Diversification essential to future of Bahrain’s economy: industry minister

Diversification essential to future of Bahrain’s economy: industry minister
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Abdullah Adel Fakhro was speaking during his visit to the east Asian nation to explore new business opportunities between the two countries. (Arab News Japan)
Diversification essential to future of Bahrain’s economy: industry minister
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Bahrain’s industry and commerce minister Abdullah Adel Fakhro, left, with his Japanese counterpart Yasutoshi Nishimura during a trip to Japan. (Arab News Japan)
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Updated 10 May 2023

Diversification essential to future of Bahrain’s economy: industry minister

Diversification essential to future of Bahrain’s economy: industry minister
  • Abdullah Adel Fakhro was speaking during his visit to the east Asian nation to explore new business opportunities between the two countries

TOKYO: Diversification was essential to the future of Bahrain’s economy, the country’s industry and commerce minister said during a trip to Japan.

Abdullah Adel Fakhro was speaking during his visit to the east Asian nation to explore new business opportunities between the two countries.

He told Arab News Japan: “Bahrain’s economy cannot survive (as a single property economy). We have been seeking to become diversified. This includes the financial services sector, which for the first time has exceeded the oil sector in the GDP (gross domestic product).

“The purpose of this visit is to really grow our presence in the non-oil parts of our economy, specifically industry and the ICT (information and communications technology) sector, as well as other industries such as medicine, aluminium, and petrochemicals, and food security and tourism.

“Today, the economy has become highly diversified. In the past, 40 percent of Bahrain’s GDP was from the oil sector, whereas today it makes up almost 20 percent.

“So, we are well on our way toward diversifying into an economy that is not dependent upon the price of oil,” he said.

Fakhro arrived in Japan with a 30-strong delegation that included representatives from the private and public sectors. Six different government entities were represented along with 18 business representatives that included top executives of Bahraini companies.

“The trip has been extremely successful. From the B2B (business-to-business) side, our delegation has met with several multinational Japanese companies, and we have had very fruitful discussions.

“The purpose of the visit is to strengthen our bilateral ties with Japan on all fronts, from the economic to the diplomatic to cultural ties as well as education.

“There are a lot of opportunities for collaboration between both our countries, a lot of opportunities for investment, and we look forward to strengthening these ties.

“It was also announced that there will be a joint committee that will continue the dialogue concerning the areas and opportunities the two sides can collaborate on. So, all in all it has been an incredibly successful trip, and we hope that we will continue to grow this relationship,” the minister added.

Ties between Japan and Bahrain go back nearly 100 years after oil was discovered and Japan became the first customer for Bahraini oil.

Fakhro said: “We are very proud of this historic relation and since that time this relationship has only grown stronger.”

He pointed out that, in addition to diplomacy, relations covered educational, cultural, and economic areas.

This article originally appeared on Arab News Japan


Rescuers ‘very close’ to kids missing for weeks in Colombian Amazon

Rescuers ‘very close’ to kids missing for weeks in Colombian Amazon
Updated 30 May 2023

Rescuers ‘very close’ to kids missing for weeks in Colombian Amazon

Rescuers ‘very close’ to kids missing for weeks in Colombian Amazon
  • Children — aged 13, nine, four and one — have been lost in the jungle since the light aircraft crash in Colombia’s southeast on May 1
  • Soldiers found the bodies of the three adults and the debris of the plane stuck vertically in the thick vegetation, its nose destroyed

