TEHRAN // Iran has failed to reach agreement with Saudi Arabia on arrangements for its pilgrims to join the annual Haj in September following the severing of ties, its culture minister said on Thursday.
An Iranian delegation held four days of talks in Saudi Arabia last month aimed at negotiating a deal. But with Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran closed since January and Iranian flights to the kingdom halted, they hit a deadlock.
“The arrangements have not been put together and it’s now too late,” Ali Jannati told the official IRNA news agency. “They [Saudi Arabia] did not accept our proposals concerning the issuing of visas or the transport and security of the pilgrims.”
“Saudi officials say our pilgrims must travel to another country to make their visa applications.”
Iran has been insisting that Saudi Arabia issue visas through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which has looked after Saudi interests since Riyadh broke off ties in January following the ransacking of its diplomatic missions by protesters after it executed a leading Shiite cleric.
Another contentious issue has been security, after a massive stampede at last year’s Haj killed hundreds of foreign pilgrims, including 464 Iranians.
Jannati’s ministry of culture and Islamic guidance oversees Iran’s Haj organisation which held the negotiations in Saudi Arabia.
* Agence France-Presse
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Gender equality in the workplace still 200 years away
It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
* Agence France Presse
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Ambition: To create awareness among young about people with disabilities and make the world a more inclusive place
Job Title: Human resources administrator, Expo 2020 Dubai
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Favourite singer: Avril Lavigne
Favourite travel destination: Germany and Saudi Arabia
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China |
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UAE |
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Japan |
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Norway |
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Canada |
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Singapore |
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Australia |
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Saudi Arabia |
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South Korea |
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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