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Middle East countries return stranded citizens, as coronavirus cases rise

A health worker takes a body temperature reading from a driver inside a vehicle at a drive-through COVID-19 coronavirus testing centre in al-Khawaneej district of the gulf emirate of Dubai on April 9, 2020. (File/AFP)
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Updated 12 April 2020
Arab News
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Middle East countries return stranded citizens, as coronavirus cases rise

  • The UAE’s health ministry has confirmed that 370 people have tested positive for coronavirus
Updated 12 April 2020
Arab News

Middle East countries have started repatriating citizens from coronavirus hotspots amid the COVID-19 outbreak, which infected more than 1.5 million people globally.

Saudi Arabia has returned 250 Saudi nationals from Jakarta on Friday, where they arrived in King Khalid International Airport, state news agency SPA reported.

Saturday, April 11 (All times in GMT)

17:20 - A World Health Organization (WHO) official on Saturday urged Belarus to impose new measures to contain the new coronavirus, out of concern that the outbreak in the country has entered a worrying new phase.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who has held power in the former Soviet nation of 9.5 million people since 1994, has in recent weeks downplayed the need for social distancing and other measures to stem the spread of the virus.

He has said that drinking vodka, driving tractors and bathing in a sauna could help fight it, and he has been shown playing ice hockey matches and embracing other players.

17:00 - Turkey's coronavirus death toll rises by 95 to 1,101 with 5,138 new cases confirmed.

16:10 - The United States overtook Italy on Saturday to become the country with the largest death toll in the coronavirus pandemic, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

The outbreak has now claimed the lives of at least 18,860, people in the US, which also leads the world in the number of confirmed infections with 503,594, by the Baltimore-based school's count.

Italy has registered 18,849 deaths according to an AFP tally based on official counts, but with a population of around 60 million it is less than a fifth the size of the US.

15:56 -  Britain's interior minister said on Saturday she was sorry if health workers felt there had been failings to get personal protective equipment (PPE) to the front line.

Doctors and nurses have complained that there have been PPE shortages for frontline staff and when asked directly if she would apologise for this, Home Secretary Priti Patel said: "I am sorry if people feel there have been failings."

"It is inevitable that the demand and pressures on PPE and the demand for PPE are going to be exponential, they are going to be incredibly high," she said.

15:44 - New York reported 783 deaths from coronavirus on Friday, bringing the total number of deaths in the state to 8,627.

15:30 - Paedophiles are seeking to exploit the fact that children are increasingly going online to meet friends and do school lessons on their computers during the coronavirus crisis, Britain's interior minister Priti Patel said on Saturday. 

13:38 - The death toll from coronavirus in the United Kingdom rose by 917 to 9,875 people as of 1600 GMT on April 10, health officials said on Saturday. 

13:16 - UAE Health Ministry reported 170 cases of coronavirus recoveries on Saturday bringing the total number of recoveries to 588, and the total number of infections to 3,736.

13:00 - Saudi Arabia announced 382 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the Kingdom to 4,033. 

12:40 - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is making very good progress in his recovery from COVID-19, his office said on Saturday, as his health minister said the peak of the outbreak in Britain had not yet been reached.

The death toll in British hospitals from the virus has reached almost 9,000, with 980 more deaths reported on Friday. That figure exceeded the deadliest day so far in Italy, which has been the country with the most fatalities so far.

11:24 - Qatar's ministry of health recorded 216 new cases of coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 2,512. 

10:40 – Iraq’s Anbar province has extended its curfew until April 18 amid the coronavirus outbreak.

10:18 – 10 more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Lebanon, raising total to 619, Lebanon's health ministry said.

09:57 – Iran’s new coronavirus death toll has risen to 4,357 with 125 new deaths, a health official in Iran said. The country's total number of people infected has reached 70,029, he added.

09:38 – Spain’s daily coronavirus death toll fell for the third day in a row after 510 fatalities were reported in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said in a statement, marking the smallest overnight increase since March 23.

09:20 – Belgium has confirmed that 327 people have died from COVID19, while there has been 1,351 new cases recorded.

