Bogota, Oct 5 (IANS) Colombian President Gustavo Petro has welcomed the restart of ongoing formal peace negotiations between his government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group in Venezuela's capital Caracas.
'The peace talks between our government and the ELN have officially resumed in Caracas, along with the guarantor countries of Venezuela, Cuba and Norway,' Petro said on social media on Tuesday.
The president also posted a statement signed by the high commissioner for peace Danilo Rueda, ELN leaders Antonio Garcia, the group's top leader, and Pablo Beltran, the group's second in command.
Colombian Defence Minister Ivan Velasquez urged the rebel group to release those held captive by it in different places of the country, noting that the ELN must end illicit activities to achieve peace, Xinhua news agency reported.
After winning the presidential elections in June, Petro announced he would be resuming peace talks started by then president Juan Manuel Santos and suspended by his successor Ivan Duque.
The two negotiating teams will take up the issues agreed upon during the Santos government, when the talks were hosted by Cuba.
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Almost 60 percent of voters in Turkey think that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government is unsuccessful, while the same portion of voters think that the presidential system is also a failure, a poll by the Sociopolitical Field Research Center revealed.
Some 59.2 percent of respondents said that the current government was performing unsuccessfully in governing the country, while only 20.7 percent responded in favor of the government.
Meanwhile, 58.3 percent of respondents said that they found the presidential system to be unsuccessful, with only 20.2 percent saying that the alternative to a parliamentary system had been a success.
Some 16.1 percent of respondents said in another question that they believed the presidential system to be the country's biggest problem, while 47.9 percent said that the economy and unemployment were Turkey's biggest issues.
Some 10.9 percent of respondents said that the state of the judicial system was the country's biggest problem, 8.9 percent pointed to the lack of democracy and 7.2 noted the Kurdish issue.
More than half of the respondents said that early elections were necessary "considering the current conditions" of the country, with 61.4 percent voting in favor, 22.4 percent voting against and 16.2 percent saying they were undecided.
Some 49.7 percent of respondents said that they didn't think President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan could win a round of presidential elections, while only 24.9 said he could remain in his seat, and 25.4 percent said that they were undecided.
Perhaps the highest percentage in the poll, a shocking 87.1 percent of respondents said that they were aware of claims about the deep state made by mafia leader Sedat Peker, while only 12.9 percent said they were not aware of Peker's statements.


Mayors will gain new powers, such as appointing their own deputies, under law changes that will come into effect after the council elections.
Local Government New Zealand says the changes will bring councils around the country into line with Auckland's mayor, who was granted the same powers when the super-city was created.
The changes include giving mayors the power to determine the structure of committees, appoint people to committee chairs, and will give them responsibility for setting major plans and budgets.
LGNZ president Lawrence Yule said the changes will make mayors more accountable and stop them from blaming unpopular decisions on councillors.
Mr Yule said they will also let councils get on with important work more quickly.
He said, ideally, mayors will still work with their councils to decide the key roles, but the changes will help where there is division.


Norway will continue to be a major contributor to Afghanistan, but will set clearer requirements for what the Afghans must deliver, said Mr Brende.
Brende is this week in Brussels to attend a major international donor conference for Afghanistan. He will on Wednesday come with new pledges for what Norway will contribute.
– We’re going to be a significant contributor to Afghan aid, but with even clearer pre-requisits than previously, says Brende said.
He says he expects that the international community will continue to support Afghanistan, which is one of the world’s poorest countries.
But donors will to a greater extent than earlier demand that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and acting prime minister Abdullah Abdullah show more willingness to strengthen their democracy and overcome the tremendous corruption in the country.
– I think it’s important that we maintain the support level for Afghanistan and acknowledge the fact that it is one of the world’s poorest countries. There is an enormous development task ahead, says Brende.
– But they must also take seriously the commitments they have undertaken, he said.
Norway has already reduced aid to Afghanistan in the state budget for 2016 and the grounds that the Afghans have not delivered well enough on their promises.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today


PARACHINAR, 23 October: Taking action on public complaints, the political administration of Kurram Agency has launched a crackdown against unscrupulous elements in the subdivision.
Political tehsildar Zahid Younas told TNN here on Monday that the administration had received large number of complaints from local tribesmen about fake spiritual healers. He added that during the crackdown, 12 fake spiritual healers had been arrested who were allegedly looting public on different pretexts.
The administration has also launched crackdown against bakers for selling “roti” of less weight and arrested as many as 15 bakers.
The administration has also started action against fake doctors and dentists in the agency. According to officials, four fake dentists have been arrested while their clinics have also been sealed.


ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Asad Umar on Tuesday said that the government was mulling to bring Tax Amnesty Scheme on demand of the business community.
Talking to media in Islamabad, Asad Umar announced to launch Amnesty Scheme before the upcoming budget.
The Finance Minister said Tax Amnesty Scheme is being introduced to encourage the people to declare their assets in the country and abroad.
He also supported the proposals of reducing withholding taxes and reforms in capital gain tax.
Commenting over the recent Jahangir Tareen, Qureshi Faceoff, Asad Umar said Jahangir Tareen attended the federal cabinet meeting with the permission of the Prime minister Imran Khan.
When asked about the recent hike in fuel prices, the finance minister said that it is OGRA who recommends to increase or decrease petrol prices.
“Finance minsitry has no role for the hike in fuel prices.”


Sheffield NHS Walk-In Centre, Broad Lane, has launched a campaign to highlight the importance for employers and employees to ensure they have regular health checks.
Stress is one of the biggest health issues facing the UK workforce and according to recent research, stress levels in the UK have doubled in the last five years, with a massive 99 per cent of adults admitting they feel stressed at some point every day.
A team from the centre is offering health checks.
The health workers have already visited many organisations including City College, Santander, Owlerton Stadium and Sheffield Magistrates’ Court.
About 50 to 60 people can be checked during every visit.


WASHINGTON (AP) — A record 16.3 million people have applied for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act this year, more than double the number when the marketplaces first launched almost a decade ago, the Biden administration said Wednesday.
More than 3 million new entrants have joined the market, also known as “Obamacare”, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
The government has been working with nonprofit groups and investing in program specialists who have helped enroll people from low-income, immigrant, black and Hispanic communities to enroll more people, said Chiquita Brooks-Lasur, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“We have made an unprecedented investment to expand our enrollment organization’s reach to nearly every county in the country and target the most hard-to-reach communities,” she said.
The increase in coverage is due to the fact that the number of uninsured people is at an all-time low – only 8% of people in the United States remain uninsured.
President Joe Biden and the Democratic-led Congress have allocated millions of dollars over the past two years to unlock low-cost insurance plans for more people and to prevent states from excluding people from Medicaid during the COVID-19 pandemic. The market itself has also evolved in recent years, with more insurance companies joining in, giving the vast majority of Americans at least three plans to consider at the time of registration.
Those coverage breaks have been extended through 2025 under a major climate and health bill that Democrats championed last year.
Some of that progress is at risk this year as millions of people are expected to lose their Medicaid coverage starting this spring when states begin the process of excluding people who are no longer eligible, in many cases because their income now too high to meet the requirements.
Some of those who lose Medicaid are expected to move into the market, and the administration has said it will spend $12 million to keep information specialists working in the coming months to help people enroll in the health law market if they lose Medicaid coverage.


