Qatar, May 11: A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck in the Gulf nation of Oman on Saturday near the northern city of Al Khasab, the US Geological Survey said.
The quake had a depth of 21 miles (33 km) and was centered 116 miles (186 km) east of al Khasab, the agency said.
Protests condemning the Israeli plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank are set to take place in the United States and Europe on the same day prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to begin the process.
The demonstrations will be held on Wednesday in Chicago, San Diego, Brooklyn, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Other Western cities will also witness similar protests, including Toronto, Madrid and Valencia.
Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, and American Muslims for Palestine are among the pro-Palestinian groups organizing the protests.
The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, one of the organizers, urged "direct actions and popular mobilizations in [Palestinian] refugee camps, cities and villages," and professed "loyalty to the martyrs" on its call for the events.
Another group, Al-Awda or the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition, decried "72 years of genocide, ethnic cleansing and dispossession" of Palestinians.
It also tied their demonstrations to the protests against anti-black racism in the US and beyond.
"We demand the defunding and dismantling of US police alongside the defunding and dismantling of Zionist colonialism and racist Israeli apartheid," Al-Awda said on its website.
Netanyahu has set July 1 as the date for the start of cabinet discussions on the annexation plan.
He has been driven ahead by US President Donald Trump, who unveiled a “peace” plan for the Middle East in January that effectively sidelines the Palestinians altogether.
The plan, which Trump himself has described as the “deal of the century,” envisions Jerusalem al-Quds as “Israel’s undivided capital” and allows the Tel Aviv regime to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank and the Jordan Valley. The plan also denies Palestinian refugees the right of return to their homeland, among other controversial terms.
The Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.
Riyadh, Jul 22: Saudi King Salman held a cabinet meeting via video call from hospital in the capital Riyadh on Tuesday, a day after the 84-year-old monarch was admitted with inflammation of the gall bladder.
Three Saudi sources said the king was in stable condition.
A video of the king chairing the meeting was broadcast on Saudi state TV on Tuesday evening. In the video, which has no sound, King Salman can be seen behind a desk, wordlessly reading and leafing through documents.
The king, who has ruled the world’s largest oil exporter and close US ally since 2015, was undergoing medical checks, state media on Monday cited a Royal Court statement as saying.
Three well-connnected Saudi sources who declined to be identified, two of whom were speaking late on Monday and one on Tuesday, said the king was “fine”.
An official in the region, who requested anonymity, said he spoke to one of King Salman’s sons on Monday who seemed “calm” and that there was no sense of panic about the monarch’s health.
Dubai, June 30: The United Arab Emirates is all set to reopen mosques and other places of worship at 30 per cent capacity from July 1.
However, Friday prayers will remain suspended in the country, said Saif Al Dhaheri, Spokesperson for the National Crisis & Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA) during a virtual press briefing on Monday.
The official said certain mosques in industrial areas, labor residential areas, shopping malls and public parks will remain closed until further notice.
He said health authorities already conducted Covid-19 tests for Imams and workers serving at the mosque to ensure health and safety of the worshippers.
Al Dhaheri also spelt out guidelines that worship centres have to follow to welcome worshippers.
A distance of three metres should be observed between each worshippers and no handshakes are allowed. Worshippers will have to perform ablutions at home. People should bring their own personal copies of Holy Quran or read from digital copies. It is also mandatory for all worshippers to download and activate contract tracing app AlHosn.
"We urge the public to cooperate by following precautionary measures including social distancing. Children under 12 years old, the elderly as well as individuals with chronic diseases should avoid going to mosques," said the official.
The UAE first announced the suspension of public prayers in all places of worship on March 16, which was extended until further notice on April 9.
As Khaleej Times reported, places of worship had been preparing to reopen since the last few weeks by sanitizing parking lots and outdoor areas, entrances, main prayer halls and ablution areas.
The spokesperson also announced that the Private and commercial boat trips and water sports will be allowed to operate at reduced capacity of 50 per cent but by following precautionary measures.
The total number of recovered cases of Coronavirus (Covid-19) in the UAE has reached 37,076 with 665 cases recovered today after receiving treatment. Since the beginning of June, UAE has had a daily recovery average of 660 cases, said Dr. Amna Al Shamsi, Spokesperson for the UAE government.
Guidelines
1. Maintain a distance of 3 metres between worshippers.
2. No handshakes allowed.
3. Ablutions must be performed at home.
4. To read the Holy Quran, worshippers must bring their own copies.
5. All worshippers must download and activate contact tracing app AlHosn
6. People in vulnerable categories like those with chronic diseases and the elderly must not visit the mosques.
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