Yahoo Groups, one of the last vestiges of the old Yahoo web properties, will shut down on December 15, 2020, when Verizon plans to take the groups.yahoo.com website offline for good. Verizon, which bought Yahoo in 2017, announced the decision today in emails sent to Yahoo Groups users and a message posted on the Yahoo Groups website. Today's announcement marks the end of the road for one of the internet's largest message board systems of its time. Nonetheless, despite its long-tenured history, the Yahoo Groups service, which launched 19 years ago in 2001, had fallen to the wayside across the years and slowly lost most of its once-massive userbase to newer services like Reddit, Google Groups, and Facebook Groups. Verizon, which never had a plan to revive the service, cited "a steady decline in usage over the last several years," began phasing it out last year. An initial two-phase process was announced in October 2019. At the time, Verizon announced that users would no longer be able to create new content (discussions) to the site after October 21, and the company planned to permanently remove all past user content on December 14, 2019. Mysteriously, Verizon also killed any attempts for users to archive their past discussions. While Verizon's 2019 measures allowed the Yahoo Groups website to live on, the site was never the same. Users lost the ability to post new discussions on Yahoo boards, but they still had the ability to create new groups and have mass-email conversations with all members at once. With its two decisions, Verizon effectively transformed Yahoo Groups from a message board into a mailing list, a decision in which many saw the writing on the wall for Yahoo Groups and expected the service to be eventually shut down in 2020 or beyond. That final announcement came today. According to Verizon, starting today, Yahoo Groups users won't even be able to create new groups. Only the email functionality will be left active, but this, too, will go down after December 15, 2020, when Verizon plans to shut down all of the Yahoo Groups infrastructure and end an era for many early internet users. In the meantime, Verizon is encouraging any Yahoo Groups leftover members who didn't leave the site last December to organize and move to new message boards and meeting places before emails start bouncing.

Doha. Isang mabilis na COVID-19 test na may kakayahang maglabas ng resulta sa loob ng 10 minuto lamang ang ipapatupad ng Qatar, ayon kay Dr, Enas Al Kuwari, Chair ng Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology sa Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC). Ayon pa sa kanya, bagamat mabilis, may mataas na accuracy ang resulta ng nasabing test. Ayon pa kay Dr. Enas, "Isinasagawa ang test sa pamamagitan ng pag-swab sa ilong upang masuri kung may antigens sa katawan at ilagay ito sa isang test card. Kadalasang ginagawa ang nasabing swab test sa mga taong may malinaw na sintomas tulad ng pag-ubo at lagnat. Itong pagsusuri ay kayang tumukoy sa virus sa loob ng unang linggo ng impeksiyon ng may accuracy na 97%." “The test is done by taking a swab from the nose to check antigens in the body and then inserting them into a test card. This examination is usually done on people who have clear symptoms such as coughing and high temperature. This test can detect the virus during the first week of infection with an accuracy of 97 percent,” Dr Enas said. Nagsimula na ang experimental phase ng paggamit ng mga devices sa pakikipagtulungan ng ibang HMC Departments. Sa ganitong paraan, hindi na kailangang ilipat ang mga samples sa laboratory dahil ang mga naturang devices ay kaya ng maglabas ng resulta. Makakatulong ito upang mabigyan ng mabilis na paggamot at pag-alaga ang mga pasyente. Dagdag pa ni Dr. Enas, ang manual at mabilis na antigen examination ay nasuri at aprobado na, at sa mabilis na panahon ay gagamitin na sa Qatar ng mga specialised healthcare providers sa mga kasong may sintomas o katulad na sintomas ng coronavirus infection .

