Egypt church quashes rumors about Pope Tawadros’ health

Several social media posts have surfaced expressing concern over the health of Egypt’s Coptic Pope Tawadros after he showed signs of tiredness during the last Easter sermon. (AFP/File Photo)
Several social media posts have surfaced expressing concern over the health of Egypt’s Coptic Pope Tawadros after he showed signs of tiredness during the last Easter sermon. (AFP/File Photo)
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Updated 10 June 2023
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Egypt church quashes rumors about Pope Tawadros’ health

Several social media posts have surfaced expressing concern over the health of Egypt’s Coptic Pope Tawadros
  • Pontiff suffers from facial nerve inflammation and diabetes, his condition is stable

CAIRO: Several social media posts have surfaced expressing concern over the health of Egypt’s Coptic Pope Tawadros after he showed signs of tiredness during the last Easter sermon at the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in the New Administrative Capital in Cairo.

He is the 118th pope of Alexandria and patriarch of the See of St. Mark, succeeding the late Pope Shenouda III as leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

Church spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said that Pope Tawadros’ sudden health problem occurred after the end of the Mass prayer and that a medical examination revealed “a simple inflammation of the facial nerve.”

He added: “It is known that the facial nerve mainly shows its effects on the face and that Pope Tawadros, following the doctors’ instructions, stopped pastoral meetings for several days. However, he continues to receive visitors according to the meetings scheduled. He will not completely stop all activities.

“The treatment of inflammation of the facial nerve requires relative rest with appropriate medications and physical therapy, and recovery from inflammation varies from person to person and according to the degree of response, but in all cases, it takes several days or weeks.”

Coptic activist and researcher Robert Al-Fares told Arab News: “The pope, during the Easter Mass, adhered to meeting well-wishers on the morning of the feast, and appeared on television because he did not want people to worry about him amid the joy of the holiday.

“It was necessary for him to go to the hospital for medical analysis and x-rays. As soon as the results of the examinations appeared, he returned to the papal residence in Cairo.”

Al-Fares added: “His Holiness has a health file in a hospital in Europe for 15 years through which routine periodic follow-ups are conducted.”

Rumors circulating on social media, he said, “aim to harm society and Christians in Egypt and the East, given the status of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria, and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark.”

Phipps Issa, a priest of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Egypt, said: “Prayers were made for the health and well-being of Pope Tawadros in the blessed Pentecost Mass on the morning of June 4. It is correct that the church does not respond to the rumors that are spread on social media pages, as some rumors do not deserve a church response.

“I see that 95 percent of what is published on the social media pages about the pope’s health are rumors and lies, so the church is not interested in responding to these lies and rumors.

“Yes, we know that the pope suffers from diabetes, like about 5 million Egyptians, and that he needs to change the treatment protocol from time to time, which is normal, so why do they talk on social media about severe injuries due to this chronic disease?”


Saudi Arabia, GCC economies ‘world leading’ in green transition, says London’s lord mayor

Saudi Arabia, GCC economies ‘world leading’ in green transition, says London’s lord mayor
Updated 8 sec ago
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Saudi Arabia, GCC economies ‘world leading’ in green transition, says London’s lord mayor

Saudi Arabia, GCC economies ‘world leading’ in green transition, says London’s lord mayor
  • Nicholas Lyons said: ‘I take my hat off … particularly those hydrocarbon nations who have really grasped the scale of the challenge and are really driving forward now with solutions’
  • ‘As far as the City of London is concerned, we are absolutely committed to helping do everything that we can to fund that journey to net zero as efficiently as possible,’ he added

LONDON: The efforts Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are making to transition toward cleaner, greener economies are “world leading,” the lord mayor of the City of London said on Monday.

Nicholas Lyons, who visited the Kingdom and the UAE this year and is set to visit Qatar and Bahrain next week, also said there is “fantastic energy” in the Saudi Vision 2030 agenda for reforms and diversification of the nation’s economy.

“The scale of the transition is very substantial, of course, and the hydrocarbon economies have to manage very deftly this transition away from what has been a source of huge wealth,” he told Arab News.

“But they really are, genuinely, world-leading in the moves that they’re making into renewable technologies and clean energy, and they’re investing huge amounts of money in that.”

The levels of investment being made in this regard by Gulf Cooperation Council countries not only offer the prospect of significant financial returns, Lyons said, but will be critical in driving the growth of renewable technology companies and accelerating solutions to the climate crisis.

“I take my hat off to those nations, particularly those hydrocarbon nations who have really grasped the scale of the challenge and are really driving forward now with solutions,” he said.

