Saudi citizens will now be allowed to travel to India, Turkey, Ethiopia and Vietnam, after measures to contain the coronavirus were lifted.
The decision announced by the Ministry of Interior comes only weeks after the country announced that people will no longer be required to wear face masks.
In March, the kingdom lifted the suspension of direct flights to and from 17 countries.
These are: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Malawi, Mauritius, Zambia, Madagascar, Angola, Seychelles, Comoros, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Afghanistan.
Authorities reminded the public to take a third vaccine booster dose and said that the Tawakkalna Covid-19 app is still needed to enter offices, some public and private buildings, airports and public transport vehicles.
Last summer, the kingdom had warned Saudi nationals who flouted Covid-19 restrictions by travelling to red list countries that they could be barred from travelling for up to three years.
That warning came as the ministry restated its ban on visiting “countries witnessing a surge in cases of Covid-19 and its new variants”.
Countries on the kingdom's red list in 2021 included the UAE, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Iran — in addition to Turkey, Ethiopia, India and Vietnam.
Saudi Arabia removed the UAE, South Africa and Argentina from its red list last September.
Last November, the kingdom banned flights to and from seven African countries, over fears of coronavirus variant Omicron.
ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
FIXTURES
All games 6pm UAE on Sunday:
Arsenal v Watford
Burnley v Brighton
Chelsea v Wolves
Crystal Palace v Tottenham
Everton v Bournemouth
Leicester v Man United
Man City v Norwich
Newcastle v Liverpool
Southampton v Sheffield United
West Ham v Aston Villa
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
Where to apply
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Power: 300hp
Torque: 420Nm
Price: Dh189,900
On sale: now
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Blah
Started: 2018
Founder: Aliyah Al Abbar and Hend Al Marri
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and talent management
Initial investment: Dh20,000
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 40
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
