https://arab.news/872p5
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday arrived in Bangkok, Thailand on an official visit to the country.
Prince Mohammed was greeted on arrival by Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and inspected a guard of honor shortly afterward.
An official reception ceremony was held for the crown prince during which the Saudi and Thai national anthems were played.
The crown prince arrived in Thailand after a visit to South Korea and attending the G20 summit in Bali.
RIYADH: Makkah municipality has completed preparations for Hajj, including recruiting 22,000 workers to boost pilgrim services.
Spokesperson Osama Zaituni said that the municipality has mobilized all its human and mechanical capacities, supported by assistance teams including public security and scouts, temporary health monitors, as well as a large fleet of equipment and machinery, to provide the highest levels of municipal services to pilgrims.
Zaituni added that the municipality has prepared its 13 sub-municipalities and three subsidiary municipalities, as well as 28 centers in Makkah, geographically distributed to cover the entire area of the holy sites, and provided them with all the machinery and manpower needed, in addition to recruiting 22,000 people to cover all fields.
Meanwhile, the General Directorate of Passports at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah on Saturday received the first group of Hajj pilgrims from Nigeria.
Another flight carrying Hajj pilgrims from Iran landed at Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah.
The directorate has expressed its readiness to effectively manageprocedures for pilgrims during Hajj at airports, land borders and seaports.
It has also reiterated its commitment to utilizing all available resources to facilitate the entry process for pilgrims, including the implementation of cutting-edge devices at ports to streamline operations.
RIYADH: Violations by warring parties during the short-term cease-fire in Sudan have significantly impeded the delivery of humanitarian aid and the restoration of basic services, a Saudi-US statement said on Sunday.
The statement said that despite both sides saying they are committed to facilitating humanitarian assistance and the restoration of essential services for the sake of the Sudanese people, they have committed prohibited acts that impeded those efforts.
“In violation of the prohibition against aerial attacks and the use of military aircraft or drones, the Sudanese Armed Forces has flown military aircraft daily during the cease-fire,” the statement said.
This includes a confirmed airstrike on May 27 in Khartoum that reportedly killed two people and a separate airstrike on the same day that damaged Sudan’s currency printing press.
The statement added that the Rapid Support Forces continues to infiltrate civilian areas, occupying homes, private businesses, and public buildings.
“There have been confirmed instances of looting of residences and businesses by the RSF in those areas,” it said.
Both the army and the RSF undertook attacks and moved troops, weapons, and other resources despite the cease-fire.
The army conducted multiple attacks in the Saq Al-Umla area and the RSF moved significant forces to the Al-Halfaya Bridge, in proximity to the Wadi Seidna Air Base, the statement said.
Specific instances of violations are listed below:
On May 26, humanitarian actors seeking access to hospitals and other infrastructure observed snipers in RSF-controlled territory.
On May 24, members of the army commandeered medical supplies from two separate facilities to which those goods had just been delivered.
On May 25, fuel funds and two vehicles in a humanitarian convoy were stolen.
“Maintenance personnel have been unable to access essential infrastructure facilities to conduct repairs due to the presence of armed actors at those facilities and heavy fighting in proximity to them. Both parties are posturing for further escalation,” the statement said.
The Kingdom and the US, as facilitators, said the cessation of airstrikes carried out by the army, the withdrawal of RSF forces from urban areas, and ending attacks against humanitarian actors would facilitate improved delivery of assistance that the Sudanese people badly need.
“We have urged both parties to agree to an extension of the current cease-fire, however imperfectly observed, to provide more time for humanitarian actors to undertake that vital work,” both countries said.
The cease-fire is due to expire on Monday as weeks of fighting reached a stalemate in the capital and elsewhere in the African country on Sunday.
RIYADH: The Saudi Food and Drug Authority and the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, also known as JAKIM, signed a memorandum of cooperation for mutual recognition of the halal certification of locally manufactured products.
The agreement was signed by SFDA CEO Dr. Hisham bin Saad Al-Jadhey and Jakim Director General Dr. Hakima Yusuf.
It also includes areas of cooperation on conformity assessment procedures, standard specifications, regulations for issuing halal certificates, and knowledge exchange in training, research and laboratory analysis of halal products.
Al-Jadhey said the agreement aims to standardize halal standards due to variances in specifications, with over 400 certificates worldwide.
He emphasized the importance of establishing a regulatory framework to improve the dependability of halal products for Muslims worldwide.
He said the Saudi Halal Center has been working for several years to establish a framework for a uniform international halal certification system, citing the signing of a memorandum of cooperation in this regard between the Kingdom and Morocco in October last year.
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s National Cybersecurity Authority on Sunday launched an exercise for Hajj in Jeddah which involves more than 350 cybersecurity officials.
The two-day exercise aims to develop the skills of specialists and enable them to carry out their duties in order to improve services for Hajj pilgrims.
The exercise includes conducting cyberattack simulations, applying the emergency incident response mechanism, starting from readiness, detection, and analysis, then containment, recovery, and post-accident procedures, in addition to sharing information and learned lessons.
It will also include a set of technical and administrative activities aimed at finding innovative solutions to online challenges and threats.
Meanwhile, CEO of the Company of Mutawifs for Pilgrims from African Non-Arab Countries Bader Bafakeeh inaugurated the first stage of a smart camp project for African non-Arab pilgrims in Arafat and Mina.
Several contracts and strategic partnerships were signed with a number of specialized companies and institutions. The project encourages the use of technology to solve crowd management challenges through smart monitoring systems that provide real-time indicators, which supports decision-making and facilitates smoother rituals for Hajj pilgrims.
RIYADH: The Federation of Saudi Chambers hosted a meeting between Saudi business owners and a delegation of 100 French companies, Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.
The two sides were headed by former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Mohammed bin Laden, president of the Saudi-French Business Council.
During the meeting, Raffarin called for greater economic cooperation between Saudi Arabia and France by providing French companies with opportunities in the Saudi market. He acknowledged Saudi Arabia’s pioneering role regionally and internationally.
The meeting reviewed the strategy of the Saudi-French Business Council and its various efforts, including extending its membership to 150 people.
Bin Laden said that the council obtained approval for French residents in Saudi Arabia to join as members. He noted the council’s role in the development of trade relations between the two countries.
The volume of trade exchange between Saudi Arabia and France amounted to SR 43.3 billion ($11.46 billion) in 2022, with Saudi exports to France increasing by 80 percent.
