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Middle East governments enact working from home as threat of coronavirus continues

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Updated 17 March 2020
Arab News
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Middle East governments enact working from home as threat of coronavirus continues

  • Jordan to impose mandatory quarantine on arrivals for 14 days
  • Oman bans entry of all non-nationals, except GCC citizens
Updated 17 March 2020
Arab News

DUBAI: Some governments in the Middle East suspended work in some sectors and are asking employees to work from home.

In a bid to limit the spread of coronavirus, even major visitor destinations like Abu Dhabi and Dubai have closed down popular tourism sites and cancelled a number of public events.

Monday, March 16 (All times in GMT)

20:40 - Tunisia bans all gatherings, closes public parks and markets to tackle the spread of coronavirus, said Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh.

20:30 - There will be a "dramatic" change in the spread of coronavirus if Americans follow guidelines issued by the White House on Monday to fight virus, a member of the White House coronavirus task force said.

"If everybody in America does what we ask for over the next 15 days, we will see a dramatic difference," Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, said at a White House briefing also addressed by President Donald Trump.

The recommendations included avoiding social gatherings of more than 10 people. Birx said one of the most important steps was that if one person in a household became infected, the whole household should self-quarantine for 14 days.

Trump also called on Americans to "band together" and not hoard essential items.

20:15 - Egypt reported on Monday two more deaths because of coronavirus, bringing the total of coronavirus related deaths in the country to four, the health ministry said in a statement.

The individuals were a 72-year-old German who died in Luxor and a 50-year-old Egyptian in Dakahlia governorate, the statement added.

20:06: - US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has started keeping himself and his staff physically separated from his deputy’s team as one of the precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus from impacting the Pentagon’s operations.
“We are attempting to put ... a bubble around the two of them,” Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told a news briefing, adding Esper’s visitors were being limited and screened.

18:30 - Iran on Monday closed four key Shiite pilgrimage sites to stop a coronavirus outbreak that has killed over 850 people out of nearly 15,000 cases recorded in the Islamic republic.

The holy shrines of Imam Reza in Mashhad, Fatima Masumeh in Qom and Shah Abdol-Azim in Tehran were shut until further notice "upon the orders of the anti-coronavirus headquarters and the health minister," state television said.

18:25  - India will close the iconic Taj Mahal to visitors from Tuesday as part of measures to try and combat the coronavirus pandemic, the tourism ministry said on Monday.

"All ticketed monuments and all other museums have been directed to be closed until March 31," Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel tweeted late Monday.

17:50 - Canada closed its borders to all foreign nationals, except U.S. citizens, on Monday, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged people to stay at home to help stem the spread of the new coronavirus.

"We will be denying entry into Canada to people who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents," Trudeau told reporters at a news conference outside his home, where he is under quarantine.

17:10 – The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has risen in the last 24 hours by 349 to 2,158, an increase of 19.3 per cent, the Civil Protection Agency said on Monday.

The total number of cases in Italy, the European country hardest hit by the virus, rose to 27,980 from a previous 24,747, up 13 per cent, the slowest rate of increase since the contagion first came to light on Feb. 21.

17:00 - British people need to stop non-essential contact and avoid clubs, pubs, theatres and all unnecessary travel as the coronavirus outbreak accelerates towards the fast growth phase, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday.

"Now is the time for everyone to stop non essential contact with others and to stop all unnecessary travel," Johnson said at a news conference in Downing Street.

"We need people to start working from home where they possibly can," he said. "And you should avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and other such social venues."

"It looks as though we are now approaching the fast growth part of the upward curve and without drastic action cases could double every 5 or 6 days," Johnson said.

16:10 – The World Health Organization called on all countries to ramp up their testing programmes as the best way to slow the advance of the coronavirus pandemic. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said even countries with good health capacity have struggled to cope and "deeply concerned" about spread to low income countries.

“There’s no doubt that we are missing cases," Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO infectious disease epidemiologist, said during a press briefing. 

"The reason why we are so aggressive in our statement of finding all cases and testing cases is because we need to know where this virus is," Van Kerkhove added. "It’s important that we don’t give up. … We need to be finding all of these cases so that we can effectively isolate them and reduce the risk of onward transmission." 

