UAE condemns excessive use of forces by Israelis against Palestinians

Agencies
May 18, 2018

Dr. Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, has expressed the UAE's condemnation of the Israeli occupation's use of excessive force against unarmed Palestinians who exercise their right to demonstrate and demand their legitimate rights, while warning of the negative repercussions of such dangerous escalation.  

He stressed that the US decision to transfer the US Embassy to Jerusalem has complicated the situation and put obstacles to the peace process as the decision is a complete prejudice against the historic and permanent rights of the Palestinian people in Jerusalem.

This came during his speech while addressing the Extraordinary Session of the Council of the League of Arab States at Ministerial Level Meeting chaired by the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, to discuss the latest developments in the Palestinian territories.

In his speech, he extended thanks to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as the Chair of the current session of the Council of the Arab League at ministerial level, for its efforts in organising today's meeting which aimed at discussing the grave developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

He also praised the attendance of the member ministers and their quick response which emphasises the centrality of the Palestinian cause, which, he said," Our first issue,"

Dr. Gargash said that the meeting is being held today in the light of the serious Israeli escalation against the fraternal people of Palestine, which led to the death of dozens of martyrs and hundreds of wounded, in conjunction with the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem.

He went on saying, "While we express our strong condemnation of using the excessive force by the Israeli occupation against unarmed Palestinians who exercise their right and demand their legitimate rights, we warn against the negative repercussions of such a dangerous escalation and we call for international probe to hold those responsible for this massacre accountable. At the same time, we stress that the US decision to transfer the US Embassy to Jerusalem has complicated the situation and put obstacles before the peace process and is deemed a complete bias against the historical and permanent rights of the Palestinian people in Jerusalem which had been guaranteed by the relevant international resolutions and were recognised and supported by the international community,"

He also stressed the need to abide by UN Security Council Resolution No. 478 of 1980, which clearly calls on countries that have established diplomatic missions in Jerusalem to withdraw these missions from the Holy City, while stressing the importance of complying with all international resolutions that call for not to establish or transfer embassies and diplomatic missions to Jerusalem, or recognition of the city as the capital of Israel.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs indicated, "Jerusalem is a special spiritual value for the humans and as our hearts strive for it every day, we call on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities to stop violence against the fraternal Palestinian people, halt the vicious attack against it and end the brutal occupation. We also call on the Security Council to take effective and decisive steps in this regard. We also slam the use of the Veto by the US and to undermine the Security Council from carrying out its duty to achieve a transparent and impartial probe towards the massacres committed by Israel against the Palestinian people. We stress that there is no security in the region without a just, permanent and comprehensive solution of the Palestinian cause based on the two-state solution,"

He concluded, "We are working, in the Arab framework, to ensure that today's meeting will come out with the steps and strong and effective Arab diplomatic action to seek urgent international intervention to provide international protection for the Palestinians and to indicate the negative repercussions of the US decision on the future of the Palestinian cause in all international organisations, its consequences on the security and stability not only in the Middle East, but also on the whole world and to reach results that promote the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people and all our Arab peoples, so that the perpetrator is not always immune from accountability for the crimes committed against the Palestinian people, which is contrary to all the rules established by the international law." 

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News Network
July 20,2020

Abu Dhabi, Jul 20: The United Arab Emirates launched its first-ever interplanetary Hope Probe mission to Mars from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre at 01:58 a.m. (local time) on Monday.

"United Arab Emirates (UAE) launches its first mission to Mars, the 'Hope Mars Mission' from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center," UAE Space Agency said on its Twitter page.

The spacecraft is expected to reach Mars orbit in about 200 days from now and then begin its mission to study the Red Planet's atmosphere, WAM news agency reported.

Once it enters Mars' orbit in the first quarter of 2021, the Hope probe will mark the UAE's 50th anniversary.

The probe will travel 493 million kilometres into space in a journey that will take seven months, and will orbit the Red Planet for one full Martian year of 687 days to provide the first truly global picture of the Martian atmosphere.

The Hope probe will be the first to study the Martian climate throughout daily and seasonal cycles. It will observe the weather phenomena on Mars such as the massive famous dust storms that have been known to engulf the Red Planet, as compared to the short and localised dust storms on Earth.

It will also examine the interaction between the upper and lower layers of the Martian atmosphere and causes of the Red Planet's surface corrosion, as well as study why Mars is losing its upper atmosphere.

Exploring connections between today's Martian weather and the ancient climate of the Red Planet will give deeper insights into the past and future of Earth as well as the potential of life on Mars and other distant planets.

The Hope Mars Mission is considered as the biggest strategic and scientific national initiative announced by UAE's President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in 2014. The UAE will be the first Arab nation to embark on a space mission to the Red Planet in a journey that contributes to the international science community as a service to human knowledge.

The interplanetary mission is the first by any West Asian, Arab or Muslim majority country.