With the UN Climate Change Conference, COP28, set to return to the Gulf in November this year, when Dubai will host, Lyons said he was positive about the role the City of London can play in assisting countries achieve sustainable development.

“As far as the City of London is concerned, we are absolutely committed to helping do everything that we can to fund that journey to net zero as efficiently as possible,” he said.

“That’s not just a comment about how we can help in the UK but how London, as a global financial center, plays its part as a leading underwriter of green bonds and green loans, and with its expertise in insurance, risk and project management, working with countries around the world on sustainable infrastructure programs.”

Lyons, who has been lord mayor since November 2022, a role he called a “privilege” and “a dream come true,” said discussions in some countries surrounding the revision of net-zero and carbon-neutrality targets was more a case of realistic thinking rather than defeatism.

“I think it’s certainly possible to interpret some of the things that we’re hearing now as slightly backward steps,” he said. “I’d like to think rather than it being a backward step in terms of commitment, it’s just more realism in terms of the ability to deliver.

“That, I think, is particularly true where countries, in wanting to be bold and make clear statements of their intent, have set unrealistic targets in terms of timing.

“Maybe I’m being optimistic but I choose to interpret most of the comments that we’ve heard as being in that category, rather than people scaling back.”

Lyons said that much like his discussions with GCC officials in February, talks during his upcoming trip to the region will highlight both the dynamic inward investment opportunities the UK can offer and the ways in which the City of London can offer expertise to countries in the Gulf and the British firms looking to operate in the region.

“There are two big areas that tend to dominate the conversation,” he said. “One is inward investment into the UK. We have a multi-year campaign to get overseas asset owners investing more money through the UK — not necessarily in the UK, but through the UK asset-management structure. There have been very significant investments in the UK by GCC countries, which is terrific, but that’s one of the areas that we’ll talk about.

“The other is around green and sustainable finance. The two come together when it comes to investment in sort of green tech-type companies and fintech (financial technology).

“The conversation is often about how London can help that process and talking about the different strengths of London and what we could do, particularly, I think, in Gulf areas, (where) the insurance market is relatively underdeveloped and also the long-term savings market is also quite small and needs to be built up. And so there are conversations about whether or not we can encourage British firms to set up in the Gulf countries.”

The City of London published its “Vision for Economic Growth — A Roadmap to Prosperity” report this month, the preparation of which involved collaboration with more than 300 stakeholders across the financial and professional services industries over a half-year period.

The report identified the challenges and shifts facing the financial sector, from the application of artificial intelligence to cryptocurrencies, big data, and ways in which they can be addressed, Lyons said.

“With all of the strengths that London has as a global financial center, there are nevertheless seismic challenges and changes taking place in the world of finance,” he added.

“You can’t hide under a duvet and pretend they’re not coming; they may be complicated issues but you have to have a strategy around them. You have to have your regulators start to develop a regime that can manage them.”

Lyons said he also hopes a future growth fund can tap into the “huge expertise” in the UK in sectors such as fintech, green tech and biotech, and offer additional home-grown funding to what is already available from North America and the Gulf.

“These companies, at the moment, are very heavily reliant on international money, particularly North American money (and) we love the fact that we have great investment from the Gulf in these industries,” he said.

“But if we can also provide lots of UK money to sit alongside all of this foreign direct investment, those companies don’t need ultimately to go and list in the United States, where we lose the intellectual property, we lose the people and we lose the value and all of the tax revenue that comes from it.”


Saudi delegation visits Israel-occupied West Bank

Saudi delegation visits Israel-occupied West Bank
Updated 26 September 2023
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Saudi delegation visits Israel-occupied West Bank

Saudi delegation visits Israel-occupied West Bank
  • The delegation led by the kingdom’s non-resident ambassador to the Palestinian territories, Nayef Al-Sudairi, arrived overland from Jordan
  • Sudairi is then due to meet Palestinian present Mahmud Abbas

Jericho: Saudi Arabia, which is in US-brokered talks with Israel to normalize relations, on Tuesday sent a delegation to the occupied West Bank for the first time in three decades.
The delegation led by the kingdom’s non-resident ambassador to the Palestinian territories, Nayef Al-Sudairi, arrived overland from Jordan, acting Jericho governor Yusra Sweiti said.
It is the first such Saudi delegation to travel to the West Bank since the landmark Oslo Accords were signed in 1993.
Sudairi, the Saudi envoy to Jordan, was last month appointed non-resident ambassador to the Palestinian territories and consul general for Jerusalem.
He will be received by the top Palestinian diplomat, Riyad Al-Maliki, the foreign ministry in Ramallah said.
Sudairi is then due to meet Palestinian present Mahmud Abbas.
Sudairi’s visit to Ramallah comes as Washington has been leading talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia on a potential normalization of relations between the two countries, a move seen as a game-changer for the region.


