{"id":465004,"date":"2021-01-06T14:38:23","date_gmt":"2021-01-06T14:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mecouncil.org\/?p=465004"},"modified":"2022-09-20T15:44:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T15:44:03","slug":"gcc-news-roundup-gulf-states-roll-out-covid-19-vaccination-campaigns-saudi-arabia-faces-financial-woes-december-1-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/gcc-news-roundup-gulf-states-roll-out-covid-19-vaccination-campaigns-saudi-arabia-faces-financial-woes-december-1-31\/","title":{"rendered":"GCC News Roundup: Gulf states roll out COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, Saudi Arabia faces financial woes (December 1-31)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gulf states roll out COVID-19 vaccination campaigns<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bahrain will provide the COVID-19 vaccine<\/a> for free to all citizens and residents, state news agency BNA reported on December 10. The country said on December 13 that it had approved the use of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine, following its earlier approval of a vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.<\/p>\n

Dubai began inoculating people with the COVID-19 vaccine<\/a> produced by Pfizer and BioNTech for free on December 23, the government said.<\/p>\n

Kuwait received 150,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine<\/a> on December 23 and expects to receive about 450,000 doses of it in the first quarter of 2021, said Ghada Ibrahim, head of public relations at the health ministry.<\/p>\n

Oman started coronavirus vaccinations on December 27<\/a>, two days ahead of plans to resume all flights and open borders that temporarily closed amid concerns over a new strain of the disease.<\/p>\n

Qatar started on December 23 the first phase<\/a> of its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, vaccinating several hundred people that day.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia began inoculating people in the kingdom<\/a> with a COVID-19 vaccine on December 17, becoming the first Arab country to roll out the Pfizer-BioNTech jab.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia to cut spending, Aramco may have to sell assets<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia plans to cut more than 7 percent in spending<\/a> next year, the finance ministry said on December 15, as the region\u2019s biggest oil producer seeks to trim a gaping budget deficit amid the coronavirus pandemic and falling oil prices.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, oil giant Aramco, whose dividend remains vital to helping Saudi Arabia contain a huge deficit, may have to sell assets and borrow more<\/a> to fulfil its fiscal role amid uncertainty in oil prices, market specialists said on December 16.<\/p>\n

Kuwaiti emir reappoints PM, approves new cabinet after parliamentary vote<\/strong><\/p>\n

Opposition candidates made gains in a parliamentary vote<\/a> in Kuwait on December 5 in which two thirds of MPs lost their seats and no women were elected, a result which analysts said could hamper government reform efforts to address a severe liquidity crunch.<\/p>\n

On December 8, Kuwait\u2019s Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah reappointed Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah<\/a> as prime minister. The emir then approved a new cabinet<\/a>\u00a0that included new ministers of oil and finance on December 14.<\/p>\n

Saudi women\u2019s rights activist sentenced to almost 6 years in prison<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of Saudi Arabia\u2019s most prominent women\u2019s rights activists, Loujain al-Hathloul, was sentenced December 28 to nearly six years<\/a> in prison under a vague and broadly worded counterterrorism law.<\/p>\n

The ruling nearly brings to a close a case that has drawn international criticism and the ire of U.S. lawmakers.<\/p>\n

Top US general convenes with Taliban in Qatar<\/strong><\/p>\n

The top U.S. general\u00a0met Taliban representatives<\/a>\u00a0in Qatar, urging them to reduce the level of violence and move more swiftly towards a political solution in Afghanistan, the U.S. military said on December 17.<\/p>\n

The meeting in Doha with the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, comes as negotiators representing the Afghan government and the Taliban take a break until January 5 when they will continue to work on an agenda.<\/p>\n

US Senate backs arms deal with UAE<\/strong><\/p>\n

An effort to stop President Donald Trump\u2019s high-tech weapons deals with the United Arab Emirates fell short on December 9 in the U.S. Senate<\/a> as Trump\u2019s fellow Republicans opposed resolutions of disapproval seeking to block the sale of drones and advanced F-35 fighter jets.<\/p>\n

The Senate voted 50-46 and 49-47, mostly along party lines, to stop consideration of the resolutions, killing them at least until President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20.<\/p>\n

Bahraini trade minister stirs controversy with Israeli import remarks <\/strong><\/p>\n

Bahrain will not allow the import of Israeli goods<\/a> produced in settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, state news agency BNA reported on December 5, disavowing comments made by the Gulf state\u2019s trade minister. The minister had said on December 3 that Bahrain\u2019s imports from Israel would not be subject to distinctions<\/a> between products made within Israel and those from settlements in occupied territory, drawing a rebuke from the Palestinians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gulf states roll out COVID-19 vaccination campaigns Bahrain will provide the COVID-19 vaccine for free to all citizens and residents, state news agency BNA reported on December 10. The country said on December 13 that it had approved the use of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine, following its earlier approval of a vaccine made by Pfizer… Continue reading GCC News Roundup: Gulf states roll out COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, Saudi Arabia faces financial woes (December 1-31)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":465005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"publication_archive_type":[297],"class_list":["post-465004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","publication_archive_type-issue-brief","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465004"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":465007,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465004\/revisions\/465007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465004"},{"taxonomy":"publication_archive_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mecouncil-afkar.fuegodigitalmedia.qa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication_archive_type?post=465004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}