Category: General

General President of the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and Prophet’s Mosque Sheikh Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Sudais has praised the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud who ordered to host 1,000 pilgrims members of families of Palestinian martyrs, prisoners and wounded this year’s Hajj season.

“This order from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques reflects the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s support of the State of Palestine, the Islamic sanctities and Al-Aqsa Mosque, and its keenness to serve all Muslims visiting the Grand Mosque and alleviate their suffering under difficult living conditions,” said Sheikh Dr. Al-Sudais.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Center Meteorology Eng. Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli will launch tomorrow the new mechanism for reporting and cooperating in dealing with weather conditions during the national workshop to be organized by the National Center for Meteorology for government agencies and stakeholders dealing with weather.

The two-day workshop, which takes place at the Movenpick Hotel in Riyadh, will address several issues, mainly early warning mechanism and development opportunities, regional services and initiatives, similar experiences and their utilization, legislative and legal aspects, international regulations and standards for reporting weather conditions, and the envisioned role of beneficiary agencies.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Louai al-Munajjid discussed Sunday with UNICEF resident Representative for Syria Yasumasa Kimura programs and projects of common interest, and ways to develop them.

Topics touched upon social protection programs for children with disabilities, childhood protection, psychosocial support and mental health, guidelines for psychosocial support, and cooperation mechanisms to achieve them.

Al-Munajjid stressed the importance of holding joint technical meetings to lay the foundations and future proposals for joint cooperation, according to a practical plan headed by the Syrian Commission for Family and Population Affairs.

For his part, Kimura expressed the UNICEF readiness to strengthen cooperation and coordination with the ministry, which will reflect positively on joint work in the future.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

More than 2,440 persons from the city of Daraa and its affiliated villages and towns joined the ongoing comprehensive settlement process in Qasr al-Houriat settlement center in the city.

The settlement process was launched by the competent authorities throughout the province of Daraa.

A source at the settlement center told SANA that Sunday witnessed a remarkable turnout from all the cities and towns of the Daraa region, and due to the large turnout, the center will continue on Monday to receive those wishing to settle their status from the rest of the Daraa region, who were unable to attend on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a special source told SANA that the total number of those who joined the settlement process in Daraa province since its launch on June 3rd has reached more than 13,000 people.

It is noteworthy that the Daraa Governorate announced in a statement on Saturday that it would allocate two days for the Daraa region so that those wishing to settle their status can join the settlement process, in addition to facilitating all the required procedures for that.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

One civilian was martyred and others were injured by fire of the US occupation forces as they carried out an airdrop in Hasaka countryside on Sunday .

Local sources told SANA that the US occupation warplanes carried out a massive airdrop operation on Sunday at Dawn in Hasaka southern countryside, with the support of the militants of the US-backed QSD militia.

The airdrop was carried out in the village of Salham, southeast of al-Shadadi, in the southern countryside of Hasaka, along the Syrian-Iraqi border, and it was accompanied by heavy and indiscriminate shooting at the locals’ homes and lands.

The sources added that the US occupation forces and the QSD militants cordoned off the village, and opened fire on the people who tried to leave the village, fearing for their lives, which led to the martyrdom of a civilian and the injury of others.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

Four weak tremors were recorded over the past 24 hours, the National Earthquake Center (NEC) announced.

The center added in a statement that the stations of the National Seismological Network have registered two quakes in Liwa Iskenderun with magnitudes of 2.8 and 2.1, in addition to recording a quake in Turkey with a magnitude of 3.3.

The stations also recorded a 1.8 magnitude tremor 24km to the southeast of Idleb province.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

Russian forces have thwarted an attempt to transfer Ukrainian reserve forces in the Molchanovo area, and eliminated a sabotage and reconnaissance group.

“The artillery of Zabad group eliminated a reconnaissance and sabotage group in the Olshany region on the Kupyansk axis, and thwarted an attempt to transfer reserve forces in the Molchanovo region,” Head of the Press Center of the Russian “Zabad” forces group, Sergey Zibinsky was cited by Sputnik as saying.

The Russian forces continue their special military operation, which has defined its objectives as protecting the population of the Donbass region, neutralizing threats to Russia’s security, forcing Ukraine into military neutrality, and eliminating Nazi tendencies in it.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency

The Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) has affirmed its commitment to intensify inspection campaigns across all governorates to regulate the Labour market and address illegal practices.

Noora Isa Mubarak, LMRA’s Acting Deputy Chief Executive for Enforcement and Protection, said that maintaining a stable work environment that safeguards the rights of all is a top priority for the LMRA.

She stressed that violations will not be tolerated, pointing to the continued inspection campaigns and visits in coordination with the concerned government bodies.

