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Arab leaders arrive in UK to offer condolences on death of Queen Elizabeth II

Update Arab leaders arrive in UK to offer condolences on death of Queen Elizabeth II
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Crown Prince Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah left Kuwait with a delegation to the United Kingdom to pay condolences for Queen Elizabeth II. (KUNA)
Update Arab leaders arrive in UK to offer condolences on death of Queen Elizabeth II
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King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa arrives for a reception hosted by Britain's King Charles III. (AP)
Update Arab leaders arrive in UK to offer condolences on death of Queen Elizabeth II
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King Abdullah II of Jordan and Queen Rania arrive for a reception hosted by Britain's King Charles III. (AP)
Update Arab leaders arrive in UK to offer condolences on death of Queen Elizabeth II
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Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arrives for a reception hosted by Britain's King Charles III for Heads of State and Official Overseas Guests, at Buckingham Palace in London. (AP)
Update Arab leaders arrive in UK to offer condolences on death of Queen Elizabeth II
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Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tarik arrives for a reception hosted by Britain's King Charles III. (AP)
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Updated 19 September 2022
Arab News

Arab leaders arrive in UK to offer condolences on death of Queen Elizabeth II

Arab leaders arrive in UK to offer condolences on death of Queen Elizabeth II
  • Foreign dignitaries have been arriving over the last few days, ahead of tomorrow’s funeral
Updated 19 September 2022
Arab News

DUBAI: Several leaders from the Middle East have been arriving in the United Kingdom over the last few days to pay condolences for Queen Elizabeth II ahead of Monday’s state funeral.

Queen Elizabeth II, the UK’s longest-serving monarch, died at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years.

Crown Prince Mishal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah arrived in London on Sunday, with a delegation, on a trip to pay condolences for the queen, state news agency KUNA reported. 

Egypt's Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli also headed to London on Sunday morning to attend the funeral of the queen on behalf of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is scheduled to fly to London on Sunday as Israel's representative at the funeral. He will be accompanied by his wife Michal.

Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa arrived on Saturday in the UK to pay his respects. The Bahrani King will offer his condolences to King Charles III and to the rest of the royal family.




Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa arrived on Saturday in the UK to pay his respects. (BNA)

King Abdullah departed Jordan on Saturday to attend the funeral that will be held in London before heading to New York to participate in the 77th session of the UN General Assembly.

The Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq al-Moazam arrived on Friday for a visit that will last "several days", according to the state news agency ONA. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has also announced that he will be representing his country at the state funeral on Sept. 19.
Meanwhile, Biden, Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and other world leaders were due to attend a reception with the late queen’s successor, King Charles III.
Australia's anti-monarchy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who viewed the lying-in-state Saturday, told Sky News Australia that the queen was "a constant reassuring presence".
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, which like Australia now has Charles as its sovereign, said she "served for her entire life, and bore the weight of her duties with impeccable grace".

The first members of the public were already camping out in advance to catch a glimpse of Monday’s grand farewell at Westminster Abbey, which is expected to bring London to a standstill and be watched by billions of viewers worldwide.

Topics: Death of Queen Elizabeth II UK ARab

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The Hotel Show to take place in Dubai in May

The Hotel Show to take place in Dubai in May
Updated 18 sec ago
Arab News

The Hotel Show to take place in Dubai in May

The Hotel Show to take place in Dubai in May
  • Three-day exhibition will feature 100 experts and include seminars, meetings and conferences
Updated 18 sec ago
Arab News

DUBAI: Around 13,000 people from the hospitality industry are set to gather in Dubai on May 23 for The Hotel Show, Emirates News Agency reported.

The three-day exhibition, which will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre, coincides with a regional expansion in hospitality investment led largely by the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

“Saudi Arabia alone needs to accommodate the 100 million tourists it hopes to attract by 2030 with a hotel pipeline valued at $110 billion, while the UAE hospitality market is expected to expand by 25 percent over the same period adding a further 48,000 rooms to its room stock” Elaine O’Connell, vice president of design and hospitality at DMG Events, said. 

“This offers unprecedented opportunity for developers, equipment and product suppliers, designers and operators,” she added.

Through conferences and seminars, the exhibition will provide insight into regional hotel prospects. Meanwhile, over 100 experts will take the stage at the event. 

This year, the event’s profile will include new content and features in three key industry verticals: Hospitality technology, operating equipment & supplies, and food and beverages. 

O’Connell said: “For years, the Middle East has been a change influencer for the sector and its willingness to quickly address game-changing issues signals that it intends to retain that mantle. 

“Coupled with the excitement around ongoing regional developments, the growing regional drive to net zero, increasing data regulation and the need to meet rising consumer demands for greener facilities and services, the region, and The Hotel Show Dubai, are again at the fulcrum of sectoral change.”

The UAE Professional Housekeepers Group Meeting will also be held at the exhibition, with in-depth discussions and tutorials on maintaining excellence in the face of changing market conditions, including changing guest expectations, emerging technologies, techniques, regulations, and products. 