09:17 – Malaysian health authorities reported 184 additional confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, raising the cumulative tally to 4,530, the highest number for any country in Southeast Asia.

09:12 – Indonesian health ministry said 330 more people have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing total to 3,842.

08:40 – UK health minister Matt Hancock said the country has not yet reached the COVID-19 peak required before the government will consider easing restrictions of movement

06:30 – Oman recorded 62 new coronavirus infections, bring the total number of infections to 484. 

05:36 – 10 more people have recovered from coronavirus in Kuwait, bringing total to 133. The country has also confirmed 161 new coronavirus patients, raising total to 1,154.

05:15 - A further 26 people died on Saturday in the Philippines, raising the total number of fatalities to 247. The number of infected rose to 4,428 – but there has also been 157 recoveries.

01:14 – Uruguay evacuated 112 Australians and New Zealanders from a cruise ship that has been anchored off the South American country’s coast since March 27 with more than half its passengers and crew infected with the coronavirus. Officials say the evacuees will be flown to Australia early Saturday.

Friday, April 10

18:37 –The UAE’s health ministry has confirmed that 370 people have tested positive for coronavirus, raising the total to 3,360, state news agency WAM reported.

The ministry also recorded two more deaths, bringing the total death toll in the country to 16.

13:59 - Oman’s foreign ministry coordinated with the Omani embassy in Kuwait to repatriate 29 of its citizens back to the Sultanate, state news agency ONA said.

 

Topics: Coronavirus

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What to know about the latest effort to bring an end to Turkiye’s 40-year Kurdish conflict

Updated 13 January 2025
AP
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What to know about the latest effort to bring an end to Turkiye’s 40-year Kurdish conflict

  • The objective evolved into a campaign for autonomy and rights for Kurds within Turkiye
Updated 13 January 2025
AP

ANKARA: Talks between politicians from Turkiye’s pro-Kurdish party and jailed Kurdish leaders have been gathering steam as they try to end 40 years of fighting between the state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
The latest peace effort comes at a time of heightened instability and fundamental changes reshaping the region. These include the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the weakening of the Hezbollah militant movement in Lebanon, and the reconfiguration of power in Syria after the toppling of President Bashar Assad.
The cautious process was initiated in October by Devlet Bahceli, a firebrand ultranationalist who has usually opposed any concessions to Kurdish identity or rights.
Since then, the fall of Assad in a lightning rebel offensive has triggered intensified fighting between Turkish-backed and Kurdish groups in northern Syria.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who have controlled northeast Syria for the past decade, are under attack from the Syrian National Army, an umbrella of militias fighting on behalf of Turkiye, which regards the SDF as an extension of the PKK and wants to neutralize it as an independent fighting force.
Recently, senior members of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, met jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and Selahattin Demirtas, another imprisoned figurehead of the Kurdish movement. They have also met with the leaders of other political parties to explain their discussions.
What is the PKK?
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has waged an armed insurgency against Turkiye since 1984, initially with the aim of establishing a Kurdish state in the southeast of the country. Over time, the objective evolved into a campaign for autonomy and rights for Kurds within Turkiye.
The conflict between militants and state forces, which has spread beyond Turkiye’s borders into Iraq and Syria, has killed tens of thousands of people. The PKK is considered to be a terror group by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union.
Who is Ocalan?
Abdullah Ocalan, who as a student of political science in Ankara became deeply involved in leftist movements, formed the PKK in 1978 as a Marxist organization. He fled to Syria in 1979, along with other PKK members, where he remained until 1998, when Syria expelled him under intense pressure from Turkiye.
Ocalan was captured in Kenya in 1999 and imprisoned on Imrali island in the Sea of Marmara, where he remains to this day. His death sentence for treason was commuted to a life term in prison after Turkiye abolished the death penalty.
The 75-year-old endures as a symbol for Kurdish independence and rights and continues to wield influence over the Kurdish movement, with past messages relayed through family members or lawyers resonating beyond Turkiye, in Iraq and Syria.
In a message relayed by his nephew in December, Ocalan said he has the power to end the conflict if the conditions are right.
Renewed effort for peace
In October, Bahceli, a close ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, suggested Ocalan could be granted parole if he renounces violence and disbands the PKK. It was a major shift for the hard-line politician who had previously strongly supported the state’s military action against the militant group and its affiliates in neighboring Syria and rejected any notion of negotiation.
Erdogan appears to have endorsed Bahceli’s stance.
There is a mixed reaction among politicians and analysts to suggestions of a new peace effort. Some describe it it as a historic opportunity, while others strongly oppose any notion of leniency toward Ocalan or the PKK.
A recent attack on Turkiye’s key aerospace company outside of Ankara that killed several people was claimed by the PKK, complicating the debate.
Past peace efforts
There have been several peace efforts between the Turkish state and the PKK over the years, including secret negotiations held in Oslo, Norway from 2009 until 2011. However, none have yielded results.
The last attempt to reach a peace deal took place between 2013 and 2015 with a series of talks between Turkish officials and Ocalan, who declared a ceasefire and withdrew fighters to bases in northern Iraq.
Turkish officials took steps to improve Kurdish rights, including allowing Kurdish-language broadcasts. The process collapsed in July 2015, after a series of violent attacks, including one by the Daesh group that killed 33 pro-Kurdish activists.
Since then, Turkiye has cracked down on its pro-Kurdish movement and has jailed thousands of people, including the former leader of the main pro-Kurdish political party, Selahattin Demirtas, over alleged links to the PKK.
Why now?
The latest peace effort comes at a time when Turkiye and the Kurds are both seeking security to face the challenges in the Middle East.
However, some believe the main aim of the reconciliation effort is for Erdogan’s government to garner Kurdish support for a new constitution that would allow him to remain in power beyond 2028, when his term ends.
Bahceli has openly called for a new constitution, saying it was essential to keep Erdogan in power for Turkiye’s future. Erdogan and Bahceli are reportedly seeking parliamentary support from the DEM.