BOGOTA: The discovery of a rudimentary shelter, some half-eaten fruit and a fresh footprint led the Colombian military to announce Tuesday it was getting “very close” to the four Indigenous children roaming the Amazon since a plane they were on crashed a month ago.
The children — aged 13, nine, four and one — have been lost in the jungle since the light aircraft crash in Colombia’s southeast on May 1 claimed the lives of the three adults on board: their mother Magdalena Mucutui Valencia, the pilot, and an Indigenous leader.
The bodies of the adults were found with the plane wreck, but a massive search by 160 soldiers and 70 Indigenous people with intimate knowledge of the jungle has been under way ever since for the youngsters — Lesly (13), Soleiny (9), Tien Noriel (4) and baby Cristin.
On Sunday, rescuers found the latest traces, which “confirm two things: the first that they are alive, and the second that we are very close,” team leader General Pedro Sanchez told Blu Radio.
The search area has been narrowed to about 20 square kilometers (7.7 square miles), said Sanchez, from an initial 320 square kilometers — about double the size of Washington, DC.
Judging by its size, the footprint found may belong to Lesly, whom relatives have said knows the jungle well.
Unlike a sandal print found previously, the new trail indicates at least one of the children is now barefoot.
Last week, the team had found a pair of shoes and a diaper in the dense jungle.
Near the fresh print, the team on Sunday also found “a kind of resting place” or shelter. “The children probably used it for a night or two,” said Sanchez.
“At some point we crossed paths (with the children),” he added.
Search team member Col. Fausto Avellaneda said the latest finds “gives us new motivation and excitement.”
“This is a fresh footprint found approximately two kilometers from the last footprint we had found, and it gives us a sign that the children are still alive,” he said in a video distributed by the military.
On the morning of May 1, a Cessna 206 airplane left a jungle area known as Araracuara heading for the town of San Jose del Guaviare in the Colombian Amazon.
Minutes after starting the 350-kilometer (217-mile) journey, the pilot reported problems with the engine and the plane disappeared from radars.
Between May 15 and 16, soldiers found the bodies of the three adults and the debris of the plane stuck vertically in the thick vegetation, its nose destroyed.
The air force has since dumped 10,000 flyers into the forest with instructions in Spanish and the children’s own Indigenous language, telling them to stay put.
The leaflets also included survival tips, and the military has dropped food parcels and bottled water for the children who are of the Huitoto community, known for living in harmony with the jungle.
Huitoto children learn hunting, fishing and gathering and the kids’ grandfather, Fidencio Valencia, has told AFP the children are well acquainted with the jungle.
Rescuers have been broadcasting a message recorded by the children’s grandmother, urging them not to move so the soldiers can find them.
Air force helicopters and satellite images are being used in the search in an area home to jaguars, pumas, snakes and other predators, as well as armed groups that smuggle drugs and terrorize local populations.
According to Sanchez, the minors and their mother had boarded the plane to escape guerrilla activity near their community.
But he said it was “unlikely” the kids had fallen into the hands of any armed group. “We have not found any adult prints.”
Sanchez said the search was complicated by “a totally jungle terrain where you can see nothing 20 meters ahead, trees 40-50 meters (tall)... where the rays of the Sun enter with great difficulty.”
It rained about 16 hours per day, erasing any tracks and muffling the sound of movement, he added.


US says ‘the time is now’ for Sweden to join NATO and for Turkiye to get new F-16s

US says ‘the time is now’ for Sweden to join NATO and for Turkiye to get new F-16s
Updated 30 May 2023

US says ‘the time is now’ for Sweden to join NATO and for Turkiye to get new F-16s

US says ‘the time is now’ for Sweden to join NATO and for Turkiye to get new F-16s
  • Blinken maintained that the administration had not linked the two issues but acknowledged that some US lawmakers had
  • President Joe Biden implicitly linked the two issues in a phone call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

OSLO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday the “time is now” for Turkiye to drop its objections to Sweden joining NATO but said the Biden administration also believed that Turkiye should be provided with upgraded F-16 fighters “as soon as possible.”
Blinken maintained that the administration had not linked the two issues but acknowledged that some US lawmakers had. President Joe Biden implicitly linked the two issues in a phone call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday.
“I spoke to Erdogan and he still wants to work on something on the F-16s. I told him we wanted a deal with Sweden. So let’s get that done,” Biden said.
Still, Blinken insisted the two issues were distinct. However, he stressed that the completion of both would dramatically strengthen European security.
“Both of these are vital, in our judgment, to European security,” Blinken told reporters at a joint news conference in the northern Swedish city of Lulea with Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. “We believe that both should go forward as quickly as possible; that is to say Sweden’s accession and moving forward on the F-16 package more broadly.”
“We believe the time is now,” Blinken said. He declined to predict when Turkiye and Hungary, the only other NATO member not yet to have ratified Sweden’s membership, would grant their approval.
But, he said, “we have no doubt that it can be, it should be, and we expect it to be” completed by the time alliance leaders meet in Vilnius, Lithuania in July at an annual summit.
Fresh from a strong re-election victory over the weekend, Erdogan may be willing to ease his objections to Sweden’s membership. Erdogan accuses Sweden of being too soft on groups Ankara considers to be terrorists, and a series of Qur’an-burning protests in Stockholm angered his religious support base — making his tough stance even more popular.
Kristersson said the two sides had been in contact since Sunday’s vote and voiced no hesitancy in speaking about the benefits Sweden would bring to NATO “when we join the alliance.”
Blinken is in Sweden attending a meeting of the US-EU Trade and Technology Council and will travel to Oslo, Norway on Wednesday for a gathering of NATO foreign ministers, before going on to newly admitted alliance member Finland on Friday.
Speaking in Oslo ahead of the foreign ministers’ meeting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the goal was to have Sweden inside the grouping before the leaders’ summit in July.
“There are no guarantees, but it’s absolutely possible to reach a solution and enable the decision on full membership for Sweden by the Vilnius summit,” Stoltenberg said.


