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Jamrat bridge can hold 500,000

October 1, 2014

Jamrat-bridgeJeddah, Oct 1: The newly expanded Jamrat bridge in Mina can accommodate 500,000 pilgrims per hour during the Haj season, said Prince Mansour bin Miteb, minister of municipal and rural affairs.

“The streets leading to Jamrat, however, cannot hold these many pilgrims. As a result, only 300,000 pilgrims can use the bridge per hour now,” he said, while stressing his ministry’s plan to expand Mina’s streets.

Meanwhile, Makkah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah said preparations are complete for Haj. “The plan for welcoming pilgrims was successful,” he said, urging all government and private agencies to mobilize their human and technical resources to make the annual event a big success.

Prince Mishaal, who is chairman of the Central Haj Committee, instructed security officers not to allow pilgrims without Haj permits into the holy sites and impose sanctions on violators.

Prince Mansour said the Jamrat expansion would help pilgrims perform the “Satan-stoning” ritual easily without risking being stampeded.

The government implemented the SR4.2 billion multilevel hi-tech Jamrat bridge project a few years ago to facilitate the stoning ritual in Mina, which used to witness stampedes, causing several deaths in the past.

“The expansion of Mina streets will enable Tawafa organizations to send large numbers of pilgrims to the Jamrat in coming years,” the minister said. Security forces will be deployed around the Jamrat to ensure a smooth flow of pilgrim movement.”

He said the Jamrat bridge has been handed over to specialized companies for its operation and maintenance after the completion of works.

More than two million pilgrims, including 1.4 million foreign Hajis, are expected for the annual pilgrimage, which will start on Oct. 2, with the faithful assembling in the tent valley of Mina.

A number of foreign heads of state, including Sudanese President Omar Bashir, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud and Maldives President Abdulla Yameen, have arrived for Haj.

According to the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment, the weather in Makkah, Madinah and other holy sites would be milder this season, with temperatures reaching below 36 degrees Celsius.

All foreign pilgrims have already arrived in Makkah. Pilgrims who arrived in Madinah have left for Makkah in preparation for Haj.

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News Network
April 27,2020

Riyadh, Apr 27: The government of Saudi Arabia has signed a SR995 million (approx. Dh972m) contract with China to provide Covid-19 tests for nine million people in the Kingdom.

The Saudi Press Agency, SPA, reported that the decision came "as a result of a phone call made today (Sunday) between the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Chinese President Xi Jinping."

The contract includes providing necessary equipment and supplies, making available of 500 Chinese specialists and technicians who are specialised in performing tests, establishing six large regional laboratories throughout the Kingdom; including a mobile laboratory with a capacity of performing 10,000 tests per day. Saudi cadres will also be trained to conduct daily tests and comprehensive field tests, under the new agreement

The contract was co-signed by the National Unified Procurement Company and Chinese company Huo-yan Laboratories by Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, Advisor at the Royal Court, on behalf of the Government of Saudi Arabia, and Chinese Ambassador to the Kingdom Chen Weiqing, as a representative of the Chinese Government.

The contract is one of the largest contracts that will provide diagnostic tests for the novel Coronavirus.

Tests were also purchased from several other companies from the United States, Switzerland and South Korea, bringing the number of available tests to 14.5 million, covering around 40 percent of Saudi Arabia's population, SPA added.

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News Network
March 26,2020

Riyadh, Mar 26: Leaders of the Group of 20 nations will hold a summit today via video conference to discuss measures to protect the global economy, amid coronavirus pandemic which has claimed over 18,000 lives globally.
The summit, which will be chaired by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, aims to "advance a coordinated global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its human and economic implications," according to the statement published by the G20 Secretariat on Tuesday.
The lethal virus which was first detected in December last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has since, infected over 4,14,179 people around the world.
The coronavirus has already resulted in major disruption of global supply chains, volatility and large drops in the stock market and could cause a financial crisis as stated by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
India is a member nation of the G20 group.
Speaking on the summit on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Group of 20 (G20) has an important role to play in the fight against coronavirus.
He said: "The G20 has an important global role to play in addressing the #COVID19 pandemic. I look forward to productive discussions tomorrow at the G20 Virtual Summit, being coordinated by the Saudi G20 Presidency."
The other members include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, the US, and the European Union.
In view of the coronavirus outbreak situation, several international organisations -- including the United Nations, World Bank, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization will take part.
Leaders from the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Financial Stability Board, the International Labour Organization, International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development -- will also be the part of the conference.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

Beirut, Aug 4: A massive explosion has shaken the Lebanese capital of Beirut, with a very high number of casualties expected.

A warehouse at the Beirut Port caught fire on Tuesday afternoon, triggering a huge explosion, Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Several smaller explosions were heard before the bigger one occurred.

Abbas Ibrahim, the head of Lebanon’s General Security, said that “highly explosive materials” confiscated earlier had been stored at the site.

Footage shared on social media captured the moment of the bigger explosion, with a colossal shock wave seen traveling fast across several hundreds of meters and shrouding the area in thick smoke.

The blast left enormous material damage to the surrounding buildings and structures. But it was not immediately known how big an area was affected.

There was also no immediate casualty count. Graphic amateur video from the scene showed bodies strewn on the ground, with their clothes blown off.

The NNA said rescue operations were underway. Ambulances were seen heading toward the scene in central Beirut.

Lebanese LBC television channel quoted Lebanon’s Health Minister Hamad Hasan as saying that the blast had caused a “very high number of injuries” and “extensive damage.”

Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud said an unspecified number of firefighters dispatched to extinguish the initial fire had been killed in the explosion.

“As they were putting out the fire, the explosion took place and we’ve [lost them],” he said, breaking down on live TV.

The explosion comes at a time when the Arab country is passing through its worst economic and financial crisis in decades, and amid rising tensions with Israel.

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