Saudi Arabia announces 9 new coronavirus deaths, 1,197 new cases

Abu Dhabi, May 25: Dusty weather to persist in the UAE on Monday as well with a chance of rainfall in parts of the country, the national Met department reported.

According to the NCM, the weather today will be fair to partly cloudy, with a chance of some convective clouds formation by afternoon - eastward and northward - extending to some internal areas that may be associated with some rainfall.

The weather will get humid by night and Tuesday morning over some coastal areas.

NCM predicts a wet Eid break.

طريق كلباء #الشارقة ⁧#المركز_الوطني_للأرصاد⁩ ⁧#أمطار_الخير⁩ ⁧#أصدقاء_المركز_الوطني_للأرصاد⁩ ⁧#حالة_الطقس⁩ ⁧#حالة_جوية⁩ ⁧#هواة_الطقس⁩⁩ pic.twitter.com/i4gjYfgTwj

— المركز الوطني للأرصاد (@NCMS_media) May 25, 2020

أمطار غزيرة على فلي (الشارقة)
#أمطار#أمطار_الخير #استمطار #تلقيح_السحب #المركز_الوطني_للأرصاد
Heavy rain over Fili (Sharjah)
#Rain #Cloud_Seeding #NCM

— المركز الوطني للأرصاد (@NCMS_media) May 25, 2020

أمطار غزيرة على المنيعي (رأس الخيمة)
#أمطار#أمطار_الخير #استمطار #تلقيح_السحب #المركز_الوطني_للأرصاد
Heavy rain over Al Manaie (Ras Al Khaimah)
#Rain #Cloud_Seeding #NCM

— المركز الوطني للأرصاد (@NCMS_media) May 25, 2020

Sharjah Police issued a weather warning as heavy rain flooded roads in Sharjah's Kalba among other areas.

#Alert #NCM pic.twitter.com/RnFy0WtK3H

— المركز الوطني للأرصاد (@NCMS_media) May 25, 2020

مليحة ⁧#الشارقة⁩ ⁧#المركز_الوطني_للأرصاد⁩ ⁧#أمطار_الخير⁩ ⁧#أصدقاء_المركز_الوطني_للأرصاد⁩ ⁧#حالة_الطقس⁩ ⁧#حالة_جوية⁩ ⁧#هواة_الطقس⁩ #عبدالله_القايدي pic.twitter.com/rKhJG4mIzN

— المركز الوطني للأرصاد (@NCMS_media) May 24, 2020

طريق #الشارقة #كلباء #المركز_الوطني_للأرصاد #أمطار_الخير #أصدقاء_المركز_الوطني_للأرصاد #حالة_الطقس #حالة_جوية #هواة_الطقس #عبدالله_الشامسي pic.twitter.com/YDX91G6jaZ

— المركز الوطني للأرصاد (@NCMS_media) May 25, 2020

ننوه الأخوة السائقين بتوخي الحيطة والحذر أثناء القيادة وخاصةً على الطرق الخارجية للإمارة وذلك بسبب هطول أمطار الخير،
كما ندعو السائقين إلى توخي الحيطة والحذر والابتعاد عن أماكن جريان الاودية وترك مسافات كافية بين المركبات وتخفيف السرعات والحرص على التعامل مع الطريق بحذر

— شرطة الشارقة (@ShjPolice) May 25, 2020

Moderate to fresh winds will gain strength during the day causing blowing dust and sand.

The sea will be slight to moderate in the Arabian Gulf and in Oman Sea.

Earlier on Sunday, a weather alert was issued by authorities as moderate to heavy rain - accompanied with hail - lashed parts of the UAE. A rainbow in Dubai skies cheered up residents, celebrating a unique Eid this year amid the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic - by mostly staying home.

Doha, May 2: Twenty-three staff at a hospital in Qatar were injured when tents being used to boost capacity in response to coronavirus collapsed in a fierce storm, local media reported Friday.

Winds of up to 72 kilometres per hour (45 miles per hour) caused two temporary tent annexes at Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital in Qatar's Industrial Area to collapse on Thursday, the Gulf Times reported.

No patients were hurt and most injuries to staff at the facility, 20 kilometres south west of central Doha, were minor, the daily added, citing the health ministry.

During the gale-force winds on Thursday, a Qatar Airways Boeing 787 on the ground was blown into a nearby Airbus A350 at Doha's Hamad airport causing minor damage but no injuries, the airline said in a statement.

