UAE pledges $13 million in aid to quake-hit Syria

People sit together at a temporary shelter in the aftermath of the earthquake in Aleppo, Syria February 6, 2023. (Reuters)
People sit together at a temporary shelter in the aftermath of the earthquake in Aleppo, Syria February 6, 2023. (Reuters)
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Updated 07 February 2023

UAE pledges $13 million in aid to quake-hit Syria

People sit together at a temporary shelter in the aftermath of the earthquake in Aleppo, Syria February 6, 2023. (Reuters)
  • The 7.8 magnitude quake struck near the Turkish city of Gaziantep before dawn on Monday
  • More than 1,651 people in Turkey and another 1,100 in neighboring Syria have died

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates on Monday pledged humanitarian assistance worth around $13.6 million to Syria following an earthquake in Turkiye that killed at least 1,000 people in the war-torn country, Emirates News Agency reported.
The 7.8 magnitude quake struck near the Turkish city of Gaziantep before dawn on Monday, killing more than 1,651 people in Turkiye and another 1,100 in neighboring Syria.
Dubai Ruler and UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum “directed urgent humanitarian aid to those affected in Syria,” WAM said.
The assistance is valued at 50 million dirhams, it added.
Countries around the world have mobilised rapidly to send aid and rescue workers to affected areas.
The UAE has dispatched a first plane to Adana Airport in southern Turkiye “”carrying search and rescue teams, crews, and medical equipment,” WAM said.
The UAE said it was planning to establish a field hospital in Turkiye and will also send search and rescue teams to Syria, along with urgent relief supplies and emergency aid, the news agency added.
Earlier on Monday, Emirati President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan offered his condolences to his Syrian and Turkish counterparts in two separate phone calls, according to WAM.
He “emphasized the UAE's support for Syria and Turkiye and offered to provide any assistance in their efforts to mitigate the impact of the earthquake,” it said.


British MPs call for stronger UAE ties, trade deal

British MPs call for stronger UAE ties, trade deal
Updated 6 min 36 sec ago

British MPs call for stronger UAE ties, trade deal

British MPs call for stronger UAE ties, trade deal
  • Parliamentary delegation visited Gulf state last month
  • Bilateral relations ‘are good and strong, but the UK is guilty of taking that for granted’

LONDON: Britain must stop taking its relationship with the UAE for granted and become more proactive in fostering stronger ties, according to a parliamentary delegation that visited the Gulf state last month.

Speaking on Wednesday at an event reflecting on the visit and hosted by The Emirates Society, former UK MP and lifetime peer John Woodcock said the UAE has “seized” its opportunity to be a more collaborative player on the world stage.

“The UAE has shown that it wants to participate in addressing the major concerns facing the world today, as evidenced by its decision to host this year’s COP28,” he added.

“It’s absolutely incumbent on the UK government to lean into this and embrace the UAE’s desire for change and collaboration.

“Our trip evidenced their commitment to this, showing a consensus of opinion going beyond the West’s when it came to addressing the environment.”

Woodcock said it is not only the issue of climate change that the UK can learn from, but the general sense of collaboration sought and offered by the UAE in its international relations.

Noting that the “days of the British Empire” are long past, he added that the UK has to show greater determination in wanting to build partnerships with other countries, rather than relying on its past. The UK, he said, must “fight for its place at the table.”

Steve McCabe, an MP with Britain’s main opposition Labour Party who was also on the trip, said: “Relations between the UK and UAE are good and strong, but the UK is guilty of taking that for granted.

“The level of understanding from parliamentarians on the UAE is so, so low, so our outreach is vital.

“We need to become more proactive as there are immense opportunities for the UK if it burnishes its relationship with the UAE.”

McCabe and Woodcock said there exists cross-party support for improving ties to the UAE. This, Woodcock said, is “unsurprising given the shared goals on climate, trade and other things.”

But McCabe said what is holding improvements back is the absence of “high-level contact,” adding that there is one thing the British government has to prioritize. “The UK needs to … crack on with pursuing a bilateral trade deal with the UAE,” he stressed.

“This is the message that will shift things. It will step us beyond the old conventional way of thinking.

“The focus initially will be on trade, but at some stage it will move beyond this and will show we too are seeking a collaborator.”

Questioned on how the trade deal would look, both McCabe and Woodcock said they had not been able “to get into its guts,” and the UAE first needs proof of a fully engaged partner.  

Woodcock was, however, able to state that both parties would be looking for a more “granular” — or comprehensive — deal, and that once the UK has shown sincerity in its decision to pursue an agreement, the Emiratis would get it done quickly.


Jordanian MPs vote to expel Israeli envoy in Amman over Palestine denial speech

Jordanian MPs vote to expel Israeli envoy in Amman over Palestine denial speech
Updated 53 min 24 sec ago

Jordanian MPs vote to expel Israeli envoy in Amman over Palestine denial speech

Jordanian MPs vote to expel Israeli envoy in Amman over Palestine denial speech
  • Bezalel Smotrich dismissed existence of Palestinian people, used map of Israel including occupied West Bank, Gaza, Jordan
  • Finance minister’s behavior reflected ‘Israeli arrogance, disrespect of international treaties, conventions’: Jordan MPs

AMMAN: The Jordanian Parliament’s Lower House has voted to expel Israel’s ambassador in Amman in protest over Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s reference to a map of Israel that included the occupied West Bank, Gaza, and Jordan.

