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Thousands of employees of Emirates airline likely to lose jobs

Agencies
June 9, 2020

Dubai, Jun 9: Dubai's Emirates airline has begun laying off employees to reduce cost and save cash as the carrier looks to rightsize its workforce.

"We at Emirates have been doing everything possible to retain the talented people that make up our workforce for as long as we can. However, given the significant impact that the pandemic has had on our business, we simply cannot sustain excess resources and have to rightsize our workforce in line with our reduced operations. After reviewing all scenarios and options, we deeply regret that we have to let some of our people go," the spokesperson said in the statement.

Citing sources, Reuters and Bloomberg earlier reported that a majority of those being made redundant are cabin crew workers as well as a minority of its engineers and pilots, including those flew the Airbus A380.

"This was a very difficult decision and not one that we took lightly. The company is doing everything possible to protect the workforce wherever we can. Where we are forced to take tough decisions we will treat people with fairness and respect. We will work with impacted employees to provide them with all possible support," said the statement.

The spokesperson, however, didn't disclose how many employees are being made redundant in this latest round of rightsizing the workforce.

Emirates on Sunday confirmed that it extended the period of reduced pay for its staff for another three months till September. It had previously reduced basic wages by 25 to 50 per cent for three months from April, with junior employees exempted.

The airline had employed around 60,000 people at the end of its 2019-20 financial year.

Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, said the announced job cuts at Emirates will likely not be the last given the unprecedented damage that Covid-19 has had not just on air travel, but on the entire aviation industry as a whole.

"Emirates' massive international network means that job reductions were always a last resort option as the company staves off cash burn and expenses at a time when revenues are dried up. While Emirates SkyCargo is enjoying a resurgence in activities, the reality is that this income will never offset the lost money from passenger operations," he added.

"Whilst some salary reduction schemes have prevented bigger job cuts for now, the absence of a cure or medicinal suppressant of Covid-19 means that air travel is unlikely to even reach pre-9/11 levels within 3-5 years, let alone pre-Covid-19 levels in that same time period. For that reason, Emirates' reduction in headcount is necessary to stay competitive, agile and be ready for when air travel can resume with a degree of normalcy that we have been accustomed to for decades," said Ahmad.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Jeddah, Jul 31: Hajj 2020 pilgrims arrived in Muzdalifah Thursday night to rest after spending the day in Arafat.

Earlier, the pilgrims scaled Mount Arafat to pray and repent, as a highly unusual Hajj approached its climax. They listened to a sermon delivered by Sheikh Abdullah Al-Manea and prayed Dhuhr and Asr prayers together at the Al-Namirah Mosque in Arafat.

This year’s pilgrimage is the smallest in modern times, after the number of participants was greatly restricted to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. 

Tight security was in place around the foot of the rocky hill outside Makkah, also known as Jabal Al-Rahma or Mount of Mercy, in preparation for the high point of the annual ritual.

Video footage shown on state television showed the pilgrims setting off on their climb to the summit. They wore face masks and observed strict social-distancing rules imposed by Saudi authorities.As sprinklers sprayed water on them to provide relief from the summer desert heat, the pilgrims raised their palms as they climbed the slopes of the hill — the site of Prophet Muhammad’s last sermon. When they reached the top they recited holy verses and prayed for forgiveness for their sins.

Earlier, the pilgrims were taken in buses from Mina to Mount Arafat. Strict precautionary measures were in place, with each group accompanied by security teams, ambulances and civil defense vehicles. 

When they arrived, their temperatures were checked before they entered Namirah Mosque to hear a sermon that was translated into 10 languages.

“The camps were set up for pilgrims in Arafat early on,” said Minister of Hajj and Umrah Muhammad Salih Bentin. The sermon at Namirah Mosque was delivered by Sheikh Abdullah Al-Manea, who led the pilgrims in noon and afternoon prayers.

“During Hajj this year, we reiterate that it is essential for pilgrims, as well as everyone assisting them, to adhere to the precautionary regulations that have been implemented,” Al-Manea, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars, said during his sermon. “This is to be done for their own safety.

“Precautions have been put in place to protect lives against the damage that the pandemic can cause, and also to actualize Islam’s teachings pertaining to safeguarding human life by Allah’s permission.”

The stay in Arafat is described as the pinnacle of Hajj and Muslims around the world reflect the actions of pilgrims by asking for forgiveness and praying for their deepest desires.
Pilgrims left Arafat in coaches for Muzdalifah after sunset and will pray the Maghrib and Isha prayers there.

