Middle East Experience

Saudi Arabia has started providing a fourth COVID-19 dose for those over 50 years of age, the Kingdom’s Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday.The fourth dose (or second booster shot) is available for those above 50 who have cleared eight months since the first booster shot.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.It can be availed through an appointment on the Sehhaty mobile application, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.The Kingdom has actively combated the spread of COVID-19 by providing free and easily available COVID-19 vaccinations, strict social safety rules, and frequent testing mandates for residents and travelers.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.As of April 25, Saudi Arabia reported 109 new cases and one death from the virus. Total deaths from COVID-19 stand at 9,082, according to the health ministry.Over 24 million people are fully vaccinated, and over 64 million doses have been administered country wide.Read more:Court finds New Zealand COVID-19 border rules for citizens abroad unlawfulWHO chief says we are ‘increasingly blind’ on COVID-19 transmissionBeijing residents panic buy as district undergoes mass testing for COVID-19
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Fourth COVID-19 vaccine shot for over 50s in Saudi Arabia now available

Those without existing appointments for passport renewals are left with no idea as to when they might get a new travel document..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Unprecedented pressure forces Lebanon to halt passport issuance

The world’s first minister for artificial intelligence says the United Arab Emirates isn't only looking for economic benefits as it seeks to become a leading nation in the sector.The UAE’s minister of state for AI, Omar bin Sultan al-Olama, said “quality of life” considerations were key, and also stressed the importance of a “responsible” rollout -- with impacts potentially reverberating for decades.“We are looking at AI as a tool,” he told AFP in an interview in Dubai. “It’s a tool that we need to use to unleash the quality of life aspect.”For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The UAE also calls AI “machine intelligence,” defining it as a branch of technology enabling systems to “think, learn, and make decisions like humans,” which can support everything from virology to transport.“Yes, economic gain is something that every country wants, and we want it too,” Olama added. “But... we want to ensure the development and deployment and the use of AI is responsible.”Olama was just 27 when he was handed the cabinet-level position in 2017, tasked with launching the oil-rich Arab nation’s strategy in a field which touches everything from speech and facial recognition to commerce and autonomous cars.His appointment came a year after the UAE also named ministers for happiness, hoping to create a “happier society,” and tolerance, mainly aimed at promoting coexistence in the Gulf country where foreigners make up the majority of the population.The UAE's stated goal is to become one of the leading AI nations by 2031, creating new economic and business opportunities and generating up to 335 billion dirhams ($91 billion) in extra growth.According to consultancy firm PwC Middle East, nearly 14 percent ($96 billion) of the UAE’s gross domestic product will come from AI by 2030.“The UAE was the only country that appointed someone to actually oversee this mandate seriously,” Olama said.Driverless taxis The wealthy Gulf country has invested heavily in technology over the past decade as it diversifies its economy and reduces its reliance on oil.Its bets include driverless cars, with autonomous taxis already tested on the streets of the capital Abu Dhabi, while Dubai, another of the country's seven emirates, aims to have a quarter of its transport driverless by 2030.Abu Dhabi’s Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, touted as the world's first graduate-level AI university, opened to students last year, and the country has launched a number of start-up hubs and training schemes.However, the UAE has also drawn concern over its high levels of surveillance, and in 2019 it denied reports that a popular mobile app was being used for government spying.Olama said a big part of his job was instilling public confidence and avoiding costly errors when AI systems are put in place.The dangers of AI include inadvertently introducing bias against certain groups of people, which could prove damaging in areas such as public services.“It entails that there’s no controversy around the deployment,” Olama said of his role. “It entails that we focus on deploying it today, but in a way that makes sure it does not impact future generations negatively.”‘Element of fear’ An important step in the project, he said, was to properly explain AI to senior officials, to “demystify” the technology and reduce the “element of fear.”“If you’re dealing with something you don’t understand, you will have an aspect or element of fear associated with it, it’s human nature,” he said.“One program... is focused on training senior government officials on understanding what AI is, understanding the ethical dilemma, understanding what good and bad deployments are, how do you remove bias.”“Today, these people are our AI army. They are the people that are deploying AI across government, and really have a very strong foundation that they can build on.”The UAE also has ambitions of becoming a major player in other areas of science and technology, sending its first astronaut into space in 2019 and launching a probe in 2020 that went into Mars' orbit the following year.This month, the country announced a digital economy strategy -- including a council headed by Olama -- hoping the sector will contribute 20 percent of GDP within 10 years.“I don’t think in the next quarter-of-a-century there’s going to be an economy in the world that is not dependent for the majority of its economic activity on the digital realm, and AI is a big component of that,” said Olama.“I also think we have not seen the true impact of AI on the economy.”Read more:AI recycling startup COO ‘energized’ to be selected for UAE acceleratorSaudi Arabia’s King Salman, Crown Prince donate $13 million to Ehsan charity platformIsrael’s OurCrowd to open AI R&D center in UAE’s Abu Dhabi
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: UAE minister vows ‘responsible’ AI rollout

