In an unprecedented move,&nbsp;Saudi Arabia on Thursday halted travel to the holiest sites in Islam over fears of coronavirus&nbsp;just months ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage. The move comes after the Mideast has reported over 240 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The extraordinary decision by Saudi Arabia stops foreigners from reaching the holy city of Mecca and the Kaaba. The decision also affects travel to Prophet Muhammad's mosque in Medina. Authorities also suspended entry to the kingdom to those with tourist visas from nations affected by the new virus.

In an unprecedented move, Saudi Arabia on Thursday halted travel to the holiest sites in Islam over fears of coronavirus just months ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage. The move comes after the Mideast has reported over 240 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The extraordinary decision by Saudi Arabia stops foreigners from reaching the holy city of Mecca and the Kaaba. The decision also affects travel to Prophet Muhammad's mosque in Medina. Authorities also suspended entry to the kingdom to those with tourist visas from nations affected by the new virus.

Deep floodwaters and the risk of more mudslides that left at least 34 people confirmed or presumed dead hampered search and rescue operations Sunday in southern Japan, including at elderly home facilities where more than a dozen died and scores were still stranded.&nbsp;Helicopters and boats rescued more people from their homes in the Kumamoto region. More than 40,000 defense troops, the coast guard and fire brigades were taking part in the operation.&nbsp;Large areas along the Kuma River were swallowed by floodwaters, with many houses, buildings and vehicles submerged almost up to their roofs. Mudslides smashed into houses, sending people atop rooftops waving at rescuers.&nbsp;

Large crowds flocked to pubs, salons and movie theatres in England on Saturday as Covid-19&nbsp;lockdown restrictions were lifted. Dubbed as super Saturday, many appeared to flout social distancing guidelines while enjoying themselves. Other places that were reopened included churches, theme parks, libraries, museums and outdoor gyms. The National Gallery in London is all set to reopen on the 8th of July with new rules and restrictions. As Covid-19 cases continue to soar, the UK government's decision to reopen public facilities was criticised by some, who cited examples of a spike in cases in states in the US upon reopening.

US President Donald Trump has said that America loves India as he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for greeting him on the occasion of the 244th Independence Day of the United States. Prime Minister Modi on Saturday congratulated President Trump and the people of the United States, saying as the world's largest democracies "we cherish freedom and human enterprise that this day celebrates". Responding to the greetings from the prime minister on the popular micro-blogging site, Trump said in a tweet: &ldquo;Thank you my friend. America loves India!&rdquo;

In a bizarre 4th of July tweet, American rapper Kanye West, announced on Saturday that he would run for president in 2020, in an apparent challenge to Trump and his presumptive Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. West who is an ardent supporter of US President Donald Trump, in his tweet wrote, "we must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future", adding an American flag emoji and the hashtag "#2020VISION". Its not clear though if Kanye is joking about vying for the presidency four months before the November 3 election or if he has filed any official paperwork. Interestingly, Tesla and Space X CEO, Elon Musk, who is known for eccentric outbursts on social media, endorsed West's post. Musk wrote, "You have my full support!"

UK Prime Minister's Office lit a candle on Saturday evening outside the 10 Downing Street in the memory of Covid-19 victims. The&nbsp;facade of 10 Downing Street was also&nbsp;lit in blue along with other landmarks to&nbsp;mark the eve of the 72nd birthday of the National Health Service (NHS). The NHS&nbsp;was founded on the 5th of July in the country. To celebrate the day, a nation-wide round of applause will be conducted on Sunday evening to thank frontliners for their selfless service and contribution amid the pandemic.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The World Health Organization says it is ending a trial into whether anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine helps patients hospitalised with Covid-19. WHO said it has &ldquo;accepted the recommendation&rdquo; from the committee overseeing the trial to discontinue testing of hydroxychloroquine and anti-HIV drugs, which were being used for standard care for hospitalized coronavirus patients. WHO says a review of the interim results showed hydroxychloroquine along with the anti-HIV drug cocktail 'produce little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalized Covid-19 patients'

With 523 fresh deaths, Mexico&rsquo;s toll from Covid-19 rose to 30,366 on Saturday, taking it past France to become the country with the fifth-highest number of fatalities in the global pandemic. Mexico's total confirmed infections rose by almost 6,000 to 251,165, almost at par with Spain, the eighth highest caseload.

In his Fourth of July Speech, US President Donald Trump took a jab at the media, accusing it of slandering the American people in 'consistently (labelling) their opponents as racists.' "You slander the generations of heroes who gave their lives for America," he said. The President berated protesters who toppled monuments of US leaders at recent anti-racism protests, pledging to defeat the "radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters". He also used the opportunity to tout the country's 'progress' against Covid-19, despite a nationwide spike in cases. He said China - where the virus originated - must be "held fully accountable". "China's secrecy, deceptions and cover up allowed it (the coronavirus) to spread all over the world. One hundred and eighty nine countries and China must be held fully accountable." he said.

