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Houthis ‘must not become another Hezbollah’: Saudi crown prince 

Arab News
October 27, 2017

Riyadh, Oct 27: The war in Yemen is about preventing Houthi rebels from turning into another Hezbollah on Saudi Arabia’s southern border, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said.

“We’re pursuing until we can be sure that nothing will happen there like Hezbollah again, because Yemen is more dangerous than Lebanon,” he told Reuters.

Saudi Arabia made global headlines this week as a conference hosted by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) served as a backdrop to key announcements that have defined a new social and economic course for the country.

The crown prince said the Kingdom’s dispute with neighboring Qatar has not affected investment, adding: “Qatar is a very, very, very small issue.”

Earlier this week, he pledged to return the Kingdom to a moderate past. Meanwhile, new projects such as the $500 billion Neom zone, announced at the Future Investment Initiative, look to a technology-driven future.

The futuristic theme continued on the second day of the conference when the audience was stunned by the appearance of a robot and her witty banter on stage.

Sophia became an overnight social media sensation, giving a “Bladerunner”-inspired face to the Kingdom’s decision to invest in artificial intelligence and other technologies.

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy picked up on the crown prince’s comments about extremism when he addressed the conference.

Speaking on the final day of the event in Riyadh, Sarkozy praised the crown prince for his fight against extremism.

Sarkozy said extremists are the biggest problem the world faces today, not Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is accused of meddling in US and European elections.

“The problem in the world is extremism, assassins who kill innocent people. Please could someone explain to me why the problem in the world is Putin?” he added.

More than 4,000 delegates from around the world visited Saudi Arabia for the keenly awaited gathering that some had dubbed “Davos in the Desert.”

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News Network
April 25,2020

Riyadh, Apr 25: Saudi Arabia announced nine deaths and 1,197 new cases of the COVID-19 virus on Saturday.

Of these cases, 120 were recorded in Madinah, 364 in Makkah, 271 in Jeddah, 170 in Riyadh and 43 in Dammam.

The number of people who had recovered from the coronavirus in the Kingdom increased to 2,214 after 165 patients were reported to have recovered.

A total of 136 people have died of the disease in the Kingdom so far.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Makkah, Jul 31: Organising this year's scaled-down hajj required "double efforts" by Saudi authorities amid the coronavirus pandemic, King Salman said Friday after being discharged from hospital following gall bladder surgery.

Only up to 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom are participating in this year's pilgrimage, compared with 2019's gathering of some 2.5 million from around the world.

"Holding the ritual in the shadow of this pandemic... required reducing the numbers of pilgrims, but it obliged various official agencies to put in double efforts," 84-year-old King Salman said in a speech read out on state television by acting media minister Majid Al-Qasabi.

"The hajj this year was restricted to a very limited number of people from multiple nationalities, ensuring the ritual was completed despite the difficult circumstances," he said.

The speech came on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice, a day after the king left hospital following a 10-day stay for surgery to remove his gall bladder.

The hajj, which began on Wednesday, is one of the five pillars of Islam and a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime.

Authorities implemented the "highest health precautions" during the rituals, the king said.

Pilgrims, who were all tested for the virus, are required to wear masks and observe social distancing.

For Friday's "stoning of the devil", the last major ritual of the hajj, Saudi authorities offered the pilgrims pebbles that were sanitised to protect against the pandemic.

In a sign that its strict measures were working, the health ministry reported no coronavirus cases in the holy sites on Wednesday or Thursday.

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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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