During a speech in Paris on Sunday, Smotrich claimed the notion of a Palestinian people was artificial.

He said: “There is no such thing as a Palestinian nation. There is no Palestinian history. There is no Palestinian language.”

The minister was speaking at a memorial event for a French Israeli right-wing activist who had denied the existence of a Palestinian nation and advocated annexation of the West Bank.

During the Jordan Parliament session on Wednesday, MPs described Smotrich’s words as reflecting “an Israeli arrogance and disrespect of international treaties and conventions,” the Jordan News Agency reported.

Lower House speaker, Ahmed Safadi, called on Jordan’s government to take proactive measures against Smotrich’s statements and behavior.
 


Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel will not revive settlements evacuated in 2005

Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel will not revive settlements evacuated in 2005
Updated 22 March 2023

Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel will not revive settlements evacuated in 2005

Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel will not revive settlements evacuated in 2005
  • Lawmakers earlier voted to annul part of a law banning Israelis from living in areas of the occupied West Bank the government evacuated in 2005

JERUSALEM: Israel has “no intention” of reviving West Bank settlements evacuated nearly two decades ago, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday, after a parliamentary vote sparked US ire.
Lawmakers voted Tuesday to annul part of a law banning Israelis from living in areas of the occupied West Bank the government evacuated in 2005.
That year Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip and removed Jewish settlers from the coastal territory, as well as from four settlements in the northern West Bank.
Netanyahu’s office said the parliamentary vote scraps “a discriminatory and humiliating law, that prohibited Jews from living in areas in northern Samaria, which is part of our historic homeland,” using the biblical name for the northern West Bank.
“Having said that, the government has no intention of establishing new communities in these areas,” the statement added.
Netanyahu returned to power in December and vowed to expand settlements across the West Bank, which are deemed illegal under international law.
His assertion that the government will not formally allow settlers to return to the four sites evacuated in 2005 comes after Washington said it was “extremely troubled” by the parliamentary vote.
“The legislative changes announced today are particularly provocative,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters Tuesday.
Patel said the move was in “clear contradiction” of promises made by prime minister Ariel Sharon to US president George W. Bush, as well as assurances given just two days ago by the Netanyahu administration.
The decision by lawmakers was heralded by Israel’s settler movement which has made one of the sites — Homesh — a symbol of their cause.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, himself a far-right settler, tweeted that it marked a step toward regularizing the Israeli presence at Homesh.
A small group of activists returned to the site in 2009 and set up a Jewish seminary, which was cleared repeatedly by Israeli troops before the military eventually allowed them to stay.


Tear gas, clashes as Lebanon protesters try to storm government HQ

Tear gas, clashes as Lebanon protesters try to storm government HQ
Updated 22 March 2023

Tear gas, clashes as Lebanon protesters try to storm government HQ

Tear gas, clashes as Lebanon protesters try to storm government HQ
  • The retired soldiers demanding better pay were clashing with riot police and troops

BEIRUT: Lebanese security forces fired tear gas on Wednesday to disperse hundreds of protesters, mainly retired soldiers, who tried to break through the fence leading to the government headquarters in downtown Beirut.
The violence came amid widespread anger over the harsh economic conditions in the country, where mismanagement by the ruling class has been rampant for years, preceding the economic meltdown that started in late 2019.
The retired soldiers demanding better pay were clashing with riot police and troops. Several people suffered breathing problems from the tear gas. The protesters hurled stones at the officers protecting the government headquarters and repeatedly tried to break through the fence.
The Lebanese pound hit a new low on Tuesday, selling for more than 143,000 pounds to the dollar before making some gains. The pound has lost more than 96 percent of its value over the past three years.
“My monthly salary is $40. How can I survive,” screamed a retired army officer.
Lebanon, a small Mediterranean nation of 6 million people, is in the grips of the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history, rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by a political class that has ruled the country since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.
The political class has also resisted the implementation of reforms demanded by the international community. Since the economic meltdown began, three-quarters of the population, which includes 1 million Syrian refugees, now lives in poverty and inflation is soaring.
Lebanon has also stalled on reforms agreed to with the International Monetary Fund to enable access to $3 billion in a bailout package and unlock funds in development aid to make the economy viable again.


Building collapse in Qatar’s capital kills 1, search ongoing

Building collapse in Qatar’s capital kills 1, search ongoing
Updated 22 March 2023

Building collapse in Qatar’s capital kills 1, search ongoing

Building collapse in Qatar’s capital kills 1, search ongoing

DOHA: A building collapsed Wednesday in Qatar’s capital, killing at least one person as searchers clawed through the rubble to check for survivors, authorities said.
Qatar’s Interior Ministry described the building as a four-story structure in Doha’s Bin Durham neighborhood. It said rescuers found seven survivors, while the one person killed had been inside the building at the time of the collapse.
Authorities offered no immediate explanation for the building’s collapse. Online video showed car alarms sounding after the collapse, with one part of the building falling into another nearby.
Civil defense and police surrounded the site after the 8 a.m. collapse, with multiple ambulances and an excavator at the scene. Residents were asked to evacuate for their safety.
Qatar hosted the FIFA World Cup last year.