Israel was responsible for two blasts at Iranian facilities, one related to uranium enrichment and the other for missile production, over the past week, a Kuwaiti newspaper has claimed. The Al-Jareeda daily cited an unnamed senior source as saying that an Israeli cyberattack caused a fire and explosion at the largely underground Natanz nuclear enrichment facility on Thursday morning. According to the source, this was expected to set back Iran's nuclear enrichment program by approximately two months.
&nbsp;

On the eve of America's Independence&nbsp;Day, President Donald Trump took on the anti-racism protesters and accused them of wanting to end America. In a speech from the foot of Mount Rushmore, Trump accused protesters who have pushed for racial justice of engaging in a merciless campaign to wipe out the country's history. Referring to&nbsp;desecration of monuments and statues across the country that honour those who supported slavery, the US President said the movement wanted to end the legacies of former leaders. He also added that&nbsp;some on the political left hope to &ldquo;defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children.

A large number of Indian-Americans living in New York and New Jersey staged a protest&nbsp;against China at the iconic Times Square. They&nbsp;chanted various patriotic slogans and&nbsp;demanded&nbsp;an economic boycott and a diplomatic isolation of the country for its aggression against India.&nbsp;The protesters, wearing face masks in view of the coronavirus pandemic, held placards paying tributes to the Indian soldiers killed in clashes with Chinese personnel in Ladakh.&nbsp;Members of the Tibetan and Taiwanese community also joined the protest and raised slogans against China and called for an economic boycott of the Communist giant.&nbsp;

North Korea has said it does not feel the need to have talks with the United States, which would be nothing more than &ldquo;a political tool&rdquo; for Washington. Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said negotiations would not work out between Washington and Pyongyang and there will be no change in North Korea&rsquo;s policy. The statement on Saturday came ahead of a US envoy&rsquo;s visit to South Korea. The North Korea snub to the Us came days after ex-national security adviser John Bolton said Donald Trump might seek another summit with Kim Jong Un as an October surprise&rdquo; before the US election.

The girlfriend of US President Donald Trump&rsquo;s eldest son has tested positive for coronavirus, US media has reported. Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News anchor, who is dating Donald Trump Jr, had travelled to South Dakota to see the US president&rsquo;s Fourth of July speech and celebration fireworks at Mount Rushmore. 51-yr-old Guilfoyle was isolated after discovering she had the virus in a routine test conducted on anyone expected to come in close contact with the president, the New York Times reported.

Chinese tech giant unicorn ByteDance Ltd is anticipating a loss of over $6 billion after three of its apps, including the hugely popular video app TikTok, were banned by India this week, a media report said. The $6 billion amount is most likely more than the combined losses for all the other Chinese apps banned by India, China's Caixinglobal.com reported, quoting sources close to the company's senior management. India banned 59 Chinese apps after the Galwan clash which left 20 Indian soldiers dead.

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases globally surpassed 11 million mark on Saturday as various countries recorded their highest 24 hours surge, including India, US, South Africa and Mexico. As per the latest figures by John Hopkins University, the infections tally reached 11,045,713, while the death toll was at 523,898.US stays at the topp of the worst affected list while Brazil is second with over 1.5 million positive cases.

The World Health Organization has updated its Covid chronology stating that it was alerted by its own office in China, and not by Chinese authorities, to the first coronavirus cases in Wuhan. The UN body had in April said that the Wuhan municipal health commission in the province of Hubei had on December 31 reported cases of pneumonia. The new chronology says that WHO office raised the red flag first on December 31, and then Chinese authorities were contacted, who provided information on Jan 3. The Us has been accusing the WHO of a cover-up in cohorts with China.

Alabama and several other states in the US reported record increases in coronavirus cases on Friday. Florida&rsquo;s most populous county, Miami, has imposed a curfew ahead of the Independence Day weekend to check rising number of cases. Many states are now pushing to make wearing masks compulsory in public. The US reported over 53,000 new cases on Friday. The recent surge has alarmed public health officials, who have urged caution ahead of the Independence Day celebrations today. Amid the renewed virus scare, president Donald Trump is planning to address a huge Independence Day rally in Mount Rushmore.

The UK on Friday allowed quarantine-free international travel to nearly 60 "lower risk countries". It has excluded India and the US, as it released a list of exempt nations posing "a reduced risk" from the deadly coronavirus.&nbsp;The UK Foreign Office Travel Advisory related to India remains unchanged as part of its wider advice for British nationals to avoid "all non-essential international travel". The list containing countries posing "a reduced risk" from the deadly coronavirus includes Germany, France, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, Japan, Vietnam and Hong Kong. as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday announced that he has tested positive for the coronavirus disease and quarantined himself. Taking to Twitter, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader said that on Friday afternoon, he felt a slight fever and immediately quarantined himself at home. Pakistan's coronavirus tally has crossed the 221,000-mark with more than 4,500 deaths.&nbsp;

In a strong gesture of support to India amid the standoff in Ladakh, Japanese ambassador to India Satoshi Suzuki on Friday said Japan was opposed to any unilateral action to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control between India and China. Post a conversation with Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, he tweeted, appreciate India's policy to pursue peaceful resolution. Japan also hopes for peaceful resolution through dialogues. Japan is one of the members of the 'Quad' &mdash; a group which also includes India, the US and Australia, that was formed to counter China&rsquo;s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region and to ensure it remains free from any kind of dispute.

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In unprecedented move, Saudi Arabia halts pilgrimages over virus

Feb 27, 2020 19:38 IST

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