For now, the Iraqi Communist Party wants to promote ideas rather than govern, mainly social justice and women rights..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Iraq communists hope for comeback over women's rights, secular politics

Gunmen opened fire on a car carrying a senior Revolutionary Guards commander in restive southeastern Iran early on Saturday, killing a bodyguard, Iranian state media reported.Brigadier General Hossein Almassi, a Guards commander in Sistan-Baluchistan province, was unhurt after the attack and the attackers were arrested, the official news agency IRNA reported.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Mahmoud Absalan, the bodyguard who was killed in the attack that occurred near a checkpoint in the provincial capital Zahedan, was the son of a senior Guards commander in the region, IRNA said.The attack came on a night celebrated by many devout Iranians as Islam’s holiest, which this year coincided with events marking the anniversary of the Revolutionary Guards’ establishment after the 1979 Iranian revolution.The predominantly Sunni Islam Sistan-Baluchistan province near Pakistan’s and Afghanistan’s borders has long been plagued by unrest from both drug smuggling gangs and extremists fighting the country’s Shia authorities.In 2009, a suicide bomber killed six senior Revolutionary Guards commanders and more than 29 other people in Sistan-Baluchistan, in one of the boldest attacks on Iran’s most powerful military institutions.Read more:Iran’s top diplomat says Tehran won’t abandon ‘red lines’ amid stalled nuclear talksIran IRGC commander says revenge for Soleimani is ‘certain,’ not up for negotiationParched Iraq’s water resources ‘down 50 percent’
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Gunmen open fire on car carrying senior IRGC commander in Iran: Report

Once the proposal is approved, Qatari and Kuwaiti nationals would not require the Schengen visa if they are traveling for a short period of up to 90 days..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: EU Commission proposes short-stay visa exemption for Qataris

Israel said it will close its only crossing from the Gaza Strip for workers on Sunday after the Palestinian enclave fired three rockets at the Jewish state.“Following the rockets fired toward Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip last night, it was decided that crossings into Israel for Gazan merchants and workers through the Erez Crossing will not be permitted this upcoming Sunday,” COGAT, a unit of the defense ministry responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, said in a statement on Saturday.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.On Friday night, two rockets were fired from Gaza at southern Israel, with one hitting the Jewish state and the other falling short and striking near a residential building in northern Gaza, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.Early Saturday, a third rocket was fired at Israel, the army said, with no air raid sirens activated for any of the launches.The rockets, which follow similar attacks on Wednesday and Thursday, come as Israeli police have been clashing with Palestinian protesters at Jerusalem’s flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque compound in recent days.Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes following the earlier rocket attacks, but in an apparent desire to prevent further violence, shifted its response this time to the painful economic measure of closing Erez, implying that further rockets would extend the penalty.“The re-opening of the crossing will be decided in accordance with a security situational assessment,” COGAT added in its statement.Read more:Two rockets fired from Gaza at Israel: ArmyIsraeli forces use drone to drop tear gas on Palestinian worshipers in al-AqsaUN ‘deeply concerned’ by violence in Israel, Palestine territories
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Israel closes Erez Crossing from Gaza strip after rocket attacks: Ministry

Instead of uniting, self-declared opposition groups in Lebanon are divided along ideological lines on virtually every issue..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: May 15 elections offer little hope for change in Lebanon

The political agreement on the Digital Services Act (DSA) that was reached by co-legislators is a landmark moment in the history of Internet regulation, Amnesty International has said today. The DSA includes new rules that will require Big Tech platforms – including Facebook and Instagram (owned by Meta), and YouTube (owned by Google) – toassess ..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: European Union: Digital Services Act agreement a ‘watershed moment’ for Internet regulation

Human rights-aligned economic policies are desperately needed to change course..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Disproportionate deaths from Covid in the Americas are result of pre-existing inequalities