RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held talks with Lebanon’s Maronite Christian Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai here on Tuesday.
Al-Rahi earlier met with Saudi King Salman on the second day of his first visit to Saudi Arabia.
He also held talks with Saad Al-Hariri, who announced his resignation as prime minister of Lebanon from Riyadh on Nov. 4.
Al-Rahi said Hariri will return home as soon as possible and that he supports Hariri’s reasons for resigning, according to media reports.
Hariri announced his resignation in a television broadcast, saying he believed there was an assassination plot against him and accused Hezbollah of sowing strife in the Arab world.
Lebanese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Abdul Sattar Issa, said the patriarch’s visit demonstrated the important steps taken by Saudi Arabia to modernize its institutions and to reinforce perceptions of Islam as a religion of moderation.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets Lebanon’s Maronite patriarch
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets Lebanon’s Maronite patriarch
Up to 40 Canadian firms eyeing investment in Saudi Arabia’s healthcare sector
RIYADH: Up to 40 Canadian firms are eying investment in Saudi Arabia’s healthcare sector amid efforts to strengthen economic ties between the countries.
The interest was highlighted at a healthcare event organized by the Federation of Saudi Chambers at its headquarters in Riyadh, which showcased various investment opportunities within the sector, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
This aligns with Saudi Arabia’s objective to boost private sector participation in healthcare to 25 percent by 2030, reflecting the rapid growth and expansion of the industry, along with attractive investment incentives. It also underscores the Kingdom’s broader efforts to strengthen ties with Canada, highlighted by the restoration of diplomatic relations in May 2023 after a five-year hiatus.
During the gathering, Chairman of the Saudi-Canadian Business Council Mohammed bin Nasser Al-Duleim highlighted the body’s pivotal role in boosting trade relations and fostering investment between the Kingdom and the North American country.
Al-Duleim also provided an overview of Vision 2030 initiatives and talked up the incentives and support offered by Saudi Arabia to foreign investors.
The Ambassador of Canada to the Kingdom Jean-Philippe Linteau commended the efforts to strengthen economic ties between countries.
He emphasized the joint business council’s contributions and highlighted the strong interest of Canadian firms in Saudi Arabia’s healthcare sector.
In December, economic cooperation was the focus of a high-level meeting between a senior Saudi official and the Canadian ambassador, reflecting the ongoing progress in relations between the two nations.
The Kingdom’s Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Al-Ibrahim held talks with Linteau at his department’s headquarters in Riyadh, SPA said at the time.
Since normalizing relations, Canada is keen to build a “great relationship” with the Kingdom, Linteau said during an interview with Arab News in February.
His commets came a month after Saudi Arabia and Canada agreed to re-exchange trade delegations, aiming to improve economic relations and increase trade and investment volumes.
Hassan Al-Huwaizi, president of the Saudi Chambers of Commerce, emphasized at the time that establishing a joint business council would provide a platform for business leaders to promote activities and engage in partnerships, facilitating continuous interaction and information exchange about market opportunities.
In 2022, Saudi exports to Canada stood at $2.5 billion, with imports valued at $959 million, according to online data visualization and distribution platform Observatory of Economic Complexity.
Shooting, explosions in Jenin as Israel presses raid
- Israeli military and the Shin Bet security agency announced that they had launched an operation named “Iron Wall” in the area
- Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to continue the assault
Jenin: A Palestinian official reported shooting and explosions in the flashpoint West Bank town of Jenin on Wednesday as Israeli forces pressed a raid that the military described as a “counterterrorism” operation.
“The situation is very difficult,” Kamal Abu Al-Rub, the governor of Jenin, told AFP.
“The occupation army has bulldozed all the roads leading to the Jenin camp, and leading to the Jenin Governmental Hospital... There is shooting and explosions,” he added.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces launched an operation in Jenin which Palestinian officials said killed 10 people, just days after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in the Gaza Strip.
According to Abu Al-Rub, Israeli forces detained around 20 people from villages near Jenin, a bastion of Palestinian militancy.
The Israeli military said it had launched a “counterterrorism operation” in the area, and had “hit over 10 terrorists.”
“Additionally, aerial strikes on terror infrastructure sites were conducted and numerous explosives planted on the routes by the terrorists were dismantled,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The Israeli forces are continuing the operation.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to continue the assault.
“It is a decisive operation aimed at eliminating terrorists in the camp,” Katz said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the military would not allow a “terror front” to be established there.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military and the Shin Bet security agency announced that, in coordination with the Border Police, they had launched an operation named “Iron Wall” in the area.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the raid aimed to “eradicate terrorism” in Jenin.
He linked the operation to a broader strategy of countering Iran “wherever it sends its arms — in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen,” and the West Bank.
The Israeli government has accused Iran, which supports armed groups across the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza, of attempting to funnel weapons and funds to militants in the West Bank.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “maximum restraint” from Israeli security forces and expressed deep concern, according to his deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq.
Jenin and its refugee camp are known strongholds of Palestinian militant groups, and Israeli forces frequently carry out raids targeting armed factions in the area.
