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Arab World

Egypt's Sisi to Launch 4th Edition of World Youth Forum

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi during the 2018 World Youth Forum. (World Youth Forum)
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi during the 2018 World Youth Forum. (World Youth Forum)
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Egypt's Sisi to Launch 4th Edition of World Youth Forum

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi during the 2018 World Youth Forum. (World Youth Forum)
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi during the 2018 World Youth Forum. (World Youth Forum)

Egypt's President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi will launch on Monday the fourth edition of the World Youth Forum (WYF), which was suspended over the past two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Forum will be held between January 10 and 13 in the Red Sea tourist resort of Sharm El Sheikh and will be attended by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan's Crown Prince Al-Hussein bin Abdullah II, a large number of politicians, diplomats, media professionals, and Arab and foreign youths.

The Forum held preparatory workshops over the past two days to discuss water scarcity as an urgent and multi-dimensional issue.

The sessions included presentations and proposals to overcome these global challenges.

Environmental Engineering Consultant and Vice-Chairman of the Board of the German International Cooperation (GIZ), Irene Eastmalik, reviewed several water problems worldwide, including the Aral Sea crisis.

During the workshop, Eastmalik praised Egypt in handling its water problems, including establishing canals, modern irrigation, and tertiary treatment at the Bahr al-Baqar water station and the Asfar Mountain station.

The Forum will focus on the coronavirus and the post-pandemic world and will review the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.

The main themes of the WYF are post-COVID impacts, climate change, social security, human rights, entrepreneurship, technology, 5G networks, digital transformation, distance learning, the environment, and the future of energy.

More than 500,000 young men and women from 196 countries have registered on the Forum's official website.

The Forum organizers announced that new methods preventive measures against Covid-19 would be adopted at the event. The unprecedented technologies include robots that sterilize the halls, measuring the participants' temperatures, and distribution of sterilization tools to the attendees.

A robot will distribute food and drinks to the attendees. Also, the organizers installed self-sterilization gates at the entrance to prevent any possible transmission of infection.

All precautionary and preventive measures are taken in cooperation with state agencies and specialized private sector companies to ensure the safety of all participants.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian President arrived in Sharm El Sheikh on Sunday to meet with his Egyptian counterpart for talks on the latest developments in the Palestinian arena and efforts to advance the peace process.

Abbas is accompanied by the head of the General Authority for Civil Affairs and Farah member, Minister Hussein al-Sheikh, Intelligence Chief, Major General Majed Faraj, and the Palestinian ambassador to Egypt Diab al-Louh.

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Arab World

Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.

Arab World

Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.

Arab World

Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.