Emergency air corridors: Qatar says Arab states telling lies

Agencies
July 31, 2017

Dubai, Jul 31: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain, which have tried to isolate Qatar, said on Sunday they would allow Qatari planes to use air corridors in emergencies, but Doha denied it, saying they were spreading "false information".

The four countries severed ties with Qatar on 5 June, closed borders - in the sea, land and sky - and imposed economic sanctions, accusing it of supporting terrorism, something Doha denies.

With its air space drastically compromised, Qatar asked the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for a special meeting - which is scheduled for Monday - to discuss the issue.

Saudi state news agency SPA on Sunday cited a statement from the Saudi aviation authority (GACA) saying they had already agreed emergency air corridors, which were identified under ICAO supervision, and that they would be open from 1 August.

"Nine corridors have been identified including one in international air space over the Mediterranean sea that will be monitored by the Egyptian authorities," SPA said.

However, Qatar's transport and communications ministry and its aviation authority denied the four countries had taken such a decision, the state news agency QNA said.

Qatar called on the countries to not leak "false information" ahead of the ICAO meeting in Montreal on Monday.

ICAO was not immediately available for comment.

ICAO's 36-state governing council could act to settle the row presented by Qatar, but such interventions are rare and time-consuming because the U.N. agency usually negotiates disputes through consensus.

 

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News Network
May 28,2020

New Delhi, May 28: With 6,566 more coronavirus cases and 194 deaths reported in the past 24 hours, India's COVID-19 tally reached 1,58,333 on Thursday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Affairs.

The number of active coronavirus cases stands at 86,110, while 67,692 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said. The death toll due to the infection has reached 4,531 in the country.

Maharashtra is the worst affected state with 56,948 cases. Tamil Nadu has recorded as many as 18,545 cases while Gujarat and Delhi have recorded 15,195 and 15,257 coronavirus cases respectively.

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News Network
March 16,2020

Cairo, Mar 16: Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman said G20 summit will work to combat coronavirus and coordinate efforts to ease its economic burdens, state news agency SPA said on Sunday.

In a phone call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Salman discussed international efforts to fight the flu-like disease, saying the next G20 summit, which will be hosted by the Kingdom, will work on finding medical solutions, SPA added.

The G20 Summit is an annual gathering of representatives of the world's largest economies.

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News Network
March 11,2020

Mar 11: Energy giant Saudi Aramco on Wednesday said it plans to raise its crude production capacity by one million barrels per day to 13 million bpd as a price war with Russia intensifies.

"Saudi Aramco announces that it received a directive from the ministry of energy to increase its maximum sustainable capacity from 12 million bpd to 13 million bpd," the company said in a statement to the Saudi Stock Exchange.

The decision comes a day after the world's top exporter, Saudi Arabia, decided to hike production by at least 2.5 million bpd to a record 12.3 million from April.

The Saudi moves come after the collapse of an oil production reduction agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC producers, including Russia.

The deal proposed by Saudi Arabia called for additional output cuts of 1.5 million bpd to cope with the severe economic impact of the coronavirus which has sharply reduced world demand for crude.

Boosting production capacity normally takes a long time and requires billions of dollars of investment.

Several years ago, the kingdom had shelved plans to boost its crude production capacity beyond 12 million bpd after demand for OPEC oil declined in the face of stiff competition from North American shale oil and other sources.

Russia on Tuesday said it was open to renewing cooperation with the OPEC cartel even as its kingpin Saudi Arabia escalated a price war with Moscow by announcing it would flood markets with new supplies.

The oil price war broke out after OPEC and a group of non-member countries dominated by Russia -- the world's second largest producer -- on Friday failed to agree on production cuts.

Saudi Arabia responded by announcing unilateral price cuts. This prompted the oil price to plummet and fuelled huge falls on stock markets around the world on Monday.

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