DUBAI: Dubai has urged people not to hold large gatherings during Ramadan, as part of its measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, state news agency WAM reported.
Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management also called on the public to avoid exposing the elderly and people with chronic diseases to coronavirus risks.
Ramadan and donation tents are also prohibited in the city, the committee said, adding that Tarawih prayers can be performed in mosques on the condition that precautionary measures are applied.
Tarawih prayers can be held only for a maximum of 30 minutes, the report said.
The Qiyam-ul-layl prayers, which are performed during the last 10 days of the month, will be announced later based on an up to date evaluation of the situation, it added.
Meanwhile, the country’s education ministry has not yet decided on the learning method of the next academic year, saying it depends on the “health conditions” closer to the time.
The ministry added that the decision will be made in the interest of students and educational staff.
The UAE is also reviewing the hybrid learning model that includes both distance education and in-person classes.
The country on Thursday recorded 2,101 new COVID-19 infections, 2,628 recoveries and 10 deaths.
The total number of confirmed cases has reached 434,465, with 416,105 recoveries and 1,424 deaths.
Dubai announces Ramadan COVID-19 precautionary measures
https://arab.news/rz78n
Dubai announces Ramadan COVID-19 precautionary measures
- Tarawih prayers can be performed in mosques on the condition that precautionary measures are applied
- The country’s education ministry has not yet decided on the learning method of the next academic year
Kurds in Turkiye protest over Syria Aleppo offensive
- Several hundred people gathered in Diyarbakir while hundreds more joined a protest in Istanbul
- In the capital, Ankara, DEM lawmakers protested in front of the Turkish parliament
DIYARBAKIR, Turkiye: Protesters rallied for a second day in Turkiye’s main cities on Thursday to demand an end to a deadly Syrian army offensive against Kurdish fighters in Aleppo, an AFP correspondent said.
Several hundred people gathered in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkiye’s main Kurdish-majority city, while hundreds more joined a protest in Istanbul that was roughly broken up by riot police who arrested around 25 people, the pro-Kurdish DEM party said.
In the capital, Ankara, DEM lawmakers protested in front of the Turkish parliament, denouncing the targeting of Kurds in Aleppo as a crime against humanity.
The protesters demanded an end to the operation by Syrian government forces against the Kurdish-led SDF force in Aleppo, where at least 21 people have been killed in three days of violent clashes.
It was the worst violence in the northwestern city since Syria’s Islamist authorities took power a year ago. The fighting erupted as both sides struggled to implement a March agreement to integrate autonomous Kurdish institutions into the new Syrian state.
In Istanbul, hundreds of protesters waving flags braved heavy rain near Galata Tower to denounce the Aleppo operation under the watchful eye of hundreds of riot police, an AFP correspondent said.
But some of the slogans drew a sharp warning from the police, who moved to roughly break up the gathering and arrested some 25 people, DEM’s Istanbul branch said.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the police attack on the Rojava solidarity action in Sishane. This brutal intervention, oppression, and violence against our young comrades is unacceptable!” the party wrote on X, demanding the immediate release of those arrested.
At the Diyarbakir protest during the afternoon, protesters carried a huge portrait of the jailed PKK militant leader Abdullah Ocalan, an AFP video journalist reported.
“We urge states to act as they did for the Palestinian people, for our Kurdish brothers who are suffering oppression and hardship,” Zeki Alacabey, 64, told AFP in Diyarbakir.
Although Turkiye has embarked on a peace process with the PKK, it remains hostile to the SDF, which controls swathes of northeastern Syria, seeing it as an extension of the banned militant group and a major threat along its southern border.
It has repeatedly demanded that the SDF merge into the main Syrian military. A defense ministry official said on Thursday that Ankara was ready to “support” Syria’s operation against the Kurdish fighters if needed.
Demonstrators had already taken to the streets in several major Turkish cities with Kurdish majorities on Wednesday, including Diyarbakir and Van, according to images broadcast by the DEM.
