Search form

You are here

  • Home
  • World remains on high alert as coronavirus sends shockwaves through fragile countries


World remains on high alert as coronavirus sends shockwaves through fragile countries

The virus has infected over 760,000 people globally as of Tuesday. (File/AFP)
Short Url

https://arab.news/9vfg8

Updated 01 April 2020
Arab News
Follow

World remains on high alert as coronavirus sends shockwaves through fragile countries

  • Governments have been launching financial stimulus packages to support their economies
Updated 01 April 2020
Arab News

DUBAI: Middle East countries have taken extra steps to buffer the blow of the coronavirus that has so far infected more than 760,000 people globally.
Elsewhere the World Bank said on Monday the economic fallout due to the pandemic could drive 11 million more people in East Asia into poverty.
Governments have been launching financial stimulus packages to support their economies, and allow their citizens to cope with the crippling effects of the outbreak.

Tuesday, March 31 (All times in GMT)

21:00 - A 72-year-old man has become the first person to die in Oman from coronavirus.

20:30 - A 13-year-old boy in London who tested positive for coronavirus has died, King's College Hospital said on Tuesday.

18:05 - Saudi Arabia is urging Muslims to wait before making plans to attend the annual hajj pilgrimage until there is more clarity about the deadly coronavirus pandemic, the Kingdom's minister for hajj and umrah said.

17:50 - Turkey said coronavirus deaths rose to 214, with 2,704 new infections.

16:00 - Britain reported a record daily coronavirus toll of 381 on Tuesday, more than double the number of nationwide deaths posted in the previous 24 hours.

15:45 New York state coronavirus deaths increase to 1,550 from 1,218, cases increases to 75,795 from 66,497 a day earlier, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

15:20 - The Bahraini Health Ministry announced 47 new cases of coronavirus infections on Tuesday.

15:10 - Iran has reported 141 new virus deaths, raising the country's total to 2,898.

14:30 - The head of Moscow's main coronavirus hospital who met with President Vladimir Putin a week ago has tested positive, he said Tuesday, as the Kremlin announced the Russian leader's health was fine.

Last Tuesday Denis Protsenko met with the Russian leader who inspected the Kommunarka hospital while wearing a bright yellow hazmat suit. But the 67-year-old Putin was also seen talking to Protsenko without any protective gear.

14:10 - Spain will bar utility companies from cutting off water and electricty to customers over unpaid bills as part of measures aimed at helping vulnerable groups hit by the coronavirus outbreak, Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias said on Tuesday.

13:40 - Mauritania has declared its first fatality from coronavirus, state media reported on Tuesday, adding to the growing death toll on the African continent.

The victim is a 48-year-old French-Mauritanian dual national who tested positive for the virus after she died, according to the Mauritanian Information Agency.

13:30 – UAE Health Ministry announced 53 new cases of coronavirus infections and one new death, bringing the total to 664 cases with 6 deaths.

12:55 – The death toll in England from the coronavirus outbreak rose 29% to 1,651, the National Health Service said.

12:52 – Morocco announced that the number of cases in the country reached 574.

12:50 – Saudi has confirmed 110 new coronavirus cases, two deaths and 50 recoveries. National tolls stand at 1563 infections, 10 deaths and 165 recoveries. READ MORE HERE.

12:25 – The number of deaths in the Netherlands resulting from the coronavirus epidemic has risen by 175 to 1,039, health authorities said.

11:15 – Indonesian leader Joko Widodo declared a state of emergency Tuesday as coronavirus deaths in the world’s fourth most populous country jumped again, but he resisted calls for a nationwide lockdown. READ THE STORY

10:20 – Lebanon has recorded 17 new coronavirus cases and one death, bringing the totals to 463 and 12.

09:43 – Iran’s infection cases from the coronavirus reached 44,606, a health official said, while the death toll has climbed to 2,898.

09:38 – Spain’s coronavirus death toll rose to 8,189 on Tuesday from 7,340 on Monday, health ministry officials said, as cases reached 94,417 from 85,195 a day earlier.

09:22 – Indonesia confirmed 114 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday, bringing the total to 1,528, a health ministry official said.

WATCH: A public health reminder from the Saudi Ministry of Health on how to avoid coronavirus infection.

 

09:11 – Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al-Maktoum on Tuesday said that the Dubai government will infuse new equity into Emirates to help the airline overcome the coronavirus pandemic.

08:47 – The Philippine health ministry has reported 10 new coronavirus deaths, 538 more infections.




Police personnel hold up placards reminding people to stay at home amid concerns of the spread of coronavirus in Manila on March 31, 2020. (AFP)

08:41 – Indonesia is set to release about 30,000 prisoners early as the Southeast Asian nation seeks to avoid a possible surge in coronavirus infections in its overcrowded prisons.

