Author: News Desk

Zoom said on Tuesday it launched a hardware subscription service, seeking to make its teleconferencing app more accessible to users by allowing them to choose subscription options for phones and meeting rooms. The plans for Zoom Phone have been priced between $5.99 and $60 per month, based on the device users opt for, while the cost for hardware services for Zoom Rooms is in the range of $75 to $200 per month, according to the company’s website. Zoom has partnered with third-party hardware manufacturers such as DTEN, Neat, Poly, and Yealink for the phone and meeting room devices. The company’s teleconferencing…

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways said on Tuesday it was resuming flights to more destinations after the United Arab Emirates this month eased travel restrictions on residents and citizens. State-owned Etihad said by August it planned to increase its network to up to 58 destinations, including Washington DC, Mumbai and Dusseldorf. The airline was flying to 29 destinations in June, a spokeswoman said. The carrier has gradually added flights since last month when a suspension on services where passengers stop off in the UAE to change planes, or for refuelling, was lifted. Dubai on Tuesday reopened its borders to foreign visitors…

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company has agreed financing for the UAE’s largest gas-fired power plant which is expected to cost approximately 4.2 billion dirhams ($1.14 billion), the company said on Tuesday. The Fujairah F3 Independent Power Producer (IPP) project will have a generation capacity of 2.4 gigawatts and is expected to start power generation by summer 2022. The external funding will be sourced from a consortium including Japan Bank for International Cooperation, BNP Paribas, Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Sumitomo Trust Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank, Taqa said in a statement.

The United Arab Emirates Central Bank said on Tuesday the country’s banking sector can withstand any scale of shock as banks are well capitalised, despite forecasting a deterioration of credit metrics in the country. Ratings agency Moody’s said on Monday the twin challenges of the coronavirus crisis and the drop in oil prices will hit bank profits hard in the oil-producing Gulf region. In a statement, the UAE central bank said that while the coronavirus pandemic poses challenges to banks, “our stress tests demonstrate that the UAE banking sector is able to withstand macro-financial shocks of any size”. The capital…

Saudi Arabia has reported 3,392 new cases and 49 deaths from coronavirus, taking the total cases to 217,108. Saudi Arabia is holding the 13th position for most coronavirus cases worldwide. The death toll raised to 2,017 after reporting the new deaths. Meanwhile, 5,205 patients fully recovered from the virus, bringing the total recoveries to 154,839. In line with recent trends, the majority of the new cases are in Riyadh (308), followed by Taif (246) and Madinah (232). https://twitter.com/media_ksa/status/1280485912854568961?s=20

Kuwait will disburse some 240.5 million dinars ($780 million) to support Kuwaiti citizens employed in the private sector as part of efforts to soften the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the finance ministry said. The Public Authority for Manpower will transfer sums to Kuwaiti business owners and private sector employees for six months effective from last month. Only around 70,000 Kuwaiti citizens work in the private sector, where most employees are foreigners. As companies have laid off large numbers of foreign workers, the government has sought to retain Kuwaitis. Most Kuwaitis work in the state sector, which has not experienced…

The National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) has launched an initiative to report abuse of workers obliged to work in open spaces between noon and 4 pm in July and August. The initiative follows up the LMRA’s decision to ban outdoor work under the summer scorching sun. NIHR also called on employers in the private sector to provide facemasks and ask all workers to use them in the workplace in order to reduce the spread of infection among workers. It stressed the importance of taking the temperature of all workers entering and leaving the work sites and upon leaving their…

The World Health Organization on Tuesday urged travellers to wear masks on planes and keep themselves informed as COVID-19 cases surge again in some countries, prompting new restrictions in places like Australia. Spokeswoman Margaret Harris urged people not to be caught off-guard by resurgent local epidemics and quarantine measures, saying: “If it’s anywhere, it’s everywhere and people travelling have to understand that.” “This virus is widespread and people have to take that very, very seriously.” The WHO said last month that it would update its travel guidelines ahead of the northern hemisphere summer holidays but they have not yet been…

The U.S. government has awarded Novavax Inc $1.6 billion to cover testing, commercialization and manufacturing of a potential coronavirus vaccine in the United States, with the aim of delivering 100 million doses by January 2021. The award is the biggest yet from “Operation Warp Speed”, the White House program aimed at accelerating access to vaccines and treatments to fight the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. “What this Warp Speed award does is it pays for production of 100 million doses, which would be delivered starting in the fourth quarter of this year, and may be completed by January or February of…

UAE records 532 cases, and two fatalities from coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking the total cases in the country to 52,600. The new death takes the total fatalities to 326. The new cases were found after conducting more than 44,000 coronavirus tests across the country. Meanwhile, 993 new recoveries were also announced, bringing the total recoveries to 41,714. This means that over 78 percent of the confirmed cases have fully recovered from the virus. ♦ UAE restructures government, as it deals with coronavirus impact Also, over 2 million COVID-19 tests are expected to be conducted in the coming two…