Topics: Turkiye Kurds Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)

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Biden calls for immediate ceasefire in call with Netanyahu, White House says

Updated 13 January 2025
Reuters
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Biden calls for immediate ceasefire in call with Netanyahu, White House says

  • Development takes place as US officials race to reach Gaza ceasefire deal before Biden leaves office
  • Parties were “very, very close” to reaching a deal, still have to get it across finish line, says Biden aide
Updated 13 January 2025
Reuters

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said, as US officials race to reach a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20.
Biden and Netanyahu discussed efforts underway to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the Palestinian enclave and free the remaining hostages there, the White House said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by telephone.
Biden “stressed the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by a stoppage in the fighting under the deal,” it said.
Netanyahu updated Biden on progress in the talks and on the mandate he has given his top-level security delegation now in Doha in order to advance a hostage deal, Netanyahu said in a statement.
The two leaders also discussed “the fundamentally changed regional circumstances following the ceasefire deal in Lebanon, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, and the weakening of Iran’s power in the region,” the White House said.

This photo taken on July 25, 2024, shows US President Joe Biden, right, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington. (REUTERS File)

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union” program earlier on Sunday that the parties were “very, very close” to reaching a deal, but still had to get it across the finish line.
He said Biden was getting daily updates on the talks in Doha, where Israeli and Palestinian officials have said since Thursday that some progress has been made in the indirect talks between Israel and militant group Hamas.
“We are still determined to use every day we have in office to get this done,” Sullivan said, “and we are not, by any stretch of imagination, setting this aside.”
He said there was still a chance to reach an agreement before Biden leaves office, but that it was also possible “Hamas, in particular, remains intransigent.”
During their call, Netanyahu also thanked Biden for his lifelong support of Israel and “the extraordinary support from the United States for Israel’s security and national defense,” the White House said.
Israel launched its assault in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid to waste and gripped by a humanitarian crisis, and most of its population displaced.
Vice President-elect JD Vance told the “Fox News Sunday” program in an interview taped on Saturday that he expects a deal for the release of US hostages in the Middle East to be announced in the final days of the Biden administration, maybe in the last day or two.
President-elect Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, has strongly backed Netanyahu’s goal of destroying Hamas. He has promised to bring peace to the Middle East, but has not said how he would accomplish that.