08:06 – Russian lawmakers were set on Tuesday to consider legislation imposing severe punishment — including up to five years in prison — for people convicted of spreading false information about the coronavirus.

08:02 – An association of airlines in the Philippines is requesting government help, saying they face a threat to their survival as the global push to contain the coronavirus spread hampers operations.

07:53 – Palestine has recorded two new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 117 infections.

07:40 – The UAE has offered private companies, who are either facing excess or shortage of labor, several options to cope with safety measures the government has implemented due to the coronavirus pandemic.

07:18 – Kuwait announces new coronavirus recovery, increasing the toll to 73. The woman, 82 years, is a Kuwaiti national.

05:54 – The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany rises to 61,913, deaths to 583.

06:14 – The Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services has launched the first ‘Self Sanitization Walk’ as a safeguard against viruses that its paramedics may pass on to their colleagues and families.

05:05 – Vietnam said it will implement social distancing measures for 15 days from April 1.

04:49 – Chech Republic has reported 184 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, raising toll to 3,001.

04:44 – Thailand has reported 127 new COVID-19 cases, and one death.

01:47 – Mexican authorities said the country’s health system could be overwhelmed if coronavirus cases reach tens of thousands.

Monday, March 30 (All times in GMT)

23:49 – Tunisia has confirmed 50 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 362.

23:06 – Morocco has recorded 22 new coronavirus cases, increasing the total to 556.

18:56 – Jordan has detected nine new COVID-19 cases and eight recoveries, bringing the totals to 268 and 24. The country has reported five deaths.

17:30 – Iraq has confirmed 83 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 630.

Topics: Coronavirus coronavirus Coronavirus

Related

World
Philippines coronavirus testing to be stepped up soon: WHO
Sport
We will win fight against coronavirus, says Kipchoge

Eight sentenced to death for 2013 murder of Tunisia opposition leader

Updated 26 February 2025
AFP
Follow

Eight sentenced to death for 2013 murder of Tunisia opposition leader

  • Brahmi, a nationalist left-wing leader of the People’s Movement and member of Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly, was an outspoken critic of the Islamist-inspired government dominated by Ennahdha at the time
Updated 26 February 2025
AFP

TUNIS: A Tunisian court sentenced eight defendants to death on Tuesday over the 2013 assassination of leftist opposition figure Mohamed Brahmi, according to local reports.
Charges included “attempting to change the state’s nature” and “inciting armed conflict,” local media reported.
Three of the defendants also received additional death sentences for “deliberate participation in premeditated murder,” according to the reports.
A ninth, who is on the run, was sentenced to five years in prison for “failing to report terrorist crimes to the authorities,” said the reports.
Tunisia still hands down death sentences, particularly in “terrorism” cases, even though a de facto moratorium in effect since 1991 means they are effectively commuted to life terms.
The verdict marked the first set of rulings in the case of Brahmi’s assassination, which took place outside his home on July 25, 2013, amid Tunisia’s turbulent post-revolution political landscape.
Demonstrators took to the streets across the country, as Brahmi’s distinctive round face and thick mustache became symbols of protest against jihadist violence.
Brahmi, a nationalist left-wing leader of the People’s Movement and member of Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly, was an outspoken critic of the Islamist-inspired government dominated by Ennahdha at the time.
His assassination further shocked the nation as it came less than six months after the killing of another prominent leftist figure, Chokri Belaid, who was also gunned down outside his home.

Brahmi had been elected in Sidi Bouzid, the birthplace of the 2011 revolution that toppled ex-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and later swept through the Arab World.
He was shot 14 times by two assailants in front of his wife and children.
His family had long accused Ennahdha of being behind the murder, but the then ruling party denied the allegations.
It had also pushed back against accusations of excessive leniency, blacklisting the formerly legal Salafist movement Ansar Al-Charia as a terrorist organization.
Terrorists affiliated with the Daesh claimed responsibility for both the Brahmi and Belaid assassinations.
The aftermath of the 2011 revolution saw a surge in Islamist radicalism in Tunisia with thousands of jihadist volunteers leaving to fight in Syria, Iraq and neighboring Libya.
Tunisia faced heightened security threats, with armed groups operating from the Chaambi Mountains near the Algerian border, primarily targeting security forces and the military.
In 2015, jihadist attacks in Sousse and the capital Tunis killed dozens of tourists and police, although authorities say they have since made significant progress against the extremists.
In recent years, Tunisian authorities claim significant progress in combating jihadist violence, but the country remains under a state of emergency.
In 2022, President Kais Saied — who has framed the murders of Brahmi and Belaid as national issues and often called them “martyrs” — dismissed dozens of judges after alleging they had obstructed investigations.
The high-profile killings, and the mass protests they drew, ultimately forced Ennahdha to relinquish power to a technocratic government following the adoption of a new constitution.
The crisis had nearly derailed Tunisia’s fragile democratic transition.
But political dialogue led by four civil society organizations, including the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), helped restore stability and earned the nation of 12 million the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize.
 

