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Cabinet approves law to curb money laundering

April 3, 2012

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Riyadh, April 3: The Council of Ministers yesterday approved the law for combating money laundering, which will also be applied to fight funding terrorism and terror organizations.


The Cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, also approved the establishment of Makkah Techno Valley as a Saudi joint stock company.


“The new company is aimed at promoting a knowledge-based economy through partnership with educational and research institutions as well as the business and investment community,” said Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja.


Spelling out Makkah Techno Valley’s objectives, Khoja said it would invest in industries for the transfer of technology; prepare university students to work in the private sector; and create a suitable atmosphere for economically viable research projects.


The Cabinet statement indicated the Kingdom’s plan to issue a new law to combat crimes related to terror funding. “Rules related to the crimes of financing terrorism, terrorist acts and terror organizations specified in the anti-money laundering law will continue to be applied until the issuance of a new law to combat such crimes,” Khoja said.


During the Cabinet meeting, King Abdullah briefed the ministers on the outcome of his talks with Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Al-Hadi and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Riyadh.


The Cabinet commended the resolutions taken by the US-GCC Forum in Riyadh, which aims at setting out an official framework for promoting strategic political, military, security and economic cooperation between the two sides.


The Cabinet backed the call made by the forum to end the bloodbath in Syria immediately. It also reiterated its support for the UN envoy, Kofi Annan, for the success of his peace mission in Syria.


The forum called upon all countries that are related to the Syrian issue to support international efforts to solve the crisis quickly. The Cabinet insisted that the international efforts should give priority to immediately ending the killings in Syria.


The Cabinet commended various international efforts to contain the Syrian crisis, including the Friends of Syria conference in Istanbul that recognized the Syrian National Council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people and an umbrella organization for opposition groups. The Cabinet praised Turkey’s honorable stand on the Syrian issue.


Referring to the nuclear security summit in Seoul, the Kingdom reiterated its desire to make Middle East free of nuclear weapons and make all possible efforts to avoid nuclear accidents and dangers.


Khoja said the Cabinet endorsed the security cooperation agreement with Malaysia, which was signed in Riyadh on April 18, 2011.


The Cabinet reappointed Prince Turki bin Saud bin Muhammad as vice president for research institutes at King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology, for four years; Suleiman bin Ahmed Al-Oqail, minister plenipotentiary at the Foreign Ministry; Muhammad bin Ali Al-Mundarij, deputy mayor for construction and projects in Qassim; Saad bin Muhammad Al-Jasser, petroleum adviser at the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources; and Mansour bin Muhammad Al-Baziee, director general of legal department at the Transport Ministry.

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News Network
April 16,2020

Dubai, Apr 16: Saudi Arabia reported 518 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 6380, the Ministry of Health announced on Thursday.

According to the ministry of health, the number of recoveries today were 59, making total of recoveries in the kingdom 990, with 71 critical cases in intensive care.

The ministry also confirmed 4 deaths, bringing the total number of deaths in the kingdom to 83.

Saudi Arabia imposed a 24-hour curfew and lockdown on the cities of Riyadh, Tabuk, Dammam, Dhahran and Hofuf and throughout the governorates of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif and Khobar. This week the curfew was extended until further notice by king Salman

Overall, Saudi Arabia has reported one of the lowest rates of infections in the region, with around 6000 cases in a population of over 30 million.

Private sector support

Saudi Arabia has allocated SR50 billion (Dhs49 billion)to support the private sector as part of its package of initiatives approved by King Salman on Wednesday aimed at mitigating economic repercussions from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The package targets small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and economic activities that have been most affected by the pandemic.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

Beirut, Aug 4: A massive explosion has shaken the Lebanese capital of Beirut, with a very high number of casualties expected.

A warehouse at the Beirut Port caught fire on Tuesday afternoon, triggering a huge explosion, Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Several smaller explosions were heard before the bigger one occurred.

Abbas Ibrahim, the head of Lebanon’s General Security, said that “highly explosive materials” confiscated earlier had been stored at the site.

Footage shared on social media captured the moment of the bigger explosion, with a colossal shock wave seen traveling fast across several hundreds of meters and shrouding the area in thick smoke.

The blast left enormous material damage to the surrounding buildings and structures. But it was not immediately known how big an area was affected.

There was also no immediate casualty count. Graphic amateur video from the scene showed bodies strewn on the ground, with their clothes blown off.

The NNA said rescue operations were underway. Ambulances were seen heading toward the scene in central Beirut.

Lebanese LBC television channel quoted Lebanon’s Health Minister Hamad Hasan as saying that the blast had caused a “very high number of injuries” and “extensive damage.”

Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud said an unspecified number of firefighters dispatched to extinguish the initial fire had been killed in the explosion.

“As they were putting out the fire, the explosion took place and we’ve [lost them],” he said, breaking down on live TV.

The explosion comes at a time when the Arab country is passing through its worst economic and financial crisis in decades, and amid rising tensions with Israel.

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News Network
May 21,2020

Dubai, May 21: Around 10,000 Iranian health workers have been infected with the new coronavirus, the semi-official ILNA news agency quoted a deputy health minister as saying on Thursday.

Health services are stretched thin in Iran, the Middle East country hardest hit by the respiratory pandemic, with 7,249 deaths and a total of 129,341 infections. The Health Ministry said in April that over 100 health workers had died of COVID-19.

No more details on infections among health workers were immediately available.

Earlier on Thursday, Health Minister Saeed Namaki appealed to Iranians to avoid travelling during the Eid al-Fitr religious holiday later this month to avoid the risk of a new surge of coronavirus infections, state TV reported.

Iranians often travel to different cities around the country to mark the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, something Namaki said could lead to a disregard of social distancing rules and a fresh outbreak of COVID-19.

"I am urging you not to travel during the Eid. Definitely, such trips mean new cases of infection...People should not travel to and from those high-risk red areas," Namaki was quoted by state television as saying.

"Some 90% of the population in many areas has not yet contracted the disease. In the case of a new outbreak, it will be very difficult for me and my colleagues to control it."

A report by parliament's research centre suggested that the actual tally of infections and deaths in Iran might be almost twice that announced by the health ministry.

However, worried that measures to limit public activities could wreck an economy which has already been battered by U.S. sanctions, the government has been easing most restrictions on normal life in late April.

Infected cases have been on a rising trajectory for the past two weeks. However, President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that Iran was close to curbing the outbreak.

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