Author: Mehmenkum

Nyon, Manchester, Milan (19/12 – 31) The group phase of the 2023-2024 UEFA Champions League is to conclude this month. Names of the sixteen clubs who will compete in the knock-out phase have been released. On Monday, 18 December 2023, UEFA conducted the draw for the last-16 round, at their headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. Defending champion Manchester City came out from the draw with the biggest smile as they will face off with the arguably easiest opponent. Pep Guardiola’s team will Danish champion Copenhagen, who were down at 37th in the UEFA club coefficient ranking. As the current title holder,…

Dubai: The victorious UAE Under-19 team’s celebrations got a cherry on the cake when Pakistan former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar visited them and gave them a pep talk on their approach to the game at the highest level. The UAE, after a thrilling two-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup Under-19 at the ICC Academy on Monday, had a surprise visitor in Akhtar, who spent some quality time extolling some of the virtues of the game to the young colts. “Keep going. Each one of you have the potential to go forward and represent your country in the…

London (15/11 – 67) The streets in Colombo, Sri Lanka, erupted into celebration on July 13, 2022 after weeks of peaceful protests forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country. Rajapaksa, long implicated in war crimes when he was defense secretary, had presided over an economic catastrophe amid allegations of widespread corruption and impunity. But a year later, despite some superficial changes, there is no sustained improvement in the country’s economic situation that impinges many people’s human rights. The acute shortage of fuel that was the most visible feature of the economic crisis has eased. But more than six million people – nearly 30…

KUWAIT: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) CEO Sheikh Nawaf Saud Al-Sabah on Thursday described risk management as a keystone to decision-making process, attributing KPC’s high standing among its peers to its adoption of comprehensive risk management mechanisms as per the 2040 strategy. Sheikh Nawaf stated this while speaking at signing of Memorandum of Understanding between KPC and Kuwait University. KPC, he added, aspires to amplify cooperation with state bodies in education and research, to create a link between education and modern work requirements. Kuwait University as a beacon of academic work, he explained, joined together with KPC to establish a model of…

Berlin (05/11 – 40) The international transport corridor “Tajikistan-Europe” will be expanded. The initiative for the implementation of the “Crossroads of the World” project was announced at the IV International Tbilisi Silk Road Forum, which concluded in the capital of Georgia. The project envisions the development of connections between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Iran. This means that the Silk Road, which once passed through the North Caucasus, will now be connected to the South Caucasus hub. “In this way, another node is added to the multimodal corridor ‘China – Tajikistan – Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan – Iran – Turkey – Europe’,”…

Copenhagen (26/10 – 76.9) UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Nazila Ghanea called on Tajikistan to adapt and review its laws, policies, and practices regarding religion or belief following her 10-day visit. She stated that the implementation of religious freedom and belief in the country is a cause for concern. During a press conference at the UN office in Tajikistan, she also urged Tajikistan’s authorities to “leave the past behind and protect freedom of religion and belief.” Ghanea stated, “This will contribute to development, peace, and understanding in the country. The shadow of civil war looms over…

CAIRO/RIYADH/KUWAIT: The State of Kuwait called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for relevant international agencies to assume their responsibilities towards protecting civilians, in addition to the importance of allowing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. Kuwait’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Human Rights Affairs Ambassador Sheikha Jawaher Al-Sabah delivered a speech on Thursday before an emergency meeting of the Arab Human Rights Committee to discuss the crimes of the Zionist entity’s occupation against humanity in the Gaza Strip. Sheikha Jawaher said that Kuwait’s request to hold a special session comes out of…

London (04/11 – 67) US district judge, Denise Cote yesterday granted Sri Lanka’s request for a six-month halt on a creditor lawsuit against the country. Hamilton Reserve Bank, an obscure and tiny St Kitt’s bank with interesting ties, says it has accumulated a big chunk of one of Sri Lanka’s now-defaulted bonds and had been suing it for immediate repayment. Sri Lanka had asked for a stay on these legal proceedings to let it restructure its overall pile of debt in some peace and quiet, and had gotten heavyweight support from the UK, France and the US government. Judge Cote ruled, “The Court recognizes that…

Contractor HOT Engineering And Construction Company (HOTECC), a subsidiary of Tripple-E, has secured an award letter to provide maintenance services at the Mina Abdullah (MAB) refinery in Kuwait. The letter has been awarded by Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), a subsidiary of the state-owned holding company Kuwait Petroleum Corporate (KPC). Under the contract, HOTECC will provide maintenance services for electrical, firefighting, and sirens systems for the refinery. The contract has a period of five years. HOTECC Oil & Gas Division general manager Surendra Bhatia said: “We are very happy to join hands once again with KNPC on this important project. “This collaboration…

Toronto, Atlanta (24/10 – 10) Not too long ago, “Halloween”, a contraction of the Christian holiday known as “All Hallows’ Eve,” was a time to honors dead saints. Take a look at the multi-billion-dollar enterprise, celebrated on October 31st every year, which it has evolved into, at least in North America, and you’ll find no sainted creatures – but a plethora of devils and the dead. Not to mention the Undead (imagine Yoko Ono) which have leaked out of the hundreds upon hundreds of horror movies, many of them truly horrible horrors, since brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière invented the…