 

Topics: Tunis

Related

Middle-East
Tunisia voices ‘astonishment’ at UN criticism of rights record
Middle-East
Strike shuts Tunisia mining town over infrastructure woes

Why UAE climate scientists have their heads in the clouds

Updated 26 February 2025
Arab News
Follow

Why UAE climate scientists have their heads in the clouds

  • $1.5 million three-year project will deploy artificial intelligence to increase annual rainfall
Updated 26 February 2025
Arab News

DUBAI: Artificial intelligence and “the cloud” seem to be everywhere these days — now scientists in the UAE are putting them together in an attempt to increase the country’s minuscule 100mm annual rainfall.

A three-year project funded with $1.5 million from the UAE’s rain enhancement program will feed satellite, radar and weather data into an algorithm that predicts where seedable clouds will form in the next six hours. It promises to improve on the current method of cloud-seeding flights directed by human experts studying satellite images.
Cloud seeding, using planes to fire salt or other chemicals into clouds, can increase rainfall by up to 15 percent — but it works only with certain types of puffy, cumulus clouds, and can even suppress rainfall if not done properly.
“You’ve got to do it in the right place at the right time. That’s why we use artificial intelligence,” said Luca Delle Monache, a climate scientist at the University of California San Diego.

Topics: UAE cloud seeding

Israel, Hamas agree on new exchange, leaving fragile ceasefire intact

Hamas fighters stand in formation ahead Israeli hostages release in Nuseirat, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (AP)
Updated 26 February 2025
AP
Follow

Israel, Hamas agree on new exchange, leaving fragile ceasefire intact

  • The deadlock had threatened to collapse the ceasefire when the current six-week first phase of the deal expires this weekend
Updated 26 February 2025
AP

JERUSALEM: Israeli and Hamas officials said Tuesday they have reached an agreement to exchange the bodies of dead hostages for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, keeping their fragile ceasefire intact for at least a few more days.
Israel has delayed the release of 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it says is the cruel treatment of hostages during their release by Hamas. The militant group has said the delay is a “serious violation” of their ceasefire and that talks on a second phase are not possible until they are freed.
The deadlock had threatened to collapse the ceasefire when the current six-week first phase of the deal expires this weekend.
But late Tuesday, Hamas said an agreement had been reached to resolve the dispute during a visit to Cairo by a delegation headed by Khalil Al-Hayya, a top political official in the group.
The breakthrough appeared to clear the way for the return of the bodies of four more dead hostages and hundreds of additional prisoners scheduled to be released under the ceasefire.
The prisoners previously slated for release “will be released simultaneously with the bodies of the Israeli prisoners who were agreed to be handed over,” along with the release of a new set of Palestinian prisoners, the Hamas statement said.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed an agreement to bring home the bodies in the coming days. He gave no further details.
But Israeli media reports said the exchange could take place as soon as Wednesday. The Ynet news site said the Israeli bodies would be handed over to Egyptian authorities without any public ceremony.
Hamas has released hostages, and the bodies of four dead hostages, in large public ceremonies during which the Israelis were paraded and forced to wave to large crowds. Israel, along with the Red Cross and UN officials, have said the ceremonies were humiliating to the hostages, and Israel last weekend delayed the scheduled prisoner release in protest.
The latest agreement would complete both sides’ obligations of the first phase of the ceasefire — during which Hamas is returning 33 hostages — including eight bodies — in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
It also could clear the way for an expected visit by the White House’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, to the region. Witkoff, who is expected in the region in the coming days, has said he wants the sides to move into negotiations on the second phase, during which all remaining hostages held by Hamas are to be released and an end to the war is to be negotiated. The Phase 2 talks were supposed to begin weeks ago, but never did.
The ceasefire, brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of heavy fighting that erupted after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed some 1,200 people in Israel and took about 250 people hostage.
Israel’s military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, displaced an estimated 90 percent of Gaza’s population and decimated the territory’s infrastructure and health system. The Hamas-run Health Ministry does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths, but it says that over half of the dead have been women and children.
 

