Ƶ

GCC ready for economy of ideas era, ministers tell summit

GCC ready for economy of ideas era, ministers tell summit
Multiple schemes and visions have been launched within the GCC, reflecting the region’s commitment to long-term economic diversification beyond the energy sector. (WGS/SCREENGRAB)
Short Url
Updated 11 February 2025

GCC ready for economy of ideas era, ministers tell summit

GCC ready for economy of ideas era, ministers tell summit
  • Saudi Economy Minister Faisal Alibrahim said that collaboration is essential among GCC member states and should not be seen as a weakness

DUBAI: Gulf Cooperation Council countries are taking substantial steps to diversify their economies based on a model of the economy of ideas, the World Governments Summit was told on Tuesday.

Multiple schemes and visions have been launched within the GCC, reflecting the region’s commitment to long-term economic diversification beyond the energy sector, economic ministers from the bloc said.

At the World Governments Summit 2025 annual meeting in Dubai, Saudi Economy Minister Faisal Alibrahim said that collaboration is essential among GCC member states and should not be seen as a weakness, but an opportunity.

“Economies such as logistics, healthcare and the new health tech, there’s agriculture, there’s agricultural tech, financial stocks and funds globally,” he added.

“It is important to recognize that GCC countries share common opportunities and challenges, so collaboration is key on both the regional and global levels. Integration should not be seen as a compromise, but a potential big opportunity on integration, on infrastructure and logistics policies,” said Albrahim.

Bahrain’s minister of finance and national economy, Salman Al-Khalifa, said: “Diversification means the need to reinvest, reinvent and lower our dependence on oil, nurture emerging sectors, but also to build new economic fields.”

Economic diversification has made the GCC resilient and boosted economic development, he added, highlighting that Ƶ has made huge strides in that regard.

“Non-oil sectors made up 83 percent of Bahrain’s gross domestic product, and Bahrain is already investing in the future economy of human capital, technology and building a strong infrastructure for that, such as the first worldwide Data Sovereignty Law,” Al-Khalifa said.

“We are seeing great progress in non-oil sectors in the GCC; non-oil sectors now makes up 50 percent of the economy,” he added.

In the UAE, non-oil sectors now make up 74 percent of the economy and in Ƶ, the figure stands at 70 percent, Al-Khalifa said.

The speakers highlighted the GCC’s falling reliance on oil and gas revenues by investing in renewable energy, technology and knowledge-based industries.

Discussions highlighted the need for sustainable economic policies that balance development with the preservation of natural resources for future generations.

GCC Secretary-General Jasem Al-Budaiwi said that the economy was a topic of discussion for everyone but the world was looking to the GCC for guidance.

“The world discovered a truth: We (the GCC) are, in fact, an economic entity. We are credible, we follow up on our word and as the GCC the world is listening to what we say, and following what we do,” he said.

Human capital is at the core of developing a sustainable economy in the GCC, Al-Khalifa said.

“First is the human capital. There is a need to make sure that the human capital we have in the GCC region is the finest human capital in global standards,” he added.

“The GCC has the most developed infrastructure, from the data center to telecom and cloud internet, and regulations are well suited for the economic transition from industrialized economies to an economy of ideas.

“There are many other examples, whether it is in fintech, whether it’s in logistics, whether it’s in technology, where governments can make a difference by exhausting the right set of regulations. So, those are the three things that we need to make sure that we’re always focused,” Al-Khalifa said.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that deepening regional economic integration and pooling resources together makes the GCC more powerful and creates healthy competition in the region.

“Trade among GCC countries grew rapidly; good exports tripled in the last decade to $70 million,” she added.


UN warns of deepening ethnic violence in Sudan

UN warns of deepening ethnic violence in Sudan
Updated 58 min 6 sec ago

UN warns of deepening ethnic violence in Sudan

UN warns of deepening ethnic violence in Sudan
  • Turk warned in a statement of “increasing ethnicization of the conflict” between the regular armed forces and RSF
  • His office detailed in a fresh report how the war had expanded and intensified further during the first six months of the year

