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Davos 2019 Day 3: Middle East high on agenda as global leaders address WEF

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Around 3,000 political and business leaders are attending the Davos forum. (Reuters)
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Updated 25 January 2019
Arab News
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Davos 2019 Day 3: Middle East high on agenda as global leaders address WEF

  • The third day of panels is taking place in Switzerland
  • Future of Saudi Arabia on the agenda
Updated 25 January 2019
Arab News

DAVOS: The third day of panels and addresses is taking place in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday. Follow Arab News' live coverage below...

17.05 —  Jacek Czaputowicz also said that the JCPOA has had a positive impact and the US decided to withdraw from it. He added that the Iran issue would be discussed in Warsaw at the upcoming meeting in February. 

16.55 — ​  Poland fears Russian aggressive policy, and it wants more US deployment said Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Jacek Czaputowicz. 

16.49 — ​“NATO is the strongest military alliance in the world and is an alliance of values,” the German Federal Minister of Defence Ursula von der Leyen said. 

16.45 — Europe and the US are of common values, and the transatlantic alliance is repairable said former US Secretary of State John Kerry.

16.40 — “Our message to the US is that NATO is improving, and European allies are stepping up,” said the Secretary-General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg. 

 

16.30 — Speakers discuss whether the transatlantic rift set to widen.

15.12 — “We have a consumer driven economy and consumers don’t have money in their pockets,” the Secretary-Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) Elizabeth H. Shuler said.

15.10  — Rubenstein said that US President Donald Trump communicates in ways that are different to the way presidents have communicated in the past, and that tweeting is a “very effective way to get your message out.” He added that Trump will get blamed more than he will like if the shutdown doesn't end soon. 

15.05  — The US has not had a Shutdown for this long. If the situation is not resolved soon, “this will really impair the economy of the US,” Co-Founder and Co-Executive Chairman of the Carlyle Group David M. Rubenstein said.

 

15.00 — The future of America’s place in the world economic system is discussed.

14.56 —  On his relationship with US President Donald Trump, Ghani said that Trump is engaging and that their relationship is excellent. 

14.45 — Afghanistan wants engagement with Pakistan and Afghanistan wants a removal of the shadow of violence, Ghani commented. 

14.40 — The long term course for the country should be democratic, said Ghani. Afghanistan is most suited to democratic governments, and “our culture is one of equality,” he added. 

14.35 — ​Afghanistan is turning a corner and Afghan women now have a voice of their own, the President of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said.

14.30 — ​The President of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has a conversation with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.

 

14.28 — Speaking earlier in a special address, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, appealed for dialogue to stop Venezuela's political crisis spiralling out of control. He also warned that the world is "losing the race" against climate change and that the relationship between the three most important global powers, Russia, the US and China, "has never been as dysfunctional as it is today."

13.20 —  We hope that the chief executive of Dubai-based Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Alain Bejjani packed his snow shoes (read Frank Kane’s interview with him here)

12.53 — We want to build a story of hope in the Arab world and we want to be a role model, said the Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri. 

12.52 — Saudi Arabia's oil business is the best in the world and the Kingdom is fully committed to the Paris Agreement, Al-Tuwaijri said.  

12.49 — Talking about Saudi Arabia’s relationship with India, Al-Tuwaijri said that what will prevail is “credibility and sustainabilty”, and that the Kingdom has a great relationship with India.

12.45 — ​Saudi Arabia celebrated two Japanese banks opening in the Kingdom, the Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri said. 

12.40 — ​Arab countries have been a reliable source of oil supply despite the conflicts in the region, the Chairman of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd Sanjiv Singh said. 

12.35 — Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi are partnering with India in a huge oil refinery project, the Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd Sanjiv Singh said. 

12.26 — The Middle East as a power house can look at investment opportunities in Asia, the Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri said. He added that the Kingdom has identified 50 opportunities in South Korea. 

12.10 — Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi are partnering with India in a huge oil refinery project, the Chairman of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd Sanjiv Singh said at the forum.

12.00 — This session will discuss relationships between the Middle East and Asia. Speakers include the Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Finance Fuad Hussein, the Group Chairman and CEO of DP World Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, and the Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd Sanjiv Singh.