 

Topics: War on Gaza Palestine Gaza

Related

Middle-East
Israeli military campaign in Tulkarm marks 30 days, leaving parts of city in ruins
Middle-East
Hamas says no more ceasefire talks until Israel frees prisoners

Officers killed in Sudan plane crash: military source

Updated 26 February 2025
AFP
Follow

Officers killed in Sudan plane crash: military source

  • In a statement sent to the media, the RSF said it shot down a Russian-made Ilyushin plane early on Monday morning, alleging that the plane was destroyed with its crew on board
Updated 26 February 2025
AFP

PORT SUDAN, Sudan: A Sudanese military plane crashed on Tuesday on the outskirts of the capital Khartoum, killing a number of officers and civilians, the army said, with pro-democracy activists saying at least 10 people were killed.
In a statement released late Tuesday, the Sudanese army, at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, said the plane crashed during takeoff from an air base, killing and injuring both military personnel and civilians.
“The injured have been taken to hospital, and firefighting teams managed to contain the blaze at the crash site,” the statement added.
A military source had earlier told AFP that a technical malfunction was behind the crash of the Antonov aircraft.
The crash took place near Wadi Seidna air base — one of the army’s largest military hubs in Omdurman, part of greater Khartoum.
The Karari Resistance Committee, part of a network of volunteers coordinating aid across Sudan, reported that 10 bodies and several injured people were brought to Al-Nao hospital in Omdurman.
Witnesses reported damage to several homes in the neighborhood where the plane came down.
Residents in northern Omdurman reported a loud explosion from the crash, which also caused power outages in several surrounding neighborhoods.
A witness said the plane was flying southbound from northern Sudan when it crashed near the base.
The incident comes a day after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claimed responsibility for downing a fighter jet in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.
In a statement sent to the media, the RSF said it shot down a Russian-made Ilyushin plane early on Monday morning, alleging that the plane was destroyed with its crew on board.
The recent escalation follows significant advances by the army in central Sudan and the capital Khartoum in its multi-front offensive against the RSF.
Since April 2023, army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his former deputy and RSF commander Mohamed Hamadan Dagalo, once allies, have been locked in a brutal power struggle.
The conflict, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives, erupted after a rift emerged between Burhan and Dagalo over the future structure of the government.
The conflict has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory, according to the UN.
 

Topics: Sudan conflict Sudan

Related

Middle-East
Doctors Without Borders halts activities at Sudan’s Zamzam camp due to heavy fighting

UN agency chief says ‘wouldn’t be involved in any’ Gaza displacement

Updated 26 February 2025
AFP
Follow

UN agency chief says ‘wouldn’t be involved in any’ Gaza displacement

  • More than 15 months of war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, have left much of Gaza in ruins and most of its population displaced
Updated 26 February 2025
AFP

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: The International Organization for Migration will not be part of “any kind of forced” evacuation of Palestinians out of Gaza, the director of the UN agency, Amy Pope, told AFP on Tuesday.
Any such displacement would be a “red line” for governments in the region, said Pope, after US President Donald Trump proposed taking over the war-battered Gaza Strip and removing its more than two million Palestinian inhabitants.
“We made a commitment to the communities that we serve that we wouldn’t be involved in any kind of forced movement of population or evacuation of people,” said Pope, who is American.
Trump’s proposal to rebuild Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East” while its residents are displaced prompted widespread criticism when it was first presented in early February.
“As we’re seeing right now, (the displacement of Palestinians) has been a red line for both the government of Jordan and Egypt,” Pope said of the two countries Trump has said could take in Gazans.
“We’re a humanitarian actor,” she added.
“So we... certainly don’t engage in activities that would be red lines for key member states.”
Faced with strong opposition in the Middle East and beyond, Trump said in an interview on Friday he was “not forcing” his plan.
Pope, in a visit to Gaza last week, said she saw that “things are just very much destroyed.”
“You... see buildings that have been completely destroyed, you see rubble” and burnt cars, she told AFP.
“I saw people on the side of the road in the shadow of crumbled buildings, around fires, trying to stay warm.”
Gaza’s civil defense agency said earlier on Tuesday that six newborn babies died in a cold snap which has gripped the territory over the past week.
More than 15 months of war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, have left much of Gaza in ruins and most of its population displaced.
UN estimates put the cost of reconstruction at more than $53 billion.
A fragile ceasefire in effect since January 19 has allowed an increase in humanitarian aid into Gaza, though Hamas has accused Israel of blocking the entry of some essential supplies.

Topics: War on Gaza displacement Amy Pope

Related

video
Middle-East
King Abdullah reaffirms Jordan’s stance on Palestinian cause, rejects displacement and resettlement
Middle-East
Egypt’s president, Jordan’s king reaffirm united Gaza stance, oppose Palestinian displacement

Latest updates

Pakistan in talks with IMF for up to $1.5 billion in climate financing – official
Despite fall in inflation rate, stagnant incomes squeeze mid-income Pakistanis
Pakistani exploration firm discovers new oil and gas reserves in country’s northwest
Saudi defense minister meets senior US officials in Washington
MLS fines Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi for placing hand on New York City FC assistant coach’s neck

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.