Politics

FUZHOU/WAM Typhoon Gaemi, the third typhoon of this year, has affected 766,900 residents in Fujian Province, resulting in direct economic losses exceeding 1.6 billion yuan (about US$224.35 million), Xinhua News Agency reported. By Sunday morning, Fujian had evacuated 312,700 people from hazardous areas and dispatched 2,763 rescue teams involving 69,400 people and 15,600 pieces of equipment, to carry out emergency ...

CARACAS/WAM Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has won a third term, the country’s electoral authority has said – despite several exit polls which had pointed to a decisive opposition win, the Associated Press (AP) reported. The Head of the National Electoral Council Elvis Amoroso said Maduro had secured 51% of the vote, beating his opponent Edmundo Gonzalez, who won 44%.

WASHINGTON/WAM US President Joe Biden said on Sunday that he would withdraw from the presidential race. “While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” ...

GENEVA/WAM COVID-19 is still killing around 1,700 people a week around the world, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Thursday, urging those most at risk to continue receiving vaccinations against the virus. At a press conference, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern over declining vaccine coverage globally. Despite the continued death toll, “data show that vaccine coverage has declined ...

ABU DHABI/WAM Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs, called for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan, cross-border and cross-line access for humanitarian aid throughout Sudan, and a political process that leads to civilian transition. In a recent interview on CNNConnect, Nusseibeh called for urgent international action. “We need to see a scale-up of humanitarian aid. The ...

JAKARTA/WAM His Eminence Prof. Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders, emphasised that religions are a message of peace, and described Islam as a unifying force among civilisations, citing its historical role in fostering human brotherhood. The remarks were delivered at a reception hosted by the Indonesian Nahdlatul Ulama Association, the world’s ...

HOUSTON/WAM Tropical Storm Beryl brought howling winds and torrential rain to southeast Texas on Monday, killing at least three people, flooding highways, closing oil ports, cancelling more than 1,300 flights and knocking out power to more than 2.7 million homes and businesses, Reuters reported. Beryl, the season’s earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, weakened from a hurricane after pounding the ...

ABU DHABI/WAM The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced the success of mediation efforts by the UAE regarding the exchange of war captives between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Ukraine to release 180 captives. The Ministry emphasised that the success of the new mediation, which is the fifth since the beginning of this year, is the outcome of ...

GAZA / WAM The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said that over 76 percent of Gaza’s schools require major rehabilitation to be functional again. In a tweet on its official X account, UNRWA said, “In Gaza, over 76 percent of schools need reconstruction or require major rehabilitation to be functional again, ...

AL ARISH/WAM The staff of the UAE Floating Hospital in the Egyptian city of Al Arish, as part of Operation Chivalrous Knight 3, arranged a recreational day for the children of Gaza. The initiative aimed to alleviate the impacts of the war on them and served as a form of psychological and rehabilitative therapy. Mona Talib Ahmed, a nurse at ...