Author: Kulthum el-Akram

Ten UAE aid lorries arrived in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, loaded with more than 247 tonnes of food for thousands of Palestinians in the besieged enclave. The convoy – carrying 16,520 food parcels – is part of the UAE’s continuing humanitarian support for civilians caught up in the Israel-Gaza war. The crucial supplies were delivered on the third day of a four-day pause in fighting between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip. More than 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza have faced heavy and continuous Israeli air strikes and ground assaults since the October 7 attack by Hamas. The group killed about 1,200 Israelis and took about 200 hostage. Israel’s retaliatory attacks have…

Toronto, Atlanta (28/11 – 20) A wise old expression intones “Behind every bad borrower is a bad lender”. Like many such cute, amusing aphorisms, it is accurate as far as it goes … but what if? What if a loan approval is held up, then granted, after a couple of phone calls from the office of the Vice President? What if the borrower is a crony or relative of Mr. Big, which is what practically bankrupted Indonesia, when the Soeharto vampire children took out multi-hundred-million-dollar “loans” (wink wink) for projects whose profit-making potential was near zero? What is the potential…

DUBAI, Nov 2 (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates said on Thursday it planned to treat 1,000 Palestinian children from Gaza, without saying how they would leave the Israeli-besieged enclave for the Gulf state. Israel has tightened its blockade and bombarded Gaza for nearly four weeks in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attack by Islamist Hamas that Israeli authorities say killed 1,400. The Gaza health ministry says 8,796 Palestinian, including 3,648 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes since Oct 7.00:19Pro-Palestinian groups protest as Blinken visits Ankara Gaza’s border with Egypt – the only exit point apart from the closed…

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that if Western countries like the US want to go to war with Russia, it would be “completely different” from the special military operation in Ukraine. Putin made assessments about the Russia-Ukraine war and Russia-China relations in an interview with Russian state broadcaster Rossiya. Speaking about Ukraine’s counteroffensive, Putin said it has “completely failed.” “We know that in some conflict zones, the other side is still preparing active attack operations. We see this, and we respond accordingly,” he said. He emphasized that what is happening along the contact line is called “active defense” and…

Paris (08/11 – 75) Sri Lanka’s economic and political crisis of 2022 left the country bankrupt. Ranil Wickremesinghe took over as President of Sri Lanka in July 2022 when the country was in the middle of its worst economic and political crisis since independence in 1948. His predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, had been forced out of power after facing mass protests prompted by 12-hour power cuts and persistent fuel and food shortages. The nation was bankrupt.Wickremesinghe brought in the International Monetary Fund and has focused on reaching macroeconomic stability and driving tough but much-needed structural reforms. Today, as Sri Lanka embarks…

Berlin (24/10 – 67) UN Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Nazila Ghanea, visited Tajikistan from April 11 to April 21 to conduct research on issues in this field. The UN expert will assess religious freedom and its interaction with the right to freedom of expression, discuss gender equality, women’s rights, and children’s rights. She stated that the implementation of religious freedom and belief in the country is a cause for concern. Ghanea, the newly appointed UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, called on Tajikistan to adapt and review its laws, policies, and practices regarding religion…

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a flying taxi… If you grew up watching The Jetsons like we did, or even fancying magic carpets, you may not need to dream for much longer as exciting aviation-related news is here. Helicopters won’t be the only flying wonders capable of Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) in the UAE, as Archer Aviation has signed an exciting new agreement with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) that could bring its air taxis to the capital from as early as 2026. The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) aims to bring the proposed air taxi…

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N.’s most powerful body must support governments seeking to legally declare the intensifying crackdown by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on women and girls “gender apartheid,” the head of the U.N. agency promoting gender equality said Tuesday. Sima Bahous, executive director of UN Women, told the Security Council that more than 50 increasingly dire Taliban edicts are being enforced with more severity, including by male family members. That is exacerbating mental health issues and suicidal thoughts especially among young women and is shrinking women’s decision-making even in their own homes. “They tell us that they are prisoners…

The General Staff of the Ukrainian military said 34 combat clashes took place on the front line during the day on September 7 and that the situation in the east and south of Ukraine “remains difficult.” The Ukrainian military repelled attacks in the Kupyansk, Bakhmut, and Avdiyivka areas, it said in its evening assessment. “The Defense Forces of Ukraine continue to conduct an offensive operation in the Melitopol direction, destroy the enemy, and step-by-step liberate the occupied territories,” it reported. A late air strike on Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region wounded two people after constant shelling of the region throughout the day,…

A UAE-driven humanitarian initiative has improved access to clean drinking water for 10,000 people in rural Vietnam. Zayed Sustainability Prize’s Beyond2020 initiative installed environmentally sustainable freshwater resources in the Quang Nam province. Eight water purification systems developed by Safe Water Cube, a global non-profit organisation and a Zayed Sustainability Prize 2019 finalist under the water category, are now being used to provide clean water to five villages and three schools. Beyond2020 carries forward the humanitarian legacy of the UAE’s Founding Father, the Late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, by providing sustainable technologies and solutions to vulnerable communities around the…