In addition, nine culinary teams from the region’s top hotels will compete over three days to create a stunning five-course meal in the hopes of winning the coveted title of Hotel Culinary Team of the Year.

Topics: Hospitality industry Dubai

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UN rights investigator says EU aided and abetted abuse of migrants in Libya

UN rights investigator says EU aided and abetted abuse of migrants in Libya
Updated 27 March 2023
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UN rights investigator says EU aided and abetted abuse of migrants in Libya

UN rights investigator says EU aided and abetted abuse of migrants in Libya
Updated 27 March 2023
Reuters

GENEVA: A member of the UN fact-finding mission to Libya investigating rights abuses said on Monday that European Union support for Libyan authorities that stop and detain migrants had “aided and abetted” the commission of rights violations against migrants.
“We’re not saying that the EU and its member states have committed these crimes. The point is that the support given has aided and abetted the commission of the crimes,” Chaloka Beyani said in a news conference while unveiling the mission’s report.

If Tunisia is not helped, Muslim Brotherhood may ‘create instability’: Italian FM

If Tunisia is not helped, Muslim Brotherhood may ‘create instability’: Italian FM
Updated 27 March 2023
Francesco Bongarra 

If Tunisia is not helped, Muslim Brotherhood may ‘create instability’: Italian FM

If Tunisia is not helped, Muslim Brotherhood may ‘create instability’: Italian FM
  • ‘We can’t afford the radicalization of the Mediterranean,’ Antonio Tajani tells conference attended by Arab News
  • Rome striving to ensure Tunisia ‘doesn’t become a failed state,’ pushing for IMF loan
Updated 27 March 2023
Francesco Bongarra 

ROME: The international community runs the risk of “having the Muslim Brotherhood create instability” in Tunisia if the country is not promptly granted “substantial financial help,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said at a conference attended by Arab News.

“We can’t afford the radicalization of the Mediterranean,” he added, saying Tunisia is on the verge of “economic collapse,” and negotiations for a loan of nearly $1.9 billion from the International Monetary Fund have “stalled” over President Kais Saied’s recent policies.

Elected in 2019, Kais dissolved Parliament in July 2021, reformed the country’s constitution to increase his presidential powers, and then held a referendum followed by parliamentary elections with a very low turnout.

At the beginning of this year he cracked down on dissent, arresting politicians, labor union members, judges and members of civil society.

The economic situation in Tunisia is dire, leading more and more people to try to reach Italy on small boats.

Tajani said Italy is “the most interested” in ensuring that “Tunisia solves its problems and doesn’t become a failed state.”

He added that the Italian government has been working hard to ensure that the IMF and the World Bank help Tunisia.

“But there’s a problem: The IMF, with the support of the US, says, ‘You first carry out reforms, and then we’ll give the money.’ On the other hand, the Tunisians say, ‘First the money and then the reforms’,” he said.

“This is why we propose that the IMF gives immediately a first tranche of money; the rest of the loan can be paid in line with the progress of reforms.”

Tajani said the international community “can’t afford to make the mistake of leaving Tunisia to the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Stefania Craxi, president of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Italian Senate, told Arab News: “The Muslim Brotherhood will prosper if the grant doesn’t come and the economy keeps going down.”

She added: “It’s right for the IMF to ask for reforms, but they must grant the loan before the worst happens. That money must come now.”

Topics: Tunisia Italy Antonio Tajani

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Iraq changes electoral law, sparking opposition anger

Iraq changes electoral law, sparking opposition anger
Updated 27 March 2023
AFP

Iraq changes electoral law, sparking opposition anger

Iraq changes electoral law, sparking opposition anger
  • The law revives the electoral law of 2018 and sweeps away one of the gains of the mass protest movement which shook Iraq
Updated 27 March 2023
AFP

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s parliament voted Monday to restore electoral laws that were scrapped after 2019 anti-government demonstrations, sparking anger from independent lawmakers who see it benefiting larger parties.
The law, which parliament said in a statement was “adopted” without detailing the votes, revives the electoral law of 2018 and sweeps away one of the gains of the mass protest movement which shook Iraq.
After the protests, a new system favored the emergence of independent candidates, with some 70 independents winning seats in the 329-member parliament in the last legislative elections in 2021.
Parliament is dominated by the Coordination Framework, an alliance of powerful pro-Iran Shiite factions, from whose ranks Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani emerged.
The new law removes 83 electoral districts and creates 18 seats, one for each of Iraq’s provinces.
This “makes it easier for top party politicians to win seats,” analyst Sajad Jiyad said on Twitter.
Conversely, it will make it “harder for candidates in smaller parties and independents to compete” because they will be running at a provincial rather than a local level, he added.
During the debate, which ran from Sunday into the early hours of Monday, several angry independent lawmakers were expelled from the debating chamber, according to videos they filmed themselves.
The law also replaces a first past the post system with proportional representation.
Overall, the changes will benefit the larger parties and make it possible “for their candidates who didn’t get enough votes initially to win seats,” Jiyad added.
“Independent candidates will no longer have any hope of obtaining representation in parliament,” said Alaa Al-Rikabi, an independent lawmaker. “They will be crushed.”
But Coordination Framework lawmaker Bahaa Al-Dine Nouri welcomed the change, arguing that it will “distribute the seats according to the size of the parties.”
Nouri said this will “lead to the formation of a government within the time limits set by the constitution” to avoid the endless standoffs that followed the 2021 election.
The new law will apply to the next legislative elections, the date of which has not yet been set.
It will also apply to provincial elections slated for November 6, to be held in 15 of the 18 Iraqi provinces, excluding the three provinces in the autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.
In Iraqi Kurdistan, regional elections will take place on November 18 under a separate electoral system.

