Day: July 29, 2024

According to reports released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for 2024, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has achieved significant global progress in indicators of flexible working arrangements, ease of finding skilled employees in the labor market, and equal pay for equal work. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD) has worked tirelessly to enhance the Kingdom's global position in its field. Since 2021, the Kingdom has risen seven places in the flexible work arrangements index, now ranking 14th globally for 2024. The Ministry has bolstered the traditional labor market by introducing new work patterns, including flexible work, freelance work, and telework programs, creating more job opportunities for Saudis. Regarding the ease of finding skilled employees index, Saudi Arabia has also made great strides, advancing three places since 2021 and now ranking 4th globally in 2024. The Ministry has launched several initiatives and programs to support the training and qualification of national wor kers, including the "Skill Verification Program" in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, covering 128 countries to verify the qualifications and skills of expatriate workers. The Ministry has also supported job seekers through the parallel training initiative, which aims to empower women and increase their participation in the labor market by providing training programs focused on fundamental and technical skills, career guidance, and employer-provided tasks to ensure graduates' success in the labor market. The Ministry has launched the "Wa'ad" National Training Campaign initiative to provide 1,155,000 training opportunities by the end of 2025. This initiative is part of the Ministry's strategy to support and train national cadres in partnership with the private sector. The campaign aims to achieve several targets, including training 12% of Saudis annually, establishing 12 sectoral councils for skills in collaboration with the private sector, and creating national professional standards for ove r 300 professions. Another initiative, the Skills Accelerator Initiative, targets 162,000 employees in the private sector to develop high-level skills and improve their productivity. In the Global Gender Gap Report, Saudi Arabia has advanced two places in the equal pay for equal work ranking since 2023, placing 13th globally in 2024. The share of women in the labor market has increased, reaching 34.1% in the first quarter of 2024, with the economic participation rate of Saudi women over the age of 15 at 35.8% during the same period. Efforts to promote women's empowerment in the labor market have increased the percentage of women in senior and middle management positions to 43.8% in the first quarter of 2024. The Ministry aims to raise the target of women's participation to 40% in the coming period. These efforts, among others, have contributed to strengthening the Kingdom's global position and demonstrating its ability to influence the labor market. The Kingdom has achieved a record number of Saudis working in the private sector, increasing from 1.7 million in 2019 to over 2.3 million in 2024. Additionally, the unemployment rate has declined to 7.6% in the first quarter of 2024. Source: Saudi Press Agency

Gaza - Ma'an - A series of diseases are spreading among the displaced people in the Gaza Strip related to the state of displacement and the lack of water for hygiene. The most prominent of these diseases are skin diseases that appear on children's bodies and cause them severe pain. Samah Azzam, a displaced person in Mawasi Khan Younis, says that her three children suffer from blisters on their bodies. She attributed the reason to the intense heat in the tents and the lack of cleaning materials and water. She said that the biggest problem is the water that we get after lining up for hours and in small quantities. According to statistics from the government media office in the Gaza Strip, the number of displaced people who have contracted infectious diseases as a result of the repeated displacement trips due to the ongoing Israeli war has reached more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians. The office explained that 350,000 Palestinians have contracted a skin disease inside the displacement camps. For h is part, Mohammed Saqr, the nursing director at Nasser Medical Complex, attributed the spread of skin diseases among the displaced to environmental pollution, the lack of clean water, and the lack of healthy food. He pointed out that the accumulation of large amounts of waste near the tents of the displaced and the spread of sewage are factors leading to the spread of skin diseases. He called on international organizations to provide permanent water lines for the displaced, but the power outage for about ten months and the targeting of infrastructure prevent this. Source: Maan News Agency

Brazil's Alpha7 Esports players secured the title in the PUBG Mobile World Cup in Riyadh, taking home a whopping prize of US$487,000. The event was held as part of the Esports World Cup, which is the largest in the history of global electronic gaming and sports. The team emerged victorious after a series of intense confrontations over 10 days, breaking a streak of defeats in the last four finals of the popular game, where they had come close to victory but fell short. Alpha7 Esports claimed first place with a total of 153 points, earning them the championship cup and the US$487,000 prize. The Japanese team REJECT secured the second spot, receiving a significant US$254,000, while China's Tianba Esports took third place with US$207,000 in winnings. Source: Saudi Press Agency

