Tag Archives: covid

Saudi Arabia’s monarch expressed hope Wednesday that the kingdom’s direct talks with Iran will lead to confidence building as the two bitter regional rivals take small steps toward dialogue following several years of heightened tensions. King Salman made the remarks in a pre-recorded speech delivered to leaders gathered for the …

Bayan Galal said that she won the election to become the first Arab to serve as president of Yale’s student government by addressing important issues such as health and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), not by shying away from her Arab and Muslim identity. The 19-year-old was elected as president of …

Iran joined a rapidly expanding central Asian security body led by Russia and China on Friday, calling on the countries in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to help it form a mechanism to avert sanctions imposed by the West. The body, formed in 2001 as a talking shop for Russia, China …

Oman posted a year-to-date budget deficit of 1.1 billion rials ($2.86 billion) in June, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday. Oman is among the weakest countries financially in the oil-rich region and more vulnerable to swings in the price of hydrocarbons, a sector that accounted for about a third …

Iraq restarted talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after previously halting efforts to secure aid, the country’s finance minister Ali Allawi told reporters on Thursday, according to Bloomberg. Talks between both parties began last year amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as demand shock sent oil prices tumbling, but were …

 Lebanese crypto miners are in trouble. Lebanon has plunged into near total darkness because of its recent electricity shortage crisis, leaving mining machines suspended mid-way in their operations and their owners writhing over their financial losses. In the last two years, a growing number of Lebanese youths have turned to …

The U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) has described the Delta variant of the coronavirus as being as transmissible as chickenpox and cautioned it may trigger extreme illness, the Washington Publish stated, citing an inside CDC doc. The variant was additionally extra prone to break by protections afforded by the vaccines, however the well …

Tunisia faced its biggest crisis in a decade of democracy on Monday after President Kais Saied ousted the government and froze the activities of parliament, a move his foes labelled a coup that should be opposed on the street. In a statement late on Sunday, Saied invoked the constitution to …

Facebook is not doing enough to stop the spread of false claims about COVID-19 and vaccines, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday, part of a new administration pushback on misinformation in the United States. Facebook, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, needs to work harder to remove inaccurate …

The death toll from a fire that tore through a coronavirus hospital in southern Iraq rose to 92, health officials said on Tuesday, as authorities faced accusations of negligence from grieving relatives and a doctor who works there. More than 100 people were injured in the blaze on Monday night …

The European Union said on Monday it wanted to agree by the end of July the legal framework for a sanctions regime targeting Lebanese leaders, but cautioned that the measure would not be immediately implemented. Led by France, the EU is seeking to ramp up pressure on Lebanon’s squabbling politicians …

Saudi Arabia and Oman have called for continued cooperation between OPEC and other producers to help stabilize the market. OPEC+ last week postponed talks among producers after differences emerged between Saudi Arabia and the UAE over future output strategy. Saudi Arabia and Oman are both part of the OPEC+ alliance …

Kurdish authorities in Syria on Saturday slammed the UN Security Council for failing to reopen an aid crossing to the northeast despite approving deliveries through the frontier with Turkey. “We are not opposed to aid deliveries to the Syrian people … but we are opposed to double standards,” the Kurdish …

The recent decline in Saudi Arabia’s foreign reserves, a measure of its ability to support its dollar-pegged currency, was partly due to a lag between import payments and export receipts, the Saudi central bank governor told Reuters. Net foreign assets at the central bank, known as SAMA, dropped monthly by …

Pizza Hut is closing in Lebanon as the fast food chain succumbs to the country’s deepening economic crisis. The family food favorite posted a notice on social media thanking its customers for their support and asking them to “hold on to these memories until we make new ones.” Rocketing inflation, …

Iran-backed Houthis have thrown abducted Yemeni model and actress Entesar Al-Hammadi into solitary confinement as punishment for her protest against the initial incarceration and prison conditions, the model’s lawyer said on Thursday. Khaled Mohammed Al-Kamal told Arab News that a prosecutor from the rebel-controlled West Sanaa court on Wednesday questioned …

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made a phone call to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, Saudi Press Agency reported. During the call, the two leader reviewed the recently announced Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative to combat environmental challenges in the region. The crown …

Israel’s Foreign Minister discussed on Tuesday the threat Iran poses on the region with UK Minister Michael Gove. Gabi Ashkenazi discussed other regional issues, bilateral ties and “the need for a travel corridor,” with the British Cabinet Office minister. Gove is visiting Israel to study a COVID “green pass” smartphone …

DUBAI: If asked, most people would likely admit that they would have struggled to survive the mental toll of isolation brought about by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic without access to social media, online shopping, and video conferencing to make up for the loss of human contact. And yet, these …

The Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) has denied claims it has not paid contractors building the city’s multi-billion dollar metro project. It follows a Bloomberg report published earlier in the week headlined “Saudi Arabia’s Unpaid Tab With Metro Builders Runs Into Billions.” It said that payments had been made …

The United States will provide more than $596 million in new humanitarian aid to respond to the Syrian crisis, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday. The assistance is designed to help many of the estimated 13.4 million Syrians inside Syria, as well as 5.6 million Syrian refugees …

Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri said on Thursday after a meeting with President Michel Aoun that forming a government that could re-engage with the IMF was the only way to halt the country’s financial collapse. The meeting took place after a heated exchange on Wednesday night between the two politicians, …