The General Directorate of Information Systems, in cooperation with the Public Relations Department at the Ministry of Interior, organized an online seminar on Metrash2 services. The webinar was attended by a large number of officials of companies and establishments, Ft. Lt. Muhammad Khalid Al-Tamimi, Officer of Smart Devices Section at the Electronic Services Department in the GDIS presented the advantages of the Metrash2 services for citizens and residents and companies in the State of Qatar. He said that the number of beneficiaries from the service has reached about 2million users. The application offers so far more than 220 active services. The Metrash2 service is available in 6 languages, including: Arabic, English, French, Malayalam, Urdu, and Spanish. It guarantees safe and encrypted services and supports most of the smart devices, which contributes to reaching the largest possible segment of users. He also explained during the seminar the procedures for transactions that take place through the application, such as sending reminder notices to the user about the expiration date of the documents, completing government procedures and handling errors automatically. With regard to the registration requirements, he said that to enjoy the services Metrash2 requires a valid Qatari ID card and a phone number registered in the user's name. The application allows automatic residency renewal, as the Ministry of Interior's electronic services have recently introduced a new concept for ZeroClick services for companies. In order to benefit from this service the company is only required to register in (automatic residency renewal) through Metrash2, and the service automatically renews the residency for employees and sends IDs to the company's location without human intervention.

Naitala ng Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) ngayong araw ang 178 bagong kaso ng COVID-19, samantalang 208 katao naman ang nakarekober mula sa nasabing virus sa nakalipas na 24 oras. Sa ngayon ay umabot na sa 124,767 katao ang nakarekober sa sakit. Sa 178 na bagong kaso, 168 nito ay community cases, samantalang 10 ang mula sa mga nagbyahe galing sa ibang bansa pabalik ng Qatar. Lahat ng nasabing bagong kaso ay nasa isolation at kasalukuyang ginagamot at tumatanggap ng pangangalaga ayon sa lagay ng kanilang kalusugan. Ang kabuoang bilang ng nagpositibo sa COVID-19 ay umabot na sa 127,778, samantalang nasa 2,792 naman ang bilang ng mga aktibong kaso na kasalukyang ginagamot. Nasa 219 katao naman ang namatay na sa bansa dahil sa nasabing virus. Umabot sa 5,143 tests ang naisagawa ng MoPH sa nakalipas na 24 oras, samantalang ang kabuoang bilang ng tests ay nasa 825,511 na. May 29 kaso naman ng hospital admission sa nakalipas na 24 oras, samantalang nasa 361 ang kabuoang bilang ng mga pasyenteng nasa hospital. Isang pasyente naman ang na-admit sa ICU dahil sa komplikasyon sanhi ng impeksiyon na dala ng virus, samantalang nasa 54 naman ang bilang ng mga kasong nasa ICU sa kasalukuyan. Bagamat lumuluwag na ang restrictions, patuloy na hinihikayat ng awtoridad ang mga residente na sumunod sa mga pamamaraan upang makontrol ang pagkalat at pagkakahawa ng virus katulad ng mga sumusunod: pagsunod sa social distancing iwasan ang paglapit o pagtungo sa mga mataong lugar, o saradong lugar kung saan nagkakatipon ang maraming mga tao, magsuot ng face mask regular na maghugas ng kamay.