Topics: Iraq

Israel awaits PM amid protest, strike against justice reforms

Israel awaits PM amid protest, strike against justice reforms
Updated 27 March 2023
AFP

Israel awaits PM amid protest, strike against justice reforms

Israel awaits PM amid protest, strike against justice reforms
  • Reports of Benjamin Netanyahu’s nationalist-religious coalition risked breaking apart
  • Head of Israel’s top trade union calls for an immediate ‘general strike’
Updated 27 March 2023
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JERUSALEM: Israelis awaited a decision Monday from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a controversial judicial overhaul, as a general strike and mass protest spell the country’s most severe domestic crisis in years.
Tens of thousands rallied near parliament in Jerusalem after the strike was declared, following Netanyahu’s decision on Sunday evening to sack his defense minister for dissenting over the reform package.
Facing escalating disputes within his hard-right coalition and mounting pressure from opponents to halt the reform, Netanyahu is expected to address the nation later on Monday.
Some 80,000 demonstrators joined the Jerusalem rally against the reform package, Israeli media estimated, while right-wing backers of the overhaul called on supporters to protest later on Monday.
“I call on all protesters in Jerusalem, from the left or the right, to act in a responsible manner and not act with violence,” Netanyahu tweeted.
Israel’s top trade union chief called a general strike over the proposed reforms, which would weaken the powers of the judiciary. Demonstrators have for months decried the plans as a threat to Israel’s democracy.
“I am calling a general strike,” Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David said Monday in a televised address.
“We have a mission to stop this legislative process and we will do it,” he added, vowing to “continue to fight.”
The Israel Medical Association quickly followed suit, announcing “a full strike in the health system” that will impact all public hospitals.
The stoppage was also affecting flights at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, where an AFP journalist saw multiple delayed departures.
Diplomatic staff were among those walking out, with Washington embassy spokesman Elad Strohmayer tweeting the Israeli mission “will be closed... until further notice.”
Following mass demonstrations in Tel Aviv overnight, President Isaac Herzog pressed for an immediate halt to the judicial program.
“For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel... I call on you to halt the legislative process immediately,” Herzog said in a statement.
The government plans have sparked concern from Israel’s top allies including the United States.
The White House noted that President Joe Biden had told Netanyahu that “democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship.”
Netanyahu’s government, a coalition between his Likud party and extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies, argues the changes are needed to rebalance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary.
Yoav Gallant, the outgoing defense minister who had been a staunch ally of Netanyahu, called Saturday for a halt to the reforms, citing “a clear, immediate and tangible threat to Israel’s security.”
“The growing social rift has made its way into the (army) and security agencies,” he said.
Moments after Netanyahu fired Gallant, demonstrators waving national flags blocked a central highway in the coastal city of Tel Aviv.
Israelis rallied outside parliament in Jerusalem on Monday, where demonstrator Keren Mimran said “everyone should strike today.”
“We are calling on the government to stop this mad reform,” the 57-year-old high-tech worker told AFP.
Despite the upheaval, Israel’s national security minister called Monday on right-wing supporters to join a counter-protest in Jerusalem backing the judicial shake-up.
“Today we stop being silent. Today the right wakes up,” Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote on Twitter.
Israeli media reported the extreme-right minister held talks with the premier on Monday afternoon and was threatening to quit the government if the overhaul is put on ice.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the government “has undergone a hostile takeover by a messianic, nationalist and anti-democratic group.”
The architect of the overhaul, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, said he will “accept any decision that Prime Minister Netanyahu makes” on the legislation.
Lawmakers are scheduled to vote this week on a central part of the proposals, which would change the way judges are appointed.
A parliamentary committee has amended the draft law to make it more acceptable to opponents, but the opposition has ruled out backing any part of the reform package until all legislative steps are halted.
Netanyahu last week vowed to “responsibly advance” the reforms and “end the rift” they have caused.
In response, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Friday accused Netanyahu of “illegal” public intervention on the process of adopting the judicial reforms, citing potential conflict of interests due to his ongoing trial.
The premier faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust which he denies.

Topics: Israel Isaac Herzog

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