15:20 – The German government on Monday banned gatherings in churches, mosques and synagogues and ordered non-essential shops as well as playgrounds shut, as it battled to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Supermarkets, banks and post offices will stay open, but the sweeping restrictions aimed at “limiting social contact in public places” will leave most sites from museums to swimming pools to gyms shuttered.

15:05 – Qatar has announced 38 new cases in the country.

14:50 – Europe is looking to ban foreign nationals from coming into the Schengen open border zone, two sources said, as the continent scrambles to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The Schengen zone consists of 22 of the 27 European Union member states, as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Lichtenstein. Britain and Ireland are not part of it.

14:45 – Bahrain’s flag carrier Gulf Air said it will temporarily reduce its network and suspend flights to several destinations.

No more information was immediately available about the list of countries that would be affected.

 

14:30 – The number of cases in Jordan has risen to 18.

14:15 – Malaysia will shut its borders to travelers, restrict internal movement, close schools and universities and order most businesses to shut after its number of coronavirus cases climbed on Monday to the highest in Southeast Asia.

13:50 – A video on social media shows a reporte collapsing live on Lebanese news TV while covering the border shutdown due to the virus. Watch below...

13: 20 – Egypt will halt all air traffic from its airports starting Thursday until March 31 to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Monday.

12:43 – Turkey has suspended mass prayers in mosques due to coronavirus fears, the country’s religious affairs head said.

12:33 – Jordan has announced that it will impose mandatory quarantine on arrivals for 14 days. 

11:33 – Friday prayers were suspended in Oman as a precaution against coronavirus, according to the Sultanate’s Ministry of Religious Affairs.

11:10 – Spain has registered nearly 1,000 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, raising the total number of cases to 8,744, the health ministry said.

11:04 – Kuwait’s health ministry quarantines residents of a whole building after confirming some of them have been in contact with a coronavirus patient.

10:51 – Iran said on Monday that the novel coronavirus has killed 129 more people, a new record high for a single day in one of the world’s worst-hit countries.
“Our plea is that everyone take this virus seriously and in no way attempt to travel to any province,” health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference.
The latest deaths bring the overall toll to 853 fatalities since February 19, when the government announced Iran’s first two deaths from the disease.

10:44 – Qatar temporarily closes restaurants, cafes and gatherings in halls, except delivery services.

10:43 – Morocco will close eateries, cinemas, theatres, sports, public clubs, baths, and other entertainment venues starting from today over coronavirus fears, the Interior Ministry said.
Markets, and shops selling necessary goods as well as restaurants offering a delivery service are exempt, the ministry said in a statement. Morocco, which confirmed 29 coronavirus cases, including one death and one recovery, suspended all international flights, closed schools and banned gatherings of more than 50 people.

10:43 – Kuwait’s central bank cut its discount rate by 100 basis points to 1.5 percent from 2.5 percent, part of a series of precautionary measures “for the consequences of the outbreak of the coronavirus.”

 

09:56 – The number of coronavirus cases in Jordan has increased to 16, authorities said.

09:46 – Georgia closed its borders  to foreign nationals due to coronavirus concerns.

09:37 – Malaysia reported 125 new coronavirus cases on Monday, with most linked to a religious gathering attended by around 16,000 people. The new cases bring the total tally to 553 in the country, which remains the worst affected in Southeast Asia.

09:37 – A health official in Thailand said that 33 new coronavirus cases have been recorded, bringing the tally to 147.

08:20 – Dubai tourism authorities have ordered the closure of bars, pubs and lounges, including bars within restaurants until the end of the month.

08:14 – Bahrain recorded its first coronavirus death, a 65-year old female patient who returned from Iran last month.

08:01– The Dubai stock exchange closed its trading floor as precautionary measure against coronavirus, a day after the Abu Dhabi bourse issued a similar notice.

 

 

07:57 – Kuwait’s Ministry of Health confirmed 11 new cases of COVID-19 which were detected in the past 24 hours.
Meanwhile 564 people were released from quarantine after testing negative for the coronavirus, the ministry added.

07:41 – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will impose “enhanced community quarantine” across the country”s entire main island of Luzon, his spokesman said on Monday, adding to existing measures aimed at containing the spread of coronavirus.

07:11 – US humanitarian group the Peace Corps, said it will temporarily suspend all global operations and evacuate its volunteers, amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
“As COVID-19 continues to spread and international travel becomes more and more challenging by the day, we are acting now to ... prevent a situation where volunteers are unable to leave their host countries,” Peace Corps Director Jody Olsen said in a letter to volunteers posted on its website.

