RIYADH, Saudi Arabia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 29, 2024--
Riyadh hosted more than 1,000 global leaders for the two-day World Economic Forum (WEF) Special Meeting in Riyadh, where leading political, economics, energy and technology figures called for clear pathways to stability, prosperity and inclusive growth opportunities in the face of rising cross-border challenges.
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The more than 1,000 participants in for the WEF Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development made it the highest-ever number of registrations for a WEF event hosted outside of its Annual Meeting venue in Davos Klosters, Switzerland.
The Special Meeting set the stage for the launch of several initiatives in the fields of healthcare, artificial intelligence, space and sustainability. On the final day of the meeting, chief executive officer of Moderna, Stéphane Bancel, said the American pharmaceutical company is working to have the first product for cancer on the healthcare market, potentially as early as 2025.
On the first day of the meeting, the Saudi Ministry of Health signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to ensure equitable access to healthcare services for all, and to deliver more vaccines against polio, measles, and other vital health services to millions of children worldwide. It was one of several agreements signed by the Foundation with the Kingdom to improve global health systems and access.
During the final plenary session, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy and Planning His Excellency Faisal Alibrahim announced that the Kingdom joined the AI Governance Alliance, and will co-launch the ‘Inclusive AI Initiative for Growth and Development’, to develop solutions for AI access and adoption.
The Saudi Space Agency also announced that it will launch the Center for Space Futures in the Kingdom later this year, in collaboration with WEF. The Center will serve as a platform for public-private dialogues and foster the growth of the global space economy.
A Saudi Arabia-led Sustainability Champions Network was also launched on the sidelines of the Special Meeting to accelerate Saudi’s private sector decarbonization efforts.
Saudi Arabia also announced an extension to its collaboration with WEF’s innovation platform UpLink, with two new initiatives that focus on developing solutions to reducing emissions through the circular carbon economy and regenerating the world’s oceans through blue economy innovations.
WEF President Børge Brende hailed the Special Meeting in Riyadh a consequential gathering that drew the attendance of key global leaders including the President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas; United States Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken; the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, David Cameron.
Leading philanthropist Bill Gates joined a session on “Bridging the Health Gap”, alongside Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO), and Fahad bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel, Minister of Health, Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia.
*Source:AETOSWire
Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning His Excellency Faisal Alibrahim announces Saudi Arabia will join the AI Governance Alliance to co-launch the ‘Inclusive AI Initiative for Growth and Development’ (Photo: AETOSWire)
BANSKA BYSTRICA, Slovakia (AP) — The Slovak interior minister said Thursday that a “lone wolf” has been charged in the shooting that seriously wounded Prime Minister Robert Fico and prompted soul-searching among leaders in the deeply divided society.
Fico was in serious but stable condition Thursday, a hospital official said, after the populist leader was hit multiple times in an attempt on his life that shook the small country and reverberated across the continent weeks before European elections. President-elect Peter Pellegrini visited Fico in the hospital and spoke to him but said that his condition “remains very serious.”
The attempted assassination has shocked the small central European nation, with many blaming the attack in part on extreme political polarization that has divided the country.
Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said Wednesday that an initial investigation found “a clear political motivation” behind the attack on Fico while he was attending a government meeting in a former coal mining town. However, he said Thursday that the suspect charged was a lone wolf who “did not belong to any political groups.”
The minister did not specify what the motivation was. Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond, and his return to power last year on a pro-Russian, anti-American message led to even greater worries among fellow European Union members that he would abandon his country's pro-Western course.
The attempt on Fico’s life came at a time of high division in Slovakia, as thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly rallied in the capital and around the country to protest his policies. It also comes just ahead of June elections for the European Parliament.
Slovakia's outgoing and next presidents — political rivals — appeared together in an appeal for Slovaks to overcome their increasingly tense political differences for the good of the country.
Outgoing President Zuzana Caputova, an opponent of Fico, said Thursday that the heads of the country’s political parties would meet in an effort to bring calm, saying the attack was a reflection of an increasingly polarized society.
