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Despair grows among civilians trapped in Aleppo

December 18, 2016

Aleppo, Dec 18: Desperation mounted today among thousands of hunger-stricken Syrian civilians trapped in the rebel enclave in Aleppo after their evacuation was delayed by a disagreement over the fate of other besieged areas.allepo

As international alarm grew over the plight of residents including women, children, the sick and wounded, the UN Security Council was to vote on whether to send observers to the battleground city.

An AFP correspondent who visited a hospital in the rebel sector saw appalling conditions with patients lying on the floor without food or water and almost no heating despite sub-zero temperatures at night.

Thousands of civilians and rebels had begun leaving Aleppo on Thursday under an evacuation deal allowing Syria's regime to take full control of the divided city after years of fighting.

But the operation was suspended the next day with both sides blaming each other.

The main obstacle to a resumption is a rift over the number of people to be evacuated in parallel from two Shiite villages, Fuaa and Kafraya, under rebel siege in northwestern Syria.

Under an agreement reached between Turkey, which backs the rebels, and regime allies Russia and Iran, those evacuations would take place at the same time as the Aleppo operation.

But differences remain over the number of people to leave the villages -- the rebels have agreed to 1,500 while Shiite Iran wants 4,000 people to be allowed out.

Al-Farook Abu Bakr, of the hardline Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham, said a deal had been reached for the evacuations to resume and it was possible that they would happen today.

The UN Security Council was set to meet at 1600 GMT in New York to vote on French proposals to dispatch monitors to oversee evacuations and report on the protection of civilians.

The draft text said the council was "alarmed" by the worsening humanitarian crisis in Aleppo and by the fact that "tens of thousands of besieged Aleppo inhabitants" are in need of aid and evacuation.

"Our goal through this resolution is to avoid another Srebrenica in this phase immediately following the military operations," French Ambassador Francois Delattre told AFP, referring to a 1995 Bosnian war massacre.

But the proposals face resistance from veto-wielding Russia, a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Families have been sheltering during the night in freezing temperatures in bombed out apartment blocks in Aleppo's Al-Amiriyah district, the departure point for evacuations before they were halted.

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BrandonGlag
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Thursday, 9 Feb 2017

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KT
April 21,2020

Abu Dhabi, Apr 21: The UAE has reported a further 490 new coronavirus infections, after conducting more than 30,000 new tests, bringing the total number of COVID-19 patients to 7,755.

According to the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP), three more coronavirus deaths have been confirmed, taking to 46 the country’s death toll.

The ministry revealed that it conducted more than 30,000 additional COVID-19 tests among UAE citizens and residents, using state-of-the-art technology in line with its plans to intensify virus screening in order to bring COVID-19 under control.

The accelerated investigative measures resulted in the detection of 490 new coronavirus cases among various nationalities, all of whom are in a stable condition and receiving the necessary care.

The deceased are of Asian nationalities and had pre-existing conditions coinciding with being infected with coronavirus, which resulted in complications that led to their death.

The ministry expressed its sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and wished a speedy recovery to all patients, calling on the public to cooperate with health authorities and comply with all precautionary measures, particularly social distancing protocols, to ensure the safety and protection of the public.

The ministry also announced the full recovery of 83 new cases after receiving the necessary treatment, taking to 1443 the total of those now recovered from the virus in the UAE.

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News Network
April 11,2020

Dubai, Apr 11: Saudi Arabia has reported another 382 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 4,033, the Ministry of Health announced on Saturday.

The ministry also confirmed five more deaths from the virus, pushing the death toll in Kingdom to 52.

A total of 35 people has made full recovery from the deadly disease, taking the tally of patients recovered to 720.

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News Network
April 23,2020

Riyadh, Apr 22: In an extraordinary initiative, the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has decided to facilitate the travel of expatriates who have an exit and reentry visa or final exit visa to return to their countries.

This is in line with the order of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

According to the initiative, called “Auda” (return), expatriates can apply seeking permission for travel to their countries through the Absher portal of the ministry.

Announcing this, Saudi's Ministry of Interior said that the initiative will be implemented in cooperation with a number of relevant government agencies.

Requests for travel from expatriates will be received and approved in coordination with the relevant authorities to complete their travel procedures on board international flights.

As per the initiative, a text message will be sent to the beneficiary stating the travel date, ticket number and reservation details, and by which the beneficiary can obtain his travel ticket and complete the travel procedures.

Clarifying the procedures for the travel, the ministry said that the applicant shall select the icon (Auda) after visiting the Absher portal and fill the following fields: iqama (residency permit) number, date of birth, mobile number, departure city and airport of arrival.

It is not mandatory for the expatriate to have his own Absher account for availing of the service, the ministry said, adding that this facility is to enable expatriates to benefit from this initiative.

The departure will be through the following airports: King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Prince Muhammad International Airport in Madinah, and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam.

Those expatriates who are outside these cities can benefit from the service through entering airport of departure after completion of their travel procedures in sufficient period of time.

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