Daily Archives: December 29, 2019
UAE leaders condole Kazakh President on victims of jet crash.
President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a cable of condolences to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kzakhstan, on the victims of the Bek Air passenger jet crash. At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured after the plane crashed into a building shortly after taking off on Friday morning.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, also sent similar messages to the Kazakh President.
Source: UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs
UAE condemns attempted attack by terrorist in Dammam, praises Saudi security’s vigilance.
The UAE has condemned an attempt by terrorist elements to carry out a sabotage operation using a car bomb in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday.
In a statement released today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation praised the vigilance of Saudi security forces and their efficiency in confronting such terrorist acts.
The Ministry reiterated the UAE’s firm position and solidarity with Saudi Arabia in dealing with such acts and underscored its support for all measures taken by the Kingdom to protect its security and stability.
Source: UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs
28 people killed in road collisions in Egypt
Cairo, Twenty-eight people were killed on Saturday in two separate road crashes in Egypt, according to medical and security sources.
The death toll in a collision between a minibus carrying workers and a truck rose to 22 after four people died of injuries sustained in the accident, according to Deutsche press agency (dpa).
The collision took place earlier Saturday in the Suez Canal city of Port Said, initially leaving 18 dead.
The cause of the crash was not officially clear.
Private Egyptian newspaper Al-Shorouk reported online that the truck hit the minibus, causing it to flip over.
The bus was carrying workers at a garments factory heading for their homes at the time of the crash.
Elsewhere in Egypt, a tourist bus and a public bus collided in the coastal city of Suez, killing six people and injuring 32 others, a local security official said.
Chinese and Indian tourists were among the dead and injured, state-run news portal al-Ahram Online said.
The tourists were on their way to al-Ain al-Sokhna, a nearby Egyptian resort, according to the report.
Fatal road crashes are relatively common in Egypt. They are often blamed on reckless driving and poor road conditions.
Around 8,480 traffic accidents took place in Egypt in 2018, down 23.6 percent against the previous year, according to official figures.
The 2018 crashes resulted in 3,087 deaths, the same figures show.
In recent years, Egypt has built a network of new roads aimed at improving the quality of routes in the country of nearly 100 million.
Source: Bahrain News Agency
QATAR AIRWAYS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES ANNUAL CONTINGENCY PLANNING EXERCISE
DOHA, Qatar, Qatar Airways conducted a planned emergency exercise earlier this month to rehearse its emergency management programme and response functions.
The emergency simulation is an annual commitment undertaken by the airline to ensure that its staff members are prepared to handle an aircraft emergency in the most effective manner.
The scale and complexity of the 2019 emergency simulation was carefully crafted to examine and test any weakness in the airline’s emergency plan in the event of a situation developing at a setting that has limited infrastructure and may be difficult to access.
The emergency exercise involved activation of more than 300 employees and deployment of a number of the airline’s key crisis elements, including the Qatar Airways crisis command centre, the local control centre at the accident location and the humanitarian assistance and media centres. The use of crisis management platform, together with simulated television news broadcasts and social media reports of the emergency were created to give the activity an additional aspect of realism and immediacy.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker said: This year’s emergency simulation aimed to challenge our employees to respond to an incident that might take place in a challenging location. Our staff responded with the upmost professionalism and sense of duty, reflecting our high standards of safety and security at Qatar Airways. I would like to thank all the various regulatory government agencies, stakeholders, partners, volunteers and our employees for coordinating and delivering this year’s complex, yet successful, simulated emergency exercise.
Qatar Airways’ emergency management programme includes a Corporate Emergency Response Plan; an automated Crisis Management and Casualty Tracking System; a dedicated Group Emergency Control Centre; Group Emergency Management Team; Emergency Telephone Enquiry Centre; Special Assistance Centre; an Emergency Website; a Media Enquiry Centre; a Media Operations Centre and a Deployed Response Group that includes Special Assistance Team Members (Humanitarian Support Programme). If activated, the Deployed Response Group would be dispatched to the emergency site using a dedicated relief aircraft to provide additional support to local staff, responding agencies and authorities on the ground.
A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named ‘World’s Best Airline’ by the 2019 World Airline Awards, managed by the international air transport rating organisation Skytrax. It was also named ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’, ‘World’s Best Business Class’, and ‘Best Business Class Seat’, in recognition of its ground-breaking Business Class experience, Qsuite. It is the only airline to have been awarded the coveted Skytrax Airline of the Year title, which is recognised as the pinnacle of excellence in the airline industry, five times.
Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of more than 250 aircraft via its hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA), to more than 160 destinations worldwide. The world’s fastest-growing airline has added a number of exciting new destinations to its growing network this year, including Rabat, Morocco; Izmir, Turkey; Malta; Davao, Philippines; Lisbon, Portugal; Mogadishu, Somalia; Langkawi, Malaysia; and Gaborone, Botswana.
Source: Qatar Airways
Qatar handball team defeat Iran in a friendly match
Doha, Qatar’s handball team defeated Iran 31-16 in a friendly match in Doha on Saturday in preparation for the upcoming Asian Championship, which is set to take place in Kuwait from January 16 to 27.
The competition also acts as a qualifier to the world cup that will take place in Egypt in 2021.
The team will leave for Croatia to take part in a friendly tournament to be held from January 2 to January 7. Qatar are in Group B of the Asian Championships alongside Japan and China.
They start their campaign on January 16 with the match against China
Source: Qatar Olympic Committee
Stage set for 2020 Qatar ExxonMobil Tournament
Doha, Secretary-General of Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF) Tareq Zainal said that the Qatar Exxon Mobil Open Tennis Championship for men has become one of the most important tournaments in the 250-point category on the ATP schedule, due to its world-class outstanding level.
Zainal told reporters yesterday, in the presence of director of the tournament Karim Al Alami that the Qatar Exxon Mobil Championship, which will be held from 6 to 11 January 2020, with a large participation of the top players, has reached this outstanding global level due to the great facilities offered by the committees working in the tournament for the participating players, starting from their arrival at Hamad International Airport, through their stay in five-star hotels, and providing them with all the amenities at the hotel, on the field, and on all their movements, which makes the player focus only on his performance on the field.
He explained that, due to the global professional level provided annually by the tournament, it was chosen by the players and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as the best in the category of 250 points in 2019, for the third time after 2015 and 2017.
QTF Secretary-General said that after the last edition, the organizing committee sensed great satisfaction in the players and members of the ATP, who praised the level of organization that compares with what they see in the 1000-point Masters tournaments.
He explained that the professional players who participate tournaments around the world throughout the year give their best performances when they receive the appropriate attention from the tournaments officials. “In all our work, we seek to promote the name of Qatar by improving the organization, which makes players, and although there are more than one championship held at the same time, prefer to participate in Qatar Exxon Mobil Open,” he said.
“Tourist sites, such as: Souq Waqif, Lusail, museums, Aspire Zone, shopping malls, and the cultural village contributes to the success of our championship , in addition to the good weather,” Tareq Zainal added pointing to the world trend of sports tourism.
” In QTF, our goal is to promote the game and sports tourism, and we also keen to have our players watch these big tournaments, which motivate and encourage them to advance their performance,” Zainal said.
Source: Qatar Olympic Committee