 

 

10.45 — Ghannouchi told the forum that Arabs need more freedom as they “don't have enough of it.” He added that opportunities need to be created for the youth, and called upon bussiness leaders to invest in Arab countries.  

10.15  — The leader of the Tunisian Ennahda Party Rached Ghannouchi said that he thinks that there are universal standards for democracy and freedom. He added that the Arab world has reached a boiling point, and “needs reform.”

10.00  — Jordan's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Al-Safadi told the forum that Arab countries are looking at an “Arab role that will bring the Syrian crisis to an end.” He added that they needed to play a major role in making Syria immune to conflicting international agendas. 

9:45 — The Middle East security outlook is being discussed — check out the live video below. Speakers include Ayman Al-Safadi, Jordan’s minister of foreign affairs and expatriates; Mohamed Ali Alhakim, Iraq’s minister of foreign affairs; Rached Ghannouchi, leader of Tunisia’s Ennahda Party; and Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum.

 

8:15 — Saudi Arabia’s ambitious reform plans were discussed in an early Davos panel, with speakers including Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri, and Saudi Stock Exchange Chairperson Sarah Al-Suhaimi.

 

 

 

 

8:00 — Good morning from a chilly Davos. The Middle East is a key theme at the forum today, with an early morning discussion on the future of Saudi Arabia, the region's security outlook set to come under the microscope, and a discussion with Omar Al Razzaz, Prime Minister of Jordan. Keep up to date with our live blog.

Topics: Davos 2019

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5,000 Filipino pilgrims expected to fly to Makkah for Hajj

Updated 10 sec ago
Ellie Aben
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5,000 Filipino pilgrims expected to fly to Makkah for Hajj

  • Travelers ‘can expect VIP-like treatment,’ National Commission on Muslim Filipinos says
  • First pilgrims will take off from Manila International Airport next week
Updated 10 sec ago
Ellie Aben

MANILA: Thousands of Filipino pilgrims are set to travel to Makkah for the upcoming Hajj pilgrimage, the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos said on Monday, with the first batch set to leave for Saudi Arabia next week.

In the predominantly Catholic Philippines, Muslims constitute about 10 percent of the nearly 120 million population. Most live on the island of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago in the country’s south, as well as in the central-western province of Palawan.

The commission said that nearly 5,000 Muslims had confirmed they would travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj pilgrimage this year.

“We have already processed 96 percent of the pilgrims,” Zainoden Usudan, chief of Hajj operations at the NCMF’s Bureau of Pilgrimage and Endowment, said.

“They can expect VIP-like treatment, allowing them to fully concentrate on their pilgrimage.”

Officials from the commission have been working hard to ensure that the difficulties faced by pilgrims last year will not be a problem this time around.

“This time, we are making sure that food will not be a problem,” Usudan said, referring to problems with delayed meal deliveries in 2023.

He said the commission was working with a service provider in the Kingdom that had contingency plans for all aspects of the trip, including transportation.

The first Hajj flight from the Philippines is set to take off from Manila International Airport on May 23.

One of the five pillars of Islam, this year’s Hajj is expected to run from June 14-19. Many pilgrims extend their stays to make the most of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fulfill their religious duty.

Topics: hajj

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Charities brand UK family reunion system for asylum-seekers ‘broken’

Updated 13 May 2024
Arab News
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Charities brand UK family reunion system for asylum-seekers ‘broken’

  • New report says thousands waiting for relatives to be relocated to Britain
  • Refugee Council CEO: ‘The UK has clearly failed the Afghan refugees that it promised to protect’
Updated 13 May 2024
Arab News

London: Charities in the UK have branded the country’s system for reuniting separated families of asylum-seekers “broken,” calling for the Home Office to “fix and expand” it.

A new report published by the Refugee Council and Safe Passage International has highlighted figures showing a backlog of more than 11,000 migrants in the UK waiting to be reunited with relatives during the summer last year.

Despite repeated freedom of information requests, the Home Office has not provided updated figures since then.

The report mentioned that a particular problem faces separated Afghan families, with many individuals reaching the UK but finding themselves in prolonged legal difficulty and their relatives forced to remain in Afghanistan, neighboring Pakistan or elsewhere.

