Saudi king opens key projects in Alkhobar

November 29, 2016

Riyadh, Nov 29: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on Monday inaugurated a number of key development projects in Alkhobar in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.

salman

They include hospital developments with hundreds of new beds for patients as well as environment, water and agriculture projects.

Speaking on the occasion, the king said: “I am very pleased to be among you today to celebrate these projects that will serve our country and citizens.”

The king said that the Kingdom is blessed with security, tranquility and prosperity and that “our citizens come together as one.”

Health Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah highlighted health projects, which include a children and maternity hospital in Dammam with a capacity of 500 beds, Saud bin Jalawi Hospital in Al-Ahsa with a capacity of 300 beds, King Faisal General Hospital in Al-Ahsa with a capacity of 200 beds and Al-Omran General Hospital with a capacity of 100 beds.

King Salman and attendees later watched a visual presentation about the ministry’s programs. The king then inaugurated the health projects as well as environment, water and agriculture projects.

The Saudi Cabinet, chaired by King Salman at Al-Aziziyah Palace in Alkhobar Monday, condemned the recent deadly terrorist attacks in Turkey and Egypt.

The Cabinet also underlined the need to ensure more legitimacy and accountability in using social media networks, which will go a long way in curbing extremism and terrorism.

The Cabinet expressed sorrow over the explosion that killed and wounded several innocent people outside the governor’s office in the southern Turkish city of Adana.

In another incident, a bomb blast in the southeastern Turkish province of Sirnak killed at least two children and wounded several. Another target of terror was the Sinai in Egypt, where more than 12 soldiers were killed, reportedly by Daesh.

The Cabinet reaffirmed the Kingdom’s stand and solidarity with Egypt and Turkey in the fight against terrorism, expressing its sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and wishing a speedy recovery for the wounded.

At the outset of the Cabinet session, King Salman thanked Allah for “the development, growth and prosperity” of the Kingdom, especially the Eastern Province, stressing that “the nation is proceeding on right track to achieve prosperity for citizens and for the nation.”

King Salman briefed the Cabinet on the results of his meeting with the king of Sweden, the telephone call received from King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain, and the invitation received from Bahrain to participate in the GCC summit.

Adel Al-Toraifi, minister of culture and information, said in a statement that the Cabinet commended various scientific and economic conferences hosted by the Kingdom during the past weeks. He also appreciated the first conference organized on the social media that called for legitimate control and use of the social networks “to fight extremism and terrorism.”

The Cabinet also underlined the Kingdom’s hosting of 14th International Arab Conference for Mineral Resources, and the accompanying exhibition under the theme “Arab Mineral Resources, Strategic Resources and Promising Investment Opportunities.”

The Cabinet lauded the signing of the pact for implementing a nutrition program to counter malnutrition in Hodeidah region of Yemen at a cost of $10 million.

The agreement was signed by KSRelief in Rome with the World Food Program that would address the risk of acute malnutrition for children under five. The Cabinet noted that emergency food aid is being provided for more than 464,000 beneficiaries in Hodeidah for the last six months.

The Cabinet commended the efforts that led to the arrest of a man who shot at soldiers in Tabuk, and seven other suspects in connection to the case. One soldier was killed in the shootout. The Cabinet also expressed its appreciation for “the high skills and the capabilities of security agencies that led to the foiling of several terror plots and plans.”

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Agencies
April 26,2020

Riyadh, Apr 26: The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia has issued an order to partially lift the curfew in all regions of the Kingdom, to become from 9am to 5pm, starting Sunday through Wednesday May 13, while keeping a 24-hour curfew in the holy city of Makkah and in previously isolated neighbourhoods, state news agency (SPA) said early on Sunday.

The order also allowed the opening of some economic and commercial activities, which include wholesale and retail shops in addition to malls.

They can operate for two weeks, beginning on April 29 (Wednesday) until May 13 (Ramadan 6-20), however, certain shops within malls like beauty clinics, barber salons, gyms, cinemas, and restaurants will continue to be restricted from reopening.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

Kuwait, Aug 2: Kuwait has barred entry of foreign passengers from over 30 countries including India and China.

A circular from the Director General Civil Aviation, State of Kuwait directed all airlines operating at Kuwait International Airport to adhere to the instructions in this regard.

"Based on the decision of the Health Authority in State of Kuwait, no foreign passenger coming from the down listed countries will be allowed to enter the State of Kuwait," the circular read.

These include- India, Iran, China, Brazil, Colombia, Armenia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Syria, Spain, Singapore, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Iraq, Mexico, Indonesia, Chile, Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, Hong Kong, Italy, North Macedonia, Moldova, Panama, Beirut ,Serbia Montenegro, Dominican Republic and Kosovo.

The circular stated that such restriction will also include the passengers were present 14 days before the date of travel until further notice.

The ban was announced the same day Kuwait began a partial resumption of commercial flights according to Khaleej Times, which quoted authorities stating that Kuwait International Airport would run at about 30 per cent capacity from Saturday, gradually increasing in coming months.

According to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University, Kuwait has reported 67,448 cases of coronavirus while the fatalities related to the virus stand at 453.

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News Network
March 6,2020

Riyadh, Mar 6: Saudi Arabia on Thursday emptied Islam's holiest site for sterilisation over fears of the new coronavirus, an unprecedented shutdown state media said will last while the year-round Umrah pilgrimage is suspended.

The kingdom halted the pilgrimage for its own citizens and residents on Wednesday, on top of restrictions announced last week on foreign pilgrims to stop the disease from spreading.

State television relayed images of an empty white-tiled area surrounding the Kaaba -- a large black cube structure inside Mecca's Grand Mosque -- which is usually packed with tens of thousands of pilgrims.

As a "precautionary measure", the area will remain closed as long as the umrah suspension lasts but prayers will be allowed inside the mosque, state-run Saudi Press Agency cited a mosque official as saying.

Additionally, the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque in the city of Medina will be closed an hour after the evening "Isha" prayer and will reopen an hour before the dawn "Fajr" prayer to allow cleaning and sterilisation, the official added.

A group of cleaners was seen scrubbing and mopping the tiles around the Kaaba, a structure draped in gold-embroidered gold cloth towards which Muslims around the world pray.

A Saudi official told news agency the decision to close the area was "unprecedented".

On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia suspended the umrah for its own citizens and residents over fears of the coronavirus spreading to Islam's holiest cities.

The move came after authorities last week suspended visas for the umrah and barred citizens from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council from entering Mecca and Medina.

Saudi Arabia on Thursday declared three new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of reported infections to five.

The umrah, which refers to the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that can be undertaken at any time of year, attracts millions of Muslims from across the globe annually.

The decision to suspend the umrah mirrors a precautionary approach across the Gulf to cancel mass gatherings from concerts to sporting events.

It comes ahead of the holy fasting month of Ramadan starting in late April, which is a favoured period for pilgrimage.

It is unclear how the coronavirus will affect the hajj, due to start in late July.

Some 2.5 million faithful travelled to Saudi Arabia from across the world in 2019 to take part in the hajj, which is one of the five pillars of Islam as Muslim obligations are known.

The event is a massive logistical challenge for Saudi authorities, with colossal crowds cramming into relatively small holy sites, making attendees vulnerable to contagion.

Already reeling from slumping oil prices, the kingdom risks losing billions of dollars annually from religious tourism as it tightens access to the sites.

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