Saudi tourism launches first travel show in Indonesia

The Saudi Tourism Authority opens its exhibition at Kota Kasablanka Mall in South Jakarta, Indonesia, on May 1, 2024. (AN Photo)
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Updated 01 May 2024
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Saudi tourism launches first travel show in Indonesia

  • Over 1.5 million Indonesians visited Saudi Arabia in 2023
  • Saudi Tourism Authority exhibit in Jakarta runs until May 5

JAKARTA: The Saudi Tourism Authority launched on Wednesday its first show exhibition in Indonesia to introduce the Kingdom’s cultural and adventure destinations to visitors from the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.

The tourism sector has been booming under Vision 2030, as the Kingdom positions itself as a dynamic, diverse, year-round tourism destination and market that will contribute 10 percent to the gross domestic product by 2030.

Welcomed with dates and qahwa — traditional Arabic coffee — Indonesians flocked the STA exhibition inaugurated by Saudi Hajj and Umrah Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah and Alhasan Aldabbagh, STA president for Asia-Pacific markets, at the Kota Kasablanka Mall in South Jakarta.

“Saudi and Indonesia are good countries that have enjoyed social and economic ties for many, many years, and we have been receiving and welcoming many Indonesian travelers who are going for Umrah and Hajj,” Aldabbagh told reporters.

“We want to attract even more Indonesians, not just to do Umrah but to explore other places … Indonesia is a special market for us because of this strong relationship.”

More than 1.5 million Indonesians visited the Kingdom in 2023, but as most of them traveled for Umrah and focused on pilgrimage sites, Saudi authorities are hoping that they will begin to also explore the country’s rich history and heritage.

Aldabbagh was expecting about 10,000 visitors daily at the Jakarta exhibition, which will run until May 5.

“We want people to learn about all the attractions that we have in Saudi … to come with their families and enjoy and discover,” he said, giving as examples Jeddah and AlUla.




Alhasan Aldabbagh, Saudi Tourism Authority president for Asia-Pacific markets, speaks to Jakarta, Indonesia, on May 1, 2024. (AN Photo)

A historical city on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, Jeddah from the 7th century has been a major port for Indian Ocean trade routes and also the gateway for Muslim pilgrims to Makkah.

Featured on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Jeddah has a distinctive architectural tradition, with influences from along the ancient trade routes.

AlUla, another UNESCO site, is an ancient desert oasis and one of the most significant cultural cradles in the Arabian Peninsula.

The ancient kingdoms flourished in the AlUla Valley between 800 and 100 B.C. and were followed by Hegra — Saudi Arabia’s first location registered on the World Heritage List — was a major city of the Nabataean civilization whose capital, Petra, was located in present-day Jordan.

The Saudi travel show in Jakarta has already drawn interest from prospective visitors, who said they are intrigued by the variety of destinations the Kingdom had to offer.

“This is good for us to gain more information because we’ve never had this before, this is rare. Usually, we’ll get information from travel agencies, but this is coming straight from the Saudi authorities,” said Yudi Prasetyo, a Jakarta resident.

Another visitor, Linda Wardani, was curious to explore the Kingdom’s ancient sites, which she has so far known only from social media channels.

“We are curious to see AlUla looking so wonderful,” she said. “We are even more curious about other destinations in Saudi Arabia because when it comes to Umrah, the destinations are commonly known, but aside from that, we’re seeing the growth of Saudi Arabia and there are other tourist sites to see.”

Halid Umar Bakadam, CEO of Dream Tour travel agency, has also observed a growing interest beyond Umrah. His company now offers extended tours, where visitors can go and see other destinations in the Kingdom.

“They are welcoming more tourists,” he said. “For the new destinations, there are quite many people showing interest.”


India foreign minister lands in arch-rival Pakistan for rare visit

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India foreign minister lands in arch-rival Pakistan for rare visit

  • Jaishankar’s plane lands just before 3:30 p.m. at an air base near the capital Islamabad
  • Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan are bitter adversaries with longstanding political tensions

ISLAMABAD: Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday for a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, the first top Delhi diplomat to visit their arch-rival neighbor in nearly a decade.

Jaishankar’s plane landed just before 3:30 p.m. (1030 GMT) at an air base near the capital Islamabad, a foreign office official said, as state TV showed him receiving a bouquet of flowers from a host delegation that did not include any senior ministers.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan are bitter adversaries with longstanding political tensions, having fought three wars and numerous smaller skirmishes since they were carved out of the subcontinent’s partition in 1947.

Relations have been particularly sour since 2019, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the limited autonomy of Indian-administered Kashmir.

