Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun will visit Saudi Arabia at the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Lebanese Presidency said on Saturday.
The Saudi crown prince invited Mr Aoun to visit the kingdom during a phone call with the new president, the Lebanese Presidency said on X. No date was given for the visit.
Lebanese lawmakers elected Mr Aoun as head of state on Thursday, ending more than two years of deadlock resulting from deep political divisions. Lebanon needs foreign assistance to help it rebuild after the war between Israel and Hezbollah destroyed large parts of the country. The conflict killed about 4,000 people and inflicted significant damage on the Iran-backed armed group.
Saudi Arabia has been the biggest provider of financial assistance to Lebanon, with ties between the countries dating back to the 1980s. However, relations have been on shaky ground in recent years, primarily over Hezbollah's influence on Lebanese politics, with Riyadh calling for reforms to the political process.
Hezbollah was weakened by its conflict with Israel, with its leader Hassan Nasrallah and several commanders being killed and the group's infrastructure damaged. Riyadh stepped up as a strong backer of a process to steer Lebanon away from Hezbollah's grip.
Israel and Hezbollah agreed in November to a ceasefire under which Israel would withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon within 60 days. Sources told The National at the time that the terms of the deal included the election of a Lebanese president within the 60-day time frame, which expires on January 26.
The crucial discussions that led to Mr Aoun's election lasted for days this week and involved US envoy Amos Hochstein, French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian and Saudi Arabia's Prince Yazid bin Mohammed.
“External forces wished for a purely Lebanese agreement but Lebanese MPs failed for two years to elect a president, which necessitated foreign intervention,” a political source told The National. “Foreign powers directly intervened through envoys. They possess various pressure tools, such as aid, sanctions and the reconstruction file. And they used them all."
The new president's first task is to appoint a prime minister. He is scheduled to begin consultations on Monday with all political groups in Parliament, as well as independent lawmakers "towards naming a head of government", his office said on Friday.
Mr Aoun has pledged to work towards naming a prime minister who would be "a partner and not an opponent" as soon as possible.
He noted the importance of choosing a prime minister who can gain the confidence of the international community and carry out urgently needed reforms to relaunch the economy.
The process of selecting a prime minister and forming a government is often drawn out, as the president must receive approval from a majority of lawmakers before he can name the head of government.
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Tries: Matsushima (3), Labuschange | Golosnitsky
Conversions: Tamura, Matsuda | Kushnarev
Penalties: Tamura (2) | Kushnarev
Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
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