Kuwait economic fund signs coordination MoU with ILO

Kuwait economic fund signs coordination MoU with ILO
The MoU was signed by KFAED Acting Director General Waleed AI-Bahar and ILO Assistant Director General for External and Corporate Relations Laura Thompson. (KUNA)
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Updated 19 April 2024
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Kuwait economic fund signs coordination MoU with ILO

Kuwait economic fund signs coordination MoU with ILO
  • MoU aims to coordinate joint actions in economic and social development in developing countries

WASHINGTON: The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development has agreed a memorandum of understanding with the International Labor Organization to enhance development cooperation, Kuwait News Agency reported.
The MoU was signed by KFAED Acting Director General Waleed AI-Bahar and ILO Assistant Director General for External and Corporate Relations Laura Thompson on the sidelines of the 2024 spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington DC.
The MoU establishes a framework for technical cooperation and aims to coordinate joint actions in economic and social development in developing countries. This includes exchanging expertise and information in economic, financial and commercial sectors.
The five-year renewable agreement focuses on collaborative activities aligned with the goals of both organizations in the countries in which they operate. The partnership will also involve sharing resources in areas of mutual interest such as statistics, policy enhancement, youth economic empowerment, gender equality at work, crisis response and South-South cooperation.
Regular consultations are planned to ensure effective coordination of operations in the targeted nations.
 


Lebanon official media say Israeli gunfire kills woman in border town

Lebanon official media say Israeli gunfire kills woman in border town
Updated 5 sec ago
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Lebanon official media say Israeli gunfire kills woman in border town

Lebanon official media say Israeli gunfire kills woman in border town
BEIRUT: Lebanese official media said Israeli forces killed a woman in a southern border town on Sunday as residents sought to return home, two days ahead of an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deadline.
Lebanon’s army shortly later urged residents against heading to border areas where its forces had not completed deployment.
The official National News Agency (NNA) said that Israeli “occupation forces shot in the direction of Hula neighborhoods after residents entered, leading to the death of a woman and the wounding of other people.”
“Three citizens were kidnapped by Israeli forces in the town,” the NNA added, after earlier reporting that residents had entered by passing a Lebanese army checkpoint and “dirt barriers set up by the Israeli army.”
A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah came into effect on November 27 after more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war.
Under the deal, Lebanon’s military was to deploy in the south alongside United Nations peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period.
Hezbollah was also to pull back north of the Litani River — about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border — and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
The withdrawal period was extended to February 18, after Israel missed the initial deadline.
Both sides have accused each other of violations.
When the initial ceasefire deadline expired in late January, Lebanese authorities said Israeli fire killed 26 people in two days as residents tried to return to border villages.
Lebanon’s army on X emphasized “the need for citizens not to head toward southern areas where the (Lebanese military) deployment has not been completed... in order to preserve their safety and avoid the death of innocent people.”
It pointed to “the danger of unexploded ordnance left by the Israeli enemy, as well as the possibility of the presence of enemy forces in those areas.”
This week, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee on X again warned people against heading south, noting that the Israeli army “is still deployed on the ground.”
On Saturday, the NNA said an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the south’s Lebanon’s Iqlim Al-Tuffah area killed two people. The Israeli army said it targeted a senior militant from Hezbollah’s aerial unit.
On Thursday, a senior Israeli security official said the military was prepared to withdraw from Lebanese territory “within the timeline” set by the US-French-mediated ceasefire agreement.
The same day, Lebanon’s parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri said the United States had informed him that, while Israel would withdraw on February 18, “it will remain in five locations.”
Lebanese officials have rejected the demand.

Egypt’s El-Sisi discusses Mideast peace with World Jewish Congress chief

Egypt’s El-Sisi discusses Mideast peace with World Jewish Congress chief
Updated 16 February 2025
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Egypt’s El-Sisi discusses Mideast peace with World Jewish Congress chief

Egypt’s El-Sisi discusses Mideast peace with World Jewish Congress chief

CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi told the head of the World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder on Sunday that the establishment of a Palestinian state is “the only guarantee” for lasting peace in the Middle East.
During his meeting with Lauder in Cairo on Sunday, El-Sisi called for starting the reconstruction of war-battered Gaza “without displacing its residents from their land,” according to a statement from his office.
The Egyptian leader’s remarks come as Arab countries are scrambling to come up with an alternative to a controversial plan floated by US President Donald Trump to take over Gaza, redevelop the coastal territory and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Trump’s proposal envisages permanently resettling Gaza’s Palestinian residents elsewhere, including Egypt and Jordan, drawing widespread condemnation from Arab and world leaders.
“The establishment of a Palestinian state... is the only guarantee to achieve lasting peace,” El-Sisi told Lauder on Sunday.
According to the Egyptian presidency statement, Lauder praised Egypt’s “wise efforts” to restore stability in the region.
The leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are set to met in Riyadh on Thursday to discuss Trump’s proposal, ahead of an emergency Arab League summit in Cairo a week later to discuss the same issue.
 


