Riyadh, Jun 27: Shoura Council Speaker Abdullah Al-Asheikh said the Kingdom has placed serving pilgrims among its top priorities.
In remarks on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Al-Asheikh said serving the guests of Allah rests on the Kingdom’s deep belief that it is an honor and responsibility it has pledged to bear in the quest for reward from Allah Almighty.
In this context, the Shoura speaker congratulated the leadership on the success of the Umrah season during the holy month of Ramadan thanks to construction work carried out in the two holy mosques with a view to raising their capacities and facilitating services to the guests of Allah.
Meanwhile, Umrah performers condemned the attempted terror act targeting the Grand Mosque, saying this heinous act is nothing to do with the true Islamic religion and its tolerant principles.
Speaking to local press, Mohammed Abbad, a Tunisian, said Allah has given the Kingdom wise leadership and vigilant security men in a manner that has allowed Umrah performers to peacefully conduct their rituals. He said this group of terrorists has lost their humanity in their attempt to target the sacred house of Allah.
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Serving pilgrims Kingdom’s top priority: Shoura speaker
Arab News
June 27, 2017
Trail of death and devastation as massive explosion rocks Lebanon's capital
Agencies
August 4,2020
Beirut, Aug 4: A massive explosion has shaken the Lebanese capital of Beirut, with a very high number of casualties expected.
A warehouse at the Beirut Port caught fire on Tuesday afternoon, triggering a huge explosion, Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Several smaller explosions were heard before the bigger one occurred.
Abbas Ibrahim, the head of Lebanon’s General Security, said that “highly explosive materials” confiscated earlier had been stored at the site.
Footage shared on social media captured the moment of the bigger explosion, with a colossal shock wave seen traveling fast across several hundreds of meters and shrouding the area in thick smoke.
The blast left enormous material damage to the surrounding buildings and structures. But it was not immediately known how big an area was affected.
There was also no immediate casualty count. Graphic amateur video from the scene showed bodies strewn on the ground, with their clothes blown off.
The NNA said rescue operations were underway. Ambulances were seen heading toward the scene in central Beirut.
Lebanese LBC television channel quoted Lebanon’s Health Minister Hamad Hasan as saying that the blast had caused a “very high number of injuries” and “extensive damage.”
Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud said an unspecified number of firefighters dispatched to extinguish the initial fire had been killed in the explosion.
“As they were putting out the fire, the explosion took place and we’ve [lost them],” he said, breaking down on live TV.
The explosion comes at a time when the Arab country is passing through its worst economic and financial crisis in decades, and amid rising tensions with Israel.
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Benjamin Netanyahu corruption trial resumes
Agencies
July 19,2020
Occupied Jerusalem, Jul 19: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial resumed on Sunday.
Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals in which he is alleged to have received lavish gifts from billionaire friends and exchanged regulatory favors with media moguls for more agreeable coverage of himself and his family.
Netanyahu denies wrongdoing, painting the accusations as a media-orchestrated witchhunt pursued by a biased law enforcement system.
The trial opened in May. Just before appearing in front of the judges, Netanyahu took to a podium inside the courthouse and flanked by his party members bashed the country’s legal institutions in an angry tirade.
Netanyahu was not expected to appear at Sunday’s hearing, which is taking place at an occupied Jerusalem court and is mostly a procedural deliberation.
The trial resumes as Netanyahu faces widespread anger over his government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.
While the country appeared to have tamped down a first wave of infections, what’s emerged as a hasty and erratic reopening sent infections soaring. Yet even amid the rise in new cases Netanyahu and his emergency government — formed with the goal of dealing with the crisis — appeared to neglect the numbers and moved forward with other policy priorities and its reopening plans.
It has since paused them and even re-impose restrictions, including a weekend only lockdown set to begin later this week.
Netanyahu’s government has been criticized for a baffling, halting response to the new wave, which has seen daily cases rise to nearly 2,000. It has been slammed for its handling of the economic fallout of the crisis.
His trial thus comes at inopportune timing. Netanyahu had hoped to ride on the goodwill he gained from overcoming the first wave of infections going into his corruption trial, but the increasingly souring mood has affected his approval rating and may deny him the public backing he had hoped for. The anger has sparked protests over the past few weeks that have culminated in violent clashes with police.
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Expired UAE residence visas to be renewed automatically for 3 months
News Network
March 31,2020
Mar 30: the UAE Cabinet approved a series of new initiatives, foremost among which was the automatic extension of residence permits expiring from March 1.
The residence visas would be extended for a renewable period of three months without any fees to ease the economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis on residents, official news agency WAM reported.
The Cabinet has also waived the administrative fines associated with infractions on the services provided by the Federal Authority of Identity and Citizenship, starting April 1 and lasting for a renewable period of three months.
The initiatives also entail granting a temporary license to use digital solutions for remotely notarising and completing judicial transactions.
Government services expiring from March 1 will also be extended from April 1 for a renewable period of three months. The decision applies to all federal government services, including documents, permits, licenses and commercial registers.
The UAE has introduced a slew of initiatives to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus, including the online renewal of driving licences and vehicle’s registration cards.
The country’s telecom regulator, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), also issued a directive that no mobile service with expired ID documents will be disconnected or suspended in the UAE.
The UAE has reported a total of 611 Covid-19 infections and five related deaths in the country.
A national sterilisation programme is underway that will continue until Saturday April 4, concluding on the morning of Sunday, April 5.
Carried out daily from 8pm until 6am the following morning, the programme will include the disinfection of private and public facilities.
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