07:05 – The Honduras was in a state of near lockdown on Monday after the government decided to send public and private sector workers home, temporarily call off flights, and suspend public transport to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
The violent, impoverished Central American nation rolled out the measures late on Sunday in a bid to snuff out the virus which has so far infected six people in the country.
The measures will be in effect for seven days, the government said, bolstering a drive by a number of Central American countries to stop coronavirus.
Exceptions to the public sector suspensions include people working in healthcare, emergency services, security and national defense, customs, migration, ports and airports.
In the private sector, banks, hospitals, pharmaceutical firms, gas stations, freight operators and a few other sectors will continue to operate, the government said.

06:58 – The coronavirus outbreak in France is “very worrying” and “deteriorating very fast,” the head of the country’s health service said Monday. “The number of cases double every three days,” Jerome Salomon said on France Inter, adding that the number of seriously ill patients and those needing intensive care “runs into hundreds.”

06:41 – Italy’s government is ready to intervene again if needed as measures approved so far are not enough to support businesses through the coronavirus crisis, Italy’s Prime Minister said on Monday.
“The approved measures are not sufficient. Damage (from the coronavirus) will be serious and widespread. A true ‘reconstruction plan’ will be needed,” Giuseppe Conte told daily Corriere della Sera in an interview.
The government has said planned economic support would total some $27.94 billion and new measures to support businesses and families are expected to be approved at a cabinet meeting later on Monday.
“We are responding with rules that will allow our economy to face the costs of the emergency. We are ready, if necessary, to intervene again to relaunch the country,” the premier added.

06:39 – Oman has suspended treatment services for non-urgent and routine medical cases, whose delay does not directly affect patients’ health, until further notice.

 

 

06:08 – The leader of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, Hashem Kalbakani of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus

06:01 – Israel said the number of coronavirus patients has increased to 248 people, with 48 of them were diagnosed during the past 24 hours.

05:01 –Turkey identified 12 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing its total to 18, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Monday, marking the highest daily rise since the country announced its first case last week. Koca said two of the new cases were related to the first case reported in the country, seven had travelled from Europe and three from the United States. Bars and nightclubs will be temporarily closed as of Monday, the country’s Interior Ministry said.




Turkish police officers secure the area as pilgrims arrive from the airport to be quarantined in university dormitories outside Ankara on Sunday, March 15, 2020. (AP)

 

03:01 – Bars, restaurants and nightclubs in Los Angeles were ordered to close from midnight on Sunday until March 31 as US cities take drastic action to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
“To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, I’m taking executive action to temporarily close bars, nightclubs, restaurants (except takeout/delivery), entertainment venues, and other establishments in the city of Los Angeles,” wrote Mayor Eric Garcetti on his Facebook page.

It follows a similar dramatic shutdown in New York also announced on Sunday.

01:33 – South Korea reported 74 new coronavirus infections on Monday, slightly lower than a day ago, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The new cases bring the country’s total to 8,236.
The KCDC also reported that 303 more patients had fully recovered and had been released from care. A total of 1,137 people have recovered and been released so far.
South Korea has been experiencing a downward trend in new cases and the latest numbers are significantly lower than the peak of 909 cases reported on Feb. 29 and slightly down from the 76 recorded on Sunday.

Sunday, March 15 (All times in GMT)

21:31 – Jordan’s health ministry reported that the coronavirus cases toll has risen to 12, 5 nationals, 6 French and an Iraqi lady.

Another Jordanian man has recovered from coronavirus and was discharged on Friday, the ministry added.

20:42 – Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population recorded 16 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 126.

The ministry reported only two deaths and 26 recoveries.

19:43 – Iraq’s health ministry reported 14 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 124. There have been 9 deaths and 26 recoveries so far, the ministry added.

19:34 – Oman has banned the entry of all non-Omanis via all land, sea and air ports and checkpoints, except citizens of GCC states. It also imposed quarantine on all passengers arriving in the country via all land, sea and air ports and checkpoints, including Omanis.

The sultanate’ COVID-19 Supreme Committee also decided to close all parks and public play areas and suspended Friday prayers and social gatherings including wedding parties and funeral ceremonies. The decisions take effect from Tuesday, March 17.

