NEWS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2017

Kuwait OKs $100m grant for , first since 1990

Continued from Page 1 political settlement according to the three references and were already dying at an alarming rate, but stressed that “a thirds of the population - now in need of humanitarian aid, greater effort by the international community, represented famine can be prevented if we act quickly and commit to the UN said. A total of 17 million of them are going hungry, This shows a “remarkable solidarity with the Yemeni by the Security Council”. funding crucial life-saving assistance”. including more than two million children currently consid- people,” the UN secretary general told reporters. The deputy foreign minister expressed concern that the Yemen’s Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid Mubarek Bin- ered acutely malnourished. “On average, a child under the is earmarking $100 million as its contribution UN Security Council’s failure to resolve the crisis in Syria Dagher had urged donors to be generous, describing how age of five dies of preventable causes in Yemen every 10 towards international relief aid for the Yemeni people. might be replayed in Yemen. He regretted that marathon some of his compatriots were “writhing with hunger”. “$2.1 minutes,” Guterres said. “This means 50 children in Yemen Kuwait’s Deputy Foriigh Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah, who inter-Yemeni negotiations ended without any tangible billion is the minimum that we should plan on raising,” he will die during today’s conference, and all those deaths declared the financial allocation at the conference, indicat- breakthrough. told the conference. UN humanitarian chief Stephen could have been prevented.” Many of the children who sur- ed that the specialized fund was follow-up to a previous He, however, expressed readiness to re-host “the O’Brien meanwhile said that Yemen was “the world’s vive “will be affected by stunting and poor health for their sum of $300 million allotted for the Yemeni people. Yemeni brothers” to sign a final reconciliation agreement, if largest humanitarian crisis today”. “We must do more and entire lives,” he added. The previous amount was in the form of soft loans pro- the parties reach a settlement. Jarallah renewed his call on can do more,” he said, insisting that “we can, with your Anthony Lake, head of the UN children’s agency, urged vided by Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development Yemeni groups to return to the negotiating table to find a money and support, scale up, we can avert famine and the the world to act immediately, warning that “these chil- (KFAED) to finance development projects in Yemen. It was settlement to the conflict. worst catastrophe.” But O’Brien underlined that humanitar- dren cannot wait for an official famine to be declared”. announced during a ministerial meeting of Friends of When opening the conference yesterday morning, ian aid alone would not resolve Yemen’s crisis. “We need an Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom noted that Yemen held in New York in 2012. Jarallah expressed in his Guterres had said it was vital to act quickly. “We are wit- immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to negotia- with two million children out of school, there is a growing speech a conviction that the ideal solution to the deterio- nessing the starving and the crippling of an entire genera- tions and peace,” he said. risk of recruitment by armed groups, while two-thirds of rating humanitarian conditions in Yemen required restora- tion,” he said, adding that Yemen is gripped by “the world’s The conflict has dramatically deepened Yemen’s drawn- girls are married off before the age of 18. “We must act tion of stability, “a matter that could be attained through largest hunger crisis”. He warned that children especially out humanitarian crisis, with a full 19 million people - two- now”, she said. — Agencies Emirates CEO says laptop carry-on ban... Britain refuses to apologize over...

Continued from Page 1 they should be more professional,” he told journalists. Continued from Page 1 promise by Britain to hand over land that it did not own. “That is something that should not be acceptable.” Hassassian said that unless Britain apologized, cancelled The exhibition last year featured a stand by the luxu- Sheikh Ahmed also acknowledged the challenges a Jewish homeland and the modern state of Israel, just planned celebrations and recognized the state of ry hotel chain bearing the new American president’s facing the global aviation industry, saying Emirates was as we support the critical objective of a viable and sover- Palestine, the Palestinians would go ahead with plans for a name, but this year the company apparently decided considering so-called premium economy seats, planned eign Palestinian state,” he said. Britain would mark the cen- lawsuit. “This is the only condition upon which we can not to take part. on launching a new first-class “product” this year and tenary “in an appropriate and balanced manner”, he close this file permanently,” he said. Sheikh Ahmed didn’t mince words, however, when was looking at other measures. added. In the 1917 declaration, the British government Israel declared independence in 1948, at the end of describing what he thought after watching the video of He even hinted that Emirates might work in closer said it viewed “with favor the establishment in Palestine of British Mandatory rule and after the UN General Assembly a United Express passenger being forced off a flight. partnership with budget carrier FlyDubai, another Dubai a national home for the Jewish people”. It also said “...noth- voted in 1947 in favor of a plan, rejected by Palestinian Those videos showed a bloody passenger being government-backed airline. “If I’m looking at it from the ing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and reli- representatives, to partition Palestine into an Arab state dragged off a flight in Chicago on April 9 by airport Dubai ownership of two airlines, I have Emirates, we gious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in and a Jewish state. Israel captured the West Bank and East police after he refused to give up his seat to make room have FlyDubai,” he said. “We can do something there.” He Palestine...” Palestine was under British rule when Foreign Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, along with the for crew members. “Those people who dealt with it, declined to elaborate. — AP Secretary Arthur Balfour made the policy statement in a Gaza Strip that is now controlled by Palestinian Islamist letter to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish faction Hamas. Palestinians seek to establish an independ- Saudi wins top Arab fiction award community. ent state in those territories. The last round of Israeli- Palestinians have long condemned the document as a Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014. — Reuters Continued from Page 1 Authority. The two other Saudi novelists who previously won the prize were Abdo Khal in 2010 for his “Throwing Alwan, 38, was for the second time among the short- Sparks” and Raja Alem, who shared the top prize in 2011 World Cup workers get... listed novelists after his novel “The Beaver” made it to for her novel titled “The Dove’s Necklace”. the last six in 2015. Its French edition went on to win “The culture and arts arena in has been Continued from Page 1 faced huge international criticism for its treatment of the best Arabic novel translated into French for that rather active over the past 10 years,” Alwan told AFP, migrant workers. year. This year, Alwan competed with five other authors speaking of the ultra-conservative kingdom when pub- the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, said Last year, Amnesty International accused Qatar of from Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon and Libya. Born in lic cinemas remain banned and women face tight in a statement adding that the results will be published using “forced labor” at one World Cup site. And a recent Riyadh, he graduated with a doctorate in international restrictions, including a unique ban on driving. “The in a “detailed report”. Supreme Committee-commissioned report found that marketing from Carleton University in Canada, and has Saudi society is going through a phase of massive Weill Cornell is one of several American academic some World Cup venue laborers worked 18-hour days. published five novels. change. There is a young population facing various institutions which have a presence in Qatar, with a cam- Qatar though has denied many of the criticisms and says Alwan was chosen in 2010 as one of the 39 best Arab intellectual changes, which brings on many questions... pus opening back in 2001. The head of the supreme it has made significant steps in improving workers’ wel- authors under the age of 40 by the Beirut39 project. When such questions are posed, novelists find their committee, Hassan Al-Thawadi, said the research could fare in areas such as pay, accommodation and on-site Dubbed as the “Arabic Booker”, the $50,000-prize is sup- chance to repose them in a literary form,” he added. Last help uncover “health concerns among our workers”. safety. There are some 14,000 workers employed directly ported by the Booker Prize Foundation in London, but it year, Palestinian author Rabai Al-Madhoun won the Since controversially being awarded the 2022 World Cup on World Cup projects in Qatar. That number will jump is funded by the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture award that was launched in 2008. — AFP - the first to be played in the Middle East - Qatar has to 36,000 in the 12 months, organizers said. — AFP