The Himalayan region is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both in full, with each accusing the other of stoking militancy there.

Modi’s 2019 move was celebrated across India but led Pakistan to suspend bilateral trade and downgrade diplomatic ties with New Delhi.

Indian government spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said this month the agenda of Jaishankar’s visit would strictly follow the SCO schedule, which is due to discuss trade, humanitarian and social issues.

“The Indian foreign minister has not requested a bilateral meeting, nor have we extended an invitation to them,” Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Sunday.

Islamabad is keen to project an image of stability and security during the conference after a rash of civic unrest in the capital and militant attacks elsewhere across Pakistan in recent weeks.

Former Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj was the last to visit Pakistan in 2015, arriving for a summit on Afghanistan.

Modi also made a surprise visit to Pakistan that year, shortly after taking office for his first term, sparking short-lived hopes of a thaw in relations.

The SCO is a block of 10 nations established by China and Russia, which have used the alliance to deepen their ties with Central Asian states and vie for influence in the region.

However, they have recently pitched the organization as a competitor to the West.

The bloc claims to represent 40 percent of the world’s population and about 30 percent of its GDP, but its members have diverse political systems and even open disagreements with one another.

Pakistan’s former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was in Goa last year — also a rare visit — for an SCO meeting where he and Jaishankar were involved in a verbal spat.

It was the first official visit by a senior Pakistani official to their eastern neighbor since 2016, but the two foreign ministers did not hold a one-on-one meeting.


Russian man survives two months adrift on dinghy

Updated 29 min 1 sec ago
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Russian man survives two months adrift on dinghy

  • The dinghy was found in the Sea of Okhotsk, around 1,000 kilometers from its starting point
  • Russian rescuers had mounted a search using helicopters and a plane for the men a few days after they disappeared

MOSCOW: A Russian man was found alive after drifting for two months on an inflatable boat while another man and a teenage boy died, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The two men and a 15-year-old set off to the Island of Sakhalin from the far eastern Khabarovsk region on August 9, transport prosecutors said.
“After a time, communication with them was lost, their boat’s location remained unknown,” they said.
“On October 14 around 10:00 pm, the boat was discovered as it passed a fishing boat... Two people died, one remained alive, he is receiving medical help,” prosecutors said.
The dinghy was found in the Sea of Okhotsk, around 1,000 kilometers from its starting point.
Prosecutors published a video showing the bearded survivor in a life jacket shouting at the fishermen: “I don’t have much strength” but managing to catch a rope.
The survivor was named by RIA Novosti news agency as Mikhail Pichugin, while his brother Sergei, 49, and nephew Ilya, 15, died. Their bodies were on the boat.
Russian rescuers had mounted a search using helicopters and a plane for the men a few days after they disappeared, suspecting the boat had been carried by currents toward Kamchatka.
Alexei Arykov, the owner of the fishing boat that found the survivor said he was “in a serious condition, thin, but conscious,” RIA Novosti reported.
The boat docked around 0830 GMT in the far eastern city of Magadan and the survivor was carried off on a stretcher, the news agency reported.
The survivor’s wife Yekaterina told RIA Novosti: “It’s a kind of miracle,” adding that the men had taken enough food and water to last only two weeks.
She said her husband’s weight could have helped save him, as “he weighed around 100 kilograms” (220 pounds). Russian television reported he lost 50 kilograms.
The brothers were from Ulan-Ude in Siberia but Mikhail Pichugin was working on Sakhalin as a driver.
He had invited his brother and nephew to visit and they planned a sea trip to see whales, Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid reported, citing relatives.
An expert questioned by RIA Novosti recalled that in 1960, four Soviet soldiers survived 49 days adrift on a small boat in the Pacific Ocean that was found by the US aircraft carrier Keersarge.


Italy demands security guarantees for its troops in Lebanon

Updated 15 October 2024
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Italy demands security guarantees for its troops in Lebanon

  • There are over 1,000 Italian troops in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

ROME: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni demanded security guarantees on Tuesday for all her country’s troops deployed in Lebanon, where UN peacekeepers have come under fire during the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Italy has troops deployed in the UN peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL and in a separate mission known as MIBIL which trains local armed forces. There are over 1,000 Italian troops in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
The UN Security Council expressed concern on Monday after several UN peacekeeping positions came under fire in southern Lebanon and urged all parties — without naming them — to respect the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and premises.
“We believe that the attitude of the Israeli forces is completely unjustified,” Meloni said, describing it as a “blatant violation” a UN resolution on ending hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel.
In an address to Italy’s Senate, she said Israel’s actions were not acceptable and that she had expressed this position to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Asked whether she was considering a trip to Lebanon, Meloni told reporters: “Yes.”
Netanyahu has denied Israeli troops deliberately targeted UNIFIL peacekeepers in Lebanon and wants the peacekeepers withdrawn from combat zones.
Italy has protested to Israel and joined allies in condemning the attacks on the peacekeepers.
Meloni said Hezbollah had also violated the UN resolution and sought “to militarise the area under UNIFIL’s jurisdiction,” adding that Italy wanted to strengthen the capabilities of UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces.
She also said Rome had not forgotten the attack by Hamas militants on Israeli communities on Oct. 7 last year that sparked the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, and that Italy’s thoughts were with the more than 100 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.