Number of new German citizens hits 20-year high as many Syrians naturalized

Number of new German citizens hits 20-year high as many Syrians naturalized
Updated 30 May 2023

Number of new German citizens hits 20-year high as many Syrians naturalized

Number of new German citizens hits 20-year high as many Syrians naturalized
  • Preliminary figures show that about 168,500 people were granted German citizenship in 2022
  • In principle, there is a requirement for people to have lived in Germany for at least eight years, though that doesn't apply to spouses and children

BERLIN: Germany saw a 28 percent increase in the number of people gaining its citizenship last year, with people from Syria accounting for more than a quarter of those who were naturalized, official data showed Tuesday.
Preliminary figures show that about 168,500 people were granted German citizenship in 2022, the Federal Statistical Office said. That was the highest number since 2002.
Of those, 48,300 — or 29 percent — were Syrian citizens. That was more than double the previous year’s figure and seven times as high as in 2020, as increasing numbers of people who migrated to Germany between 2014 and 2016 fulfill the requirements for citizenship.
Those include a working knowledge of German and proof that they can support themselves financially.
In principle, there is a requirement for people to have lived in Germany for at least eight years, though that doesn’t apply to spouses and children. It can be reduced to six years for people who show “special integration accomplishments” such as very good knowledge of the language, professional achievements or civic engagement. There were 23,100 such “early” naturalizations last year, nearly twice as many as in 2021 and 60 percent of them Syrians.
Turkish citizens were the second-biggest group of people gaining German citizenship last year — 14,200 of them, a 16 percent increase compared to 2021, and with an average of more than 24 years living in Germany.
The statistics office said that 5,600 Ukrainians gained German citizenship last year, nearly three times as many as the previous year. They had spent an average 13.3 years in Germany, compared with 6.4 years for their Syrian counterparts.
Germany’s socially liberal government plans to ease the rules for obtaining citizenship, reducing to five years from eight the number of years people are supposed to live in the country before gaining a German passport. People with “special integration accomplishments” would be eligible after three years.
The government also plans to axe restrictions on holding dual citizenship. In principle, most people from countries other than European Union members and Switzerland currently have to give up their previous nationality when they gain German citizenship.
Conservative and far-right opposition parties have assailed those plans. It isn’t yet clear when parliament will consider them.
Germany has about 84 million inhabitants.


At Pakistan army facility, breeding Arabian horses is a passion and a science

Arabian horses are seen at Remount Depot Mona in Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab, Pakistan on May 27, 2023. (AN photo)
Arabian horses are seen at Remount Depot Mona in Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab, Pakistan on May 27, 2023. (AN photo)
Updated 30 May 2023

At Pakistan army facility, breeding Arabian horses is a passion and a science

Arabian horses are seen at Remount Depot Mona in Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab, Pakistan on May 27, 2023. (AN photo)
  • Over 600 Arabians at Remount Depot Mona are trained for equestrian games and dressage events
  • Archeological evidence suggests the Arabian horse dates back over 4,500 years in the Middle East

MONA: With its long, arched neck, refined wedge-shaped head and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easily recognizable horse breeds in the world. 

It is also one of the most ancient, with archaeological evidence available of horses in the Middle East that resemble modern Arabians dating back over 4,500 years. 

In Pakistan, over 600 Arabians can be found at the Remount Depot Mona military facility located in Mandi Bahauddin, with the animals specially trained for equestrian games and dressage events. 

Founded in 1902, the depot is spread over 10,000 hectares of land, complete with roads, buildings, a canal and a train line, and serves as a hub for breeding and nurturing horses, donkeys and mules. 

Pakistan started importing Arabian horses almost 70 years ago, often placing them in competitions as prized show animals and keeping a pool as gifts for foreign dignitaries. 

“Pakistan has 808 Arab horses, which are registered with the World Arabian Horse Organization,  of which 627 animals are from the Remount Depot Mona while only 181 are from all over the country,” Brig. Mohammed Naeem, the commandant of the depot, told Arab News during a visit to the facility last week.

WAHO, founded in 1970, is a UK-based charity with 82 affiliated countries that works to preserve pure Arabian bloodlines, promote breeding knowledge globally, coordinate member clubs, establish uniformity in breed terminology, and consult on other Arabian horse-related matters. 