18:21 – Bahrain has announced a reduction in the number of incoming flights to the country as well as the suspension of visas on-arrival across all entry points, until further notice, effective 3:00a.m. on Wednesday, March 18.

17:05 – UAE’s ministry of health said of three patients recovered from coronavirus, state news agency WAM reported.

This brings the total toll of recoveries in the country to 26.

15: 43 – Oman’s Ministry of Health reported two new cases of coronavirus, involving a resident and a female citizen who had a history of travel to Italy.

Topics: Coronavirus Coronavirus (COVID-19) Coronavirus China

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2024 Year in Review: Can Lebanon recover from the depredations of Israel-Hezbollah war?

Updated 4 sec ago
NAJIA HOUSSARI
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2024 Year in Review: Can Lebanon recover from the depredations of Israel-Hezbollah war?

  • Months-long conflict compounded the country’s economic and political crises, left thousands displaced from the south
  • With the Iran-backed militia weakened, now could be the moment when the state reasserts control over its security
Updated 4 sec ago
NAJIA HOUSSARI

BEIRUT: On the first day of 2024, the Lebanese militia Hezbollah received an Israeli ultimatum. If it did not immediately retreat from the Israeli-Lebanese border and cease its rocket attacks, a full-scale war was imminent. It was the threat that preceded the storm.

The following day, Israeli fire, previously confined to cross-border exchanges initiated by Hezbollah on Oct. 8, 2023, with the stated aim of supporting Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, was turned on the southern suburbs of Beirut for the first time.

An Israeli drone targeted a Hamas office in Haret Hreik, killing the group’s third-ranking leader, Saleh Al-Arouri. Simultaneously, the killings of Hezbollah leaders in southern Lebanon increased exponentially.

The war that Hezbollah launched against northern Israel compounded Lebanon’s existing crises. Already burdened by the financial collapse of 2019, Lebanon entered 2024 grappling with worsening economic and social turmoil.



A political crisis deepened the chaos, as a failure to appoint a president — caused by sharp divisions between Hezbollah and its allies on one side and their opponents on the other — has left the government paralyzed since October 2022.

The flare-up on the border initially displaced 80,000 people from their villages, further straining the country’s economy and increasing poverty. In mid-December 2023, donor countries informed Lebanon of plans to reduce aid for social protection at the start of 2024.

Military confrontations escalated quickly. Hezbollah maintained its “linked fronts” strategy, insisting it would continue its attacks until Israel withdrew from Gaza, while Israel insisted Hezbollah comply with Resolution 1701 and withdraw its forces north of the Litani River.

Between Oct. 8, 2023, and September 2024, Hezbollah launched 1,900 cross-border military attacks, while Israel responded with 8,300 attacks on southern Lebanon. These hostilities caused hundreds of fatalities and displaced entire communities in both southern Lebanon and northern Israel.

Despite intensive diplomatic efforts — primarily by France and the US — no ceasefire was reached during this period. The confrontations intensified, with the Israeli army expanding its targets to the Baalbek region, while Hezbollah extended its strikes to deep Israeli military positions.

Daily clashes revealed Hezbollah’s entrenched military presence in southern Lebanon, including arms depots, artillery emplacements and tunnels, despite the monitoring role of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon under Resolution 1701.



Resolution 1701 mandates the establishment of a weapons-free zone between the Blue Line and the Litani River, except for Lebanese government and international forces. It also prohibits the unauthorized sale or supply of arms to Lebanon.

Hassan Nasrallah, the slain secretary-general of Hezbollah, asserted in 2021 that the group’s fighting force was 100,000 strong.

Funded by Iran and trained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah boasted a significant arsenal, predominantly Iranian-made and locally manufactured weapons.

After monopolizing resistance operations in the 1980s, Hezbollah morphed into what many analysts considered an Iranian proxy beyond the control of the Lebanese state.

This year’s confrontations broke traditional rules of engagement, imposing new dynamics.

UNIFIL troops in forward positions were not spared from the crossfire, with incidents escalating after Israeli forces entered UNIFIL’s operational zones.



By mid-July, Western embassies in Lebanon were urging their nationals to leave, aware of Israel’s threat to expand the conflict into an all-out war on Lebanon.

Israeli strikes on Hezbollah’s leadership intensified, culminating in the July killing of Radwan Division commander Fouad Shukr in southern Beirut. The following day, Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh was targeted in Tehran, heightening tensions between Israel and Iran.

