Israeli forces storm Aqsa Mosque for third consecutive day

June 28, 2016

Al-Quds, Jun 28: Israeli military forces have once again raided the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Israeli-occupied Old City of al-Quds (Jerusalem) and engaged in scuffles with a group of Palestinians there.

forces

On Tuesday morning, Israeli forces stormed the mosque for a third consecutive day as a large number of Palestinian worshippers were performing prayers at Islam’s third-holiest site during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, al-Aqsa television network reported.

Violence broke out when Israeli troopers attacked Palestinians, and fired rubber-coated steel bullets as well as stun grenades to disperse the crowd. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The development came only a day after Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani, the director of al-Aqsa Mosque, said at least 35 Palestinian sustained injuries on Monday when nearly 250 Israeli soldiers, escorting a crowd of illegal settlers, stormed the holy site and clashed with worshipers.

He added that Israeli forces chased Palestinian worshippers and beat them with batons, shut the doors of the al-Qibli Chapel, and fired rubber bullets as well as tear gas canisters to scatter the people who were protesting the desecration of the mosque.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have prevented settlers and non-Muslims from entering the al-Aqsa Mosque until the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Scores of Israeli security forces have reportedly encircled the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and are closely monitoring the entry of Palestinians into and their departure from the holy site.

The occupied Palestinian territories have been the scene of heightened tensions since August 2015, when Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds.

Palestinians are angry at increasing violence by Israeli settlers at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, saying the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the status quo of the sacred site.

Nearly 220 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since the beginning of last October.

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News Network
April 21,2020

Dubai, Apr 21: Saudi Arabia reported 1122 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 10,484, the Ministry of Health announced on Monday (April 20).

Ministry of health announced 27% of the cases are for Saudis, while 73% for non-Saudis, and ages ranged from one month old baby to 96 years old.

Meanwhile, the ministry reported 92 recoveries today, with total recoveries in the kingdom at 1,490. There are 96 cases in intensive care.

The ministry also confirmed 6 deaths on Monday, bringing the total number of deaths in the kingdom to 103.

The Saudi health minister on Monday announced that 47 billion riyals were approved by the goverment to support the health ministry in this pandemic.

Also the minister in a press confrence referred to the large numbers of cases revealed in past days saying, "During the past three days, everyone noticed an increase in the number of people infected with the coronavirus, due to the active testing of areas."

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Agencies
February 5,2020

Paris, Feb 5: Saudi Arabia has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu virus on a poultry farm, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Tuesday, February 4.

The outbreak, which occurred in the central Sudair region, killed 22,700 birds, the OIE said, citing a report from the Saudi agriculture ministry.

The other 385,300 birds in the flock were slaughtered, it said.

The case was the first outbreak of the H5N8 virus in Saudi Arabia since July 2018.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Dubai, Jan 8: A Ukrainian airliner crashed soon after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport on Wednesday, killing all 176 people aboard, Iran's state television and Ukraine's leaders said.

The Boeing 737 belonging to Ukraine International Airlines crashed near the airport and burst into flames. Ukraine's embassy in Iran, citing preliminary information, said the plane had suffered engine failure and the crash was not caused by "terrorism".

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said there were no survivors.

"My sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of all passengers and crew," Zelenskiy said in a statement, adding that Ukraine was seeking to establish the circumstances of the crash and the death toll.

Iranian TV said the crash was due to technical problems but did not elaborate. State broadcaster IRIB said on its website that one of the plane's two black boxes - the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder - had been found.

Iranian media quoted an Iranian aviation official as saying the pilot of the airliner did not declare an emergency.

There was no official word from Ukraine International Airlines. It was the Kiev-based airline's first fatal crash.

"The fire is so heavy that we cannot (do) any rescue... we have 22 ambulances, four bus ambulances and a helicopter at the site," Pirhossein Koulivand, head of Iran's emergency services, told Iranian state television.

Ukraine's prime minister and Iranian state TV said 167 passengers and 9 crew were on board. Iranian TV said 32 of those on board were foreigners.

Television footage showed debris and smouldering engine parts strewn across a field, and rescue workers with face masks retrieving bodies of the victims.

According to air tracking service FlightRadar24, the plane that crashed was Flight PS 752 and was flying to Kiev. The plane was three years old and was a Boeing 737-800NG, it said.

The model's twin engines are made by CFM International, a U.S.-French venture co-owned by General Electric and France's Safran.

Modern aircraft are designed and certified to cope with an engine failure shortly after take-off and to fly for extended periods on one engine. However, an uncontained engine failure releasing shrapnel can cause damage to other aircraft systems.

A spokesman for Boeing said the company was aware of media reports of a plane crash in Iran and was gathering more information. The plane manufacturer grounded its 737 MAX fleet in March after two crashes that killed 346 people.

The 737-800 is one of the world's most-flown models with a good safety record and which does not have the software feature implicated in crashes of the 737 MAX.

Under international rules overseen by the United Nations, Iran is responsible for leading the crash investigation.

Ukraine would be involved and the United States would usually be accredited as the country where the Boeing jet was designed and built. France, where the engine maker CFM has half its activities, may also be involved.

There was no immediate word on whether the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board would be involved in the probe amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The NTSB usually invites Boeing to give technical advice in such investigations.

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