World Bank to decide Monday on Oct 9-15 meetings in earthquake-hit Morocco – Georgieva

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva leaves the convention centre at the G20 finance ministers' meeting venue on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, February 25, 2023. (REUTERS)
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Updated 16 September 2023
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World Bank to decide Monday on Oct 9-15 meetings in earthquake-hit Morocco – Georgieva

  • “The Moroccan authorities are fully committed to the meetings,” Georgieva said in her first public comments on the matter since the disaster

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund and World Bank will decide on Monday whether to proceed with Oct. 9-15 annual meetings in earthquake-hit Morocco after completing a “thorough review” of the country’s ability to host the meetings, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said.
Georgieva also said in an exclusive interview that the IMF has reached a staff-level agreement with Morocco to provide a $1.3 billion loan to bolster the country’s resilience to climate-related disasters from the Fund’s new Resilience and Sustainability Trust.
Questions have swirled over whether the IMF and World Bank would still hold their annual meetings in Morocco’s tourist hub of Marrakech since a devastating, 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck in the High Atlas Mountains, killing more than 2,900 people.
Marrakech, 45 miles (72 km) from the quake’s epicenter, suffered some damage in its ancient Medina quarter, but Moroccan
officials have pressed
the IMF and World Bank to proceed with the gathering, which would bring some 10,000-15,000 to the city.
“The Moroccan authorities are fully committed to the meetings,” Georgieva said in her first public comments on the matter since the disaster.
In describing discussions with Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, Georgieva expressed concern that the IMF and World Bank “don’t want to be a burden” to the country as it deals with recovery efforts.
But she said the prime minister told her that it would be “quite devastating” for Morocco’s hospitality sector if the meetings were not to take place in Marrakech. She added that she agreed to look for ways to simplify the meetings if they proceed in Marrakech, including possibly reducing their length and scaling back attendance.
“Stay tuned. By Monday, we will have made a decision in taking into account all factors. Obviously physical capacity, how the logistics are going to work,” Georgieva said, adding that security for participants was not a major concern.
Georgieva said the $1.3 billion RST loan for Morocco needed approval from the IMF’s Executive Board, but board consideration would likely take place in about two weeks, before the annual meetings start.
While the loan would not be directly related to the earthquake disaster, she said it would be aimed at building reslience to climate shocks, including drought, and help build the country’s overall financial capacity.
Morocco also has access to a
$5 billion flexible credit
line from the IMF, approved in April, that is aimed at strengthening the countries’ crisis prevention capabilities.

 


Iran president says will not halt nuclear activity ‘under any circumstances’

Updated 58 min 14 sec ago
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Iran president says will not halt nuclear activity ‘under any circumstances’

  • “We are ready to discuss and cooperate to build confidence in the field of peaceful nuclear activities,” said Pezeshkian

TEHRAN: Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday his country will not halt nuclear activity “under any circumstances” amid ongoing fighting with Israel which hit nuclear sites.

“We are ready to discuss and cooperate to build confidence in the field of peaceful nuclear activities, however, we do not agree to reduce nuclear activities to zero under any circumstances,” said Pezeshkian during a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to the official IRNA news agency.


Cyprus arrests British man on suspicion of terror-related plot, police say

Updated 11 min 42 sec ago
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Cyprus arrests British man on suspicion of terror-related plot, police say

  • The man appeared before a district court on Saturday
  • Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a post on X that an Iranian attempt to attack Israeli citizens in Cyprus was thwarted

NICOSIA: Police in Cyprus have arrested a British man on suspicion of terror-related offenses and espionage, authorities said on Saturday, with Israel accusing Iran’s Revolutionary Guards of trying to attack Israeli citizens on the island.

The man appeared before a district court on Saturday, which ordered an eight-day detention pending inquiries.

Police gave no further details, citing national security.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a post on X that an Iranian attempt to attack Israeli citizens in Cyprus was thwarted, “thanks to the activity of the Cypriot security authorities, in cooperation with Israeli security services.”

He gave no more details about the nature of the attack, and there was no immediate comment from Iranian authorities.

A spokesperson for Britain’s Foreign Office confirmed the individual’s nationality, saying it was in contact with local authorities.

“We are in contact (with) the authorities in Cyprus regarding the arrest of a British man,” the spokesperson told Reuters.

Several Cypriot news outlets reported the suspect was a man of Azeri ethnic descent and had been arrested in the Zakaki suburb of the coastal city of Limassol. The suspect was thought to have had a British RAF military base in nearby Akrotiri under surveillance, as well as Cyprus’s own Andreas Papandreou Air Base in the western region of Paphos since mid-April, Cyprus’s ANT1 news portal reported.

Cyprus lies very close to the Middle East and has in recent days been used as a transit point for people either leaving or going to the region amid the conflict between regional foes Israel and Iran.

Terror-related offenses on the island are very rare.


IAEA says centrifuge workshop at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site hit

Updated 21 June 2025
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IAEA says centrifuge workshop at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site hit

  • “There was no nuclear material at this site and therefore the attack on it will have no radiological consequences,” Grossi said

VIENNA: The UN nuclear agency confirmed on Saturday that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear site had been hit, in the latest strike amid Israel’s bombing campaign.


“A centrifuge manufacturing workshop has been hit in Esfahan, the third such facility that has been targeted in Israel’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear-related sites over the past week,” the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement quoting its chief Rafael Grossi.

“We know this facility well. There was no nuclear material at this site and therefore the attack on it will have no radiological consequences,” Grossi was quoted as saying.


Turkiye says Israel leading Middle East to ‘total disaster’

Updated 21 June 2025
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Turkiye says Israel leading Middle East to ‘total disaster’

  • “Israel is now leading the region to the brink of total disaster,” Fidan said
  • He called for an end to the “unlimited aggression” against Iran

ISATANBUL: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Saturday accused Israel of leading the Middle East toward “total disaster” by attacking Iran on June 13.

“Israel is now leading the region to the brink of total disaster by attacking Iran, our neighbor,” he told a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul.

“There is no Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian, Yemeni or Iranian problem but there is clearly an Israeli problem,” Fidan said.

He called for an end to the “unlimited aggression” against Iran.

“We must prevent the situation from deteriorating into a spiral of violence that would further jeopardize regional and global security,” he added.

Speaking after Fidan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Western leaders of providing “unconditional support” to Israel.

He said Turkiye would not allow borders in the Middle East to be redrawn “in blood.”

“It is vital for us to show more solidarity to end Israel’s banditry — not only in Palestine but also in Syria, in Lebanon and in Iran,” he told the OIC’s 57 member countries.

The OIC, founded in 1969, says its mission is to “safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony.”


Iran says more than 400 killed since start of war with Israel

Updated 21 June 2025
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Iran says more than 400 killed since start of war with Israel

  • Attacks have claimed the lives of over 400 defenseless Iranians and left 3,056 others wounded

TEHRAN: Israeli strikes on Iran have killed more than 400 people since they began last week, Iran’s health ministry said in an updated toll on Saturday, as fighting raged between the two foes.

“As of this morning, Israeli attacks have claimed the lives of over 400 defenseless Iranians and left 3,056 others wounded by missiles and drones,” health ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said in a post on X.