Author: Tahiyya al-Ashraf

Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met Qatar’s emir on Thursday during his third trip abroad since war broke out in April, after also visiting Egypt and South Sudan in recent days. Burhan, whose troops are fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), had spent months under siege inside the military headquarters in Khartoum and stayed in conflict-hit Sudan until late August. In Doha, he received a red carpet welcome and discussed “the latest developments in the situation and challenges facing Sudan” with the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, a Qatari royal court statement said. Burhan left Doha…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised retaliation for a Russian missile attack on Saturday that killed seven people including a 6-year-old girl. The missile hit the city center of Chernihiv, 150 kilometers north of Kyiv. The attack was carried out on a religious Orthodox festival and injured 144 people, including 15 children, Zelenskyy said in a statement early Sunday morning. “Our soldiers will respond to Russia for this terrorist attack,” Zelenskyy said. “Respond tangibly.” Zelenskyy is on a mini-tour this weekend to shore up military supplies from allies so Ukraine can continue its counteroffensive against Russia’s invasion. The Ukrainian leader was in Sweden…

RIYADH: As part of its efforts to expand the Kingdom’s industrial base, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources has launched a business accelerator and incubator program, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday. The program involves “15 qualitative industrial projects” for Saudi Arabia’s industrial pioneers and aims to identify challenges and ways to resolve issues for sustainable growth. The new initiative — which will last for more than three months — also aims to boost the efficiency of small and medium industrial projects in the Kingdom. According to an official spokesperson of the ministry Jarrah bin Muhammad Al-Jarrah, the…

BEIJING, Aug 4 (Reuters) – Chinese Special Envoy for Eurasian Affairs Li Hui will visit Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for international talks on the peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis, China’s foreign ministry said on Friday. “China is willing to work with the international community to continue to play a constructive role in promoting a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine,” Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson at the Chinese ministry, said in a statement. Ukrainian and Western diplomats hope the meeting in Jeddah this weekend of national security advisers and other senior officials from some 40 countries will agree on key…

Qatar agreed on Friday to loan Argentina $775 million to help it repay the International Monetary Fund. The loan is part of a facility agreement that Argentina’s economy minister, Sergio Massa, negotiated with Qatar. The IMF’s 4.033% annual interest rate will apply to the loan, reported telam, Argentina’s state media outlet. Argentina is in the midst of another financial crisis, this one marked by hyperinflation and declining central bank reserves. The South American country is also in the process of repaying the IMF following a $44 billion loan agreement last year. The Argentines will use the Qatari funds to make a…

Taiwan’s Vice President William Lai, a frontrunner in the 2024 presidential race, announced plans to stop in the United States as he travels to Paraguay next month, drawing scorn from Chinese authorities. Lai’s US visit was revealed as part of his plans to attend the August 15 inauguration of Paraguay’s President-elect Santiago Peña, a politician who campaigned on strengthening ties with Taiwan. Taipei characterised Lai’s US visit as a transit stop, but Chinese officials have expressed outrage, framing the layover as a surreptitious means of generating support for Lai’s “separatist” agenda. “China firmly opposes any form of official exchanges between the United States and…

Saudi Arabia and Turkey are hoping to broker a deal to return Ukrainian children taken to Russia since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the Financial Times reported Tuesday, citing several anonymous sources familiar with the matter. Russia and Ukraine have refused to engage directly on the issue — over which the International Criminal Court indicted President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner — because of its contentious nature. “It is not a question of exchange of prisoners of war, these are civilians, these are children,” said the Ukrainian children’s rights commissioner, Daria Herasymchuk. Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who has previously mediated negotiations…

Russia is reducing its presence at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate (GUR) has claimed, with staff told to relocate to Crimea and military patrols scaled back. The agency’s chief, Kyrylo Budanov, has alleged Moscow has approved a plan to blow up the station and has mined four out of six power units, as well as a cooling pond. Last week Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Russia was plotting a “terrorist attack”. According to the GUR, several representatives of Russia’s state nuclear energy agency, Rosatom, have already left. Ukrainian employees who stayed at the plant and signed contracts with…

JERUSALEM: Israel is not nearing an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser said, as talks between Tehran and Washington have sought to cool tensions. Tzachi Hanegbi said it was still unclear what will come of talks Israel’s main ally the US has held with Iran in recent weeks in an effort to outline steps that could limit Tehran’s nuclear program and de-escalate tensions. Nonetheless, no agreement would obligate Israel, which views a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat, Hanegbi told Channel 13 television.Asked whether an Israeli decision on a preemptive strike against Iran was…

Frankfurt, Brussels (3/7 – 27) France has been plagued by multiple outbreaks of rioting following mass protests over the death of a teenager at the hands of a police officer last week. The death of Nahel M. (17), teenager of North African descent, has stoked anger among the public at police violence against minorities and exacerbated existing racial tensions in France. Protests have spread beyond the capital city of Paris and its suburban areas, to other major cities, including Lyon, Marseille, Le Havre, Toulouse and Nantes. On Sunday (2/7/2023), a day after Nahel’s funeral in Nanterre, 719 people were arrested…