A UK parliamentary inquiry has said that the government’s response to the start of the pandemic was one of the ‘WORST public health failures’ in the country’s history. The report from a cross-party committee praised the early focus on vaccinations. But it found that the government waited too long to implement a lockdown in early 2020 – and said that led to thousands of unnecessary deaths. The report also criticised the UK’s Test-and-Trace operation – calling it slow and chaotic.
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(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency) Amman, Feb. 24 (Petra) -- Jordan has won the Regional ID Document of the Year 2018 award, recently announced at the High Security Printing (EMEA) Conference in the Polish capital of Warsaw.
The award was received by Director-General of the Civil Status and Passports Department, Fawaz Al-Shahwan, during his participation in the annual conference held between February 19 to 21.
Arab and foreign governments, major companies, security document manufacturers and many central banks and other banks, participated in the gathering, which focused on government-specified and issued documents.
In a speech at the conference, Al-Shahwan said Jordan began issuing Jordanian nationality legislation in 1921 with the establishment of the first passports office, pointing out that Jordan does not live in isolation from global developments, as King Abdullah attaches great importance to the e-government and announced the Digital Jordan 2020 Initiative.
The government has attached attention to the development of its services, which began with the Civil Status Department, Al-Shahwan noted, adding that the work started on the smart identification card, which was issued with high security specifications.
AF 24/2/2018 - 07:14:12 PM
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Value of Saudi Arabia’s oil exports increases 147 percent in May 2021
(MENAFN) The leading global credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings, revised its Saudi Aramco outlook to stable from negative as oil prices increased in 2021 and command for the crude oil estimated to remain improving through the coming year with more vaccine roll out globally.
According to the rating agency report, Fitch also affirmed the company’s long-term issuer default rating (IDR) at A. The revision of the outlook on Saudi Aramco’s IDR is driven by a similar action on the sovereign.
Fitch further declared that “We assess Saudi Aramco’s Standalone Credit Profile (SCP) at ‘AA+,’” This review comes after Fitch Ratings decision to raise Saudi Arabia’s sovereign outlook to stable from negative in the previous week due to considerably higher oil prices and remained government commitment to develop its public finances.
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LAHORE -- Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that asking for resignation of an elected prime minister is unconstitutional and illegal.
He said that efforts of marchers would end in smoke. In a statement issued here on Saturday, the chief minister said that rejected elements were taking revenge on their failures from people by hindering the journey of progress and development. He said that negative agenda of such elements, who were afraid of change, would remain unsuccessful. He said those who were doing politics on non-issues would face humiliation.
Those who wasted time of the nation and the country would be held answerable for the looted national resources during their regimes, the CM said adding that for the first time in Pakistan's history a transparent government was setting new records of public welfare.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the destiny of progress and prosperity would definitely be achieved, the CM hoped. He said that enlightened people were not taking part in any protests. In a democratic system, parliament...


Employer-sponsored insurance through an employee’s eyes
Employees share what having a quality health plan through their employer means to them and how it allows them to better deliver on the missions of their workplaces.
Most employers want their employees to come to the office believing in the mission of their organization or business — and working wholeheartedly toward it. The trouble is that employees don’t come to work in a vacuum: They bring their whole self to the office, including concerns about their own health and their families’ health.
Quality health benefits can help lift some of an employee’s burden, allowing them to focus their attention on their job. Over the years, research has shown that employees who have good physical and mental health are more likely to perform well at work.1 In fact, 63% of surveyed Americans said that their company’s health insurance offerings impacted how much they wanted to continue working there.2
But studies are one thing. Actual employee stories are another. Hear from employees, working at schools, small businesses and more, as they share what their employer-sponsored insurance means to them.


SEVEN persons have died from cholera at Badawa-Galadima ward in Nasarawa Local Government Area of Kano State, an official of the council has said.
Head of Health Department of the local government Ma’azu Doka told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Kano that 68 patients were receiving treatment.
Doka said 29 were at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH), Kano, and 39 outpatients.
‘’The outbreak, which started five days ago, has claimed seven lives.
‘’We have treated more than 71 persons, particularly those with cases that are not severe,’’ he said.
Doka said the local government had purchased and distributed drugs worth N650,000 for the treatment.
According to him, the council’s health personnel visited the affected persons to give them treatment.
He said the health department cleared the drains in the affected area.
Doka attributed the new cases to dirty surroundings, stressing the need to adhere to hygienic practice.
‘’There is poor sanitary condition; the people have to rise up keep their environment clean,’’ he said


KATHMANDU, Feb 23: Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi met with Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Matrika Prasad Yadav, at the latter's office on Friday.
Receiving the ambassador, Yadav thanked the government of China for its support to Nepal, and hoped for further and stronger relationship between the two nations.
Yadav said that Nepal was in the midst of an economic drive and was aiming to sustain its growth through foreign investment.The minster asked the ambassador to persuade Chinese investors to invest in different sectors of the country.
The minister also said that the visit of Bidhya Devi Bhandari, President of Nepal, to China was a rare opportunity to move forward with Transportation Agreement Protocol that the two countries had agreed upon. Yadav also expressed his gratitude towards China's help to access the iron ore in Nawalparasi.
Mentioning the remarkable economic progress of China in the last 40 years, the ambassador said that the Chinese experience may come handy for Nepal. She also expressed that the "One Belt One Road" initiative of the Chinese government under Xi Jinping would help Nepal to further sustain and improve its economic growth and create a lot of opportunities.
Yanqi also reassured the minster that the Chinese government was always ready to help Nepal.


The best civil rights organizations will be the ones that are able to help people in every area of life. The civil rights organizations that work best for people who are in different situations will be able to help people with the issues that they are having and with the experiences that they can get out of different options. This has given many people the options that they need to be able to make things better.
For Jim Larkin and Michael Lacey to be able to try different things, they have to make sure that they are doing things that are going to work and they have to be able to show people what they are going to get out of the situations they work with.
All of this is something that has given Jim Larkin and Michael Lacey the opportunities that they need to make things work and the experiences that they need to show different people what they can get out of the situations they are in.
For Jim Larkin and Michael Lacey to be able to make things better for the people who they are helping, they have to try different methods and they have to make sure that they are doing things the right way.
They try to show them the different opportunities that they have and they want to make sure that things are going to work for them while they are going toward a successful business. All of this has been helpful to Jim and Lacey and has also been able to help people who are in different situations.
The Frontera Fund has grown in the time that they have been operating and they have been able to continuously help more people with the issues that they face. While they are able to provide help to nearly any type of human rights campaign, they are especially focused on helping immigrants.
This type of help will make a difference for people and will also give them the experiences that they need to be able to offer different options for the clients of the Frontera Fund.
Despite the fact that the Frontera Fund has grown and the abilities that it now has, Larkin and Lacey are always trying to make sure that they can help people with the issues that they are facing and with the experiences that they have in the areas they are in.
Larkin and Lacey know a lot about what they can do and how they can help people out so they continue to give people all of the advice that they need in the areas they are in without the problems that can sometimes come from their own business.


Swine Flu Reaches Pandemic
It’s been 40 years since we’ve had a flu pandemic on our hands, but after roughly 30,000 swine flu cases spread across multiple regions of the world, the WHO held an emergency meeting and took the plunge. Try not to feel alarmed.
Wait, before you go…
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global flu pandemic after holding an emergency meeting.
It means the swine flu virus is spreading in at least two regions of the world with rising cases being seen in the UK, Australia, Japan and Chile.
WHO chief Dr Margaret Chan said the move did not mean the virus was causing more severe illness or more deaths.
If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface. We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.
Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.Support Truthdig


(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
Airbus signed a follow-on Contractor Logistics Support (CLS)
contract with the U.S. Army, the European multinational aerospace
corporation said in a press release, Trend reports citing Xinhua .
The deal is the largest helicopter performance-based support
contract managed by Airbus worldwide, it said.
Airbus will provide spare parts, material, and engineering
support for the Army's helicopter models UH-72A and UH-72B Lakota
fleet of 482 utility and training helicopters. It will support 67
Lakota sites in the United States and overseas.
The contract includes a six-month base and 4.5 option years,
with a potential total value of more than 1.5 billion U.S.
The UH-72B is produced at Airbus' facility in Columbus,
Mississippi and the logistics are managed from the facility in
The UH-72A and UH-72B models are for Army's National Guard
missions, it said.
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More than two-thirds of Americans said in a new poll that President Trump was wrong to call for the firing of NFL players who kneel during the national anthem.
An HBO/Marist Poll released Tuesday found that 68 percent of respondents said Trump “did the wrong thing” when he said the NFL should fire athletes who kneel, while 28 percent said he did the right thing.
Eighty-nine percent of Democrats who took the survey said Trump did the wrong thing, while only 41 percent of Republicans share that view.
The poll results also show a growing support for the protests during "The Star-Spangled Banner," with 51 percent of respondents saying that professional sports leagues should not require their athletes to stand for the anthem. Only 43 percent said the same thing in a September 2016 poll.
Trump last month urged the NFL to fire players who kneeled during the anthem to protest racial inequality and police brutality. Amid heightened tensions between Trump and players and officials, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said that the league would not establish a rule requiring players to stand.