After sunset prayers, the pilgrims made their way down Mount Arafat to Muzdalifah, where they will spend the night before the final Hajj ritual, the symbolic stoning of the devil. 

This year, each pilgrim received sanitized pebbles in advance of the event on Friday, which is the first day of Eid Al-Adha.
This year the Kingdom faced the unprecedented challenge of ensuring pilgrims attending Hajj were protected as much as possible from the risks of the coronavirus.

They will then sleep, pray the Fajr prayer there tomorrow and then leave for Mina.

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News Network
January 16,2020

Abu Dhabi, Jan 16: The number of people being killed by terrorism activities worldwide has decreased significantly over the recent years, according to the latest Global Terrorism Index.

The 2019 Global Terrorism Index, which was presented at a forum in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday also showed that the UAE improved its ranking in the index by coming down to 130th rank among the 163 countries. The terrorism impact in the UAE is categorised as 'very low'. In the UAE, only two terrorism incidents were reported over the past decade - one in 2010 and another in 2014 - and there were no casualties.

Commenting on the report, Mansour Al Mansouri, director of the UAE National Media Council (NMC) said: "These findings rightly show the UAE as one of the safest countries in the world in terms of terror threat."

The index showed that the total number of deaths from terrorism declined for the fourth consecutive year in 2018, falling by 15.2 per cent to 15,952 deaths. This represents a 53 per cent reduction since its peak in 2014 when 33,555 people were killed in terrorist attacks.

The index published for the seventh year in a row, ranks 163 countries across the globe according to the relative impact of terrorism. This takes into account the number of terrorist incidents, deaths caused by terror and total value of property damage.

The latest results saw three Middle East countries - Iraq, Syria and Yemen - continue in the top 10 positions of the index.

The findings also showed Taleban overtaking Daesh as the deadliest terrorist group in the world, accounting for 38 per cent of all terrorist deaths. This is an increase of 71 per cent. Afghanistan is the country most affected by terrorism in 2018 followed by Iraq, Nigeria, Syria and Pakistan, according to the report. The least impacted nations were Belarus, Guinea-Bissau, Oman, The Gambia and North Korea.

During his presentation of the key findings of the index at the Foreign Correspondent's Club of the UAE (FCC), Serge Stroobants, director of Europe and Mena at the Institute of Economics and Peace, said lesser people were now being killed in terrorism activities.

"There have been long-term trends in global terrorism, with deaths caused by terror down by 52 per cent compared to high point of 2014, which saw Daesh and Boko Haram at their peak," said Stroobants attributing the decrease in the deaths to the increase in security measures and cooperation among nations in the fight against terrorism.

In contrast to this, there has been a 320 per cent increase in far-right terrorist incidents in the West, with political ideology being the driving force behind an increased proportion of terror motivation.

"There has been an increase in far-right terrorism in Western Europe, North America and Oceania for the third consecutive year," said Stroobants.

Terrorism still remains a global security threat, according the index, with 71 countries recording more than one death - the second highest number of countries since 2002.

Stroobants said conflicts remain the main cause of terrorism with 90 per cent of terrorist incidents occurring in places where there are conflicts or insurgencies.

The report said the global economic impact of terrorism was $33 billion in 2018, a substantial decrease of 38 per cent from the previous year.

Boko Haram was responsible for 80 per cent of all female suicide attacks, said the terrorism index.

Global Terrorism Index: Most affected countries

>Afghanistan (7379 deaths)

>Iraq (1,054 deaths)

>Nigeria (2,040 deaths)

>Syria (662 deaths)

>Pakistan (537 deaths)

>Somalia (646 deaths)

>India (350 deaths)

>Yemen (301 deaths)

>The Philippines (297 deaths)

>Democratic Republic of the Congo (410 deaths)

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News Network
April 18,2020

Dubai, Apr 18: Saudi Arabia has reported 1,132 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number of confirmed COVID-19 patients to 8,274, the Ministry of Health revealed on Saturday.

The ministry has also announced five more deaths from the virus, taking to 92 the Kingdom’s death toll.

Recoveries
As for recoveries, 280 new recoveries were reported, pushing the total number of patients recovered to 1,329.

The ministry revealed that 79 per cent of today’s cases are expatriates and that 65 per cent of the cases were detected through intensified and active COVID-19 screening in densely-populated areas.

A total of 201 patients of Saturday’s cases have contracted the disease due to being in contact with existing cases, the ministry added.

The new infected cases have been placed under complete isolation and they are receiving necessary medical care, an official from the ministry said.

He affirmed that medical teams are intensifying efforts and screening tests in workers' neighbourhoods and accommodations in order to limit the spread of the disease.

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