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Saudi Arabia harnessed all capabilities to serve pilgrims, says top diplomat

Arab News
August 15, 2019

Jeddah, Aug 15:  Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Abdul Aziz bin Saud bin Naif conveyed Eid Al-Adha greetings to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and congratulated them on the success of this year’s Hajj, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

He thanked the king for taking care of the pilgrims and for providing them with all the facilities and services needed. Around 2.5 million pilgrims performed the Hajj this year and all the measures put in place by authorities and agencies were successful, he added.

The minister said: “I congratulate you on the success achieved in this year’s Hajj season, in the implementation of wise directives and ... and preparing all the services and facilities for pilgrims to perform their rituals with ease, comfort, security and tranquility, including the Makkah Route initiative launched three years ago.”

The Hajj season this year was characterized by the successful implementation of all security, preventative, organizational, service and traffic plans.

Pilgrims arrived in Arafat, Nafra, Muzdalifah and Mina in record time according to strict organization and smooth streamlining, up to Jamarat (where pilgrims throw stones) and flocking to the Grand Mosque to perform Tawaf Al-Ifadah (circumambulation) and completion of their Hajj rituals.

The security situation remained stable and there were no incidents disturbing the pilgrimage, Prince Abdul Aziz said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ibrahim Al-Assaf stressed that the Kingdom has harnessed all its capabilities and sectors to serve the guests of Allah and provide all means to facilitate the performance of their rituals with ease and tranquility, sensing the great responsibility toward Muslims in all countries of the world without differentiation or discrimination.

He said that the role of the ministry during the Hajj season integrates with the roles of other sectors of the state under the directives of the leadership to provide everything that reflects the Kingdom’s efforts in the service of visitors of the Two Holy Mosques.

Makkah Gov. Prince Khalid Al-Faisal also thanked King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for supervising the services offered to pilgrims during this year’s Hajj.

Prince Khalid said all Saudis were proud of the efforts made to help pilgrims during their stay in the Kingdom.

The Makkah governor said that more than 350,000 people had worked to provide pilgrims with support and services. 

He also said that 35,000 volunteers, in addition to 120,000 security personnel, 30,000 health practitioners and 200,000 workers from other sectors, had contributed to the success of the Hajj season.

Minister of Health Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah said the Hajj health plans for this year were successful and there was nothing that might have negatively affected public health.

He praised the king and the crown prince for supporting the Ministry of Health, its employees and all sectors connected to this year’s Hajj operations.

Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UK, also congratulated the king and crown prince on a successful Hajj season.

There were 2,489,406 pilgrims at this year’s Hajj, according to the General Authority for Statistics, and 1,855,027 of them came from outside the Kingdom. There were 634,379 domestic pilgrims, of whom 67 percent were non-Saudi.

There were 1,385,234 male pilgrims and 1,104,172 female pilgrims, the authority added.

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Agencies
June 28,2020

Kuwait, Jun 28: Measures imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in Kuwait are believed to have increased suicide cases in the country, according to a media report.

Forty suicide cases and 15 failed attempts, mainly among Asian expatriates, have been recorded in Kuwait since late February, Gulf News quoted the Al Qabas newspaper report, citing sources as saying on Saturday.

Investigations into the majority of cases have revealed that those who committed suicide had experienced psychological and economic troubles due to dire financial circumstances after their employers stopped to pay them as a result of economic fallout from the coronavirus-related measures.

In one case, an expat livestreamed his suicide while chatting with his fiancee on a social networking platform, the newspaper report said.

Suicide cases have increased by around 40 per cent since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, according to the sources.

Some 70 to 80 suicide cases are recorded annually in Kuwait. Last year, they reached 80 suicides against 77 in 2018.

"Suicide cases have started to go up in Kuwait during the coronavirus pandemic due to fear, anxiety, isolation and instability experienced by people and absence of daily aims that could help the person to spend time regularly as before," the newspaper quoted social psychology consultant Samira Al Dosari as saying.

Uncertainty for some expatriates, whose countries have refused to take them in, is another motive for attempting suicide, according to Jamil Al Muri, a sociology professor at the Kuwait University.

"This is in addition to greed of the iqamat traders, who have brought into the country workers in names of phantom companies and abandoned them on the streets," he added.

Starting from Tuesday, Kuwait will embark on the second phase of a stepwise plan to bring life to normal, Gulf News reportd.

According to Phase 2, a nationwide night-time curfew will be reduced by one hour to run daily from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. for three weeks.

Kuwait has so far reported 44,391 COVID-19 cases, with 344 deaths.

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Angry indian
 - 
Tuesday, 30 Jun 2020

YA ALLah save all dispressed people in the earth..

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Agencies
May 25,2020

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.

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

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.

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Agencies
July 16,2020

Riyadh, Jul 16: Prince Abdul Aziz bin Saud bin Naif, minister of interior and chairman of the Hajj Supreme Committee, chaired a virtual meeting on Wednesday with the heads of  security agencies and officials in charge of this year’s Hajj season.

During the meeting, the minister and security officials discussed organizational issues related to Hajj, including preventive and precautionary steps related to fighting the coronavirus disease, procedures related to pilgrims commuting to the holy sites, and mechanisms to facilitate performing the Hajj rituals.

Prince Abdul Aziz confirmed abiding by the directives of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to take all precautions to preserve the safety of the pilgrims, and facilitate their performance of their Hajj rituals, according to the highest health standards to contain the new coronavirus pandemic.

Saudi Arabia has decided to allow only a limited number of domestic pilgrims to perform Hajj this year in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Only those expatriates between the ages of 20 and 50 who are not suffering from any chronic diseases can apply for the pilgrimage.

Earlier, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said that requests from people of 160 nationalities in the Kingdom have been screened electronically to select who will perform Hajj this year.

Of the pilgrims who will receive approval, 70 percent will be non-Saudis residing in the Kingdom and the remaining 30 percent will be Saudi citizens.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior said that anyone found entering the sites of Hajj (Mina, Muzdalifah and Arafat) without a permit from July 18 till the end of Dhu Al-Hijjah 12 will be issued with a fine of SR10,000 ($2,600).

The fine will be doubled if the offence is repeated. Security personnel will be posted on roads leading to the holy sites to ensure that anyone who breaks the law will be stopped and fined.

Around 2.5 million foreign and domestic pilgrims performed Hajj last year.

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