Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman stressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is following-up with great interest the current situation in Afghanistan, expressing hope that the situation in Afghanistan will stabilize as soon as possible while reiterating its support for the Afghan people. King Salman, while chairing the Cabinet's virtual session Tuesday, also briefed the Cabinet on the message he sent to Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as well as the phone conversation with Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. The King, in the phone call, affirmed the Kingdom's support for Algeria's efforts to combat fires that swept through a number of Algerian regions. He also issued directives to provide urgent humanitarian aid for the affected people in Algeria. The Cabinet reviewed a number of reports on the developments in the region and the world, reiterating the Kingdom's firm position in supporting the Yemeni people and its legitimate government as well as the regional and international efforts that aim at reaching a comprehensive political solution to the crisis in Yemen. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Acting Minister of Media Dr. Majid Bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi said that the Cabinet was briefed on the preparations and arrangements undertaken by authorities serving the visitors of the Two Holy Mosques, as Umrah requests from various countries of the world are being received and the overall capacity will be increased to two million Umrah performers per month. These preparations and arrangements aim at providing the highest level of care for the visitors of the Two Holy Mosques while performing the rituals in safe healthy environment in light of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the spread of new variants of the virus. The Cabinet reviewed the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic locally and globally, as well as the latest statistics and indexes of the health situation in Saudi Arabia in light of the decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases and critical cases. It also reviewed the increase in the number of citizens and residents receiving vaccine, where the total number of administered vaccine doses exceeded 32 million, in addition to the continuation of taking necessary measures that preserve the public health. The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Foreign Affairs, or his deputy, to discuss and sign with the Russian side a draft memorandum of understanding on political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. The Cabinet approved the Saudi Accreditation Center to discuss and sign with United Kingdom Accreditation Service a draft memorandum of understanding, while also approving a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of fisheries between Saudi Arabia and the government of Mauritius. It authorized the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Export-Import Bank, or his deputy, to discuss and sign with the UK a draft memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of export credit between Saudi Arabia and UK. — SPA
