LONDON: Saudi Arabia on Sunday suspended all international passenger flights for one week in response to a new strain of the coronavirus.
Entry to the Kingdom through land and sea ports has also been suspended and this period may be extended by another week.
The decisions were made in response to the emergence of a potent new strain of the virus in the UK and other European countries.
Some flights will be allowed in exceptional circumstances, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
Anyone who has returned to the Kingdom from European countries or high risk countries after Dec. 8 is required to quarantine for two weeks from the date of their arrival.
They must also undergo a COVID-19 test during their self-isolation period and repeat the test every five days.
Anyone who has returned from or transited through a European or high risk country within the last three months must also undergo the test.
The movement of goods, commodities and supply chains from countries where the mutated virus has not appeared will continue as usual.
These travel restrictions will be reviewed in accordance with coronavirus related developments.
Saudi Arabia suspends all international passenger flights for a week
https://arab.news/6rczz
Saudi Arabia suspends all international passenger flights for a week
- Entry to the Kingdom through land and sea ports has also been suspended
- Some flights will be allowed in exceptional circumstances
Saudi Arabia’s KAUST named FIFA’s first research institute in MENA
- KAUST President Prof. Sir Edward Byrne said that the university’s selection as the fifth FIFA Research Institute in the world — and the first in the region — marks a significant achievement, reflecting Kingdom’s growing presence in international football
RIYADH: FIFA has designated the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology as its first research institute in the Middle East and Asia to support the development of innovative football research, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.
The recognition highlights KAUST’s commitment to integrating sports, academic research and industry through advanced, high-level initiatives grounded in rigorous scientific methodologies, contributing to the advancement of football studies.
KAUST President Prof. Sir Edward Byrne said that the university’s selection as the fifth FIFA Research Institute in the world — and the first in the region — marks a significant achievement, reflecting Saudi Arabia’s growing presence in international football.
The accreditation aligns with national efforts to invest in research and development and promote the knowledge economy, supporting Saudi Vision 2030’s goals of building an advanced sports system based on innovation and sustainability.
The collaboration’s first project focuses on developing advanced AI algorithms to analyze historical FIFA World Cup broadcast footage, transforming decades of match videos into structured, searchable data, according to the KAUST website.
This work opens new opportunities to apply state-of-the-art computer vision techniques and deepen understanding of how football has evolved over time.
The second project uses player and ball tracking data from the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand to compile comprehensive datasets capturing in-game dynamics.
These datasets provide deeper insights into human movement, playing techniques and performance dynamics through AI-driven analysis.
