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Detailed plans for Jeddah, Makkah public transport networks unveiled

January 10, 2013

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Jeddah, Jan 10: The ministerial committee for transport in Makkah province met here on Wednesday to review the progress of a plan to beef up the public transport system in the province, including the cities of Jeddah and Makkah.

The meeting, chaired by Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah, and attended by the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Prince Mansour Bin Miteb, Jeddah Governor Prince Mishaal Bin Majed, Minister of Finance Ibrahim Assaf, Acting Transport Minister Muhammad Jameel Mulla, Makkah Mayor Osama Al-Bar, Jeddah Mayor Hani Aburas and other senior officials, reviewed detailed reports presented by the two mayoralties.

Addressing the meeting, Prince Khaled underlined the need for expediting implementation of the project, of which feasibility studies as well as the designing phase have already been completed.

Presenting the report on the Makkah transport system, Al-Bar said the project has two parts – the Makkah Metro and a network of buses, which will be based mainly on the bus rapid transit (BRT) system that provides a faster and more efficient transport service than the ordinary bus service.

The BRT network will have 60 stations on a total length of 60 km of ring roads. There will also be a network of local buses plying between the Grand Mosque and various destinations in the city not covered by BRT. The network will cover a distance of 65 km. There will be feeder services to pick and drop passengers at various metro stations.

Jeddah Mayor Aburas briefed the meeting on studies conducted for the public transport system for the city. The plan includes a light train network over a distance of 67 km from Makkah Road to Obhur via central Jeddah.

The three-line network will have 22 stations. A 24-km line will link King Abdulaziz International Airport to Haramain Railway Station at Sulaimaniya district in the Old Airport area. The line will have 17 stations.

Another 17-km line with seven stations will link the Haramain station with Corniche via Palestine Road.

The mayor said the public transport system also includes a network of 816 buses plying over a total length of 750 km.

Aburas said a sea transport network with 10 stations will be built along the Corniche with the aim of boosting tourism and entertainment.

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Agencies
January 4,2020

Baghdad, Jan 4: At least five people were killed on Saturday by an airstrike on a vehicle convoy of Iraq's Shia Popular Mobilization Forces in northern Baghdad, a source in security forces told Sputnik.

Earlier in the day, the source told Sputnik about a powerful explosion in Baghdad's northern district of Taji.

"A vehicle convoy of the Popular Mobilization Forces has been attacked. According to preliminary data, five people have died. Their names have not been clarified so far," the source said.

On Friday, several senior members of the Popular Mobilization Forces, as well as commander of the elite Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps Qasem Soleimani, were killed by a US drone attack near the Baghdad International Airport.

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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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News Network
January 16,2020

Dubai, Jan 16: The UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment on Wednesday announced that it has banned the import of birds, some eggs and meat products from Hungary and Slovakia.

The ministry said the decision was taken following a notification from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) on the outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu, H5N2, in the two countries.

Accordingly, the ministry has banned "the import of all species of domestic and wild live birds, ornamental birds, chicks, hatching eggs, meats and meat products and non-heat-treated wastes from Hungary and Slovakia".

It has also regulated the import of poultry meat and non-heat-treated products, requiring a health certificate for the export of meat and meat products from the two countries to release consignments into the UAE.

A health certificate will be needed for the import of eggs, the ministry added.

However, thermally-treated poultry products (meat and eggs) have been cleared for import from all parts of Hungary and Slovakia.

Kaltham Ali Kayaf, Acting Director, Animal Development & Health Department at the ministry, said: "These measures reiterate the ministry's keenness in achieving its strategic objectives including enhancing bio-security levels and eliminating pathogens before they enter the country. In doing so, the ministry prevents the bird flu virus and related risks and impacts on the country's poultry health and safety, in addition to protecting public health and well-being."

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