Tag: embassy

  • Singapore makes Israeli embassy delete ‘insensitive’ Palestinian post

    Singapore makes Israeli embassy delete ‘insensitive’ Palestinian post

    Singapore made the Israeli embassy in the city-state take down an “insensitive” social media post about the Palestinians over the weekend after warning it could inflame tensions, the interior minister said Monday.

    The Israeli genocide in Gaza and deepening humanitarian crisis in the besieged strip since October 7 have divided opinion across the world.

    The post reportedly said Israel was mentioned 43 times in the Koran but Palestine — the name Palestinians give to what they hope will become their independent, sovereign state — was not, according to local media.

    Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam said he asked Singapore’s foreign ministry to tell the Israeli embassy to remove the post made on Sunday after learning about it, which the mission immediately did.

    “That post on the Israeli embassy social media page is completely unacceptable. I was very upset when I was told about it,” Shanmugam told reporters, according to a transcript.

    “It is insensitive and inappropriate. It carries the risk of undermining our safety, security and harmony in Singapore.”

    Shanmugam said the post had been taken down.

    “Posts like these can… inflame tensions, and can put the Jewish community here at risk. The anger from the post can potentially spill over into the physical realm,” he added.

    The Israeli embassy was not immediately available for comment.

    Singapore has condemned the Hamas attacks on Israel but has also said that Israel’s military response “has now gone too far”.

    The health ministry in the Gaza Strip on Sunday put the total death toll in the territory at 32,226, most of them women and children.

  • Urgent passport renewal fee increases to Rs6,000 for both online and offline applications

    Urgent passport renewal fee increases to Rs6,000 for both online and offline applications

    The fee for renewing a passport online has recently undergone an upward revision, resulting in an additional cost of Rs1,000. Consequently, the new fee for online passport renewal has been set at Rs4,000, marking an increase from the previous Rs3,000.

    Furthermore, the urgent fee for passport renewal, applicable to both online and offline applications, has also been subject to a revision. It now stands at Rs6,000, representing an increase from the earlier amount of Rs5,000.

    The rationale behind these fee adjustments is attributed to the added service of home delivery of the passport via courier. Applicants can now receive their renewed passport conveniently at their doorstep.

    To apply for an online passport renewal, applicants must fulfill certain requirements. These include attaching a copy of their national identity card and passport as part of the application process. Additionally, the application fee must be paid securely online.

  • Iran’s President Raisi ‘welcomes’ invitation by Saudi king to visit Riyadh

    Iran’s President Raisi ‘welcomes’ invitation by Saudi king to visit Riyadh

    Little over a week after the two nations decided to reestablish diplomatic ties, Iran claims Saudi Arabia has extended an official invitation to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to pay a state visit.

    The Saudis have not officially confirmed the invitation, which is claimed to have arrived in a letter from King Salman.

    The conflict between the two countries has dominated the Middle East’s recent history.

    A senior Iranian official, Mohammad Jamshidi, tweeted regarding the invitation to visit Riyadh, saying Mr Raisi had welcomed it and “stressed Iran’s readiness to expand co-operation.”

    Furthermore, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the foreign minister of Iran, informed reporters that the two nations had agreed to conduct a meeting at the level of the foreign ministers and that three potential venues had been suggested.

    He did not specify the locations or the potential dates for the meeting.

    According to Bloomberg, the recent thaw in bilateral relations, which came as a surprise after days of negotiations mediated by China, appears to be gaining significant pace.

    Both have declared they will reopen their embassies and resume their economic and security relations within two months.

    With the failure of earlier attempts at reconciliation, many, including the US and the UN, warily welcomed this progress.

    In January 2016 after protesters surrounded its embassy in Tehran, Saudi Arabia broke ties.

    That came after Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a well-known Shia Muslim cleric who had been found guilty of crimes related to terrorism, was executed by Riyadh.

    Since then, there have frequently been high levels of tension between the Sunni- and Shia-led neighbours, with each seeing the other as a dangerous force vying for supremacy in the region.

