Flights delayed as dense fog takes over UAE

KT
March 29, 2019

Dubai, Mar 29: Thick fog has disrupted several flights at Dubai International Airport on Friday morning.

"Fog has affected some flights from at Dubai International Airport," the Emirates said in a statement on Twitter.

Emirates has urged passengers to check their flight status on its website for the latest information regarding their flights.

Thick fog covered parts of the UAE , reducing visibility to less than 500 metres at several places.

Fog was reported in different parts to the country, including Al Dhafrah area, Al Shawamekh in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah,  Umm Al Quwain and in Abu Dhabi-Dubai road.

The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) cautioned commuters to be extra careful when travelling during these conditions.

The unstable weather the country has been experiencing in the past couple of days is due to a trough of low atmospheric pressure, resulting in rainfall of different intensities over scattered areas of the country, the NCM said in its forecast.

Meanwhile, the NCM said it will cloudy across the country today, with humidity increasing by the evening. Winds will be Light to moderate northeasterly to easterly winds, may become fresh during day time, with a speed of 20 - 30, reaching 38kmph. Sea will be Slight to moderate in the Arabian Gulf and in Oman Sea.

Rain to continue till weekend

If you have plans to spend some time outdoors this weekend, don't forget to pack your umbrellas and other protective gear as there is a chance of light to moderate showers until Saturday, according to the UAE weather bureau.

Following a night of thunderstorm and rain lashing most parts of the country on Wednesday, Dubai residents woke up to dark skies on Thursday. People going to work had to face light showers as they set out for the day.

On Wednesday, the Jumeirah area in Dubai recorded the second highest amount of rainfall at 11.6mm while Abu Dhabi's Ras Ghanada was the wettest after receiving 12mm of rain.

Heavy traffic was reported on major thoroughfares and the Dubai Police said that 110 traffic accidents were reported due to the heavy rain in the emirate from Wednesday 12 noon until 10am on Thursday.

The Dubai Police also received as many as 3,385 emergency calls but there were no serious injuries. "We have urged motorists to keep a safe distance between cars and adjust their speed to the weather conditions. They are also advised to allow extra time for their journey and check their planned route. It's also highly advisable to slow down as rain makes roads slippery," Colonel Turki bin Fares, director of command and control centre at the Dubai Police, said.

Based on Khaleej Times' monitoring, the country has been receiving rain since the last six months, with February's average rainfall of 9mm higher than the 5.6mm recorded in the same month last year.

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Agencies
June 29,2020

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.

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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 19,2020

Kuwait City, Jul 19: Kuwaiti ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah has successfully undergone surgery early on Sunday, the emir's office said.

"His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah ... has undergone surgery this morning, with thanks to God for its success," the head of the emir's office Sheikh Ali Jarrah al-Sabah said, as quoted by state news agency KUNA.

The 91-year-old was admitted to hospital for a medical checkup.

Yesterday, a royal order was issued assigning Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmed al-Sabah, the emir's designated successor, "to take over some constitutional jurisdictions of His Highness the Emir temporarily"

In August 2019, Kuwait acknowledged the emir suffered an unspecified medical "setback" that required him to be hospitalised.

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