Jericho - Ma'an - Firefighting crews in Jericho and the Jordan Valley governorate managed on Monday to control a fire in vehicle bodies and plastic materials inside a factory in the industrial zone. The fire brigades were able to extinguish the fire, control it and prevent it from spreading inside the factory, despite the nature of the burning materials piled up in the factory yard. The firefighting crews worked for nearly 4 hours continuously until they were able to extinguish the fire, which was burning over an area of ??3 acres. Three fire engines, National Security and Presidential Guard supply tanks, and citizens' supply tanks participated in extinguishing the fire to control the fire and limit losses. The fire did not result in any casualties. Source: Maan News Agency

he King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) on Saturday distributed food baskets to 276 families in Al-Mansoora district of Yemen's Aden Governorate, benefiting 1,932 individuals 276 families. The assistance is part of the food aid distribution project in Yemen for 2024. The food distribution comes within the framework of Saudi Arabia's efforts, represented by the KSrelief, to meet the basic food needs of displaced and the most vulnerable families in Yemen. Source: Saudi Press Agency

Golan Heights - Ma'an - Hundreds of residents of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights on Monday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the site of the shell that fell on the municipal stadium in the town of Majdal Shams. Hundreds of Golan residents gathered in the area where the shell fell as Netanyahu arrived, to express their rejection and protest of this visit and demand that he leave the town. They chanted towards Netanyahu: 'Murderer, get out of here, we don't want you, you are trash, don't exploit the disaster at the expense of our martyrs.' The residents chanted slogans rejecting Netanyahu's visit, and carried banners reading "war criminal" in reference to him. Local sources reported that Netanyahu was forced to leave the town following the protest refusing to receive him. Local sources reported that skirmishes took place between residents and the head of the local council over the arrangement and coordination to receive Israeli ministers and Knesset members in the town. The rel eased prisoner, poet Yasser Khanjar, said in an interview with Arab48 that 'in the Golan Heights, we suffer despite all the sensitive, oppressive, and tragic humanitarian circumstances that we are living through, but that does not make us forget who we are and what our connections and relationships are in life and society, specifically in the Palestinian reality.' He added, "We are a Syrian land that refuses to represent the criminal Israeli authority, and whoever kills in Gaza does so in the Golan and Lebanon, or is at least a partner in that." Khanjar stressed, "Our position is firm and clear, that we reject the idea of ??killing, occupation, and the seizure of lands, people's will, and their freedoms. Hence, our expression as Syrian Arabs and the families of the child victims came to hold the officials in the Israeli authorities responsible for their blood and every drop of blood shed in this country." The freed prisoner and social activist, Kanj Ismail Abu Saleh, told Arab48, 'This is an ugly visit tha t seeks out fabricated positions for political purposes that do not represent or express the reality of the situation of the Syrian people of the Golan.' He continued, "This visit is not only unwelcome, but we see it as provocative to offend the Golanis and their national positions known to everyone. We are going through extremely sensitive circumstances and there are parties seeking to implement political brokerage at the expense of blood and victims." Majdal Shams and the Golan Heights are filled with sadness and pain on the one hand, and anger and rejection on the other hand, due to the visit of Israeli ministers and Knesset members to the town following the fall of a rocket that resulted in 12 victims and about 30 wounded, most of them children, yesterday, Sunday. Netanyahu said during the visit he made with the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, that "what happened will not pass unnoticed by the State of Israel. Our response is coming and it will be strong." He added, "Hezbollah, with Iran's support, l aunched an Iranian missile that killed 12 pure souls while they were playing football and were unable to reach the shelter." Source: Maan News Agency

A fire broke out in a number of shops in the Amarat area in the city of Amara, the center of Maysan Governorate. A security source told the correspondent of the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA /: "Civil defense teams rushed to the scene of the accident to extinguish the fire before it expanded and spread. Source: National Iraqi News Agency

Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) Chief Executive Sultan bin Abdulrahman Al-Marshad today signed an additional $14.13 million development soft loan agreement with Kosovar Minister of Finance, Labor and Transfers Hekuran Murati. The funding is to support the Pristina-Mitrovica highway project. Kosovar Minister of Environment, Planning and Infrastructure Liburn Aliu and the Kingdom's non-resident ambassador to Kosovo, Faisal bin Ghazi Hifzi, attended the signing ceremony. The agreement extends a project that was initially funded by SFD in 2013. It is aimed at contributing to the development and rehabilitation of the highway, including enhancing drainage services and expanding the road to cover a distance of 27 km. The main objectives are to improve safety, reduce accidents, and facilitate traffic flow. The highway is expected to accommodate up to 27,000 vehicles per day. The project will promote social and economic growth between regions, create job opportunities, and significantly contribute to sustainable d evelopment goals such as sustainable cities and local communities, instilling optimism about its long-term benefits. The agreement reflects SFD's commitment to supporting the growth of vital opportunities in developing countries worldwide and emphasizes the importance of international cooperation and solidarity to achieve sustainable development goals. Since its establishment in 1975, SFD has funded over 800 development projects and programs, totaling more than $20 billion across more than 100 developing countries. The projects have covered a wide range of sectors, directly impacting communities. Source: Saudi Press Agency

The Technical Deputy of the Governor of Salah al-Din, Mufid al-Baldawi, chaired the meeting of the committee formed by the governor of Salah al-Din to discuss the file of the "New City of Samarra" and its details in an extensive and comprehensive manner. Al-Baldawi stressed during the meeting, which included members of the relevant directorates: "The "New City of Samarra" constitutes a top priority for the local government, which is keen to maintain the momentum of vital projects that contribute to the development of the living reality. The attendees discussed the most important ways to mature the results of the current stage and devote them in the areas of providing the best for the citizens and visitors of the holy city of Samarra, the city that enjoys the advantages of its location and its ancient history. Source: National Iraqi News Agency

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has submitted its official bid to FIFA to host the FIFA World Cup 2034S at a ceremony hosted by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in Paris, France. The bid book was submitted by an official delegation led by His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal Minister of Sport and President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) President, Yasser Al-Misehal, and two young talents from the regional training centers affiliated with SAFF. The Saudi bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2034S is a significant milestone, made possible thanks to the empowerment by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and the unwavering support provided by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister. The bid reflects the Kingdom's continuous efforts to achieve the sports objectives of Vision 2030 and the ambitions and aspirations of th e Saudi people. His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal, Minister of Sport and President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee said: 'I extend my sincerest gratitude to our visionary leadership that has enabled us to reach this milestone in the history of Saudi sports. I also express my profound thanks to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister for his unwavering support for the development of the sports sector. Saudi Arabia's bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2034S is a bid for the future. The Kingdom aims to host the most important event in the world of football, which would reaffirm its influential position on the global stage across various fields, including sports. The involvement of two children submitting the bid embodies the significant contributions of the youth of this great nation; youth are our largest population segment. With their passion and outstanding talent in various fields, including football, our youth are the key to achieving the Kingdom's future amb itions. Their involvement sends a powerful message, reflecting the dreams and aspirations of our youth to participate in a FIFA World CupS on our home soil, to help organize the tournament, or to support the Kingdom's efforts in welcoming the world.' Yasser Al-Misehal, President of SAFF, added: 'Our bid campaign marks our firm commitment to hosting the world's greatest football tournament, and a deep desire to advance sport and the quality of life for our people. Our country's love of football is rooted in history, and we want to showcase to FIFA how we will harness this enthusiasm not just in 2034 - but for generations to come. We want to create an enduring legacy to help push Saudi Arabia's transformation to new heights.' Including the two young talents as part of the official Saudi delegation to submit the bid book is an initiative led by SAFF. This aligns with the projected growth of Saudi football over the next ten years and reflects the aspirations and ambitions of the Saudi people, as well as their p assion for hosting an exceptional edition of the FIFA World CupS. The submission of the bid book to FIFA marks the third stage in the official bid process to secure hosting rights for the 2034 tournament. Saudi Arabia, through SAFF, announced its intention to bid for the FIFA World Cup 2034S on October 4, 2023, as the sole nation in the race to host this edition of the global sporting event. This was followed by Saudi Arabia's official bid campaign reveal. The current submission of the bid book underscores the Kingdom's commitment and determination to host the event. The next stages will include official visits by FIFA and a comprehensive evaluation of the bid, leading up to the selection of the host nation for the FIFA World Cup 2034S on December 11, 2024. Source: Saudi Press Agency