    They have taken opposing sides in a number of local conflicts, including as the civil wars in Yemen and Syria.

    Mr. Amir-Abdollahian said that Iran hoped measures would be taken to strengthen ties with Bahrain, a close Saudi ally that cut off diplomatic ties with Tehran in 2016 after Riyadh did the same.

    “We hope that some obstacles between Iran and Bahrain will be removed and we will take basic steps to reopen the embassies,” he said.

    Bahrain hasn’t reacted to the remarks, but it did earlier applaud the Saudi Arabia-Iran decision to reestablish diplomatic ties.

    Moreover, Iran has shown a desire to restart or strengthen ties with other adversaries in the Arab world, such as Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

  • Pak Embassy in Washington ran out of funds to pay salaries for four months: report

    Pak Embassy in Washington ran out of funds to pay salaries for four months: report

    The Embassy of Pakistan in the United States (US) had reportedly run out of funds and was unable to pay salaries of four months to the embassy’s locally recruited contractual staffers, reveals The News’ sources in a report by Journalist Wajid Ali Syed.

    It was reported that a total of five staffers faced delays and non-payment of their monthly wages from August onwards. One staffer, who had been working there for the past ten years, resigned in September because of the on-going pay crisis.

    Several sources disclosed that the Pakistan Community Welfare (PCW) fund, from which these unpaid staffers were paid out collapsed last year because the money was diverted to purchase ventilators and other medical equipment last year, after the pandemic. The embassy had to borrow money from other account-heads to keep up with the monthly salaries for the staffers hired locally.

    As a result of this, the staffers wrote to the Pakistani ambassador in October. The ambassador repeatedly raised the issue with the Foreign Office (FO) in Islamabad and managed to secure all salaries just last week. The embassy’s spokesperson confirmed that “currently there is no salary-related issue being faced by the Embassy staff.”

    These local staffers’ salaries range from 2,000 to 2,500 dollars per month. They do not get the perks and privileges that FO employees enjoy. The domestic staffers are usually hired to help with the ‘Consular section’ that provides visa, passport, notarization and other consular services.

  • Pak embassy in Serbia tweets against PM Khan, say they have no other option

    Pak embassy in Serbia tweets against PM Khan, say they have no other option

    With inflation crushing the economy of the country, the Pakistan embassy in Serbia tweeted a clip of Saad Alavi’s song, “Aap ne ghabrana nahi hai”.

    Taking to Twitter, the embassy’s official Twitter account tweeted, “With inflation breaking all previous records, how long do you expect @ImranKhanPTI that we government official will remain silent & keep working for you without been paid for past 3 months.”

    “Our children been forced out of school due to non-payment of fees Is this #NayaPakistan?” read the tweet.

    https://twitter.com/PakinSerbia/status/1466647603395928064

    Further stating their grievances with how the people are being treated, the embassy handle tweeted, “I am sorry @ImranKhanPTI, am not left with another option.”

    https://twitter.com/PakinSerbia/status/1466649039785668612

    However, Spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmad for Foreign Affairs said that the “social media platforms have been hacked.”

  • France advises citizens to leave Pakistan

    France advises citizens to leave Pakistan

    The French Embassy has advised all French nationals and companies to temporarily leave Pakistan as violent anti-France protests paralyse the country.

    “Due to the serious threats to French interests in Pakistan, French nationals and French companies are advised to temporarily leave the country,” the embassy said in an email to French citizens.

    “The departures will be carried out by existing commercial airlines.”

    Anti-French sentiment has been simmering for months in Pakistan since the government of President Emmanuel Macron expressed support for a magazine’s right to republish blasphemous caricatures depicting Holy Prophet (PBUH).

    On Wednesday, the Pakistani government moved to ban the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) whose leader had called for the expulsion of the French ambassador.

    Saad Rizvi was detained hours after making his demands, bringing thousands of his supporters to the streets in cities across Pakistan.

    Violent countrywide clashes have led to the death of at least three cops and hundreds of other casualties from both the police and protesters.