Japan proposes initiative to resume nuclear talks: Iran FM

Japan proposes initiative to resume nuclear talks: Iran FM
Updated 26 September 2023
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Japan proposes initiative to resume nuclear talks: Iran FM

Japan proposes initiative to resume nuclear talks: Iran FM
  • Under US President Joe Biden’s administration, negotiations resumed with the objective of re-entering the agreement

DUBAI: Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Japan has proposed an initiative to resume negotiations to revive the nuclear deal that was signed in 2015 by Tehran and Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US.

According to Kyodo News, Abdollahian said any initiative from Japan that aligns with “Iran’s interests” would be viewed positively, adding: “We support the constructive role of Japan in reviving the nuclear deal.”

He told the Japanese news agency that he received a proposal from the Japanese government when he visited Tokyo last month and met with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and former Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa.

Abdollahian said delays in the negotiations’ progress were caused by “excessive demands” by the US, Britain, France and Germany, as well as “interference” by other countries in Iran’s domestic issues, specifically with regard to protests over the death last year of Iranian woman Mahsa Amini.

Under the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium, cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98 percent, and reduce by about two-thirds the number of its gas centrifuges for 13 years. It also agreed to enrich uranium only up to 3.67 percent for the next 15 years.

But in 2018, then-President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal, saying it did not address “Iran’s ballistic missile program and its proxy warfare in the region.”

Under US President Joe Biden’s administration, negotiations resumed with the objective of re-entering the agreement.

Most recently, on Sept. 20 Kishida and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met in New York to discuss security issues, bilateral relations and the nuclear deal.

Kishida said Japan has been consistent in its support of the deal and urged Iran to take constructive measures.


Legal fight opens for Australian children to leave Syria

Legal fight opens for Australian children to leave Syria
Updated 26 September 2023
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Legal fight opens for Australian children to leave Syria

Legal fight opens for Australian children to leave Syria
  • Save the Children is asking the court to bring the 11 women and 20 children from Al-Roj camp in Syria before the court in Australia

Sydney: More than 30 Australian women and children living in “appalling conditions” in a Syrian detention camp launched court action Tuesday to compel Canberra to bring them home.
Their case opened at the High Court in Melbourne, nearly a year after Australia repatriated the last group of four women and 13 children — the wives, sons and daughters of vanquished Daesh group fighters — from Syria.
“The situation of the remaining persons detained is stark and dire,” said Peter Morrissey, counsel for the charity Save the Children, which is acting on their behalf.
“Save the Children Australia represents women and children charged with no crime, detained in piteous and appalling conditions,” he told the court.
“Their health, safety, and dignity are seriously compromised by any standard. Their detention in the camps has endured for several years.”
Save the Children is asking the court for a writ of habeas corpus (or unlawful detention) requiring the government to bring the 11 women and 20 children from Al-Roj camp in Syria before the court in Australia.
“Despite countless opportunities to repatriate these families, the Australian government has ultimately failed in its duty to bring all of its citizens home to safety,” said Save the Children Australia chief executive Mat Tinkler.
“We desperately hope these children and their mothers will be imminently repatriated home to safety. It is unfathomable that the Australian government has abandoned its citizens,” he said in a statement.
Repatriations of Australian women and children from Syrian camps are a politically contentious issue in a country long known for its hard-line approach to immigration.
The Australian women and children have lived in the Al-Hol and Al-Roj detention camps in Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria since the 2019 collapse of Daesh.


Lebanon forces arrest suspect over shooting at US embassy

Lebanon forces arrest suspect over shooting at US embassy
Updated 26 September 2023
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Lebanon forces arrest suspect over shooting at US embassy

Lebanon forces arrest suspect over shooting at US embassy

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s security forces on Monday said they had arrested a man suspected of firing 15 bullets at the American embassy building in Beirut last week.

A source named the suspect as 26-year-old Lebanon national Muhammad Mahdi Hussein Khalil, who works for a delivery company. The source added that Khalil had previously been convicted of opening fire on a Lebanese public security center.

According to the source, Khalil confessed to shooting at the embassy compound in the Aukar suburb of Beirut, and that the weapon used in the attack had been seized.

Surveillance cameras showed a lone man dressed in black firing a Kalashnikov rifle before fleeing the scene on a motorcycle.

“The shooter carried out his act after previous disputes between him and embassy security over food deliveries,” the source told Arab News.

There were no injuries caused by the shooting late on Wednesday.