(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. The second
anniversary of the liberation of Azerbaijan's Kalbajar district
from the Armenian occupation is being marked in the country,
trend reports on
According to the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020
[signed between Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following
the second Karabakh war], Kalbajar was to be returned to Azerbaijan
on November 15.
However, the Armenian side requested additional 10 days for the
withdrawal of its armed forces and civilians illegally placed there
from the district. Therefore, once again showing humanism, the
Azerbaijani state, taking into account the request of Russian
President Vladimir Putin, extended this period until November 25,
The Armenian armed forces occupied the Kalbajar district on
April 2, 1993. As a result of the occupation, 53,340 Azerbaijanis
became refugees and internally displaced persons, 55 military
servicemen and 511 civilians were killed, 321 people were taken
prisoner and went missing, and thousands of residents were
Currently, restoration and construction work is underway in
Kalbajar, a new infrastructure is being created, and the district
is being revived. More than 71,000 residents of Kalbajar are
looking forward to returning to their native lands.
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.


Pakistan to continue support of Kashmir’s freedom movement: envoy
NEW YORK: Pakistan said that it will continue to support the freedom movement of the Kashmiri people, ARY News reported on Saturday.
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to United Nations Maleeha Lodhi, speaking at the UN, said that more than 100 Kashmiris were killed whereas several have been blinded and injured by the use of pellet guns being used by Indian forces in the past two months.
Lodhi said that that the non-implementation of UN resolutions on the dispute is a failure of the organization.
Pakistan’s representative said that Kashmiri people have the right to self determination.
She stated that the Kashmir and Palestine were both incomplete UN agendas. She said that the international community has to support the right of self determination for the people of Kashmir and Palestine.
Lodhi said that occupation of foreign lands in the 21st century is lamentable.


Pakistan will complete Kartarpur Corridor: FM
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said Pakistan will complete the Kartarpur Corridor in a serious manner and in the first phase 2.5 billion rupees will be spent on the project.
Talking to journalists in Umarkot, Qureshi said Pakistan desires good relations with all nations including India. He said the Pakistan's decision to open the Kartarpur Corridor is a message of peace to the whole world.
The Foreign Minister said the government has made a major decision of electronic visa facilities. He said citizens of 50 countries will get visa on arrival which will help boost trade and investment in Pakistan.
Qureshi defended the government's economic policies saying we did not succumb to IMF conditions.
He said the government acquired assistance from friendly countries. He said the government will complete its five-year tenure.
Commenting on water scarcity in Umarkot and Tharparkar, Qureshi questioned why public problems were not addressed in the last ten years.
Earlier, talking to media in Mirpurkhas, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the united states needs Pakistan's cooperation and a meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Donald Trump will further strengthen the bilateral ties.
He said the economic reforms package announced by the government will help boost exports, trade and investment.
He said the government is introducing reforms in the police system.


(MENAFN) Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, shocked Russia for closing down the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio's Moscow office as well as for withdrawing the press eminences and visas of reporters.
Trudeau announced, "Obviously the truth, responsible journalism, sharing what's actually going on with citizens is a deep threat to Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, and his illegal war and his authoritarian tendencies."
Maria Zakharova, Moscow Foreign Ministry spokesperson, commented that it is a revengeful act since Canada prohibited the Russia Today (RT) web page. Meanwhile, Trudeau stated that the act was offensive and inadmissible and Putin was triggered by his fear of true journalism.
Trudeau publicized, "It's unfortunate, but not surprising, that he's trying to shut down strong journalistic institutions.” Only part of the CBC is funded by the Canadian regimen. It had been given USD1.4 billion in the last year, however, it does not commit to Ottawa, as noted by Brodie Fenlon, the editor in chief of the CBC News. He tweeted, "Our journalism is completely independent of the Canadian government and we are saddened to see the Russian government conflate the two."
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Iran Election Watchdog Stands by Results
Iran’s Guardian Council has found “no major fraud or breach in the election” and will not annul the vote, a spokesman announced Tuesday. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, meanwhile, jumped into the fray, calling on the Iranian government to “respect fundamental civil and political rights, especially the freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of information.”
Read Ban’s full statement here.
WAIT, BEFORE YOU GO…
English-language Press TV reported the Guardian Council’s rejecting an annulment on Tuesday.
On Monday, it had conceded there had been voting irregularities in 50 districts, including local vote counts that exceeded the number of eligible voters.
However, it said they were not enough to affect the overall result and incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had indeed won by a landslide.
If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface. We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.
Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.


(MENAFN- Morocco World News) Rabat – Increasing cloud cover and temperatures expected to reach 45 degrees Celsius in Morocco's southern provinces on Sunday, according to the Directorate of National Meteorology (DMN).
Winds will be moderate to fairly strong in Tangier, while low to moderate on the northern shore and variable elsewhere.
Temperatures will range from 42 to 45 in land in the southern provinces, the southeast, the plains of the Atlas, Saiss, the interior of Souss, Gharb and Loukkos.
The Rif and eastern regions will see temperatures of 35 to 40 degrees Celsius, while temperatures between 25 to 35 degrees Celsius are forecast for the Atlas reliefs and near the coast.
Temperatures between 24 and 30 degrees are forecast for the southeast areas of the southern provinces, while the interior provinces and the north and center of the plains will see temperatures between 22 and 27 degrees Celsius. Temperatures will range from 18 and 24 elsewhere.
Storms are expected in three areas of the Atlas Mountains on Sunday afternoon and evening.
The sea will be slightlyagitatedto agitated on the Mediterranean, between Tangier and Tarfaya, while it will be agitated to rough in the south.
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President Ilham Aliyev Receives Delegation Led By Speaker Of Legislative Chamber Of Uzbekistan`S Oliy Majlis
(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 16. President of the
Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation led
by Speaker of Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the
Republic of Uzbekistan Nurdinjon Ismoilov, Trend reports.
Will be updated
- Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.


Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi inaugurated the Digi Skills program aimed at training one million of the youth through online modules in Islamabad today.
Ignite — previously the ICT R&D Fund — will be overseeing the program that has already floated the RFP for the private partners for the execution of this project.
DigiSkills program is said to be the brain-child of Anusha Rehman, who has tasked Yousaf Hussain, CEO of Ignite, to execute the program in best possible manner.
While addressing the official launch ceremony of the DigiSkills, the Prime Minister said that his government has built motorways, ports, airports and established power plants but the advancement in the information technology sector is the most important contribution in the last five years.
The Prime Minister said that DigiSkills program will equip the youth to get online jobs and earn money through non- traditional ways.
He said the government’s responsibility is to fully facilitate the private sector to take forward the initiative and lead the way. He said the government is committed to ensure availability of broadband in the country and facilitate e-commerce.
Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunications, Anusha Rehman, while addressing the launch ceremony, said that the DigiSkills is an important program that will create online employment opportunities to enable youth to earn 200 to 300 dollars per month.
She said that with the help of this program, youth from across the country will be providing their services to the entire world.
The minister revealed that other countries have also started to replicate this program.
She emphasized that the government is committed to enlighten the future of our young generation with the use of latest technologies.


The Petroleum Distributors Association warned that a fuel shortage could occur in the coming days.
While the marketing manager and regional managers of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) have said that fuel will be issued on cheques, the Association said a head of CPC Financial Department has said that fuel will only be issued if paid in cash.
Therefore, it said that many filling stations were unable to receive orders yesterday (05).
The Association said that there was a difficulty in withdrawing cash since the banks were closed for Poya Day yesterday.
Although the consumers would continue to visit filling stations since the fuel quota has been increased, the Association said that there are signs that the fuel supply will be disrupted.
It said that if the fuel supply is disrupted during the festive season, the consumers will have to face severe difficulties.