Topics: Bemjamin Netanyahu White House Biden

New Lebanon president starts consultations on naming PM

Updated 13 January 2025
AFP
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New Lebanon president starts consultations on naming PM

  • Names floated for the post of prime minster, which is reserved for a Sunni Muslim, include current caretaker premier Najib Mikati, anti-Hezbollah lawmaker Fouad Makhzoumi, and Nawaf Salam, presiding judge at the International Court of Justice in the Hague
Updated 13 January 2025
AFP

BEIRUT, Lebanon: New Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will begin parliamentary consultations Monday over designating a prime minister to form a government that will have to face major challenges in the crisis-hit country.
The consultations, a constitutional requirement under Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system, come just days after Aoun’s election amid foreign pressure for swift progress — particularly from the United States and Saudi Arabia.
The small Mediterranean nation had been without a president since October 2022, run by a caretaker government despite a crushing economic crisis and a war between Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel.
Names floated for the post of prime minster, which is reserved for a Sunni Muslim, include current caretaker premier Najib Mikati, anti-Hezbollah lawmaker Fouad Makhzoumi, and Nawaf Salam, presiding judge at the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
Aoun’s consultations with political blocs begin at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) with a meeting with powerful parliament speaker and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri.
A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that both the group and Berri’s Amal movement supported Mikati.
The incumbent’s re-designation is “part of the accord reached with the Saudi envoy to Lebanon... that led Hezbollah and Amal to vote for Aoun as president” last week, the source said on condition of anonymity as the matter is sensitive.
Saudi Arabia and the United States were among key countries driving diplomatic efforts to end the presidential vacuum.
Riyadh has restored its interest in Lebanon’s political scene after years of distancing itself in protest at the influence of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, which was heavily weakened in its latest devastating war with Israel.
Mikati, who has already formed three governments and has good relations with Lebanon’s political parties and several foreign countries, has denied any such prior arrangement exists.
One of the country’s richest men, Mikati has headed the country in a caretaker capacity throughout the presidential vacuum.

Mikati said on the sidelines of the presidential vote on Thursday that he was ready to serve the country “if needed.”
Whoever heads Lebanon’s new government will face major challenges, including implementing reforms to satisfy international donors amid the grinding five-year economic crisis.
They will also face the daunting task of reconstructing swathes of the country after the Israel-Hezbollah war and implementing the November 27 ceasefire agreement, which includes the thorny issue of disarming Hezbollah.
Opposition lawmakers from a grouping that includes the Christian party Lebanese Forces (LF) and smaller blocs announced on Saturday they would nominate Makhzoumi, a wealthy businessman who has good ties with Gulf countries and Washington.
US envoy Amos Hochstein visited Makhzoumi’s home last week for a meeting with opposition lawmakers as part of a trip to Lebanon.
Other lawmakers have instead proposed International Court of Justice judge Salam, a highly respected former ambassador whose name frequently comes up in such consultations.
Late Sunday saw last-ditch attempts to unify opposition and independent positions, with the aim of rallying around Salam and blocking Mikati’s path to the premiership.
Hezbollah’s opponents see Mikati as part of an old political system that the militant group has within its grip.
After Aoun pledged a “new phase” for Lebanon in his inaugural speech, LF leader Samir Geagea said that “like it or not, Mikati was from the previous lot.”
According to Lebanon’s constitution, the president designates the prime minister in consultation with the parliament speaker, choosing the candidate with the most votes during the consultations.
Nominating a premier does not guarantee a new government will be formed imminently.
The process has previously taken weeks or even months due to deep political divisions and horse-trading.
 