Ang Covid-19 situation sa Qatar ay stable at walang pangyayari ng 'second wave', ito ang pahayag ni Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal, Chairman ng National Pandemic Preparedness Committee. Ayon kay Dr. Al Khal sa pahayag nito sa Texas A&M University sa Qatar's Maerifa Public Seminar Series nitong Webes (Oct 8), "Nitong nakaraang linggo, naitala ang bahagyang pagbaba ng nasa 15% kumpara sa nakaraan pang linggo. Maaari nating maisalarawan ang sitwasyon sa bansa sa puntong ito na steady and stable, at wala tayong nararanasan na second wave 'di tulad ng sa ibang bansa." “Last week we noticed a slight decrease of about 15 percent compared to the previous week. We can describe the situation in the country at this point as being steady and stable and we are not witnessing a second wave like in many other countries.” Dagdag pa ni Dr. Al Khal, "meron tayong mabilis na pagtaas ng bilang ng mga kaso sa pagtatapos ng buwan ng Mayo at sa pasimula ng Hunyo. May isa pang pagtaas ng kaso sa pagtatapos ng Eid Al Adha sa mga Qataris at white-collar professionals bunsod ng mga social gatherings tulad ng parties. Pero mabilis din itong bumaba pagkalipas ng dalawang linggo." “We had a swift increase in number of cases towards the end of May and beginning of June. We had another wave after the Eid Al Adha among Qataris and white-collar professionals and were attributed to social gatherings like parties. But it is also trending down over the past couple of weeks,” Ang unang kaso ng COVID-19 ay naiulat sa Qatar noong February 28, sa isang batang lalakeng Qatari na umuwi mula sa Iran. Samantala, ang unang kaso naman ng COVID-19 mula sa community ay naitala noong March 8. Ayon pa kay Dr. Al Khal, malaki ang ginawang pangunahing papel ng mga epidemiologic factors at public health measures sa pagkontrol ng pagkalat ng COVID-19 pandemya sa Qatar. Aniya, kabilang na rito ang epektibong pamumuno sa pagsugpo sa nasabing pandemya, mga hakbang na ipinatupad ng pamahalaan, mga pampublikong hakbang sa pangkalusugan, structure and demographics ng populasyon, mabilis na pagaksiyon at pagpapalawak sa healthcare system na may tamang direksyon ng mga resources redeployment ng mga kawani o manggagawa. "Sa pagtatapos ng Mayo at unang bahagi ng Hunyo, naitala natin ang pinakamataas na kaso ng pandemya kung saan nagkaroon tayo ng mahigit 2000 kaso sa loob lamang ng isang araw. Pero dahil na rin sa mga pamamaraan na ipinatupad ng gobyerno sa pangunguna ng Ministry of Public Health kasama ang mga restrictions at precautions, mabilis na bumaba ang mga kaso ng pandemya at tuluyan na nga itong naging steady sa mga populasyon," dagdag pa ni Dr. Al Khal. “Towards the end of May and early June, we had the peak of the pandemic where within one day we recorded more than 2000, positive case. Due to the measures that were implemented by the government and applied through the Ministry of Public Health including the restrictions and precautions, the pandemic relatively quickly started coming down. The numbers declined and have remained somehow steady among the entire population,” said Dr. Al Khal.

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) to shoulder all coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines to those who need it all over Qatar, free of charge. According to Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal, the Chair of the National Health Strategic Group on COVID-19 and Head of Infectious Diseases at Hamad Medical Corporation, “Qatar is seeking to secure enough quantities of vaccination over a period of weeks and months... this is important for individual, public and community health,” He added the MoPH has been doing everything to secure the vaccines from private companies and make it available to the public as soon as possible.“So far, there are very good indications. Pfizer, one of these companies that the Ministry of Public Health has signed an agreement with, is doing well. It is very much possible that its vaccine will be approved by the end of October or in November,” he said. Dr Khal said that clinical trials are currently being conducted on 44,000 people from various countries around the world and once these trials are proven safe and effective, the vaccines will be exported to several countries, including Qatar. “We hope Qatar will get to obtain the first quantities of the vaccine at the end of the year or early next year.” The ministry has contacted pharmaceutical companies that already passed the initial trials of the vaccine, "Discussion is continuing with a number of companies," he added. By 2021, Pfizer will produce one billion doses of the vaccines. Today, an estimated 100 million doses will be shipped to different countries and Qatar is among those countries hoping to buy the vaccines in large quantities possible.