Violence has surged throughout the occupied West Bank since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 848 Palestinians in the West Bank since the Gaza conflict began.
Meanwhile, at least 29 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the territory during the same period, according to official Israeli figures.
Fire at liquefied gas site in Iran under control, SHANA reports
- Veiskarami said information regarding the cause of the incident would be released later
DUBAI: Firefighters have brought under control a fire at a liquefied gas site in Rey City south of Tehran, the Ministry of Oil’s news outlet SHANA reported on Wednesday, adding there were no casualties.
“An incident took place in one of the depots of Rey’s liquefied gas storage facility, not at the oil storage facility,” Keramat Veiskarami, CEO of Iran’s National Petroleum Products Distribution Company, told SHANA, referring to earlier news reports.
Veiskarami said information regarding the cause of the incident would be released later.
Rey is located 11 kilometers (7 miles) south of Tehran.
Saudi Arabia, Palestine to boost trade with formatioin of new business council
- Formation of the Saudi-Palestinian Business Council represents a significant step in strengthening economic ties
- It comes two after a ceasefire deal came into effect between Israel and Hamas
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Palestine have agreed to form a business council to boost bilateral trade and promote investments between both nations.
The agreement to form the first Saudi-Palestinian Business Council was made during a meeting between Hassan Al-Huwaizi, chairman of the Federation of Saudi Chambers, and Mazen Ghanem, Palestinian ambassador to the Kingdom, in Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The formation of the Saudi-Palestinian Business Council represents a significant step in strengthening economic ties, particularly as trade between the two countries continues to grow.
In the third quarter of 2024, the Kingdom’s overall exports to Palestine stood at SR118.3 million ($31.53 million), representing a 35 percent rise compared to the previous three months, according to data from the General Authority for Statistics.
Saudi Arabia also imported Palestinian goods worth SR4 million in the third quarter of 2024.
During the meeting, Al-Huwaizi stressed the need to empower Palestinian business owners to invest in Saudi Arabia and market products from the West Asian nation in the Kingdom’s market.
He also reaffirmed the federation’s support for holding exhibitions and conferences to introduce and market Palestinian products in the Kingdom.
The new agreement comes just two after a ceasefire deal came into effect between Israel and Hamas, allowing some displaced residents to return to their homes.
To stabilize the economy, the Palestine Monetary Authority issued new instructions to banks to ease the burden of accumulated installments on borrowers in Gaza and the West Bank during the war period.
The authority also instructed banks to stop collecting installments in Gaza until the end of June, with the possibility of scheduling and postponing it further.
Other instructions from the monetary authority include reducing interest rates on new loans and stopping the collection of commissions and late fees.
Earlier this month, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Nayef bin Bandar Al-Sudairi, the Saudi ambassador to Palestine, and honored him with the Star of Al-Quds medal, a top-rated decoration provided by the state.
During the meeting, Abbas extended his greetings to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and thanked Saudi Arabia for the support offered to the Palestinian people and their cause.
Abbas also praised Al-Sudairi’s efforts to strengthen the friendly relations between Palestine and the Kingdom.
France arrests new Algerian influencer as tensions soar
- The influencer is one of half a dozen Algerians arrested in France over the last month on accusations of calling for violence on French territory
PARIS: French authorities Wednesday arrested another Algerian social media influencer as tensions soar between Paris and its North African former colony, the interior minister announced.
Rafik M. had “called on Tiktok for the carrying out of violent acts on French territory,” said Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau on social media, without saying where he had been arrested.
The influencer is one of half a dozen Algerians arrested in France over the last month on accusations of calling for violence on French territory.
One of them, known as “Doualemn,” was deported to Algeria where the authorities promptly sent him back to France in a move that incensed Retailleau.
Tensions have surged between France and Algeria after President Emmanuel Macron renewed French support for Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara during a visit to the kingdom last year.
Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is mostly under the de facto control of Morocco. But it is claimed by the Algiers-backed Sahrawi separatists of the Polisario Front, who want a self-determination referendum.
Algeria meanwhile has been holding French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal on national security charges. Sansal, who was arrested at Algiers airport in November, is a major figure in modern francophone literature.
Retailleau, a hard-line rightwinger, has repeatedly accused Algeria of “seeking to humiliate France.”
The far-right in France is urging the government to take tough measures against Algiers, including canceling aid, cooperation agreements and delivering visas.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said earlier this month France would have “no option but to retaliate” if “the Algerians continue to escalate” the row.
But Algeria has rejected France’s accusation of escalation, denouncing a “campaign of disinformation” by Paris.
Retailleau’s hard-line stance on a diplomatic issue has not met with universal approval in France, with influential former foreign minister and prime minister Dominique de Villepin accusing hin of “escalation” and giving into “the temptation of settling scores.”
Defense minister Sebastien Lecornu called on Tuesday for “rebuilding the relationship” between Algeria and France, while expressing regret over “the current excesses of the Algerian government.”
Retailleau himself said in an interview published Tuesday that “we now need to normalize our diplomatic relations with Algeria,” adding that “the time has come to turn the page.”
Algeria won independence from France in 1962 after a ferocious over seven year war and the scars from that conflict have never fully healed.