Israeli airstrikes deepened across southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, while Hezbollah extended its attacks to Kiryat Shmona, Meron and the outskirts of Haifa and Safed.

Then, on Sept. 17-18, Israel mounted a coordinated attack on thousands of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies, causing explosions that resulted in 42 deaths and more than 3,500 injuries. Although Israel has not claimed responsibility, the attack marked a significant escalation.

By Sept. 27, the killing of Nasrallah and other senior Hezbollah figures in Haret Hreik signaled the start of a wider war. Israeli forces used precision concussion rockets to strike deep into buildings and bunkers, killing Hezbollah commanders and forcing mass evacuations from Beirut’s southern suburbs.



In response, Hezbollah reaffirmed its commitment to linking any ceasefire in Lebanon to one in Gaza. However, by Oct. 1, Israel had intensified its raids, leveling residential buildings and even threatening archaeological sites in Tyre and Baalbek.

The Israeli army also initiated a ground offensive in southern Lebanon, destroying border villages and severing land crossings with Syria to disrupt Hezbollah’s supply lines. Satellite imagery revealed the total destruction of towns like Ayta Al-Shaab and Aitaroun, rendering them uninhabitable.

The devastation affected not only Hezbollah but also Lebanon’s Shiite community, which had invested heavily in the group over decades.

On Nov. 26, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, with US mediation, finalized a ceasefire agreement. However, the deal was preceded by a massive Israeli escalation in Beirut.



As the ceasefire came into effect, questions arose in Hezbollah strongholds about its decision to separate the Lebanon and Gaza peace tracks. Critics also questioned its commitment to dismantling military installations and cooperating with US-led monitoring efforts.

Despite the ceasefire, violations continued. Meanwhile, the war’s economic toll was becoming apparent.

Amin Salam, Lebanon’s minister of economy, estimated initial losses at $15-20 billion, with 500,000 jobs lost, widespread business closures, and agricultural devastation affecting 900,000 dunams of farmland.

Farmers, industrialists and displaced communities were left without support, deepening Lebanon’s economic paralysis. Municipalities began assessing damages, while Hezbollah sought to distribute Iranian-funded aid to those affected.

Although its leadership and its once mighty arsenal have been badly diminished, and the war in Gaza continues, the fact that Hezbollah has survived the past year of conflict is being projected by the group as a victory in itself.



What is certain is that Lebanon now faces an unprecedented challenge, recovering from a conflict it was ill-equipped to withstand and watching a friendly government in neighboring Syria crumble under an onslaught by opposition forces.

By the same token, now may be the moment many Lebanese had been eagerly waiting for, when the state is in a position to assert its control over internal and external security.

 

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UN investigator says possible to find ‘enough’ proof for Syria prosecutions

Updated 26 min 52 sec ago
AFP
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UN investigator says possible to find ‘enough’ proof for Syria prosecutions

  • Since Assad’s fall, Petit has been able to visit the country but his team still require authorization to begin their work inside Syria which they have requested
Updated 26 min 52 sec ago
AFP