“Let us step out of the vicious circle of hatred and mutual accusations," Caputova said at a news conference in the capital Bratislava. “What happened yesterday was an individual act. But the tense atmosphere of hatred was our collective work.”
Pellegrini, the president-elect, called on political parties to suspend or scale back their campaigns for European elections, which will be held June 6-9, to prevent “stand-offs and mutual accusations between politicians.”
“If there is anything that the people of Slovakia urgently need today, it is at least basic agreement and unity among the Slovak political representation. And if not consensus, then please, at least civilized ways of discussing among each other,” Pelligrini said.
Fico's government, elected last September, has caused controversy by halting arms deliveries to Ukraine, and has plans to amend the penal code to eliminate a special anti-graft prosecutor and to take control of public media. His critics worry that he will lead Slovakia — a nation of 5.4 million that belongs to NATO — down a more autocratic path.
Zuzana Eliasova, a resident of the capital Bratislava, said the attack on Fico was a “shock” to the nation and an attack on democracy at a time when political tensions were already running high.
“I believe that a lot of people or even the whole society will look into their conscience, because the polarization here has been huge among all different parts of society," she said.
Doctors performed a five-hour operation on Fico, who was initially reported to be in life-threatening condition, according to director of the F.D. Roosevelt Hospital in Banska Bystrica, Miriam Lapunikova. He is being treated in an intensive care unit.
Five shots were fired outside a cultural center in the town of Handlova, nearly 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital, government officials said.
Slovak police have provided no information on the identity of the shooter. But unconfirmed media reports suggested he was a 71-year-old retiree who was known as an amateur poet, and may have previously worked as a security guard at a mall in the country's southwest.
Slovakia's Security Council was set to meet in the capital of Bratislava on Thursday to discuss the situation, a government office said, adding that a cabinet meeting would follow.
Fico returned to power in Slovakia last year, having previously served twice as prime minister. He and his Smer party have most often been described as left-populist, though he has also been compared to politicians on the right like the nationalist prime minister of neighboring Hungary, Viktor Orbán.
Fico’s comeback caused concern among his critics that he and his party — which had long been tainted by scandal — would lead Slovakia away from the Western mainstream. He promised a tough stance against migration and non-governmental organizations and campaigned against LGBTQ+ rights.
Despite the controversy surrounding Fico's leadership, condemnation of the attack came from both his allies and adversaries. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to President Caputova, expressing his support and wishing the prime minister a fast and full recovery.
“This atrocious crime cannot be justified,” Putin said in the message released by the Kremlin. “I know Robert Fico as a courageous and strong-willed person. I truly hope these personal qualities will help him overcome this harsh situation.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also denounced the violence against a neighboring country’s head of government.
“Every effort should be made to ensure that violence does not become the norm in any country, form or sphere,” he said.
Josek and Jenne reported from Bratislava, Slovakia. Associated Press journalists Jan Gebert in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, and Karel Janicek in Prague contributed.
Police cars are parked outside the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
A police line is placed outside the entrance of the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Slovakia's prime minister was attacked by an armed assailant and hospitalized Wednesday. (AP Graphic)
Rescue workers wheel Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, to a hospital in the town of Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Jan Kroslak/TASR via AP)
Police arrest a man after Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and injured following the cabinet's away-from-home session in the town of Handlova, Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile. (Radovan Stoklasa/TASR via AP)
Rescue workers wheel Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, to a hospital in the town of Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile. (Jan Kroslak/TASR via AP)
Rescue workers take Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, to a hospital in the town of Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile. (Jan Kroslak/TASR via AP)
FILE - Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico arrives to a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Media reports say on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 that Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was injured in a shooting and taken to hospital. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)
Rescue workers wheel Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, to a hospital in the town of Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile. (Jan Kroslak/TASR via AP)
Police arrest a man after Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and injured following the cabinet's away-from-home session in the town of Handlova, Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile. (Radovan Stoklasa/TASR via AP)