Dozens Of Migrants Killed As Boat Sinks Off Syrian Coast
(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency)
Amman, Sept. 23 (Petra)-- The bodies of 71 migrants have been found after the boat they were travelling in sank off Syria's coast, the health minister has said.
Twenty survivors are being treated in a hospital in the Syrian city of Tartus.
Officials said different nationalities- including women and children - were believed to be among the 120-150 people who were on board when the boat sank on Thursday.
It is not clear what caused the accident. A rescue attempt is ongoing.
Officials added that the vessel had departed from Minyeh, a city near the Lebanese port city of Tripoli.
The boat is believed to have been heading to Europe when it sank.
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SHILLONG: Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma has said that the voice of the people of the North East and the sentiments of the people of the region have finally prevailed with CAB getting lapsed in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Talking to media persons in New Delhi on Wednesday, Conrad Sangma said that it was a great and emotional moment for the citizens of the North East and be it a political or social platform, everyone including NGOs, civil societies, student bodies and even political parties stood together to oppose the Bill
“We were always concern that the Bill should not go through and we are happy that we were successful,” he said.
When asked about stand if the Government finds another way to bring the Bill, he said that they would definitely take a stand on the matter as and when it comes.


Will meet Prime Minister Modi, says Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he will be meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Houston, Texas.
Washington DC: US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) said that he will be meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Houston, Texas.
Replying to a question about his participation in 'Howdy, Modi!' event in Houston this Sunday, Trump said, "I will see Prime Minister Modi and I will be meeting with India and Pakistan and I think a lot of progress has been made there...lot of progress".
The White House had confirmed that the US President will be making a joint appearance with the Prime Minister at the event.
The mega event is believed to be one of the largest events to welcome a foreign head of government ever in the history of the United States.
It will mark the first time that the two leaders would meet outside of either capital Washington DC or New York, where the United Nations is headquartered.
Over 50,000 people have already been registered for the event, which will be hosted by the Texas India Forum.
Modi's chemistry with both Trump and former President Barack Obama reflect that the Indian Prime Minister has been able to transcend the political divide in the US.
Moreover, the fact that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, the second-highest-ranking Democrat, will also address the gathering, further reflects the strong bipartisan support for the relationship between the two countries. (ANI)


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Blog | Mar 25, 2009Before Oliver Perez imploded again today, the bullpen trio of Frankie Rodriguez, J.J. Putz and Sean Green had a tuneup on Field 4. School was in session as the Mets' front office had dozens of their low-level minor leaguers camped...


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BABY-BOOMERS who are now approaching retirement are set to shun traditional third-age hobbies and pastimes in favour of taking extended travel trips, eating out more and socialising, according to research.
The life insurer Prudential has dubbed the present generation of over-55s “geri-actives” because of the new approach they have taken to retirement.
The group said that those approaching retirement were planning to turn their backs on bingo and knitting, and instead would embrace a new “life after work”.
It said travel was a high priority for the baby-boomer generation, and many were inspired by the trips that their children and grandchildren had taken.
More than half of over-55s also want to increase their socialising during retirement, having more dinner parties, visiting friends and spending more…


By Taiye Elebiyo-Edeni
Abuja, – Mr Danladi Ibrahim, Acting Managing Director, National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), has commended the Federal Government’s effort to tackle insecurity challenges on Nigeria waterways.
Ibrahim disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.
He said that since 2015, when the present administration came on board, the face of maritime has changed and insecurity has been reduced to the minimal.
“NIWA has achieved a lot since 2015, the development of inland waterways system in Nigeria was accelerated in 2015 when the present regime came on board.
“I will tell you that it has been minimal, we have police command which patrol on a regular basis; we are also in collaboration with the Navy, Nigeria Security Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for additional security.
“Actually, the security agencies are doing their best, you can see that the government is very keen and serious about curtaining this menace,” he said.
The NIWA boss, however, said that the major challenge confronting the agency was inadequate funding, noting that the Federal Government had also worked on that.
“The most challenge we have is inadequate funding but that had also been drastically reduced by the present regime, we have the problem of inadequacy of manpower, we are grossly understaffed.
“In respect to that, we are planning on how to carry out mass recruitment of technical staff by first quarter of 2019.”
Speaking on the agency’s Bill before the National Assembly, Ibrahim said that the bill seeks to create financial independence for the agency.
He said that the bill has been passed by both chambers and what was left now was a conference of the two chambers to harmonise the two bills, which would commence by next week.
“The bill is all about creating financial independence for NIWA and also to address the conflict between NIWA and its sister agencies and the state governments.
“It aims to create an enabling environment for the private sector to come into the development of inland waterways,” the managing director said


(MENAFN- Khaama Press)
Indian captain and his actress wife are going to become parents, they expect their first baby in January of the next year.
The couple has shared their excitement in a picture posted on their Instagram on Thursday, showing Anushka with a baby bump.
Meanwhile, Actors Priyanka Chopra, Varun Dhawan, Katrina Kaif, Parineeti Chopra, Dia Mirza and many others congratulated the two famous celebrities on their announcements.
As soon they shared their picture on the social media, a cluster of comments swamped into their post both by fans and fraternities.
The famed cricketer recently is assigned with Royal Challengers Bangalore at IPL which soon begins on September 19.
Virat and Anushka got married on December 11, 2017, in Italy, the wedding ceremony was attended by family and friends. Sharefacebook twitter whatsapp linkedin email print tumblr telegram
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(MENAFN- IANS) Cairo, June 5 (IANS) An oil tanker that broke down in Egypt's Suez Canal has been towed away, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Osama Rabie said.
"Traffic in both directions had resumed as normal after tugboats managed to move the stranded tanker," he added on Sunday.
The SCA team reacted effectively to the technical failure in SEAVIGOUR, a 274-metre oil tanker that carried the flag of Malta crossing the artificial waterway from north to south, Rabie said, adding that the tanker would resume passage immediately after fixation, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier on Sunday, the SCA had deployed three tugboats to pull the tanker which caused brief delays in the Suez Canal.
The Suez Canal is a major lifeline for global seaborne trade. Nearly 12 per cent of the world trade volume passes through the artificial canal, a major source of hard currency for Egypt.
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President Mohamed Nasheed has today reiterated the government’s commitment to carry out the development projects undertaken by the government. He made this statement while speaking at a press conference held today at Muleeaage’ prior to his departure to New York.
The President said the government aimed to provide electricity to the people, especially during the month of Ramadan. Speaking in this regard, the President said since the utilities companies took charge of this work, the government believed, it has progressed.
He also said three overseas companies had submitted proposals to provide electricity services and that the government was currently in discussions with the three companies.
Speaking on the housing projects, the President said five parties had sent their proposals to build housing units. He added that the five companies had proposed to build a total of 4000 housing units. Further, he said that the government hoped to close contract with the five parties within the next month.
During the press conference, the President also highlighted the work of the National Social Protection Agency (NSPA). He said NSPA was mandated to carry out a very important pledge of the government.
In this regard, he said, the government believed that health services would be made affordable and easier to the people under the Madhana programme. He also said the work of subsidising electricity, to those people who cannot afford to pay electricity bills, would also begin next month.
At the press conference, the President took questions from the media.


Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has directed the Deputy Commissioners in the Kashmir Valley to reach out to the people to look after their requirements relating to medicines, ration, and other daily needs and address them quickly, said an official.
The Governor is taking daily updates of the administration about the prevailing scenario in the state after the Centre has planned to eliminate “special status” to the state and divide it into two seperate Union Territories.
Governor Malik has asked the Deputy Commissioners of districts to post staff to distinct locations and take stock of people’s necessities and offer them with other daily needs as well. They have also been asked to visit around 20 families on a daily basis and try to solve their issues.
Special vehicles have been deployed into services for selling of essential commodities to people of the state and officials have been directed to keep a check on extortion and other unethical practices by the traders, said the spokesman.
Mr. Malik has asked the District Administration to reach out to people and enquire about patients who needed urgent medical aid.
J&K Government has further asked them to make availability of ambulances to patients who needed to be taken to Hospitals.
The Deputy Commissioners have also been asked to make available telephone helplines at their district headquarters for needy who wish to speak to their children outside the state.
Helpline numbers at Srinagar’ Deputy Commissioner office are 9419028242 and 9419028251, added the spokesman.
Mr. Malik has also reviewed the arrangement for Hajis who will shortly return home from pilgrimages in Saudi Arabia.
He was informed regarding the preparations made by the administration to greet Hajis and their family members at Srinagar Airport.
The popular Khadim-ul Hujaj is accompanying the Hajis from Jammu and Kashmir have been informed well in advance about the arrangements for ferrying passengers towards their homes, said the Governor, adding that all arrangements made have been given wide publicity through electronic media in Saudi Arabia.