Currently, Afghans evacuated from their country as part of Operation Pitting in August 2021 are prevented from automatically bringing close family to the UK.

In October 2023, the British government proposed a new system to address this issue, but the plan has yet to implemented despite pressure from MPs and members of the House of Lords.

Approved asylum-seekers can apply for a family reunification visa, but thousands find themselves stuck in a backlog of cases despite the Home Office saying the process should take under 12 weeks.

The Independent spoke to a number of Afghans, including a former pilot, struggling to be reunited with their relatives.

The pilot told the newspaper: “They (his family) have been waiting for a visa for five months in Iran, but so far there is no news from the embassy and there is no guarantee it will be issued.

“My family are facing a lot of problems. They don’t have a proper place to live, and don’t have access to a doctor, because they are living illegally.

“Their Iranian visas have expired and they need to extend them, but it is impossible. My wife is suffering mentally and emotionally, and she is completely (without hope).”

Another issue is that of unaccompanied children who, under current rules, also cannot use their status to automatically relocate their families to the UK.

The Independent spoke to one Afghan teenager, Farhad, rescued from Kabul without his parents in 2021, who faces an anxious wait to see if his family can join him in the UK.

“(The UK government) promised in 2021 that they’re going to bring the families, but it’s still been almost three years,” he said.

“My mum and my siblings are in Pakistan because they needed a doctor and medication. But my father couldn’t get the visa to go with them.

“I am doing my GCSEs this month and I can’t really focus on my studies knowing that my family is struggling.”

Safe Passage International highlighted the case of another young boy, Ahmad, who had tried to join his older brother in the UK.

Despite both his parents having died in Afghanistan, the Home Office denied that he had any “serious and compelling” circumstances to justify his asylum application.

He was only able to stay in the UK after a judge intervened, ordering the Home Office to provide assistance.

Safe Passage International’s CEO Dr. Wanda Wyporska told The Independent: “Nearly three years on, it’s a national shame that Afghans, who risked so much to support UK military operations, are still waiting for a way to bring their family to safety here with them. Their family members are living in fear every day of the Taliban.”

The Refugee Council’s CEO Enver Solomon said: “The UK has clearly failed the Afghan refugees that it promised to protect, by keeping families separated for so long with no information on how they may be reunited.

“After risking everything for the UK, Afghans and their families should not be forced to make dangerous boat journeys to get here, nor should they face hostile, inhumane policies like the Rwanda plan when they do make it to the UK.”

A Home Office spokesperson told The Independent: “We made one of the largest commitments of any country to support people from Afghanistan, and so far we have brought around 27,900 individuals to safety in the UK, including thousands under our Afghan resettlement schemes.

“In October we committed to establish a route for those evacuated from Afghanistan under Pathway 1 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme without their immediate family members, to reunite them in the UK.

“We remain on track to meet that commitment and open the route for referrals in the first half of this year.”

Topics: UK United Kingdom

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Philippines to tighten guard at locations in South China Sea

Updated 13 May 2024
Reuters
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Philippines to tighten guard at locations in South China Sea

  • Philippine Coast Guard deploys ship to Sabina Shoal on the Spratly archipelago, where it accused China of building an artificial island
Updated 13 May 2024
Reuters

