Kuwait Representative Expels Israeli Delegation at Inter-Parliamentary Union Meeting in Russia

Kuwait’s Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem (Reuters – File Photo)
Kuwait’s Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem (Reuters – File Photo)
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Kuwait Representative Expels Israeli Delegation at Inter-Parliamentary Union Meeting in Russia

Kuwait’s Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem (Reuters – File Photo)
Kuwait’s Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem (Reuters – File Photo)

Kuwait- The head of the Kuwait’s National Assembly, Marzouq Al-Ghanem, lashed out at the Israeli Knesset delegation at the closing session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference held in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, which forced the delegation to leave the hall.

In front of delegations from more than 150 countries, Ghanem described the Israeli mission as “the occupier and the murderer of children". He asked it to leave the conference room because of Israel’s violation of international law and the continued detention of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

“You should grab your bags and leave this hall as you have witnessed the reaction of every honorable parliament around the world,” he said, addressing the Israeli delegation.

“Leave now if you have one ounce of dignity, you occupier, you murderer of children.” The Israeli delegation left the talks following the remarks by Ghanem and several other parliaments in the midst of applause.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference kicked off its work on October 14 and ended on Wednesday.

Delegates representing 150 countries, including 100 speakers, 70 deputy speakers and 2,300 guests, including 840 parliamentarians, attended the conference under the theme of promoting multiculturalism and peace through interfaith and interreligious dialogue.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union gathers 173 Member Parliaments and 11 Associate Members. It works closely with the United Nations and other partner organizations that share common goals.

Established in 1889 and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the Union is primarily financed by its members through public funds.

Four permanent committees operate within the framework of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, including the Permanent Committee on International Peace and Security, the Committee on Democracy and Human Rights, the Committee on United Nations Affairs and the Committee on Sustainable Development, Trade and Finance.



Pope Leo XIV Lays Out His Vision of Papacy, Identifies AI as a Main Challenge for Humanity

A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV (C) gesturing as he attends a meeting with cardinals in Vatican City, 10 May 2025. (EPA/Vatican Media Handout)
A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV (C) gesturing as he attends a meeting with cardinals in Vatican City, 10 May 2025. (EPA/Vatican Media Handout)
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Pope Leo XIV Lays Out His Vision of Papacy, Identifies AI as a Main Challenge for Humanity

A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV (C) gesturing as he attends a meeting with cardinals in Vatican City, 10 May 2025. (EPA/Vatican Media Handout)
A handout picture provided by the Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV (C) gesturing as he attends a meeting with cardinals in Vatican City, 10 May 2025. (EPA/Vatican Media Handout)

Pope Leo XIV laid out the vision of his papacy Saturday, identifying artificial intelligence as one of the most critical matters facing humanity.

In his first formal audience, Leo made clear he will follow in the modernizing reforms of Pope Francis to make the Catholic Church inclusive, attentive to the faithful and a church that looks out for the "least and rejected.”

Citing Francis repeatedly, he told the cardinals who elected him that he was fully committed to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernized the church. He identified AI as one of the main issues facing humanity, saying it poses challenges to defending human dignity, justice and labor.

Leo referred to AI in explaining the choice of his name: His namesake, Pope Leo XIII, was pope from 1878 to 1903 and laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought. He did so most famously with his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed workers’ rights and capitalism at the dawn of the industrial age. The late pope criticized both laissez-faire capitalism and state-centric socialism, giving shape to a distinctly Catholic vein of economic teaching.

In his remarks, Leo said he identified with his predecessor, who addressed the great social question of the day in the encyclical.

“In our own day, the church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor,” he said.