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The government is renewing its focus on the health and well-being of Pasifika people in New Zealand, in a targeted programme announced today.
Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa said the Pacific Health Action Plan was being implemented to address key areas of health.
The plan will be developed by the Ministry of Health, which will work across the health sector and with other government agencies to see what is needed.
Ms Salesa said this could mean looking at factors outside the health system, such as housing or education.
The ministry will hold a series of forums where people can have their say on the plan.
According to the ministry, Pasifika people experience poorer health outcomes than other New Zealanders across several health and disability indicators.


Teclado has been the darling of Venezuela’s new government, but some of its key features have raised concerns among investors and observers.
Some have questioned whether the country can sustain its rapid economic growth if its economy continues to suffer from hyperinflation.
The government has also been criticized for failing to make major reforms to its health care system.
But some of the most prominent analysts have criticized the government for its lack of transparency and its inability to address some of Teclos problems.
“The government should make its intentions public,” said Luis Vivanco, the head of Venezuela Policy Group, an independent think tank.
“We’re asking them to take their time to do it.”
Vivanco said that even though Venezuela had the second-largest oil reserves in the world, its government was slow to address the country’s problems.
The country’s economy has grown by just 1.4 percent a year since 2010, and inflation has hit the highest rate in the Americas.
The president’s government has been criticized, too, for failing in its duties to curb corruption.
Vivanca said that Teclados problems are not just limited to inflation, but also to its healthcare system, which has been under scrutiny since 2013.
Venezuela’s health care sector is also under pressure.
Since 2011, the government has slashed the number of hospitals and clinics it provides, and it has also restricted access to certain medical services.
Vivanquez said that the government’s response to Tecladas problems has been insufficient.
Vegas health care workers were given the option to choose between receiving an IV drip or a ventilator, which is the main form of treatment in the United States.
Teclado’s management has not offered a detailed plan for how it plans to address its problems, said Vivanquez, who was also a doctor for a time in Venezuela before heading to the U.S. In a country that has a history of shortages, Venezuelans are forced to rely on imports for most medical care, which means the country has a long way to go in addressing its shortage.
“Teclados government needs to focus on the public health and not just the private sector,” Vivancias said.
The U.N. human rights group said that it had raised concerns with the government about the use of the term “medical malpractice” in Teclados contract, which it said was inappropriate.
The group said it would look into the governments actions to address these issues, and urged the government to implement reforms that would address Teclais problems.
Vilánco said it was not unusual for companies to use the term in their contracts to protect their investment.
He added that the term has become so prevalent that some companies even use it as a verb, meaning to cut corners.
The U., which has previously called on the government and Teclads health care provider to address Tequendos problems, is now urging the government, the health care providers and the general public to speak up.
“The human rights situation is very serious,” the U said in a statement.
“The health system is collapsing.
We are not getting a basic, timely, and fair solution to our countrys health problems.”


Srinagar, October 06, 2018 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, the Hurriyat forum led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has strongly opposed the establishment of yet another army camp at Qaimoh in Redwani area of Kulgam district. The Hurriyat forum in a statement issued in Srinagar said that the people of Kulgam had been left at the mercy of Indian army as the soldiers stationed in the new camp had made the life of people miserable. It said that the area already had a full-fledged army camp and setting up another one at Redwani was a move to force those living there to migrate to other places.
The Hurriyat forum said that even though the people of Redwani and Qaimoh area were on roads over the past one week against the setting up of the army camp, the authorities continued to turn a deaf ear to their demand.
The forum while supporting the people of Qaimoh, Redwani said that people of Kashmir would extend full support to the demand of removal of army camp. It said that the government must ensure that the people’s demands were fulfilled and that the camp was removed without any further delay as the setting up of the camp had resulted in the immense hardships for the local people as majority of them had decided to migrate to other places.
The forum said that time was witness that military might had unsuccessfully always been used to crush the genuine dissent in Kashmir and the fresh move of setting up of an army camp at Redwani had proved that force was the only tool used to muzzle the people’s genuine demands.
It also strongly denounced the deadly assault on the Kashmiri students studying in a University at Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. It said that the Kashmiri students and traders in various parts of India were not safe and were facing the life threats at the hands of fanatic elements.
For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549


Former Lebanese President congratulates Crown Prince
(MENAFN- Saudi Press Agency)
Beirut, Ramadan 27, 1438, June 22, 2017, SPA --Former Lebanese President Michel Sleiman sent a cable of congratulations to Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, on the occasion of his selection as Crown Prince and his appointing as Deputy Premier with keeping on his position as Minister of Defense.
Sleiman wished Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz great success in his duties and to achieve further progress and prosperity for his country.
17:09 LOCAL TIME 14:09 GMT
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PM launches web portal today to register those who lost jobs due to coronavirus
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan is launching a web portal on Saturday (today) to register and provide assistance to those who have lost their jobs due to coronavirus pandemic.
The government has allocated resources to fight the challenge of coronavirus.
To mobilize additional resources, the Prime Minister has also set up a Covid-19 Relief Fund. These funds will be disbursed to those who have lost their jobs as a result of Covid-19 crisis.
Ehsaas Emergency Cash of twelve thousand rupees will be given to these individuals.


U.S. Halts Transfer of Gitmo Prisoners to Yemen
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the U.S. government has decided that now is not the best time to transfer Yemeni detainees back to their homeland from Guantánamo Bay prison in Cuba. More than 80 Yemeni prisoners — almost half of the entire group at Gitmo — will stay put for the time being, as the situation between the U.S. and Yemen remains tense. –KA
WAIT, BEFORE YOU GO…
Officials fear many could re-join militant groups if sent back to Yemen.
“While we remain committed to closing the facility, the determination has been made that right now, any additional transfers to Yemen are not a good idea,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.
It was alleged last week that the [Christmas Day airline] bomb plot was planned by two men released by the US from Guantanamo Bay in November 2007.
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(MENAFN) Russia’s delegation "felt no isolation" at the G20 conference which took place this week in Indonesia, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who participated in the meeting, informed RT on Wednesday. Earlier, the Telegraph had said that Western nations were trying to make Russian officials feel unwanted at the conference.
"I can say it on behalf of our whole delegation: we felt no isolation here," Siluanov announced.
The group of Russian officials was led by the foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. President Vladimir Putin did not head to Bali as "certain circumstances" asked him to stay in Russia, the Kremlin stated on Monday.
As said by Siluanov, "some Western officials" did hint at their intent to put measures on Russia in addition to indicating that Moscow "needs to wrap up its special operation." Yet, "no key issue was discussed without Russia since our nation [represents] a sizeable part of the world economy," the minister continued. He as well declared the meeting members talked over a whole range of problems in which Moscow has a big role, counting "energy, grain, healthcare and digitalization."
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Refuting allegations that the roads in the state were damaged due to the negligence of the YSRCP-led state government, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday said the negligence of the previous state government and heavy rains in the past two years was responsible for the condition of the roads across the state.
During a review meeting held at the camp office here on Monday, Jagan said the state government has sanctioned Rs. 2,205 crore in a year for the construction and maintenance of roads. This has never happened before in the history of the state, he added. The officials informed the Chief Minister that the construction and repair of roads will be completed by the end of May and added that the construction of 33 road overbridges (ROBs) has been pending for a long time. Jagan said fake news claiming that those ROBs were pending during the current government's rule is doing the rounds. He added that the state government has been spending Rs. 571.3 crore to complete these works.
The officials also informed the Chief Minister that tenders for 83% of the road works have been completed and 100% of tenders will be completed by the end of February.
The Chief Minister was briefed on the steps being taken for the construction of the beach corridor road from Visakhapatnam port to Bhimili-Bhogapuram. Regarding this, the CM instructed the officials to focus on road designs and said the beach corridor should be the best in the world and added that it should decrease travel time between Visakhapatnam and Bhogapuram airport.
"The beach corridor project needs to be given the highest priority as tourism projects will come up near the beach corridor road. Also, there are many restrictions on civil flights in the current airport and even night landing of flights is getting difficult due to Navy restrictions," the CM added.