Shipment of ‘heavy’ US bombs arrives in Israel

Shipment of ‘heavy’ US bombs arrives in Israel
Updated 16 February 2025
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Shipment of ‘heavy’ US bombs arrives in Israel

Shipment of ‘heavy’ US bombs arrives in Israel
  • Development takes place as US secretary of state discusses Gaza truce with Israel PM 
  • Israel, Hamas complete sixth swap of nearly month-old ceasefire after 15-month war

TEL AVIV:  Israel’s defense ministry said Sunday that a shipment of “heavy” US-made bombs arrived overnight in Israel, as Marco Rubio began his first visit to the country as Washington’s top diplomat.
“A shipment of heavy aerial bombs recently released by the US government was received and unloaded overnight in Israel,” the ministry said in a statement, referring to MK-84 munitions recently authorized by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Rubio landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and is due to hold talks with Israeli officials on Sunday when he will highlight Trump’s controversial proposal to take control of the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by more than 15 months of war between Hamas and Israel.
Coming from Munich, where he took part in a security conference dominated by the Ukraine war, the top US diplomat is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Sunday.
Netanyahu, who recently visited Washington where he met Donald Trump, expressed his appreciation for the US president’s “full support” for Israel’s next moves in Gaza.
“Israel will now have to decide what they will do,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday.
“The United States will back the decision they make!” he added.
Rubio arrived in Israel hours after Hamas freed three Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in the sixth swap of a nearly month-old ceasefire.
The ceasefire came close to collapse earlier this week and Netanyahu credited “President Trump’s firm stance” with ensuring Saturday’s releases went ahead.
In his meetings, the US top diplomat is expected to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire, which should see the release of remaining hostages and a more permanent end to the war but which has yet to be agreed in detail.
A source close to the negotiations said mediators hope to begin talks on the second phase “next week in Doha.”
Washington has expressed openness to alternative proposals from Arab governments but has stressed that currently, “the only plan is Trump’s.”
Trump has proposed taking control of the Palestinian territory and displacing its residents to Egypt or Jordan, both of which strongly oppose the proposal.
Trump has warned of repercussions for Egypt and Jordan if they do not allow in the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza.
“Right now the only plan — they don’t like it — but the only plan is the Trump plan. So if they’ve got a better plan, now’s the time to present it,” Rubio said on Thursday.

 


Hamas ministry says Israel strike kills three policemen in Gaza

Hamas ministry says Israel strike kills three policemen in Gaza
Updated 16 February 2025
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Hamas ministry says Israel strike kills three policemen in Gaza

Hamas ministry says Israel strike kills three policemen in Gaza

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Hamas said an Israeli strike on Sunday killed three police officers near the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a day after Israel and militants carried out a hostage-prisoner swap.

The Hamas-run interior ministry initially reported that two officers were killed and a third was critically wounded in a strike while they were deployed in the Al-Shouka area, east of Rafah, to secure aid.

The third officer later succumbed to his wounds, the ministry said in an updated statement.

The Israeli military said in a statement that its air force struck “several armed individuals moving toward troops in the southern Gaza Strip.”

A fragile ceasefire that came into effect on January 19 between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has largely brought a pause to more than 15 months of fighting in the coastal Palestinian territory.

Since then, Israel has conducted at least one other air strike in Gaza. On February 2, it said one of its aircraft fired toward a “suspicious vehicle” in central Gaza.

The ceasefire was more recently put to test when Hamas said it would not release Israeli hostages on Saturday, accusing Israel of violating terms of the agreement, particularly on the topic of aid entry.

In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned Israel would resume “intense fighting” in Gaza unless Hamas returns the hostages by noon on Saturday.

Following intense mediation by Qatar and Egypt the latest hostage-prisoner swap was carried out on Saturday.


Netanyahu says Israel and Trump have ‘common strategy’ on Gaza

Netanyahu says Israel and Trump have ‘common strategy’ on Gaza
Updated 16 February 2025
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Netanyahu says Israel and Trump have ‘common strategy’ on Gaza

Netanyahu says Israel and Trump have ‘common strategy’ on Gaza
  • Rubio to discuss Gaza truce with Israel PM on first leg of Mideast tour

TEL AVIV:  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel and US President Donald Trump had a “common stragegy” on Gaza’s future, after he met visiting top US diplmat Marco Rubio.
“We discussed Trump’s bold vision for Gaza’s future and will work to ensure that vision becomes a reality,” Netanyahu told reporters after the meeting, adding that the two leaders had a “common strategy” for the future of the Palestinian territory.
Rubio landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and is due to hold talks with Israeli officials on Sunday when he will highlight Trump’s controversial proposal to take control of the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by more than 15 months of war between Hamas and Israel.
Coming from Munich, where he took part in a security conference dominated by the Ukraine war, the top US diplomat is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Sunday.
Netanyahu, who recently visited Washington where he met Donald Trump, expressed his appreciation for the US president’s “full support” for Israel’s next moves in Gaza.
“Israel will now have to decide what they will do,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday.
“The United States will back the decision they make!” he added.
Rubio arrived in Israel hours after Hamas freed three Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in the sixth swap of a nearly month-old ceasefire.

Israel’s defense ministry also said Sunday that a shipment of “heavy” US-made bombs arrived overnight in Israel. 
“A shipment of heavy aerial bombs recently released by the US government was received and unloaded overnight in Israel,” the ministry said in a statement, referring to MK-84 munitions recently authorized by Trump’s administration.
The ceasefire came close to collapse earlier this week and Netanyahu credited “President Trump’s firm stance” with ensuring Saturday’s releases went ahead.
In his meetings, the US top diplomat is expected to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire, which should see the release of remaining hostages and a more permanent end to the war but which has yet to be agreed in detail.
A source close to the negotiations said mediators hope to begin talks on the second phase “next week in Doha.”
Washington has expressed openness to alternative proposals from Arab governments but has stressed that currently, “the only plan is Trump’s.”
Trump has proposed taking control of the Palestinian territory and displacing its residents to Egypt or Jordan, both of which strongly oppose the proposal.
Trump has warned of repercussions for Egypt and Jordan if they do not allow in the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza.
“Right now the only plan — they don’t like it — but the only plan is the Trump plan. So if they’ve got a better plan, now’s the time to present it,” Rubio said on Thursday.