize in breeding endangered species and reintroducing them into their native habitats, following the highest international standards.

The center conducts extensive research on the living conditions of these animals, while also using modern techniques to track and monitor the biodiversity of protected areas.

The center aims to collect valuable data and form understanding about the potential risks faced by wildlife to ensure their well-being.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Makkah: The Presidency for Religious Affairs at the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque is using interactive electronic screens with intelligent applications that guide, help with advice, and raise awareness among worshippers, enriching the religious experience of millions of Umrah performers and visitors, especially during Ramadan.

Through the screens, visitors are taught the correct doctrine, Sharia law rulings, and virtuous manners. They also highlight the importance of tolerance and moderation, and help visitors perform their worship and rituals according to Sharia law.

The presidency informed that visitors and Umrah performers can now access electronic books, scientific lessons, preacher sermons, and information on Sharia law in various languages. The materials are available on interactive electronic screens.

The aim is to help understand Islam correctly, teach its rulings, promote moderation, and glorify the two holy mosques.

The interactive electronic screens, available in multiple languages, hav
e played a significant role in spreading the moderate religious message of the two holy mosques across the globe. They have enhanced the religious experience at the two holy mosques by providing various digital platforms for Muslims worldwide to access and learn from.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Cabinet Member, and Climate Envoy Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir received in his office here today Ambassador of the Republic of Tajikistan to the Kingdom Akram Karimi.

During the meeting, they discussed issues of common concern.

Source: Saudi Press Agency