MANILA/BEIJING: The Philippines said on Monday it would keep a closer guard on reefs, shoals and islets in its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, alarmed by reports of new reclamation activities by China, which Beijing denied.
The Philippine Coast Guard said on Saturday it had deployed a ship to Sabina Shoal on the Spratly archipelago, where it accused China of building an artificial island, having documented what it said were piles of dead and crushed coral on the sandbars.
Jonathan Malaya, spokesperson of the National Security Council (NSC), said NSC chief Eduardo Ano had ordered a tighter guard at locations within Manila’s 200-nautical mile economic zone, as a long-standing diplomatic row with Beijing intensifies.
“No one will guard (these locations) except us. It is our responsibility under international law to guard (them) and ensure that the environment there would not be damaged and that there won’t be reclamation activities,” Malaya told a regular television program.
China claims almost all the South China Sea, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, and has carried out extensive land reclamation on some islands, building military facilities, causing concern in Washington and the region.
China’s foreign ministry on Monday dismissed Manila’s latest accusation as “groundless and pure rumor.”
“Recently, the Philippine side has repeatedly spread rumors, deliberately smeared China and attempted to mislead the international community, which is futile,” spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing.
He urged Manila to “return to the right track of properly settling maritime disputes through negotiation and consultation.”
Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said its presence at the Escoda shoal had deterred China from doing small-scale reclamation, but that scientists would have to determine whether the piles of coral were natural or man-made.
He said the coast guard was committed to maintaining a presence at the shoal, just over 120 nautical miles from the Philippine province of Palawan.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in 2016 that Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea, a vital waterway, had no basis under international law, a decision that China rejects.
The Sabina Shoal, known locally as Escoda, is the rendezvous point for vessels resupplying Filipino troops stationed on a grounded warship at the Second Thomas Shoal, where Manila and China have had frequent run-ins.
Ano has called for Chinese diplomats to be expelled over the alleged leak of a phone conversation with a Filipino admiral about the maritime dispute.
On Monday, the Philippine foreign ministry said it would look into reports of “illegal and unlawful activities” by diplomatic officials, but did not name China.

Topics: Philippines China South China Sea

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3 men charged in the UK with assisting the Hong Kong intelligence service

Updated 13 May 2024
AP
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3 men charged in the UK with assisting the Hong Kong intelligence service

  • The men will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged under the National Security Act
Updated 13 May 2024
AP

LONDON: Three men have been charged with allegedly assisting Hong Kong intelligence services and with foreign interference, London’s Metropolitan Police said Monday.
The men will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged under the National Security Act.
Chi Leung (Peter) Wai, 38, Matthew Trickett, 37, and Chung Biu Yuen, 63, have each been charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service.
“While these offenses are concerning, I want to reassure the public that we do not believe there to be any wider threat to them,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.
“This investigation remains ongoing, but now that charges have been brought, I urge people not to speculate or comment further in relation to this case.”
Hong Kong’s security bureau, Hong Kong police and the office of China’s foreign ministry in Hong Kong did immediately respond to requests for comment.

Topics: UK Hong Kong United Kingdom

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Floods kill 43 in Indonesia’s West Sumatra, 15 missing

Updated 13 May 2024
Reuters
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Floods kill 43 in Indonesia’s West Sumatra, 15 missing

  • Torrential rain on Saturday evening triggered flash floods, landslides, and cold lava flow in three districts in West Sumatra province
  • Around 400 personnel, including rescuers, police, and military, were deployed to search for the missing people on Monday
Updated 13 May 2024
Reuters

TANAH DATAR: Flash floods and mud slides in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province killed at least 43 people over the weekend while a search for 15 missing people continued, authorities said on Monday.
Torrential rain on Saturday evening triggered flash floods, landslides, and cold lava flow — a mud-like mixture of volcanic ash, rock debris and water — in three districts in West Sumatra province, Abdul Malik, chief of the provincial rescue team, said.
The cold lava flow, known in Indonesia as a lahar, came from Mount Marapi, one of Sumatra’s most active volcanoes.
In December, more than 20 people were killed after Marapi erupted. A series of eruptions has followed since.
“The heavy rain swept materials such as ash and large rocks from the Marapi volcano,” said Abdul Malik, who later added in a statement that 43 people had died and 15 remained missing.
“Cold lava flow and flash floods have always been threats to us recently. But the problem is, it always happens late at night until dawn,” he said.
Abdul said around 400 personnel, including rescuers, police, and military, were deployed to search for the missing people on Monday, helped by at least eight excavators and drones.
The national disaster and management agency BNPB said in a statement almost 200 houses were damaged and 72 hectares (178 acres) of lands, including rice fields, were affected. At least 159 people from Agam district were evacuated to nearby schools.
Footage shared by BNPB showed roads and rice fields covered by mud. Video also showed the wreckage of damaged homes and buildings, while the floods brought logs and large rocks into settlements.
Eko Widodo, a 43-year-old survivor, said: “The flooding was sudden and the river became blocked which resulted in the flow of water everywhere and it was out of control.”

Topics: Indonesia

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