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January 15,2020

Asia, Jan 15: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Wednesday said that killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani showed the ignorance and arrogance of the United States and asserted that Washington looks at things from their perspective and not keeping the interests of the region in mind."The US looks at things from their perspective, not from the perspective of this region. The killing of Qassem Soleimani shows ignorance and arrogance. 430 Indian cities saw protests against killing of Soleimani," Zarif said at an event.

Hitting out at US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, Zarif said that they were the only ones, along with the Islamic State (ISIS) who celebrated the death of Soleimani.

"Who is celebrating Soleimani's killing? President Trump, Pompeo and Daesh (Arabic name of ISIS). You wonder about strange bedfellows?" he said.

Tensions between the US and Iran soared dramatically earlier this month after Washington launched airstrikes at Baghdad International Airport, which killed Soleimani. Tehran retaliated by firing a volley of ballistic missiles at two military bases of US-led coalition forces in Iraq, leading to a strife in the region.

However, Zarif regretted the shooting down of the Ukrainian airline and said it happened because of "tension".

"Nine million people were out in the streets of Iran commemorating Soleimani. You cannot bring out so many people to protest. The shooting down of a plane was a mistake. 180 families are mourning the loss of their dear ones. It happened because of tension," he said.

Asked whether there a chance of a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis, Zarif ruled out negotiating with the US.

"Iran is interested in diplomacy. We are not interested in negotiating with the US. US did not keep its commitments under nuclear deal. We had a US deal and the US broke it. If we have a Trump deal, how long will it last?" he said.

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Agencies
June 18,2020

New Delhi, Jun 18: Reliance Industries Ltd on Thursday said it has sold a 2.32 per cent stake in its digital unit to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) for Rs 11,367 crore, taking the cumulative fund raising to about Rs 1.16 lakh crore in two months.

Starting with Facebook Inc on April 22, Reliance has sold almost 25 per cent of equity in Jio Platforms - the maximum reports suggest the company intends to dilute to financial investors.

The investment by Saudi sovereign wealth fund is "at an equity value of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and an enterprise value of Rs 5.16 lakh crore", the company said in a statement.

With this investment, Jio Platforms has raised Rs 115,693.95 crore from some of the leading global investment powerhouses at a time when the world is deeply impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in a recession kind of environment for the global economy.

"With the addition of PIF's investment, Jio Platforms has established partnerships with a marquee set of global financial investors, who will contribute to establishing the Digital Society vision for India," the statement said.

Jio Platforms houses India's biggest telecom firm by subscribers, Reliance Jio. With more than 388 million users, Jio has forced out several rivals and driven consolidation in the sector since entering the market in 2016 with free voice services and cut-price data.

Over the past two months, billionaire Mukesh Ambani's oil-to-telecom conglomerate has announced the sale of about $14 billion of assets, completed a Rs 53,124 crore rights issue and slowed the run rate of new investment by a quarter.

These will help Reliance meet its target of paying off Rs 1.61 lakh crore of net debt by the end of the year.
This is PIF's largest investment into the Indian economy to date.

Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, said, "We at Reliance have enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for many decades. From oil economy, this relationship is now moving to strengthen India's New oil (data-driven) economy, as is evident from PIF's investment into Jio Platforms."

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of PIF, commented: "We are delighted to be investing in an innovative business which is at the forefront of the transformation of the technology sector in India. We believe that the potential of the Indian digital economy is very exciting and that Jio Platforms provides us with an excellent opportunity to gain access to that growth."

"This investment will also enable us to generate significant long-term commercial returns for the benefit of Saudi Arabia's economy and our country's citizens, in line with our mandate to safeguard and grow the national wealth of the Kingdom," he said.

The transaction is subject to Indian regulatory and other customary approvals.

Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Reliance Industries and AZB & Partners and Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsels.

Prior to this deal, Reliance had sold 22.38 per cent of Jio Platforms to investors including Facebook Inc, securing Rs 104,326.95 crore in eight weeks.

Facebook kicked off the party, investing Rs 43,573.62 crore for a 9.99 per cent stake on April 22. This was closely followed by a further Rs 60,753.33 crore in investment.

Silver Lake - the world's largest tech investor - bought a 1.15 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 5,665.75 crore on May 4. It invested another Rs 4,546.80 crore for additional 0.93 per cent stake on June 5, taking its total holding to 2.08 per cent
Private equity KKR and Vista Equity Partners have taken 2.32 per cent stake each for Rs 11,367 crore apiece. KKR invested in Jio Platforms on May 22 while Vista invested on May 8.

Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co picked up 1.85 per cent in Jio Platforms for Rs 9,093.60 crore on June 5. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority on June 7 invested Rs 5,683.50 crore for a 1.16 per cent stake in Jio Platforms.

On May 17, global equity firm General Atlantic picked up 1.34 per cent stake in Jio Platforms for Rs 6,598.38 crore.

Global investment firm TPG on June 13 picked up 0.93 per cent for Rs 4,546.80 crore while L Catterton bought 0.39 per cent for Rs 1,894.50 crore.

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