GENEVA: Sudan’s brutal war has intensified since the start of the year, with surging numbers of summary executions and a deeply worrying increase in ethnic violence, the United Nations said Friday.
The UN rights chief Volker Turk warned in a statement of “increasing ethnicization of the conflict” between the regular armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has gripped Sudan since April 2023.
The “forgotten” conflict has already killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.
And Turk’s office detailed in a fresh report how the war had expanded and intensified further during the first six months of the year, “taking on increasingly ethnic and divisive dimensions, with a devastating impact on the civilian population.”
In North Darfur particularly, “violence is being directed on an ethnic basis,” Li Fung, the rights office representative for Sudan, told reporters in Geneva.
“This is very, very worrying,” she said.
The war has effectively split the country, with the army holding the north, east and center, while the RSF dominates parts of the south and nearly all of the western Darfur region.
The first half of the year saw “a continued pervasiveness of sexual violence, indiscriminate attacks, and the widespread use of retaliatory violence against civilians, particularly on an ethnic basis,” Friday’s report said.
New trends include the use of drones in attacks on civilian sites and in the north and east of the country, which have up to now been largely spared by the war, it said.

- ‘Reprisals’ -

The rights office said it had documented the deaths of at least 3,384 civilians in the conflict in the first six months of 2025, but acknowledged the true numbers were likely far higher.
That represents about 80 percent of the total number of killings documented in the whole of last year, it said.
Most of the civilians killed died in the hostilities, but at least 990 civilians were killed outside the fighting, including through summary executions, the office said.
It noted “a surge in summary executions” between February and April in Khartoum as government forces recaptured territory previously controlled by RSF, and “campaigns of apparent reprisals against alleged collaborators ensued.”
The conflict in Sudan has created what the UN has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with famine declared in several areas and a severe cholera outbreak.
More than 2,500 people have already died of the acute intestinal infection in the country, the International Committee of the Red Cross said, citing figures from Sudanese authorities.
That “is a big, big number, ... that will certainly increase,” Patrick Youssef, ICRC’s regional director for Africa, told reporters in Geneva.
Turk urged a rapid end to the conflict.
“Many more lives will be lost without urgent action to protect civilians and without the rapid and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid,” he said.


Iraq nears deal to restart pipeline oil exports from Kurdistan to Turkiye, sources say

Iraq nears deal to restart pipeline oil exports from Kurdistan to Turkiye, sources say
Updated 19 September 2025

Iraq nears deal to restart pipeline oil exports from Kurdistan to Turkiye, sources say

Iraq nears deal to restart pipeline oil exports from Kurdistan to Turkiye, sources say
  • Ankara has since said it is willing to restart exports, but the flows remain suspended because of ongoing legal and political disputes
  • Iraq’s cabinet has given preliminary approval to a plan to resume exports

BAGHDAD: Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, has given preliminary approval to a plan to resume pipeline oil exports from its semi-autonomous Kurdistan region through Turkiye following delays to a hoped-for restart, sources familiar with the talks told Reuters.
The deal between Iraq’s federal government, the Kurdistan Regional Government and international oil companies could add at least 230,000 barrels per day of fresh supplies at a time OPEC producers are raising output to regain market share.
Iraq exports around 3.4 million barrels of oil per day from its southern ports, but the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline in the north has been shut since March 2023 after an arbitration court ruled that Turkiye should pay $1.5 billion in damages for unauthorized exports between 2014 and 2018. Turkiye is appealing the ruling.
Ankara has since said it is willing to restart exports, but the flows remain suspended because of ongoing legal and political disputes between Baghdad, the Kurdistan Regional Government in Irbil, and the international oil companies.
Iraq’s cabinet has given preliminary approval to a plan to resume exports, and international oil companies operating in Kurdistan have also tentatively agreed, two sources familiar with the talks said.
APIKUR, a group representing firms including Genel Energy , DNO and Gulf Keystone, declined to comment, citing ongoing negotiations.
“Discussions have intensified and we’re closer to a tripartite agreement... than we’ve ever been, as all are showing flexibility,” an executive from one of the international oil companies said.
Under the preliminary plan, the KRG would commit to delivering at least 230,000 bpd to Iraq’s state oil marketer SOMO, while keeping additional 50,000 bpd for local use.
An independent trader would handle sales from Ceyhan using SOMO’s official prices.
For each barrel sold, $16 would be transferred to an escrow account and distributed proportionally to producers. The remainder of the revenue would go to SOMO.
The draft plan also does not specify how or when producers will receive about $1 billion in unpaid arrears, accumulated between September 2022 and March 2023.
Luke Clements, CFO of Genel Energy, told a conference in Oslo last week that there had been significant progress made in drafting agreements to restart pipeline exports.
“But it still needs to get over the line,” he added.