Mubarak added that during the first quarter of this year, LMRA carried out more than 10,000 joint inspection campaigns, a 56 percent increase compared to the same period of 2022, and the number of violations registered against workers without a work permit reached 983 violations, while the number of deported workers increased five folds.

She called on employers to abide by the laws and regulations and to verify procedures to avoid any legal liabilities, stressing on the importance of dealing with only regular workers, and not hiring workers until after completing the process for issuing a work permit and paying the prescribed fees.

Mubarak also urged all irregular workers to correct their legal status either by joining a new employer; or voluntary return to their homeland; or joining the Labour Registration Program for those who are eligible as per the terms and conditions set.

The Acting Deputy CE also renewed the Authority’s call to all members of the society to support the efforts of government agencies in addressing illegal labour practices, by reporting violations via the electronic form on LMRA’s website lmra.gov.bh or by calling the Authority’s call centre on 17506055.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Bahrain Bourse (BHB), a Licensed Exchange by the Central Bank of Bahrain, announced its strategic partnership with the Diversity on Board Program (DOB) to promote their signature Emerging Board Leaders Fellowship (EBLF) program.

The announcement came following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bahrain Bourse and Diversity on Board, a regional platform that helps organizations identify and appoint women to executive and advisory board positions. The collaboration aims to establish a collaborative framework towards promoting board diversity within the MENA region to enhance the economic competitiveness, corporate governance, and foster a more inclusive society through educating, grooming and nurturing a healthy pipeline of highly qualified talent who are mentored to be ‘board-ready’.

According to the MoU, the Bahrain Bourse will also support the EBLF program and the Fellows through workshops and will provide insights, trends and recent updates on the expectation of Boards within listed companies. BHB will collaborate with their key stakeholders across the region to facilitate sessions for the Fellows of DOB’s annual Emerging Board Leaders Fellowship to join organizations like HSBC who are a key sponsor and partner to the EBLF; and KPMG in Bahrain who support the program as a Knowledge Partner.

In addition, Bahrain Bourse will facilitate strategic collaborations between Diversity on Board and the Middle East Investor Relations Association (MEIRA), involving MEIRA in the planning and delivery of key learning sessions relevant for the cohort of Fellows on the DOB’s annual Emerging Board Leaders Fellowship.

Shaikh Khalifa bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, CEO of Bahrain Bourse, commented: “We are pleased to collaborate with Diversity on Board to promote sustainability and diversity in advisory and executive board positions across listed companies through the Emerging Board Leaders Fellowship Program. As a key capital market player, we believe that we can play a pivotal role in encouraging board diversity in Bahrain’s capital market through supporting leadership programs, and this collaboration comes in line with Bahrain Bourse’s efforts to promote sustainability and its deployment of various initiatives to encourage the adoption of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) among stakeholders. The partnership supports the Bahrain Bourse to achieve our ambition to be a regional leaders in driving sustainability, ESG and more specifically Inclusion and Diversity.”

Tarik Al Olaimy, Co-Founder of Diversity on Board, commented: “Our partnership with Bahrain Bourse is a milestone achievement for Diversity on Board, marking a significant step forward in our mission to enhance board diversity and sustainability leadership across the MENA region. BHB’s endorsement of the UN Women Empowerment Principles and commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative exemplifies their dedication to promoting sustainability and gender equality. Their leadership in these areas, coupled with our collaborative efforts, will undoubtedly foster a more inclusive and future-ready corporate board landscape, as well as support the exceptional regional leaders who are taking part in the Emerging Board Leaders Fellowship (EBLF) program.”

It is worth noting that Bahrain Bourse announced its commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative in 2019 to further promote sustainable and transparent capital markets, as part of its sustainability journey. Bahrain Bourse’s endorsement of the UN WEP is aimed to further strengthen its sustainability journey and roadmap on topics in relation to gender equality. During March 2023, BHB announced its endorsement of the UN Women Empowerment Principles (WEP) alongside 7,000 other global signatories, who have voluntarily expressed their commitment towards promoting the advancement of Gender Equality and Equity within the workplace and marketplace. The UN WEP initiative focuses on seven core principles which provide corporates with guidelines on delivering gender equality in alignment with the UN SDG goals.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

At least five workers died on Saturday in an explosion at a rocket and explosives factory in Turkiye’s capital Ankara, according to the country’s National Defense Ministry.

An explosion occurred at the MKE Rocket and Explosives Factory in the Elmadag district of Ankara. As a result of the explosion, five of our workers have dies, the ministry said in a statement.

It added that judicial and administrative investigations have been launched into the incident.

Source: Qatar News Agency