But what makes the Arabian horse so special?

“Among known breeds of horses, the most ancient breed is the Arabian horse, which originated around 2,500 B.C. from the Arab Peninsula,” Naeem said, adding that the animals were renowned for their “exceptional beauty,” particularly when they ran and raised their tails, showing off their “elegant form.” 

Even though the precise origins of the Arabian are unknown, the breed is thought to have originated on the northern edge of the Syrian desert.
“They are widely recognized as one of the most famous horse breeds in the world,” Naeem added.

Pakistan became a member of WAHO in 1997, with Mona Remount Depot its sole representative in the country. While horse breeding at the depot began as a passion in 1956, the depot successfully turned to science in 2021 when it launched a test tube program. 

“At our facility, we have successfully witnessed the birth of 15 test tube babies thus far, with an additional 12 pregnancies currently ongoing,” Naeem said. 

The first Arab horse at the depot was imported in 1955 from the US and 31 others after that from different countries. 

“The price of an imported Arabian horse varies from $5,000 to $50,000, depending on the quality and pedigree of the animal,” Naeem said. 

“The expenses for importing also vary depending on the country of origin and whether the animal is transported in a single cage or a group cage. From Gulf states, it costs around $10,000, while from Western countries and the US, it can cost up to $20,000.” 

At the depot, the brigadier said, the cost of breeding, raising, and training an Arabian was “significantly lower due to locally produced fodder and other factors.” 

Naeem explained: “The budget of the depot is provided by the Ministry of Defense.” 

A pool of Arab horses, the brigadier said, was also kept to be presented as gifts by the Pakistani government and army to visiting dignitaries. 

“Thirty-six animals have been presented to different heads of state, including of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and other countries,” Naeem said.  

The rulers of Jordan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia had gifted horses to Pakistani rulers also at different points over the last decades. 

“King Faisal gifted an Arabian horse to Gen. Mohammed Zia ul Haq,” he said, referring to the Pakistani military officer, who was the sixth president of Pakistan, “and the Saudi king also gifted a horse to Gen. Pervez Musharraf,” he said. Musharraf was the 10th president of Pakistan. 

Horses given as gifts to Pakistani rulers were always kept at the depot, Naeem said.

According to experts, the Arabian is classified as a “hot-blooded” breed, with its sensitivity and intelligence enabling quick learning and greater communication with riders. This is why the breed is trained for equestrian games such as riding, dressage, polo, and tent pegging. 

“We have horses specifically trained for show jumping and vaulting, which are used for various functions,” Naeem said. 

One of the depot’s Arabian horses won the best polo pony prize in Pakistan six times, the brigadier added. 

“These horses are highly responsive animals,” said Mohammed Rasaldar, a trainer at the facility who runs daily training sessions with the animals that start at 6 a.m. and continue through the day. “The more love and attention they receive, the more attached and responsive they become. 

“We have a 39-week-long training course for them, during which we expose them to various environments to eliminate their fears…They also receive training for different games throughout this course.” 

Mohammed Akhtar, who trains the horses for polo, said the animals respond to every command. 

“A horse is a very powerful animal,” he said, “and man can control it only by training it with a lot of love and compassion.” 


Italy arrests a minor belonging to international network of young Daesh supporters

Italy arrests a minor belonging to international network of young Daesh supporters
Updated 30 May 2023

Italy arrests a minor belonging to international network of young Daesh supporters

Italy arrests a minor belonging to international network of young Daesh supporters
  • The minor, identified as an Italian citizen of foreign origin, was arrested in the province of Bergamo
  • Italian authorities said others in the network of young Daesh supporters were arrested last week in Europe and the United States

MILAN: Italian authorities have arrested a minor suspected of being a supporter of the Daesh terror network who was allegedly planning an explosive attack in the area where he lived, police said Tuesday.
The minor, identified as an Italian citizen of foreign origin, was arrested in the province of Bergamo on suspicion of association with the aim of terrorism, terrorist training, extolling the virtues of terrorism and instigation to commit a crime.
Italian authorities said others in the network of young Daesh supporters were arrested last week in Europe and the United States, but did not provide further details.
Investigators said that the suspect, who had been under surveillance by Italian intelligence, had quickly become radicalized, publishing terrorist propaganda online, and initiating plans for an explosive attack.
The arrest, approved by a court for minors in Brescia, was carried out last Friday. The suspect had in his possession videos of executions, weapons manuals and instructions on how to build explosive devices, which he was passing along to a network of young Daesh supporters in other countries, encouraging them to take violent action, investigators said.