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Column | Jan 3, 2013To those who follow U.S.–Cuban relations closely, 2013 may be a box full of surprises. Who knows what is inside?


According to the most recent data released by the Union Health Ministry, the COVID-19 infections in India has been increased by 134 cases in last 24 hours, but the number of active COVID-19 cases has been decreased to 2,582.
4.46 crore (4,46,78,956) COVID-19 cases had been recorded in India all together. According to the information that was updated at 8 a.m. on 3rd January 2023, the total number of COVID-19 cases is 5,30,707.
The daily positivity had been recorded at 0.09 percent on a daily basis and at 0.13 percent on a weekly basis. According to the website from Indian Health Ministry, the active COVID-19 cases make up 0.01 percent of all infections in the country, and the national recovery rate for COVID-19 has been increased to 98.80 percent.
In just 24 hours, there has been a decrease of 88 cases in the active COVID-19 caseload. 4,41,45,667 people were able to recover from the infection, while 1.19 percent of those who were infected died.


KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Belarusian human rights group Viasna says that more than 140 people were arrested and many of them beaten by police during protests calling for the country’s authoritarian president to resign.
The demonstrations that attracted thousands were the 16th consecutive Sunday of large protests against President Alexander Lukashenko.
There have been near-daily protests since early August, but those on Sundays have been the largest.
Protests have gripped Belarus since the Aug. 9 presidential election that official results say gave Lukashenko a sixth term in office, but that the opposition and some poll workers say were manipulated.
Throughout …read more


Speaking on the sidelines of the ceremony to inaugurate the biggest data center in western and northwestern Iran, Jahromi said the 5G internet laboratory will be unveiled within two weeks.
He described the Mobile Telecommunication Company of Iran as the biggest operator in the Middle East which has the widest communication coverage.
Jahromi earlier said that the Government will spend more than 100,000 billion tomans to develop and enhance the national data network and make G4 internet available.
He said that the budget has been allocated by the government for expanding the national data network.
Azari Jahromi also said the goal of the country is to have five million Internet TV subscribers. This field of economy is a huge opportunity.
Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish


Guwahati (Assam) [India], Sept. 28 : Union Health Minister J P Nadda on Wednesday said that India has made a mark in the pharmaceutical industry.
Nadda, while attending a programme, said that due to affordability and quality, India posed a challenge to the western countries.
The Health Minister said that his ministry is trying to strengthen the health delivery system in northeast.
Nadda assured to help north eastern states in procurement and Human Resource issues in health sector. Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Centre has sanctioned four new medical colleges in the state.
Union Health Secretary C K Mishra stressed on maintaining quality of drugs. He said that the health ministry has formulated a pro- active policy for the betterment of health scenario of northeast.


15,700 residents have had both doses
More than 73,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccination have now been delivered on the Isle of Man.
The number of people who have received their first injection stands at 57,658.
Just over 15,700 residents have also had a second jab.
There are 2,386 vaccination appointments booked over the next seven days.


(MENAFN - Saudi Press Agency)
Riyadh, December 12, 2020, SPA -- In cooperation with Global Sight Initiative (GSI), King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) has conducted 4,595 surgeries in the months of October and November, 2020, in the field of combating blindness and the diseases that cause blindness, in addition to distributing 6,882 eyeglasses and providing various prescriptions and treatments, of which 32,766 individuals benefited in Yemen, Sudan, Bangladesh, Nigeria.
This comes as implementation of directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and HRH the Crown Prince, to achieve the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 in supporting volunteer work in the World.
15:59 LOCAL TIME 12:59 GMT
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Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Friday has asked for early elections after Ramazan, saying that the country needed transparent elections at the moment.
The interior minister was addressing a ceremony in Rawalpindi where he said that he also wanted to retire from politics now but he had decided to not leave Imran Khan during his difficult time.
He also said that the next two to three days were very important and criticized the people who had left PM Khan in this critical time. The interior minister added that people who had left the party could not face the local people now. Whenever they would go in their constituencies to ask for votes, people would reject them, Rasheed said.
He went on to say that the government was very confident and was prepared for the vote on the no-confidence motion.
Voting on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan will be held on Sunday, April 3.


(MENAFN- The Peninsula) QNA
Seoul: President of the Republic of Korea H E Yoon Suk-yeol met yesterday with Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Seoul.
During the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs conveyed the greetings of the Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to the President of the Republic of Korea, and His Highness's wishes of good health and happiness, and to the government and people of the Republic of Korea continued progress and prosperity.
President of the Republic of Korea conveyed the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs his greetings to H H the Amir, wishing His Highness good health and happiness, and the State of Qatar continued progress, development and prosperity.
During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral cooperation, ways to support and develop them in various fields and Qatar's preparations to host the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
- Qatar, South Korea agree on mutual visa exemption
- Qatar, South Korea visa waiver pact 'a milestone in bilateral ties'
The Korean President expressed his country's aspiration to strengthen relations with Qatar, especially in the fields of energy, technology and food security.
The President said that the agreement signed by the two sides on Wednesday, regarding mutual exemption of visa requirements for citizens of the two countries, would strengthen relations between Qatar and Korea.
He praised the efforts of Qatar in mediating between the United States and the Afghan Taliban, and Doha's hosting of the indirect round of talks between the US and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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KUCHING: Malaysia recorded five new positive Covid-19 cases today, bringing the country’s number of infected cases to 8,668, says Ministry of Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
He said three out of the new positive cases were imported cases involving two Malaysians and a non-Malaysians while two cases were local transmissions involving Malaysians.
“There are currently 71 active cases in the country and they have been isolated and are being treated at hospitals.
“Two positive cases are also being treated in the intensive care unit and they both require respiratory assistance,” he said at the Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 press conference in Putrajaya.
He also said no new Covid-19 deaths were reported yesterday, leaving the country’s death toll from the infectious disease to remain unchanged at 121.
On the number of recoveries, Dr Noor Hisham said 11 patients have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals today.
“This brings the total number of recoveries to 8,476 which accounts for 97.8 per cent of the total number of cases,” he said.


(MENAFN- Trend News Agency )
2,232 people have beaten the coronavirus infection in the country over the past day, Trend reports citing Kazinform .
Almaty city has seen the biggest triple-digit number of fresh daily COVID-19 recoveries – 380. Zhambyl and Aktobe regions are second and third in terms of the highest number of daily COVID-19 recoveries – 250 and 213, respectively.
Triple-digit COVID-19 recoveries have also been reported in East Kazakhstan region – 202, Karaganda region – 164, North Kazakhstan region – 153, Kostanay region – 146, Almaty region – 133, Shymkent city – 111, and West Kazakhstan region – 109.
95 fresh daily COVID-19 recoveries have been logged in Atyrau region, 68 in Pavlodar region, 67 in Nur-Sultan city, 50 in Akmola region, 44 in Turkestan region, and 43 in Kyzylorda region.
Mangistau region has posted four daily fresh COVID-19 recovered cases. Kazakhstan has so far reported 854,976 coronavirus recovered cases.
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Libreville - An opposition official says more than two dozen supporters who were detained in Gabon after election results were announced have been released.
Paul-Marie Gondjout with the National Union opposition party said late on Friday the 27 people blocked inside the opposition candidate's campaign headquarters by security forces were allowed to leave after more than 24 hours.
Their candidate, Jean Ping, has claimed election fraud after narrowly finishing second. Election officials say the vote was won by incumbent President Ali Bongo Ondimba, whose father had ruled the country since the 1960s.
Ping's supporters have taken to the streets in protest, and at least three people have been killed.
A government spokesperson has said security forces seized Ping's headquarters with the 27 people inside because the protests allegedly were being planned there.


