Khartoum: Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok hopes Sudan can wipe out its staggering $60 billion foreign debt bill this year by securing relief and deals at an upcoming Paris conference that could bring much-needed investment.
The seasoned UN economist-turned-premier took office at the head of a transitional government shortly after the 2019 ouster of president Omar Al-Bashir whose three-decade iron-fisted rule was marked by economic hardship, deep internal conflicts, and biting international sanctions.
In the past two years, Hamdok and his government have pushed to rebuild the crippled economy and end Sudan’s international isolation.
“We have already settled the World Bank arrears, those of the African Development Bank, and in Paris, we will be settling the International Monetary Fund arrears,” Hamdok told AFP at his office in Khartoum.
LONDON: Data on COVID-19 death rates in England has revealed that Muslims are by far the worst-affected religious group, with death rates twice as high as among Christians, and nearly three times higher than atheists.
Data from the UK’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed that, up to the end of February this year, 4,191 Muslims had been killed by the virus.
Muslim men had a death rate of 966.9 per 100,000 people, while that of women was about 519.1 per 100,000.
Muslims were followed by Hindus 605.2 among men and 346.5 for women Sikhs 573.6 and 345.7 Jews 512.9 and 295.4 and Christians 401.9 and 249.6.
Atheists, as a group, were the least affected, experiencing 336.6 deaths per 100,000 among men, and 218.2 among women.
LONDON: One of Britain’s leading imams has urged British Muslims to exert caution and continue to observe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions on personal contact and indoor gatherings during Eid celebrations.
Qari Asim, chairman of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board, said it would be “excruciatingly painful” to celebrate Eid without gathering in numbers and embracing loved ones but that everyone should “take that extra step” to keep people safe before restrictions are lifted.
Thursday marks the end of the second Ramadan Muslims in Britain have spent adhering to restrictions on personal contact and large gatherings both of which are hallmarks of traditional Ramadan and Eid celebrations.
LONDON: Human rights groups from Australia and Palestine have urged Australia’s federal government to rethink a potential trade agreement with Israel, citing the ongoing violent situation in Jerusalem and Gaza.
Australia is considering strengthening its economic relations with Israel through a Free Trade Agreement that the federal government hopes would boost defence, cybersecurity and innovation.
Australia already imports over $1 billion of goods and services from Israel annually, while its exports to the country are in excess of $340 million.
But citing the deteriorating situation in Gaza and Jerusalem, the Australian Centre for International Justice and the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council have urged the Australian government to halt considerations of expanded trade with Israel and condemn its actions against Palestinians.
QUETTA: It’s an unlikely trio in an unlikely place two smart young Baloch students stand proudly outside their university in Quetta with an all-white, 5-foot, 4-inch humanoid robot between them.
Aziz Ullah Shahwani, 24, and Mukhtiar Ahmed Rodini, 25, are physics students at the University of Balochistan, and the robot they created, named Bolani, is their final project.
“I didn’t take any interest in technology-related experiments until I graduated school due to the absence of a physics teacher in my native district Kalat, but when I came to Balochistan for my master’s degree in physics I decided to invent something new, something no other student in the history of the university has done,” Shahwani told Arab News.