Saudi Civil Defense warns of strong winds and dust affecting Riyadh province
RIYADH: The General Directorate of Civil Defense in Riyadh called for caution Friday after an advanced alert from the General Authority of Meteorology and Environmental Protection warned that some governorates in Riyadh Province including Al-Kharj, Shaqra and Al-Majma’ah will experience strong winds and dust that will cause low visibility.
The media spokesman for Civil Defense in Riyadh Maj. Mohammed Al-Hammadi urged all asthma patients and those with breathing problems in general to follow the appropriate medical instructions and avoid travelling on roads that are affected by severe sand storms as much as possible.
Earlier, sandstorms hit several cities in Saudi Arabia on Thursday and disrupted road and air transport across the Kingdom.
The early warning center of the national Saudi Meteorology and Protection of the Environment agency issued a nationwide warning stating that unstable weather will affect many areas on Thursday and Friday.
The agency said the capital Riyadh will also get its share of the sandstorm and it is expected to continue until midday on Friday.
The sand and poor visibility resulted in several accidents in Saudi Arabia’s second city Jeddah.
Makkah also suffered as a result of the storm. Maritime traffic was suspended in and out of Jeddah’s port due to poor visibility.
King Abdul Aziz airport authorities announced that smooth operations continued at the airport despite the storm.
Earlier, the sandstorms led to temporary closure of 6 airports in northern Saudi Arabia due to strong wind mixed with dust.
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