(MENAFN)A conference was held with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Ersin Tatar head and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres about the 76th meeting of UN General Assembly in New York.
A report by the UN showed that they both switched outlooks on the Cyprus problem.
Tatar intends to join a tripartite conference and is going to assemble with Greek Cypriot head Nicos Anastasiades at a luncheon to be harbored by the UN secretary general.
Cyprus has been stuck in a decades-long dispute amid Greek and Turkish Cypriots, regardless of a series of diplomatic hard work by the UN to achieve a complete agreement.
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The Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain Annual Report for 2014 shows a 4% increase in the number of people that died in car accidents, and it also indicated that the number of serious injuries rose during the same period. 1,775 people were reported as having been killed in a road accident, with a further 22,807 reported as having suffered serious injuries after an accident.
The report also highlighted some of the reasons behind the accidents that caused fatalities and injuries, with drivers failing to look properly being cited as the most common cause of fatal accidents. Some of the increase has been attributed to a 2.4% rise in the number of cars on the road, but this doesn’t account for the total rise. However, while the government has said that the rise is not statistically significant, motoring groups and some charities have a different opinion on the matter.
The Institute of Advanced Motorists used the opportunity to call for the reintroduction of road safety targets, saying that they were particularly concerned with the fact that driver fault was to blame for the majority of accidents that occurred. They also said that greater attention should be paid to preventing pedestrian deaths and said that car design could help meet targets to ensure that pedestrians were safer, and that if any were involved in accidents then there would be less chance of the accident proving fatal.
Experts have said that the increase in traffic has come as a result of the country coming out of recession, and they have also warned that as the economy continues to improve then the number of cars on the road will also increase. Using the latest statistics as a guide, this implies that the number of accidents, and the number of fatalities and serious injuries, will also increase.
Some experts have said that an ageing population explains why there was a sharp increase in the number of pedestrians aged over 60 that were involved in these accidents, and cautioned that more needed to be done to help ensure their safety.


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Aizawl: Mizoram Education Minister Lalchhandama Ralte has said that the number of students enrolled in government schools has witnessed a jump.
According to him, the enrollment of students has increased due to the government's effort to improve education and school infrastructure.
''The number of students enrolled in government schools is now witnessing a jump and in some schools, the number of students has surpassed the present accommodation,'' he said while addressing the celebration of Mizoram Middle School Teachers Association (MSTA) Silver Jubilee.
''Due to rising in enrollment of students in government schools, some additional benches have to be installed beside the existing ones,'' he added.
Ralte further informed that despite the financial hurdles caused by the pandemic, the state government didn't hesitate in taking several reforms to improve the education quality.
Appreciating his government, he said that more than 2,000 teachers and staff have been appointed so far since the Mizo National Front (MNF) came to power in December 2018.
The minister also lauded the efforts of the teachers in improving the education quality.


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Since Sunday, FNC has averaged 2,613,000 viewers, while CNN has had 1,781,000 and MSNBC has had 674,000. FNC beat the two networks combined.
In primetime, FNC has averaged 4,159,000, while CNN has had 3,076,000 and MSNBC has had 1,235,000.
In total day, FNC has averaged 962,000 viewers, while CNN has had 760,000 and MSNBC has had 340,000.
In primetime, FNC has averaged 1,605,000 viewers. CNN has had 1,389,000 and MSNBC has had 663,000.
Katrina Ratings: Four-Day Averages


FAIRLAWN, Ohio – Summit Mall closed on Saturday, the day after Christmas, after groups of young people who gathered at the mall -- already a concern during the COVID-19 pandemic -- proceeded to get into fights, police said.
The decision to close the mall was made jointly by Fairlawn police and Summit Mall management, according to a news release from Fairlawn police.
“The juveniles that were congregating in the mall were asked to leave, and all complied,” police said in the release.
While rumors spread on social media that gunshots were fired during the fights, police say that is untrue.
“The loud bangs that were heard were stores closing their gates,” police said. There was no looting, property damage or injuries. No one was arrested.
The mall has since re-opened to the public, police said.
Read more on cleveland.com:


ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif has claimed that Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) consider PML-N as their 'true representative and guardian of their ideology.'
The PML-N president, according to party spokesperson, was talking to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, who met him and briefed him about the forthcoming elections in the AJK, here on Saturday.
Shehbaz expressed the hope that the AJK people would once again repose their confidence in the PML-N under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif through voting to the party's nominated ticket holders.
Shehbaz said his party would continue supporting the brave people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir. "We stand by the brave people of the occupied Jammu and Kashmir and will continue the same till they are given their just right to self-determination," the PML-N president vowed.
He also appreciated the efforts of AJK prime minister and his team to save and help the people during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also lauded the hard work of Haider for the development of AJK and its people.
The AJK prime minister also briefed the PML-N president on the forthcoming budget and development works in the AJK. He also briefed the party president on the arrangements and preparations for the elections in the AJK.
The two also discussed issues related to party candidates for the AJK elections.
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KUCHING: The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) is planning to have a ‘temporary quarantine and treatment facility’ to ensure that Sarawak is prepared for more Covid-19 cases should the situation worsen.
“We are in active discussion,” said its chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, adding that they are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst with regard to the fight against Covid-19.
“One way is to ensure that we have enough hospital beds,” he said when speaking at the Covid-19 daily update press conference at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here yesterday.
“We look at the experiences of other countries ― those who have succeeded and those who have failed, and we follow how they are prepared to handle the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.
He said the committee would inform the public on the temporary hospital’s location and capacity in the near future.
Meanwhile, he said that 57 frontliners in Sarawak had tested positive for Covid-19 thus far, adding that some of these cases were not directly from the front-line cluster and had gotten Covid-19 from other sources.
He said that there are sufficient supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) to last one month and another RM7 million worth of PPE had been ordered by the State Health Department (JKNS) to supplement this stock.
Uggah pointed out that RM6.5 million was spent by the state government to purchase PPE for healthcare facilities.
“We have also received a lot of donations from Malaysians, either in cash or in kind, and the Health Ministry is also providing some stock.”
He said SDMC advised all hospitals to be transparent and inform the committee on issues they are facing, including giving an early update when their PPE stocks are running low.
“We told these frontliners to focus on healthcare while SDMC will focus on ensuring that they have the required amount of PPE,” he assured.
On another note, he said that there had been no cases so far in which non-Covid-19 patients were transferred from Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) to private hospitals for further treatment.
He also said that five foreigners had tested positive for Covid-19 in Sarawak.


GCC Chief: Riyadh Conf. paves way for resumption of political process
(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) GCC Secretary General Dr. Abdulateef Al-Zayani said Tuesday the Riyadh conference would pave way for resumption of political process and provide most suitable environment for achieving its objectives.
Operations Decisive Storm and Restoration of Hope have been contributing to creating the right environment for a peaceful solution, as well as sustaining humanitarian operations, economic development programs, and achieving security and stability of Yemen, Al-Zayani quoted by Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said in a statement at the conclusion of the conference.
GCC chief pointed out that the debate among all Yemeni political and civil society parties reflected the aspirations of the Yemeni people which allowed the Yemeni president Abd Rabbu Mansur Hadi to achieve these goals.
Al-Zayani asserted on the success of Riyadh conference and expressed gratitude to the Saudi government and all those who contributed to the success of this conference and those organizing such gathering.
Earlier, the conference concluded its activities reaffirming utter support to legitimacy in the country, represented by President Hadi, besides building a federal state.
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Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) Mugur Isarescu on Friday discussed the main economic and financial developments, against the backdrop of the economic recovery, the energy crisis and endeavors for a solid and credible budget for 2022, said the government’s spokesman Dan Carbunaru.
This was the first meeting of the Prime Minister with the BNR governor, and presidential advisor on economic affairs Cosmin Marinescu was also invited to attend.
“The meeting took place during the break of today’s government meeting and was aimed at strengthening the institutional dialogue, while tackling the main developments and concerns in the Romanian economy and the financial environment in the current context of economic recovery, energy crisis and the need to work out a solid and credible budget for 2022, capable of giving confidence to the investment milieu and support the financial stability Romania needs in the next period,” Carbunaru explained.
The talks also focused on the need to increase the administrative capacity to absorb European funds, he added.
“The meeting highlighted the need for an effective institutional dialogue through the convergent involvement of state authorities, and also reviewed the main challenges we currently face, such as the need to increase the administrative capacity to absorb European funds, as regards both the resources available under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, and those under the operational programs,” Carbunaru said, according to Agerpres.