Israeli strike on south Lebanon kills one: ministry

Israeli strike on south Lebanon kills one: ministry
Updated 19 September 2025

Israeli strike on south Lebanon kills one: ministry

Israeli strike on south Lebanon kills one: ministry
  • An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed one person and wounded three others on Friday, Lebanon’s health ministry said, in the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah

BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed one person and wounded three others on Friday, Lebanon’s health ministry said, in the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
In a statement, the ministry said that an “Israeli airstrike on a vehicle” in Tibnin, southern Lebanon killed one person and wounded three, describing it as a preliminary toll.
The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the incident.
The attack comes a day after Israel bombed several southern Lebanese towns it had warned residents to evacuate.
The Israeli military said it struck on Thursday several weapons storage facilities belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the attacks and “the silence of the countries who had sponsored” the ceasefire, which he said “encourages further aggression.”
“The time has come to put an immediate end to these blatant violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty,” he said.
United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon said the attacks “put the fragile stability that has been built since November of last year at risk,” calling on Israel to “refrain from any further strikes and to fully withdraw from Lebanese territory.”
Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire that sought to end over a year of hostilities with Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s army said Thursday’s strikes brought Israel’s ceasefire “violations” to 4,500, adding that they hinder efforts to disarm Hezbollah.
Under US pressure, Beirut has ordered the Lebanese army to draw up a plan to disarm the Iran-backed group in areas near the Israeli border by the end of the year.
Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said last week that Lebanon’s army would fully disarm Hezbollah near the border within three months.


World Court says Mali drone case can’t proceed without Algeria accepting jurisdiction

World Court says Mali drone case can’t proceed without Algeria accepting jurisdiction
Updated 19 September 2025

World Court says Mali drone case can’t proceed without Algeria accepting jurisdiction

World Court says Mali drone case can’t proceed without Algeria accepting jurisdiction
  • Mali’s accusation that Algeria deliberately shot down the drone led to a diplomatic crisis
  • Algeria has said its forces shot down an armed surveillance drone that violated its airspace

THE HAGUE: The International Court of Justice said on Friday that Mali’s application for a case against neighboring Algeria over the shooting down of a Malian military drone could only proceed if Algeria accepts the court’s jurisdiction.
Mali’s accusation that Algeria deliberately shot down the drone along their shared desert border during the night of March 31 to April 1 led to a diplomatic crisis.
In its application to the ICJ, the United Nations’ highest court, Mali said the downing of the drone was an act of aggression in violation of international law. However, since Algeria has not given the ICJ automatic jurisdiction for any disputes with other UN members, the court said it had sent Mali’s claim on to the Algerian government.
“No action will be taken in the proceedings unless and until Algeria consents to the court’s jurisdiction in the case,” the ICJ, also known as the World Court, said in a press release.
Mali alleges the downing of the drone, near Tinzaouaten in Mali’s Kidal region, was intended to hinder operations by Malian forces against armed groups.
Algeria has said its forces shot down an armed surveillance drone that violated its airspace near the border.


Iraq says senior Daesh leader killed in Syria

Iraq says senior Daesh leader killed in Syria
Updated 19 September 2025

Iraq says senior Daesh leader killed in Syria

Iraq says senior Daesh leader killed in Syria
  • He was accused of overseeing attacks in multiple countries, including the bombing of Iran’s embassy in Lebanon
  • US Central Command has carried out a series of strikes targeting Daesh figures in Syria

BAGHDAD: The Iraqi counterterrorism service said on Friday that a senior Daesh leader was killed in a security operation in Syria carried out in coordination with the US-led international coalition.
The commander, Omar Abdul Qader Bassam, known as “Abdul Rahman Al-Halabi,” was the group’s head of external operations and security, the service said.
He was accused of overseeing attacks in multiple countries, including the bombing of Iran’s embassy in Lebanon, and planning other operations in Europe and the United States that were ultimately foiled through intelligence work, it added.
US Central Command has carried out a series of strikes targeting Daesh figures in Syria. US officials have warned the group is hoping to stage a comeback in the country following the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad last December.