Doha Festival City breathes new life into its brand by emphasizing the experiential side of its offering. A host of new exciting events and activities will be held at Doha Festival City to celebrate the brand relaunch. Doha, Qatar – 1st October 2020: Doha Festival City, Qatar's one and only choice for shopping, dining and entertainment, is pleased to announce its brand relaunch, geared towards a stronger engagement with the community, creating memorable moments and offering unique experiences. On this special occasion, Doha Festival City organized a media briefing lunch for members of the media in Qatar on October 1st. During the event, Doha Festival City’s General Manager Robert Hall explained the rationale behind the brand relaunch, gave details on all upcoming initiatives and events at the Mall, and answered questions from the media. Robert Hall emphasized during the event: “Our visitors are who we value the most, the very reason of Doha Festival City’s existence. The main purpose of this brand relaunch is to create more engagement, making our guests feel like they are truly part of the Doha Festival City family.” “Our memories and feelings are what shapes us, and we wanted to make sure Doha Festival City provides truly immersive experiences, creating memorable moments that everyone can share,” he added. While the brand pillars and philosophy remain the same, the focus is shifted towards the experiential side of Doha Festival City, an offering that stimulates all five senses, reflecting the Mall’s interactive approach with its visitors. Doha Festival City’s new brand strategy emphasizes creating memorable moments for its guests, constantly engaging with Qatar’s community through a variety of events and initiatives. To celebrate this major shift, a host of new events and activations are scheduled at the Mall. Doha Festival City’s Perceptual Art display, composed of a 3D sticker and 50 hanging art pieces forming ‘The one and only” tag line, invites visitors to create memories by taking photos and interacting with the unique art pieces. To create mystery and make the experience truly immersive, the tag line will be “hidden” – viewers will be able to see the full message from only one specific point, uncovering Doha Festival City’s brand tagline. In partnership with Mazaji FM, a new Doha Festival City Radio Show will offer an interactive media platform for Arabic speakers in the heart of the Mall. Hosted by Hassan Sager and Ahmad Al Aglan, “Ghaddh’a” is an entertainment interactive show that will be aired daily from 7 pm to 8.30 pm, where guests will be able to participate in a myriad of competitions and games. The show will also be featuring a celebrity guests everyday. A host of offers and special deals are also now available at the Mall for guests to celebrate the end of season, including a special discount from Furla on its most iconic handbag models, and a drop of prices at the famous modest fashion brand Kashkha by up to 70% on all items, amongst a myriad of other promotions. Visitors can visit www.DohaFestivalCity.com for more details. An engaged member of Doha’s community, Doha Festival City will hold a CSR initiative for October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month in collaboration with the Teal Society and sponsored by Jamie’s Italian restaurant. Combined with the #FestivalCares and #QatarUnitesUS digital campaigns, Doha residents will also be invited to participate. Moreover, Doha Festival City will release new episodes of its exclusive ‘FFTV’. After several successful episodes featuring Doha’s personalities including TV presenters and fitness mentors, this Sunday’s episode will be focused on motherhood and newborns, featuring Mothercare, the leading retailer of products for newborns and young children. With over 6 million viewers reached, Fashion TV is an undeniable success for Doha Festival City. In November, a dedicated Fashion Month will be held at the Mall gathering local designers, fashion stakeholders, Doha Festival City retailers and guests all under one roof, to enjoy exclusive fashion shows, and fashion-related installations. Furthermore, a European Outdoor Cinema Film Festival will be hosted by Doha Festival City to familiarize Doha’s residents with the rich European cinematography scene. The festival will be held in the new parking space. On this special occasion, Doha Festival City pays tribute to Maki restaurant for hosting its brand relaunch event and treating guests with exquisite dishes. Maki is a contemporary Japanese restaurant with a focus on quality ingredients and innovation, and five award-winning restaurants internationally. Oliver Maki London was listed in the Michelin Guide book 2017 & 2018 and won Time Out’s Best Loved Restaurant in Soho & Covent Garden in 2018. To know about more Maki Brand Please visit https://olivermaki.com/ourstory.aspx Doha Festival City opening hours are Saturday to Wednesday from 10am to 10 pm, and Thursday to Friday from 10am to 11pm. Children of all ages are now allowed to enter the mall. In line with the preventative measures set out by the authorities, Doha Festival City has introduced stringent health and safety measures throughout the mall for its staff and visitors. This includes a thorough mall disinfection treatment on a weekly basis, robust cleaning and sanitization operations during mall trading hours, 127 hand sanitizing stations installed in the areas that have commonly touched surfaces. At the entrance to the mall and all shops, visitors must show their green Ehteraz QR code, and should wear a face mask during their whole time in the mall. Physical distancing stickers in common queuing areas, such as ATM machines, banks, telecommunication kiosks and branches and various retail shops were installed to help shoppers keep the required physical distance as set forth in the guidelines by the authorities. Stores will provide sanitizers on entry and at cash points to ensure the highest level of hygiene. To learn more, visit our website http://www.dohafestivalcity.com.

