Middle East Experience

The United States and Britain rushed in troops to help evacuate their embassies after the militants captured town after town as US and other foreign forces that have backed the government withdrew.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Taliban draw closer to Kabul, Washington and allies rush to evacuate

A major earthquake reduced buildings to rubble and caused at least several fatalities in southwestern Haiti on Saturday, sending shock waves across the Caribbean.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Major quake in Haiti kills at least 29, reduces buildings to rubble

After Polish approval of the WWII restitution law, FM Lapid said that the new Israeli Ambassador to Poland will not travel to Warsaw, and the Polish ambassador will be advised to stay in Poland.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: After Polish restitution law, Lapid recalls embassy head to Israel

The price of gold in Egypt has declined, amid growing demand for jewelry.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Egyptians hoard gold jewelry

There are increasing warnings that a new coronavirus wave will reach the Gaza Strip amid concerns over a psychological crisis plaguing health workers due to Israeli restrictions.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Concerns grow in Gaza over new coronavirus wave

Abu Dhabi’s Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Committee has announced the approval of the new entry process for public places that are limited to vaccinated individuals and will be effective as of August 20, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on Saturday.The country’s COVID-19 Alhosn app appears in green for vaccinated residents and citizens if they have taken a PCR test that turns out to be negative and will appear in grey if their profile on the app displays an outdated or expired PCR test.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.When a vaccinated person has a new negative PCR test, it is then valid for 30 days, granting them green status on the app.The approved process will allow vaccinated people with green status entry into public places.The public places in question are shopping centers, restaurants, cafes, retail outlets, gyms, recreational facilities and sporting activities, resorts, health clubs, museums, them parks and cultural centers, all of which were part of an announcement made by the committee last month.According to WAM, entry will also be allowed for those who are exempt from needing to take the vaccine provided they have a negative PCR test. They will be granted green status on the Alhosn app for seven days.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.Children under the age of 16, however, whose status will appear in green on the app without needing to be tested, will also be permitted entry.The committee also announced that holders of new residency visas or permits will be given a grace period of 60 days to take the vaccine.The process will also apply to visitors and tourists.To maintain the vaccinated status on the app, individuals must take a booster dose six months after receiving the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Those who have already taken their second vaccine dose more than six months ago will be given a grace period of 30 days before their status turns grey by September 20.However, the committee noted that vaccine trial participants are exempt from needing to take a booster shot.Read more:UAE COVID-19 death toll exceeds 2,000 for first time, logs 1,189 new casesEmirates flight to Kabul diverts to Dubai, UAE's flydubai suspends servicesDubai Expo in focus as UAE racks up $700 mln of trade with Israel since normalization
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Abu Dhabi outlines requirements for vaccinated, unvaccinated entry to public places 

Abu Dhabi’s Emergency, Crisis and Disasters Committee has announced the verification process for international vaccine certificates for visitors and tourists.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.The process will enable visitors to have the green status on the Alhosn app since only vaccinated individuals will be permitted entry to public places in the emirate as of August 20, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported. The public places in question are shopping centers, restaurants, cafes, retail outlets, gyms, recreational facilities and sporting activities, resorts, health clubs, museums, theme parks and cultural centers, all of which were part of an announcement made by the committee last month.Prior to departure, visitors will need to go onto the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship app (ICA) and register via the ‘register arrivals’ section.Once the register arrivals form is completed and an international vaccination certificate is uploaded and submitted, visitors will then receive an SMS message with a link which, once clicked on, will download the Alhosn app.The Alhosn app has been an integral part of the UAE’s pandemic management strategy, with authorities across the country referring to it for vaccination status and PCR test results, WAM reported. Upon arrival, visitors will then receive a Unified Identification Number (UID) at the airport or via the ICA app or website. The visitors will then be required to register on the Alhosn app using the UID that was provided to them and the phone number they used for ICA registration or when taking a PCR test within the country.Visitors will then receive a one-time-password which they will need to use to complete the registration process on the Alhosn app.Read more:Abu Dhabi outlines requirements for vaccinated, unvaccinated entry to public placesUAE COVID-19 death toll exceeds 2,000 for first time, logs 1,189 new casesEmirates flight to Kabul diverts to Dubai, UAE's flydubai suspends services
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Abu Dhabi announces verification process for visitors’ intl vaccine certificates

Abdallah AlHammadi and Saleh AlAmeri will be part of the UAE Analog Mission#1..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: 2 Emiratis selected for 8-month mission that simulates journey to Mars

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Sunday called on President Michel Aoun to step down in the aftermath of a fuel tank explosion that killed at least 28 people and wounded over 70 others in north Lebanon..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Hariri calls on Aoun to resign over Akkar blast, secures aid

US embassy staff in Kabul were leaving the compound and moving to the airport, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday, as Taliban insurgents entered the Afghan capital and officials said President Ashraf Ghani had left the country.There were reports of sporadic gunfire around the city, but there was no significant fighting and the Taliban said they were waiting for the Western-backed government to surrender peacefully.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.US diplomats were being ferried by helicopter to the airport, where US troops were providing security amid an exodus of Americans and their local allies and other foreigners.Sources told Reuters that most US staff would be evacuated from Kabul in the coming day or two.“We’re working to make sure that our personnel are safe and secure. We’re relocating the men and women of our embassy to a location at the airport,” Blinken told ABC news.More US forces had been sent in to get US officials out of the country “in a safe and orderly fashion” while maintaining a “core diplomatic presence,” Blinken said.France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden all said on Sunday they were moving their diplomats from their embassies.A NATO official said the group was maintaining its diplomatic presence in Kabul and helping to keep the airport running. ‘NOT SAIGON’A US intelligence assessment earlier in the week had said Kabul could be encircled in 30 days and could fall to the Taliban within 90 days, but the insurgents captured most of Afghanistan’s major cities in less than a week and entered the capital on Sunday.Some 4,200 people remained in the US embassy until Thursday, when the Taliban’s rapid gains forced the Biden administration to begin flying in thousands of troops to help pull many of the remaining diplomats out.The State Department insisted at the time the embassy was not closing, but by Sunday sources said almost all US personnel would be pulled out of the country within a day or two.US officials have said they do not expect the military strategy in Afghanistan to change as long as the Taliban allow evacuations to continue.Asked if the evacuation was evocative of the US departure from Vietnam in 1975, Blinken told ABC news: “Let’s take a step back. This is manifestly not Saigon.”Washington invested billions of dollars over four US administrations in Afghan government forces, giving them advantages over the Taliban, but they were unable to defend the country in the face of the militants’ advance, Blinken told CNN.“That has happened more quickly than we anticipated,” Blinken said.The US’ original mission in Afghanistan, launched to oust al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, had been fulfilled, Blinken said, saying Washington had prevented further attacks by militants harbored by the Taliban.But US President Joe Biden has faced rising domestic criticism after sticking to his plan to withdraw, which was agreed under his Republican predecessor Donald Trump.Republican lawmaker Michael McCaul said on Sunday a Taliban takeover would revive the threat to the US.“We are going to go back to a pre-9/11 state. A breeding ground for terrorism,” he told CNN.Read more:UK parliament to be recalled from summer recess to discuss Afghanistan: MediaWorld leaders react as Taliban enters Afghanistan capital KabulPope calls for dialogue in Afghanistan so ‘martyred population can live in peace’
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US moves embassy staff to airport as Taliban enters Afghanistan’s capital Kabul