Jordan’s health minister was dismissed on Saturday after seven people died following an oxygen outage in a hospital treating coronavirus patients, and police were deployed to hold back hundreds of angry relatives, state media and witnesses said. The oxygen failure on Saturday hit intensive care, maternity and coronavirus wards in …

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma have tested positive for COVID-19 after showing minor symptoms, his office said on Monday. The Syrian leader and his spouse, who announced her recovery from breast cancer in 2019, were in good health and would keep working in isolation at home, the …

Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh reshuffled his cabinet on Sunday in a move meant to accelerate IMF-guided reforms seen as crucial to Jordan’s economic recovery from the blow of the coronavirus pandemic, officials said. Six new ministers were named including interior and justice after Khasawneh fired both incumbents last week for …

The proposed ban on face veils in Switzerland is discriminatory and “violates women’s rights,” the head of women’s rights at Amnesty International’s Swiss section said. “The proposed face veil ban cannot in any way be viewed as measure for the liberation of women. Rather, it is a dangerous policy that …

China has pledged to deliver 400,000 doses of Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine to Afghanistan, Afghan officials said on Monday, in a boost for an immunisation campaign begun last week. “China’s ambassador to Kabul said in a meeting with health officials that his country would provide Afghanistan with 400,000 doses of COVID-19 …

Darth Vader, Bruce Lee and Elie Ferzli – only a couple of the many of crossover meme’s Lebanese social media users created following the Lebanese MP and deputy speaker’s meltdowns on television earlier this week. Ferzli found himself going viral and becoming the meme of the moment after losing his …

Two US Navy warships operating in the Middle East have been affected by the coronavirus, authorities said Friday, with one already at port in Bahrain and another heading there now. A dozen troops aboard the USS San Diego, an amphibious transport dock, tested positive for COVID-19, said Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, …

Abu Dhabi ruler Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan affirmed the UAE’s support for the Lebanese people during a meeting with Lebanon’s Prime Minister-designate Saad Al-Hariri. The Abu Dhabi ruler said that the UAE supported the ambitions of the Lebanese people for “unity, stability and development,” state news agency WAM reported. During …

Australians woke to empty news feeds on their Facebook Inc pages on Thursday after the social media giant blocked all media content in a surprise and dramatic escalation of a dispute with the government over paying for content. The move was swiftly criticised by news producers, politicians and human rights …

Saudi Arabian companies are preparing to participate in the International Defence Exhibition (IDEX 2021) in Abu Dhabi next week. The investment ministry, along with other Saudi bodies and firms will be taking part under the slogan “Invest in Saudi Arabia”. The Kingdom will participate in the event, which starts on …

Israel has cancelled plans to participate in a major defence expo in the United Arab Emirates next week due to COVID-19 curbs on air travel, Israeli officials said on Monday. Dozens of Israeli defence firms had been due to take part in the IDEX conference in Abu Dhabi from Feb. …

A fundraising event for Yemen’s humanitarian crisis is expected to take place in early March, hosted virtually by Sweden and Switzerland, four aid sources told Reuters on Sunday. A U.N.-backed push for international donors last June fell short of its $2.4 billion target, raising only $1.3 billion for what the …

Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri on Wednesday dined with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss the crisis in Lebanon and the difficulties in forming a new government, according to Hariri’s Twitter account. “Presidents Hariri and Macron discussed the internal Lebanese difficulties that hinder the formation of the government and the …

Societies are diverse things by nature, composed of individuals with varying ideals and attributes who agree on an arrangement of coexistence around a shared set of values. It stands to reason there will be disagreements from time to time. However, if societies lose this sense of fraternity, they can come …

King Fahd Medical City (KFMC) in Riyadh has launched a new electronic patient records system as part of a Saudi government program to improve the country’s healthcare services. Saudi Minister of Health Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah said that the hi-tech medical project was among a number of key initiatives being implemented …

US President Joe Biden on a call with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison discussed how they can work together to address global and regional challenges, including dealing with China. They also talked about beating the COVID-19 pandemic, combating climate change and working together to hold those responsible for the coup …

Pope Francis is set for an historic meeting with Iraq’s top Shi’ite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, during a trip to Iraq planned for March, the patriarch of Iraq’s Chaldean Catholic Church said on Thursday. The visit, which eluded Francis’s predecessors, takes place amid deteriorating security in some parts …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said the State Department was taking a “very urgent and very close look” at the Trump administration designation of Yemen’s Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization and wants to make sure aid groups can deliver assistance to the country. Former U.S. …

Twitter is enlisting its users to help combat misinformation on its service by flagging and notating misleading and false tweets. The pilot program unveiled Monday, called Birdwatch, allows a preselected group of users — for now, only in the US — who sign up through Twitter. Those who want to …

The Taliban militant movement gave its backing on Tuesday for a coronavirus vaccination campaign in Afghanistan that has received a $112 million pledge from the World Health Organization’s COVAX programme. The immunisation drive will have to take place amid relentless violence in the country despite the government and the Taliban …

The United Nations is still hearing concerns that companies are planning to cancel or suspend business with Yemen despite a U.S. decision to allow all transactions with the Houthi movement “given this move does not resolve underlying uncertainties,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday. The United States on Monday …

Facebook said on Monday it removed a post and suspended a messenger bot from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s page, after it posted that he wanted phone numbers to call and convince people to get COVID-19 vaccinations. Netanyahu on Thursday posted a video on Twitter encouraging senior citizens to get …