DAMASCUS: The visiting head of a UN investigative body for Syria said Sunday it was possible to find “more than enough” evidence to convict people of crimes against international law, but there was an immediate need to secure and preserve it.
The doors of Syria’s prisons were flung open after an Islamist-led rebel alliance ousted longtime ruler Bashar Assad this month, more than 13 years after his brutal repression of anti-government protests triggered a war that would kill more than 500,000 people.
With families rushing to former prisons, detention centers and alleged mass graves to find any trace of disappeared relatives, many have expressed concern about safeguarding documents and other evidence.
“We have the possibility here to find more than enough evidence left behind to convict those we should prosecute,” said Robert Petit, who heads the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) set up by the UN in 2016 to prepare prosecutions for major international crimes in Syria.
But he noted that preserving evidence would “need a lot of coordination between all the different actors.”
“We can all understand the human impulse to go in and try and find your loved ones,” Petit said. “The fact is, though, that there needs to be a control put in place to restrict access to all these different centers... It needs to be a concerted effort by everyone who has the resources and the powers to do that to freeze that access, preserve it.”
The organization, known as the Mechanism, was not permitted to work in Syria under Assad’s government but was able to document many crimes from abroad.
Since Assad’s fall, Petit has been able to visit the country but his team still require authorization to begin their work inside Syria which they have requested.
He said his team had “documented hundreds of detention centers... Every security center, every military base, every prison had their own either detention or mass graves attached to it.”
“We’re just now beginning to scratch that surface and I think it’s going to be a long time before we know the full extent of it,” he told AFP.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, more than 100,000 people died in Syria’s jails and detention centers from 2011.
The Saydnaya complex, the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances, epitomised the atrocities committed against Assad’s opponents.
Petit compared Saydnaya to the S-21 prison in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh, which came to stand for the Khmer Rouge’s wider atrocities and now houses the country’s genocide museum.
The Saydnaya facility will become “an emblematic example of inhumanity,” he said.
Petit said his team had reached out to the new authorities “to get permission to come here and start discussing a framework by which we can conduct our mandate.”
“We had a productive meeting and we’ve asked formally now, according to their instructions, to be able to come back and start the work. So we’re waiting for that response,” he said.
Even without setting foot in Syria, Petit’s 82-member team has gathered huge amounts of evidence of the worst breaches of international law committed during the war.
The hope is that there could now be a national accountability process in Syria and that steps could be taken to finally grant the International Criminal Court jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed in the country.
 

 

Topics: Fall of Assad Syria

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Tunisian women herb harvesters struggle with drought

Updated 59 min 36 sec ago
AFP
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Tunisian women herb harvesters struggle with drought

  • Tunisia produces around 10,000 tonnes of aromatic and medicinal herbs each year, according to official figures
Updated 59 min 36 sec ago
AFP

TUNIS: On a hillside in Tunisia’s northwestern highlands, women scour a sun-scorched field for the wild herbs they rely on for their livelihoods, but droughts are making it ever harder to find the precious plants.
Yet the harvesters say they have little choice but to struggle on, as there are few opportunities in a country hit hard by unemployment, inflation and high living costs.
“There is a huge difference between the situation in the past and what we are living now,” said Mabrouka Athimni, who heads a local collective of women herb harvesters named “Al-Baraka.”

Mabrouka Athimni, who heads a local collective of women herb harvesters named "Al Baraka" ("Blessing") shows oil extracted from plants in a laboratory in Tbainia village near the city of Ain Drahem, in the north west of Tunisia on November 6, 2024. (AFP)

“We’re earning half, sometimes just a third, of what we used to.”

SPEEDREAD

Yet the harvesters say they have little choice but to struggle on, as there are few opportunities in a country hit hard by unemployment and high living costs.

Tunisia produces around 10,000 tonnes of aromatic and medicinal herbs each year, according to official figures.
Rosemary accounts for more than 40 percent of essential oil exports, mainly destined for French and American markets.
For the past 20 years, Athimni’s collective has supported numerous families in Tbainia, a village near the city of Ain Draham in a region with much higher poverty rates than the national average.
Women, who make up around 70 percent of the agricultural workforce, are the main breadwinners for their households in Tbainia.
Tunisia is in its sixth year of drought and has seen its water reserves dwindle, as temperatures have soared past 50 degrees Celsius in some areas during the summer.
The country has 36 dams, mostly in the northwest, but they are currently just 20 percent full — a record low in recent decades.
The Tbainia women said they usually harvested plants like eucalyptus, rosemary and mastic year-round, but shrinking water resources and rare rainfall have siphoned oil output.
“The mountain springs are drying up, and without snow or rain to replenish them, the herbs yield less oil,” said Athimni.
Mongia Soudani, a 58-year-old harvester and mother of three, said her work was her household’s only income. She joined the collective five years ago.

“We used to gather three or four large sacks of herbs per harvest,” she said. “Now, we’re lucky to fill just one.”

Forests in Tunisia cover 1.25 million hectares, about 10 percent of them in the northwestern region.

Wildfires fueled by drought and rising temperatures have ravaged these woodlands, further diminishing the natural resources that women like Soudani depend on.

In the summer of last year, wildfires destroyed around 1,120 hectares near Tbainia.

“Parts of the mountain were consumed by flames, and other women lost everything,” Soudani recalled.

To adapt to some climate-driven challenges, the women received training from international organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization, to preserve forest resources.

Still, Athimni struggles to secure a viable income.

“I can’t fulfil my clients’ orders anymore because the harvest has been insufficient,” she said.