 

Topics: Lebanon

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Israel says strikes Hezbollah sites, Lebanon-Syria border smuggling routes

Updated 13 January 2025
AFP
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Israel says strikes Hezbollah sites, Lebanon-Syria border smuggling routes

  • The strikes come just two weeks before the January 26 deadline for implementing the November ceasefire, which both sides have accused the other of violating
Updated 13 January 2025
AFP

BEIRUT, Lebanon: Israel carried out air strikes in Lebanon Sunday, targeting areas in the east and south according to Lebanese state media, with the Israeli military saying it hit Hezbollah targets including smuggling routes along the border with Syria.
The air strikes placed further strain on a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group, which came into effect on November 27.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Israeli aircraft targeted the outskirts of Janta in the eastern Baalbek region as well as areas near Nabatieh in the south. It did not say whether there were casualties.
The Israeli military said it struck a number of targets it had presented to ceasefire monitors as threats.
“Among the targets struck were a rocket launcher site, a military site, and routes along the Syria-Lebanon border used to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah,” it said.
The strikes come just two weeks before the January 26 deadline for implementing the November ceasefire, which both sides have accused the other of violating.
The Israeli military statement said it was operating “in accordance with the ceasefire understandings.”
Under the terms of the deal, Hezbollah is to dismantle its remaining military infrastructure in the south and pull its forces back north of the Litani River, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border.
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon this month accused Israel of a “flagrant violation” of the Security Council resolution which forms the basis of the ceasefire.
Israeli strikes in south Lebanon killed five people on Friday, according to the Lebanese health ministry, with the Israeli military saying it targeted a Hezbollah weapons truck.
 

 

Topics: Battlefield Lebanon War on Gaza Palestine Gaza US Lebanon

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Biden calls for immediate ceasefire in call with Netanyahu, White House says

Smoke rises from a building destroyed in Israeli airstrike at the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip
Updated 13 January 2025
Reuters
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Biden calls for immediate ceasefire in call with Netanyahu, White House says

  • Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union” program earlier on Sunday that the parties were “very, very close” to reaching a deal
  • Netanyahu thanked Biden for lifelong support of Israel, White House says
Updated 13 January 2025
Reuters

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said, as US officials race to reach a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20.
Biden and Netanyahu discussed efforts underway to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the Palestinian enclave and free the remaining hostages there, the White House said in a statement after the two leaders spoke by telephone.
Biden “stressed the immediate need for a ceasefire in Gaza and return of the hostages with a surge in humanitarian aid enabled by a stoppage in the fighting under the deal,” it said.
Netanyahu updated Biden on progress in the talks and on the mandate he has given his top-level security delegation now in Doha in order to advance a hostage deal, Netanyahu said in a statement.
The two leaders also discussed “the fundamentally changed regional circumstances following the ceasefire deal in Lebanon, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, and the weakening of Iran’s power in the region,” the White House said.

This photo taken on July 25, 2024, shows US President Joe Biden, right, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington. (REUTERS File)

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union” program earlier on Sunday that the parties were “very, very close” to reaching a deal, but still had to get it across the finish line.
He said Biden was getting daily updates on the talks in Doha, where Israeli and Palestinian officials have said since Thursday that some progress has been made in the indirect talks between Israel and militant group Hamas.
“We are still determined to use every day we have in office to get this done,” Sullivan said, “and we are not, by any stretch of imagination, setting this aside.”
He said there was still a chance to reach an agreement before Biden leaves office, but that it was also possible “Hamas, in particular, remains intransigent.”
During their call, Netanyahu also thanked Biden for his lifelong support of Israel and “the extraordinary support from the United States for Israel’s security and national defense,” the White House said.
Israel launched its assault in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid to waste and gripped by a humanitarian crisis, and most of its population displaced.
Vice President-elect JD Vance told the “Fox News Sunday” program in an interview taped on Saturday that he expects a deal for the release of US hostages in the Middle East to be announced in the final days of the Biden administration, maybe in the last day or two.
President-elect Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, has strongly backed Netanyahu’s goal of destroying Hamas. He has promised to bring peace to the Middle East, but has not said how he would accomplish that.

Topics: War on Gaza US President Joe Biden Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

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