It’s too soon to breathe easy over COVID-19
Dr. Theodore Karasik
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It seems fashionable to think the coronavirus crisis is over or is passing into memory thanks to vaccines and new protocols. It is not. The pyres in India are a reminder that COVID-19 is not gone, dissipated or any other wishful thinking.
What does the Indian situation mean in the bigger picture? COVID-19 variants and pathogen management are going to be key factors, even as some countries achieve success with their efforts to distribute vaccine doses. But the crowded market for vaccines and the increasing requirement to vaccinate in countries around the world needs to be addressed in earnest.
AL-MUKALLA: Yemeni government troops, backed by Arab coalition warplanes, seized control of several mountainous locations near the central city of Marib after fierce clashes with the Houthis, an army spokesperson said on Sunday.
Maj. Gen. Abdu Abdullah Majili told a press briefing that troops had expelled the militia from several locations in Al-Kasara and Al-Mashjah, west of Marib, captured three rebels and destroyed more than 20 military vehicles. Coalition warplanes destroyed vehicles carrying ammunition and fighters headed for battle.
“The Houthi militia suffered heavy casualties. They are fleeing their locations, barricades and trenches.”
He played a video that showed troops climbing mountains and rebels fleeing their vehicles and locations.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has saved SR400 billion ($106 billion) over the last four years as a result of a spending efficiency program implemented as part of the Vision 2030 reform plans, according to Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan.
Speaking at a dialogue session in Riyadh titled “Vision 2030 Creates Future Opportunities,” a meeting of the chairs of the Vision 2030 Realization Program Committees, Al-Jadaan said the savings came from a careful review of all projects to see where unnecessary spending could be cut.
A number of experts and academics told Arab News the key to the success of the savings initiative was the enhanced relationship between the public and private sectors and the drive for increased privatization of state assets.
RIYADH: Saudi citizens will be allowed to travel abroad from May 17 and the Kingdom will reopen all land, sea and air borders.
The travel restrictions were extended in January from March 31 to May 17 due to delays in delivering COVID-19 vaccines.
The interior ministry said only those who have received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine will be permitted to travel, as well as those who have received one dose at least 14 days prior to travel, and according to what is stated on the Kingdom’s COVID-19 app Tawakkalna.
Citizens who are recovering from the virus within the last six months can also travel, as well as those aged under 18, provided they present an insurance policy approved by the Central Bank covering the risks of COVID-19 outside the Kingdom before traveling.
DUBAI: Lebanese fruits and vegetables are no longer welcome in Saudi Arabia after the Kingdom’s vigilant port authorities foiled an attempt to smuggle narcotics inside pomegranates.
Last month, Jeddah Islamic Port’s customs officers seized more than 5 million Captagon pills expertly hidden in a pomegranate consignment from Lebanon. Separately, amphetamine pills stashed in a pomegranate shipment from Lebanon were seized in Dammam’s King Abdulaziz Port.
The Kingdom responded to the incident by banning the import and transit of fruits and vegetables coming from Lebanon.
Waleed Al-Bukhari, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Lebanon, disclosed that there had been attempts to smuggle more than 600 million pills from Lebanon during the past six years.