Ten@ten989

عاصفة رعدية ورياح قوية تهدم المستشفى الميداني في قطر وأضرار أخرى في منطقة

#انهيار_المستشفي_الميداني

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4:14 AM - May 1, 2020

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The Industrial Area is a gritty, densely-populated district that is home to mostly migrant labourers and has been the epicentre of Qatar's outbreak. 

Tens of thousands of residents were quarantined in the area after cases of the novel coronavirus were confirmed among the community in mid-March.

Qatar -- home to hundreds of thousands of foreign labourers working on projects linked to the 2022 World Cup -- has reported 12 deaths and 14,096 cases of the Covid-19 respiratory disease.

The hospital's executive director Hussein Ishaq said the incident was being treated "very seriously" and that an investigation had been launched.

Hospital staff had "helped ensure that no patients were injured and were safely transferred to other hospitals", he said, quoted in the Gulf Times.

Riyadh, Jul 1: Saudis braced Wednesday for a tripling in value added tax, another unpopular austerity measure after the twin shocks of coronavirus and an oil price slump triggered the kingdom's worst economic decline in decades.

Retailers in the country reported a sharp uptick in sales this week of everything from gold and electronics to cars and building materials, as shoppers sought to stock up before VAT is raised to 15 percent.

The hike could stir public resentment as it weighs on household incomes, pushing up inflation and depressing consumer spending as the kingdom emerges from a three-month coronavirus lockdown.

"Cuts, cuts, cuts everywhere," a Saudi teacher in Riyadh told AFP, bemoaning vanishing subsidies as salaries remain stagnant.

"Air conditioner, television, electronic items," he said, rattling off a list of items he bought last week ahead of the VAT hike.

"I can't afford these things from Wednesday."

With its vast oil wealth funding the Arab world's biggest economy, the kingdom had for decades been able to fund massive spending with no taxes at all.

It only introduced VAT in 2018, as part of a push to reduce its dependence on crude revenues.

Then, seeking to shore up state finances battered by sliding oil prices and the coronavirus crisis, it announced in May that it would triple VAT and halt a cost-of-living monthly allowance to citizens.

The austerity push underscores how Saudi Arabia's once-lavish spending is becoming a thing of the past, with the erosion of the welfare system leaving a mostly young population to cope with reduced incomes and a lifestyle downgrade.

That could pile strain on a decades-old social contract whereby citizens were given generous subsidies and handouts in exchange for loyalty to the absolute monarchy.

The rising cost of living may prompt many to ask why state funds are being lavished on multi-billion-dollar projects and overseas assets, including the proposed purchase of English football club Newcastle United.

Shopping malls in the kingdom have drawn large crowds in recent days as retailers offered "pre-VAT sales" and discounts before the hike kicks in.

A gold shop in Riyadh told AFP it saw a 70 percent jump in sales in recent weeks, while a car dealership saw them tick up by 15 percent.

Once the new rate is in place, businesses are predicting depressed sales of everything from cars to cosmetics and home appliances.

Capital Economics forecast inflation will jump up to six percent year-on-year in July, from 1.1 percent in May, as a result.

"The government ended the country's lockdown (in June) and there are signs that economic activity has started to recover," Capital Economics said in a report.

"Nonetheless, we expect the recovery to be slow-going as fiscal austerity measures bite."

The kingdom also risks losing its edge against other Gulf states, including its principal ally the United Arab Emirates, which introduced VAT at the same time but has so far refrained from raising it beyond five percent.

"Saudi Arabia is taking massive risks with contractionary fiscal policies," said Tarek Fadlallah, chief executive officer of the Middle East unit of Nomura Asset Management.

But the kingdom has few choices as oil revenue declines.

Its finances have taken another blow as authorities massively scaled back this year's hajj pilgrimage, from 2.5 million pilgrims last year to around a thousand already inside the country, and suspended the lesser umrah because of coronavirus.

Together the rites rake in some $12 billion annually.

The International Monetary Fund warned the kingdom's GDP will shrink by 6.8 percent this year -- its worst performance since the 1980s oil glut.

The austerity drive would boost state coffers by 100 billion riyals ($26.6 billion), according to state media.

But the measures are unlikely to plug the kingdom's huge budget deficit.

The Saudi Jadwa Investment group forecasts the shortfall will rise to a record $112 billion this year.