Author: News Desk

SHARJAH: Throughout the spring semester, Sharjah Sustainable City (SSC) and American University of Sharjah (AUS) hosted a four-part webinar series focused on sustainability and the built environment. The webinars brought together practitioners from SSC and academics from AUS to discuss energy and climate change, smarter mobility, eco-districts and sustainable materials. The webinar series provided an opportunity for students to expand their knowledge beyond classroom discussions and theoretical ideas to how SSC is implementing sustainable practices on the ground. The students were able to learn about the successes and challenges faced in the development of sustainable housing and communities. “Collaborations such…

DUBAI: The challenges posed by the spread of Covid-19 pandemic have shown the incessant need to digital shifts in customs services and procedures to better serve global travel, trade and supply chains, according to Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director General of Dubai Customs. He made the remarks at a virtual ceremony on the launch of Dubai Customs’ ‘iDeclare’ smart application. “Digital transformation is at the core of Dubai Customs’ strategies and plans to ensure streamlined passenger traffic and trade. For this, the smart iDeclare Application is gaining more importance these days supporting Dubai International Airport in its mission as one of…

Zayed Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation has begun implementing its seasonal programme, “Eid Clothing”, ahead of Eid Al Adha. Hamad Salem bin Kordous Al Ameri, Director-General of the Foundation, said that the foundation aims to achieve its goals in charitable work based on its social responsibility in line with the approach established by the UAE’s Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. He added that the Foundation – with the generous follow-up of H.H. Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation; and H.H. Sheikh Omar bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy…

South Korea said Wednesday it has agreed to additionally contribute $2 million to funds operated by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in a bid to boost cooperation with the lending body. The agreement was reached after Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso held a virtual meeting Tuesday, according to Seoul’s finance ministry, Yonhap News Agency reported. Under the agreement, South Korea will additionally contribute the money to two EBRD trust funds designed to support the transition into the market economy by eastern European and Central Asia nations. The meeting was arranged to exchange views…

Poland is introducing a mandatory seven-day quarantine for all travellers from Britain in a bid to curb the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, the health ministry said on Tuesday. Britain is currently seeing a rise in cases due to the more contagious Delta variant, which was first identified in India. “The decisions made on quarantine for travelers arriving from Great Britain are intended to reduce the risk of transmission of the Delta coronavirus variant from the endangered area,” Health Minister Adam Niedzielski was quoted as saying by state news agency PAP. “We must take care of our citizens…

Bogota: Colombia reached 100,000 confirmed deaths from COVID-19 this week, becoming just the tenth country in the world to hit the grim milestone. The South American nation of 50 million has been registering a growing number of daily cases since April and over the past seven days it had the world’s third-highest per capita death rate from COVID-19, according to data published by Oxford University, the Associated Press (AP) reported. On Monday night, President Iván Duque blamed anti-government protests that began at the end of April for many of the fatalities, saying that “more than 10,000 deaths could have been avoided”…

Bahrain Civil Aviation Affairs has announced that an update of the entry procedures via Bahrain International Airport will take effect on June 25th, 2021. According to the new regulations, all passengers, vaccinated or unvaccinated, arriving in Bahrain, aged 6 or above, have to present an approved (PCR) test certificate with a (QR Code) before boarding the plane. The test has to be undergone 48 hours before departure for passengers authorized to enter the kingdom and who are coming from countries on the red list. Passengers coming from countries that are not on the red list have to undergo the PCR…

Some 41 million people worldwide are at at imminent risk of famine, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday, saying soaring prices for basic foods were compounding existing pressures on food security. Another half a million are already experiencing famine-like conditions, said the WFP’s Executive Director David Beasley. “We now have four countries where famine-like conditions are present. Meanwhile 41 million people are literally knocking on famine’s door,” he said. The WFP, which is funded entirely by voluntary donations, said it needs to raise $6 billion immediately to reach those at risk, in 43 countries. “We need…

The National Medical Taskforce for Combatting the Coronavirus has announced the decision to further extend the previously imposed restrictions until Friday, 2nd July, to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Under current orders, the following activities remain restricted to all in-person activities: •Shopping malls and commercial shop – with services limited to online sales and delivery •Restaurants and cafes – services limited to delivery and takeaway •Gyms and sport halls, swimming pools, and recreational centres •Cinemas •Events and conferences •Attendance of sporting events •Salons, barber shops, spas and beauty parlours •Social gatherings in homes •Schools and higher educational institutions, kindergartens,…

Concerning wrong allegations against the Kingdom of Bahrain and its people in a show aired by Qatari Al Jazeera channel. The show revealed the unprofessionalism of the channel and its interference in the internal affairs of countries and nations; the Interior Ministry clarifies the following: First: The show of the Qatari Al Jazeera channel lacks physical and legal evidence, as convicts at the Reformation and Rehabilitation Centre in Jau are serving their sentences in criminal and terrorism and aren’t political cases. They had fair trials and finished all judiciary phases attended by NGO representatives from inside and outside Bahrain to…