Govt to launch mass campaign for coronavirus vaccination, Asad Umar
While addressing a press conference in Islamabad after chairing a session of the NCOC to review the coronavirus situation in the country on Monday, he said the restrictions imposed by the government before Eid had made the situation better as the coronavirus positivity rate was declining.
Umar said that the government was hoping to get enough people vaccinated by Eid-ul-Azha so that there would be no need to impose restrictions like they had to on Eid ul Fitr.
He said that all departments of federal or provincial governments were working together against COVID-19.
Asad Umar said that the government would seek the help of the media for the vaccination campaign. He said one million doses of the coronavirus vaccine would reach Pakistan in the month of June and the same amount would reach in July. He informed that seven million people had been vaccinated till now. He said that the vaccination would be available for free for the people above 18 years of age.
Asad Umar said that the federal government asked the provinces to increase their capabilities to act against the spread of coronavirus cases. “We want to achieve a target of 70 million vaccinations by the end of this year,” he said.
Umar said that they were going to adopt a ‘whole of government’ approach to combat the pandemic. He said under the whole of government approach, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) would hold a meeting with media owners and anchorpersons tomorrow. He said the media played a positive role when coronavirus was first reported. He said they wanted a big vaccination campaign focusing on why vaccination is necessary and media could help in this regard. He further said that the NCOC would invite business forums and ask them to join the government to fight against the pandemic. “We will tell them how we want their help. We do not want their money, we will give them vaccines and through them, we will try to vaccinate their employees and their families,” he said and added that in the next step of the campaign, the government would reach out to the religious scholars.
He said to further the campaign, the government would reach out to the bar councils and journalist organizations as well.
He said their strategy could only be successful when every Pakistani took part in it.


Lagos – A Lagos lawmaker, Mr Saka Fafunmi, says measures are in place to ensure that residents of Lagos are safe from flooding during the raining season.
Fafunmi, Chairman, House Committee on the Environment, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday that machinery was in place to ensure that the drains were not blocked.
He said that the major cause of flooding during the season was the collection of waste materials in drains which affected free flow of water.
Fafunmi also said that one of the problems the state had encountered over time in the raining season was non-availability of equipment to forecast the amount of expected rainfall.
“We only hope that our preparations will be sufficient enough to meet the demands of the rains when it comes.
“But, as you can see lately, we have the Environmental Flood Abatement Department (EFAD) sections that take care of all the waste in the drainage alignment.
“We also have other things which we are working on to ensure there is free flow of water.
“We want to assure that with the adequate preparations we have put on ground, lives of residents and their property are secured,’’ he said. (NAN)


Director of the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO), Michelle Forbes, said that the changes in global weather patterns have resulted in an increase in the quantity and intensity of storms in the region.
She was speaking on NBC’s 'Views On Issues' programme, which focused on the 2020 Hurricane Season and issues relating to hurricane preparedness.
Miss Forbes said issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the Dengue Fever outbreak have highlighted the need for a more comprehensive approach to disaster management.
Miss Forbes said that several challenges have also emerged over the past year, especially in the area of forecasting.
SOURCE: The National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC)


The MP said seven men were arrested by Madang Police on Friday (January 26) when they stormed into the district head office and “illegally” took two of its Toyota LandCruiser.
The vehicles were earlier confiscated by the district authority and impounded at the office.
Uguro said the suspects were chased by Police and later apprehended.
Police also took the vehicles.
Last year, the Usino-Bundi District Development Authority (UBDDA) made a decision to recoup all district assets, including vehicles and machineries.


Karachi: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Friday that as many as 49 people have been killed by COVID-19 in the last 24 hours and the total number of deaths in the province has reached 1,013 people.
In a daily briefing, CM Murad Ali Shah said that 2,894 new coronaviruses were discovered through 13,662 tests.
He insisted that the total number of coronavirus cases in Sindh increased to 65,163 after detecting 2,849 new infections.
The Chief Minister said a total of 31,425 patients were treated with COVID-19, of which 29,818 were isolated at home and 64 in isolation centers.
CM Murad added that since the number of people who have reported the deadly virus has reached 23,725, more people have recovered from the disease and returned to their homes.
He insisted that 673 patients were in critical condition, 113 of whom were on respirators.
Earlier on June 18, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had said 48 more people had died of the novel coronavirus over the past 24 hours – the highest number of fatalities in the province since the outbreak of the virus.
In a statement about the coronavirus, he said that the number of people dying from the virus in Sindh has risen to 964. He added that there were 2,286 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of the county to 62,269.


(MENAFN - Trend News Agency) Italy has hiked its target for this year's budget deficit to 11.8% of gross domestic product from an 8.8% projection made in January, Trend reports citing Reuters .
The new target is contained in the Treasury's annual Economic and Financial Document (DEF) which Mario Draghi's cabinet approved at a meeting on Thursday.
The new target for the fiscal gap incorporates the impact of a 40-billion-euro stimulus package which the cabinet signed off on at Thursday's meeting, the source said. Italy has not posted a double-digit deficit since the early 1990s.
The DEF contains multi-year targets for the GDP, the budget deficit, and public debt, which are expected to be officially announced shortly.
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UAE President holds meeting with President of Greece
Both leaders discuss ties and enhancing cooperation
UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan held a meeting on Thursday in Athens with Katerina Sakellaropoulou, President of Greece.
The meeting took place at the presidential palace. President Sakellaropoulou congratulated Sheikh Mohamed on becoming the President of the United Arab Emirates, hoping that his visit will enhance the friendship and cooperation relations between the two friendly countries and their people.
Greece considers the UAE as its strategic partner, Sakellaropoulou said, adding that both countries share the same vision towards peace, security and prosperity in the region.
The Greek President went on to say that the relations between the two countries have been strengthened over the past years, expressing her confidence that many more opportunities are available to enhance further these relations in many fields.
For his side, Sheikh Mohamed expressed his happiness over meeting the Greek President and visiting the ancient city of Athens that has rich cultural and civilisational diversity, wishing Greek people further progress, development and prosperity.
He also expressed his happiness over the ongoing development of the relations between the two countries witnessed in the recent years, highlighting that the trade exchange between the two countries saw a 17 percent increase, despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the meeting, the two sides reviewed the friendship and cooperation relations between the two countries and ways to enhance and develop them.
They also discussed the latest regional and international developments and exchanged their views on a number of issues of common concern.


By Alex Bell
Finance Minister Tendai Biti and Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa on Monday denied that the millions of dollars needed for the upcoming constitutional referendum have been secured.
Chinamasa was quoted by the Sunday Mail on the weekend as saying the poll, just three weeks away, “will not be stopped because of lack of money,” and that some US$85 million was “sourced locally” from commercial and business interests.
These comments were made two days after Biti announced that the government had failed to source external funding for the referendum. But Chinamasa on Monday refuted the Sunday Mail report, insisting he was “misquoted.”
SW Radio Africa’s Harare correspondent Simon Muchemwa spoke to Chinamasa on Monday and he insisted the money has not been secured. “He said that the government was likely to raise the money from within the country, but that had not happened yet,” Muchemwa said.
Minister Biti on Monday also denied that the money had been secured, reiterating during a press conference that the government was still planning to source the funds from local firms. “Both ministers have reiterated there is no money yet,” Muchemwa said.
However, Chinamasa then called Muchemwa late Monday afternoon to once again retract what he had previously said. He said the money has been secured, but SW Radio Africa still needs to confirm this new statement. SW Radio Africa


Australia's Forest Fire Emergency Eases
(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) More than 550 volunteers backed by 10 water-bombing aircraft on Saturday appeared to have saved an Australian tourist town from a fire that cost one woman her life, destroyed four homes and burned through 100,000 hectares of forest, authorities said.
Victoria fire chief Craig Lapsley said cooler weather meant the crisis was over and that residents around Halls Gap would soon be let back into their homes. The fire started Wednesday in the Grampians region of Victoria, 250 kilometres west of state capital Melbourne. It drove more than 500 people from the region into evacuation centres, dpa reported. Emergency warnings were cancelled.
There were 34 fires burning in the state, 12 of them believed to be lit by arsonists and the remainder by lightning strikes, the Country Fire Authority reported. Lapsley warned that property loss from the Grampians fire could rise as police and firefighters moved into the parts where the blazes had passed through
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