The collective has lost a number of its customers as a result, she said.

 

Topics: Tunis Tunisia women

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Civilians suffer as rival forces seek foothold in wider Darfur region

Updated 34 min 31 sec ago
Reuters
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Civilians suffer as rival forces seek foothold in wider Darfur region

  • Rapid Support Forces seize back control of key logistical base
Updated 34 min 31 sec ago
Reuters

DUBAI/CAIRO: Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized back control of a key logistical base in North Darfur on Sunday, the paramilitary group said, a day after it was taken by rival forces allied with Sudan’s army.
The conflict between the RSF and the army erupted in April 2023, and some of the fiercest fighting has taken place in North Darfur as the army and allied Joint Forces — a collection of former rebel groups — battle to maintain a last foothold in the wider Darfur region.
The Joint Forces and the army said in statements they had taken control on Saturday of the Al-Zurug base, which the RSF has used during the 20-month war as a logistical base to channel supplies from over the nearby borders with Chad and Libya.

BACKGROUND

• The conflict between the RSF and the army erupted in April 2023, and some of the fiercest fighting has taken place in North Darfur.

• Since fighting picked up in Al-Fashir in mid-April, at least 782 civilians have been killed, according to a UN human rights report.

Dozens of RSF soldiers were killed, vehicles destroyed and supplies captured as they captured the base, they said.
The incident could inflame ethnic tensions between the Arab tribes that form the base of the RSF and the Zaghawa tribe that forms most of the Joint Forces, analysts say.
The RSF accused Joint Forces fighters of killing civilians and burning down nearby homes and public amenities during the raid.
“The Joint Forces carried out ethnic cleansing against innocent civilians in Al-Zurug and intentionally killed children, women, and the elderly and burnt and destroyed wells and markets and homes and the health center and schools,” it said in a statement on Sunday.
The Joint Forces said the base had been used by the RSF as a “launching point for barbaric operations against civilians” in areas including Al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state and one of the most active frontlines in the fighting.
Since fighting picked up in Al-Fashir in mid-April, at least 782 civilians have been killed, according to a UN human rights report, the result of attacks via “intense” heavy artillery and suicide drones from the RSF and airstrikes and artillery strikes by the army.
On Sunday, activists from the Al-Fashir Resistance Committee reported an onslaught of at least 30 missiles fired on different parts of the city.
Seizing control of the city would bolster the RSF’s attempt to install a parallel government to the national government in Port Sudan, analysts say.

 

Topics: Sudan conflict Sudan army Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF)

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Jordanian minister criticizes ‘sensational’ reporting of Middle East events

Updated 22 December 2024
Arab News
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Jordanian minister criticizes ‘sensational’ reporting of Middle East events

  • Mohammad Momani stressed the importance of obtaining verified information
  • He said media freedom should not be misused to distort regional events
Updated 22 December 2024
Arab News

LONDON: Jordanian Minister of Government Communication Mohammad Momani emphasized the importance of professionalism and accuracy in reporting Middle Eastern events during a meeting with local, Arab and international media representatives on Sunday.

Momani said that a few international media outlets “sensationalize” regional events at the cost of accuracy, arguing that “this does not serve the public and undermines professional standards.”

He discussed with media representatives the importance of obtaining verified information to ensure accuracy, serve public opinion and uphold the right to knowledge, the official Jordanian news agency, Petra, reported.

Over the past year, some Western media outlets reporting on the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip and the conflict with Lebanon, as well as the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, have investigated some details in the stories they ran.

CNN investigated a recent video report that captures the moment a Syrian prisoner was freed from a secretive prison in Damascus. Critics have claimed that the report was staged and that the man featured in the CNN video was not who he claimed to be.

Momani said that media freedom should not be misused to distort regional circumstances or promote political and ideological agendas, Petra added.

He called on media outlets in Jordan to report on the country’s political and security realities professionally, accurately representing the event in all its aspects while rejecting false or misleading narratives.

Momani said that the Jordanian government was dedicated to transparency and communication with media representatives, including Arab, international and local outlets.

He praised the professional reporting on regional events by Jordanian state agencies and commended the country’s balanced political stance and commitment to stability.

Jordan’s Ministry of Government Communication regularly holds meetings and briefings to enhance communication with media representatives in Jordan.

Topics: Jordan

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