QNA Doha: The Amir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani mourned with great sadness and sorrow HH Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Amir of Kuwait, who has passed on to the mercy of God Almighty. In a statement issued by the Amiri Diwan, H H the Amir said that the late H H Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was a great leader. H H Amir also declared mourning in the country for a period of three days and flags at half-mast. The Kuwaiti Amiri Diwan announced today the passing of the Amir of the State of Kuwait H H Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. "With great sadness and sorrow, the Amiri Diwan mourns the passing of His Highness, the late Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah," the Amiri Diwan said in a statement reported by KUNA. The statement expressed condolences and commiserations to the people of Kuwait, Arab, Islamic countries, and the world, praying for mercy on the soul of the deceased.

The Department of International Studies and Affairs of the General Directorate of Drug Enforcement, in cooperation with the Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Interior, organized an open awareness seminar to the public through visual communication media on Monday, 9/28/2020. Lieutenant Abdullah Qasim, Officer of the Media and Awareness Section at the Department presented the topic as part of the Directorate’s endeavor to raise awareness of all community members about the harms and dangers of drugs. The webinar began by an introduction to the General Directorate of Drug Enforcement, as it is the authority concerned with implementing the operations of controlling and combating various drug crimes that occur in violation of Law No. (9) of 1987 and its amendments regarding drug control as well as explained the work strategy pursued by the Department that is based on reducing the illicit supply and demand for dangerous materials and psychotropic substances. Lt. Abdullah Qasim also pointed to some of the functions of the General Directorate of Drug Enforcement, such as preventing, and controlling drug crimes and psychotropic substances, receiving reports and complaints, gathering evidence, carrying out investigation, and cooperating with other relevant departments to reach the perpetrators in preparation for bringing them to trial. The Directorate’s functions include combating and controlling the crimes of cross-border smuggling through the air, sea and land ports in coordination with the concerned authorities, and combating and controlling the cultivation of narcotic plants or their promotion inside the country. The webinar also dealt with a number of awareness-raising aspects regarding the prevention of the risks that drugs cause to the individual and society, and the types of medicines and medical drugs that are prohibited to be brought into the country or used without approved prescriptions. He urged the public not to carry the belongings of others while traveling to Qatar without checking their contents to avoid legal accountability.

Umabot sa 312 Overseas Filipinos at 10 infants ang naiuwi nitong Huwebes ng gabi, 24 September 2020, sakay ng PAL chartered flight mula Doha patungong Manila na pinondohan ng PH Government, partikular ng Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). Pangatlo na ang nasabing chartered flight na napondohan ng DOLE, bagamat simula pa noong May 2020, ang Philippine Embassy at POLO sa Qatar ay nakapagpadala na ng kabuoang 10 chartered flights at dalawang special commercial flights sa tulong ng Philippine Airlines. Umabot na sa 3,753 ang kabuuang bilang ng mga Overseas Filipinos at 45 na infants ang naiuwi ng PH government mula sa Qatar sa patuloy na pagaasikaso ng PH Embassy at POLO-Doha, at sa pakikipagtulungan ng Qatari government, mga concerned nitong ahensiya at iba pang stakeholders.