Hundreds of Afghan ex-special forces set for UK relocation

Updated 15 October 2024
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Hundreds of Afghan ex-special forces set for UK relocation

  • Ministry of Defense review overturns position of previous British government
  • Many operatives and their families were forced into hiding after Western withdrawal

LONDON: Hundreds of former members of Afghanistan’s special forces and their families will be resettled in the UK after ministers overturned a decision by the previous government, The Independent reported.

Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard on Monday said 2,000 applicants for relocation, previously rejected by the UK, will have their paperwork reviewed once more following a Ministry of Defense review.

Many of the former special forces operatives and their families were placed at great risk of Taliban reprisal following the Western withdrawal from Afghanistan, with many forced into hiding.

About 25 percent of the 2,000 applications are expected to be overturned amid the release of new evidence demonstrating direct payments from the UK government to Afghan special forces units.

Pollard told the House of Commons: “Officials have now confirmed that there’s evidence of payments from the UK government to members of Afghan specialist units … and for some individuals this demonstrates a direct employment relationship.

“This is evidence that goes beyond previously identified top-up payments and reimbursements for operational expenses, which don’t demonstrate such an employment relationship in themselves.

“This is, of course, contrary to the position reported to Parliament by the previous government that no such evidence of direct employment existed.”

Pollard said the previous government’s position was not a “conscious effort to mislead,” but was part of a “failure to access and share the right digital records … across departmental lines.”

Some former Afghan soldiers who demonstrated ties to the UK in the wake of the Taliban takeover have been housed for years in military bases across Britain. Ministers have said they will soon be moved to appropriate accommodation.


Indonesia’s Prabowo courts largest party for coalition, meets candidates for govt posts

Updated 15 October 2024
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Indonesia’s Prabowo courts largest party for coalition, meets candidates for govt posts

  • The absence of any opposition in the parliament would mean that an eight-party alliance could ensure smooth passage of Prabowo’s legislative agenda

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s incoming president Prabowo Subianto met candidates for senior government posts for a second day on Tuesday, as he seeks to bring the country’s biggest political party into his already dominant parliamentary coalition.
If Prabowo can reach a deal with Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) there would be no opposition parties in parliament, an unprecedented situation since Indonesia began holding direct presidential elections in 2004.
Prabowo, who will be sworn in as president on Oct. 20, summoned over 40 people on Monday who said they had been asked to join the next government, including current finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
On Tuesday, Prabowo summoned dozens of potential deputy ministers, his top aide Sufmi Dasco Ahmad said.
While no lawmakers from the PDI-P had arrived at his house by early afternoon, Prabowo’s party officials have said that he plans to meet PDI-P chief Megawati Sukarnoputri to discuss a possible political alliance.
The timing of a meeting is unclear.
The absence of any opposition in the parliament would mean that an eight-party alliance could ensure smooth passage of Prabowo’s legislative agenda, but it would likely heighten fears about a lack of meaningful checks on Prabowo’s power in a country with a history of authoritarian rule.
Seven of the eight parties in parliament have already joined Prabowo’s coalition, securing him a parliamentary majority.
PDI-P, which won the most seats in the February election, had nominated Prabowo’s predecessor, President Joko Widodo, for president in 2014. But the relationship soured over Widodo’s tacit support for the president-elect during his campaign run.
Widodo’s son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, is the incoming vice president.
In his second five-year term, Widodo was also supported by most parties in parliament, with only two opposing parties.
Widodo leaves office facing criticism he has tried to change laws to benefit his family, and co-opt state bodies to control his opponents. He denies any impropriety, and has said democracy was thriving and he respects the country’s institutions.
Analysts say they fear what they see as that democratic backsliding may continue under Prabowo, a member of the old elite that previously ruled Indonesia. Prabowo is an ex-special forces commander who was dismissed from the military amid speculation of human rights abuses, assertions he has denied.
In March, Prabowo described democracy as tiring, costly and messy, and said there was room for improvement.