Kung dati ay kinakailangang valid ang QID o RP ng isang working expatriate (manggagawa) para malipat ito sa ibang kumpanya, sa pinaka bagong ministerial decision ng Ministry of Interior, maaari ng makalipat ang mga expats sa ibang kumpanya kahit pa expired na ang residency permits (RP) o QID ng mga ito, sa loob ng 90-araw matapos ang expiration. Ito ang napapaloob sa bagong ministerial decision na nailathala sa official gazette nitong Linggo, 20 Sep 2020 at naibahagi rin sa Twitter ng Ministry of Justice. Ayon sa nasabing desisyon, kinakailangan ng employer na magsumite ng karagdagan o susog na kontrata sa orihinal na kontrata ng manggagawa kung nanaisin nitong pagpatrabahuhin pansamantala (ayara) ang manggagawa. Ang nasabing pansamantalang kontrata ay dapat pirmado ng employer at ng manggagawa, at ito ay dapat eendorso sa MADLSA. Napapaloob ito sa Ministerial Decision No. 51 of 2020 na nag-aamyenda sa ilang probisyon ng executive regulations ng Law No. 21 of 2015, o mas kilala sa tawag na entry, exit and residency of expatriates law. Ang article 1 ng Ministerial Decision No. 51 of 2020 ay nag-aamyenda sa mga probisyon ng Article No. 65 at 67 ng executive regulation ng Law No. 21 of 2015. Ayon sa naamyendahang Article 65, maaaring makalipat sa ibang kumpanya ang manggagawa alinsunod sa mga probisyon nitong bagong desisyon. Ang nasabing paglipat sa ibang kumpanya ay dapat ipaalam ng manggagawa sa tanggapan ng Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs (MADLSA) alinsunod sa mga patakaran at proseso nitong bagong desisyon. Ang nasabing bagong desisyon na ito ay magkakabisa isang araw matapos itong mailathala sa official gazette, ayon sa Article 3 ng nasabing desisyon.

Qatar-based GWC (Q.P.S.C.), a leader in supply chain solutions including warehousing, freight forwarding, commercial, fine art, and event logistics services, was announced as the first Regional Supporter and Official Logistics Provider for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ today. As such, GWC will be the key operational supplier of logistics solutions for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. GWC, which was the National Supporter and Official Logistics Provider for the FIFA Club World Cup 2019™, will build on this experience and draw on its robust network of contacts throughout the world to deliver logistics and supply chain services for the FIFA World Cup 2022. Speaking about the announcement, FIFA’s Chief Commercial Officer Simon Thomas said: “Logistics are critical to an event as large and complex as the FIFA World Cup, so having GWC on board as a Regional Supporter and the Official Logistics Provider for the tournament will provide FIFA and its Commercial Affiliates with crucial support and expertise in logistics and supply chain management, which will ensure a smooth and efficient delivery of the competition.” GWC Chairman Sh. Abdulla bin Fahad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al-Thani said: “Today marks a landmark achievement in the history of GWC as we are entrusted to deliver the logistical requirements for the FIFA World Cup 2022, and today we become a trusted player in the journey towards 2022, proudly doing our part in actualising another milestone of Qatar’s vision. We enter this agreement with confidence that we will showcase the world-class sporting and logistics infrastructure that Qatar has developed over the years, while embodying the values of sportsmanship and encouraging active engagement of football enthusiasts and wider audiences.” GWC has a logistical infrastructure covering more than three million square metres, including the largest privately-owned logistics hub in the region, along with a team of dedicated and innovative specialists and state-of-the-art IT systems. The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will take place from 21 November until 18 December in eight stadiums around Qatar – three of which are already fully operational, with two more scheduled for completion by the end of the year. For the latest tournament news, visit FIFA.com/WorldCup.