UAE coronavirus cases drop after topping 1,000 a day earlier

A medical professional carries out a swab test for the COVID-19 virus at a drive-thru testing center in Abu Dhabi, UAE. (File/Reuters)
Short Url
Updated 13 September 2020
Follow

UAE coronavirus cases drop after topping 1,000 a day earlier

  • Total number of cases in UAE reaches 79,489
  • Authorities have issued a number of closure orders and large fines

DUBAI: The UAE on Sunday recorded 640 new COVID-19 cases — significantly lower than recent days when numbers hit the highest level since the pandemic broke out.
The health ministry said the total number of cases had reached 79,489.
All the cases, who are various nationalities, are “stable and subject to the necessary health care,” the ministry said.
The number of daily cases in the UAE had dropped steadily from a high point on May 22 of 994. But figures have surged from 164 cases on Aug. 3.
The UAE recorded 1,007 new cases on Saturday, the highest daily number and the first time cases crossed the 1,000 mark.
The ministry said 468 people had “fully recovered from the symptoms of the virus” bringing the total number of recoveries to 69,451.

The ministry also said no deaths had been recorded in the previous 24 hours. The UAE has recorded 399 deaths from the coronavirus since the pandemic began.
Authorities across the country have issued a number of closure orders and large fines in efforts to bring the virus under control.
On Saturday, Dubai closed down a restaurant in Bluewaters Island and a swimming pool at a sports facility, while Ras Al-Khaimah ordered the closure of a wedding hall. In Fujairah several facilities were closed for not complying with the measures set by the government.
Dubai Police said on Saturday it had reported 141 violations and 1,422 warnings were issued in four shopping centers in one day.
One young man infected with coronavirus was caught violating home quarantine instructions.
He had published a video on social media, where he confirmed he had the virus and bragged about going out to buy coffee. He has been fined Dh50,000 and faces imprisonment and a further fine ranging from Dh200,000 ($54,453) to one million dirham for encouraging the public to violate the laws.
The government also issued a new list of updated fines for individuals and entities not complying with the coronavirus measures and said they were increasing inspections. The fines, which range between Dh1,000 — 50-000, apply federally but authorities in each emirate can apply additional measures.
The Ministry of Health and Prevention launched a campaign to increase testing to isolate cases and those who they have been in contact with.
More than 84,000 new examinations were carried out in the space of 24 hours.
Dubai Health Authority (DHA) on Sunday also issued a detailed list of health and safety guidelines for parents and children as students go back to school.

Meanwhile, Kuwait on Sunday reported two deaths and 553 new infected cases, bringing the total number to 560 and 94,764 respectively.
The Ministry of Health said that 591 cases have recovered bringing the total to 84,995.
Oman’s health ministry said 52 new cases have emerged, bringing the total to 89,746, but announced a 93.3 percent recovery rate, with 83,771 cases having recovered from the virus so far.

The sultanate did not record any deaths on Sunday but the total death rate stands at 780.
The coronavirus pandemic has affected over 29 million people in 213 countries and territories around the world and the death rate has topped 920,000.
(Dh1 = $0.27)


Lebanon hopes for neighborly relations in first message to new Syria government

Updated 8 min 9 sec ago
Follow

Lebanon hopes for neighborly relations in first message to new Syria government

  • Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah played a major part propping up Syria’s ousted President Bashar Assad through years of war
  • Syria’s new Islamist de-facto leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa is seeking to establish relations with Arab and Western leaders

DUBAI: Lebanon said on Thursday it was looking forward to having the best neighborly relations with Syria, in its first official message to the new administration in Damascus.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib passed the message to his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani, in a phone call, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said on X.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah played a major part propping up Syria’s ousted President Bashar Assad through years of war, before bringing its fighters back to Lebanon over the last year to fight in a bruising war with Israel – a redeployment which weakened Syrian government lines.
Under Assad, Hezbollah used Syria to bring in weapons and other military equipment from Iran, through Iraq and Syria and into Lebanon. But on Dec. 6, anti-Assad fighters seized the border with Iraq and cut off that route, and two days later, Islamist militants captured the capital Damascus.
Syria’s new Islamist de-facto leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa is seeking to establish relations with Arab and Western leaders after toppling Assad.


Iraqi intelligence chief discusses border security with new Syrian administration

Updated 13 min 10 sec ago
Follow

Iraqi intelligence chief discusses border security with new Syrian administration

BAGHDAD: An Iraqi delegation met with Syria’s new rulers in Damascus on Thursday, an Iraqi government spokesman said, the latest diplomatic outreach more than two weeks after the fall of Bashar Assad’s rule.
The delegation, led by Iraqi intelligence chief Hamid Al-Shatri, “met with the new Syrian administration,” government spokesman Bassem Al-Awadi told state media, adding that the parties discussed “the developments in the Syrian arena, and security and stability needs on the two countries’ shared border.”


Israeli minister’s Al-Aqsa mosque visit sparks condemnation

Updated 56 min 55 sec ago
Follow

Israeli minister’s Al-Aqsa mosque visit sparks condemnation

  • Ben Gvir has repeatedly defied the Israeli government’s longstanding ban on Jewish prayer at the site in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem

JERUSALEM: Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Thursday, triggering angry reactions from the Palestinian Authority and Jordan accusing the far-right politician of a deliberate provocation.

Ben Gvir has repeatedly defied the Israeli government’s longstanding ban on Jewish prayer at the site in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, which is revered by both Muslims and Jews and has been a focal point of tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I went up to the site of our temple this morning to pray for the peace of our soldiers, the swift return of all hostages and a total victory, God willing,” Ben Gvir said in a message on social media platform X, referring to the Gaza war and the dozens of Israeli captives held in the Palestinian territory.

He also posted a photo of himself on the holy site, with members of the Israeli security forces and the famed golden Dome of the Rock in the background.

The Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem’s Old City is Islam’s third-holiest site and a symbol of Palestinian national identity.

Known to Jews as the Temple Mount, it is also Judaism’s holiest place, revered as the site of the second temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Under the status quo maintained by Israel, which has occupied east Jerusalem and its Old City since 1967, Jews and other non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound during specified hours, but they are not permitted to pray there or display religious symbols.

Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as their future capital, while Israeli leaders have insisted that the entire city is their “undivided” capital.

The Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it “condemns” Ben Gvir’s latest visit, calling his prayer at the site a “provocation to millions of Palestinians and Muslims.”

Jordan, which administers the mosque compound, similarly condemned what its foreign ministry called Ben Gvir’s “provocative and unacceptable” actions.

The ministry’s statement decried a “violation of the historical and legal status quo.”

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a brief statement that “the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed.”


UN force sounds alarm over Israeli ‘destruction’ in south Lebanon

Updated 26 December 2024
Follow

UN force sounds alarm over Israeli ‘destruction’ in south Lebanon

  • Under the ceasefire agreement, UNIFIL peacekeepers and the Lebanese army were to redeploy in south Lebanon, near the Israeli border, as Israeli forces withdrew over 60 days

BEIRUT: The United Nations’ peacekeeping force in Lebanon expressed concern on Thursday at the “continuing” damage done by Israeli forces in the country’s south despite a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah.
The truce went into effect on November 27, about two months after Israel stepped up its bombing campaign and later sent troops into Lebanon following nearly a year of exchanges of cross-border fire initiated by Hezbollah over the war in Gaza.
The warring sides have since traded accusations of violating the truce.
Under the ceasefire agreement, UNIFIL peacekeepers and the Lebanese army were to redeploy in south Lebanon, near the Israeli border, as Israeli forces withdrew over 60 days.
UNIFIL said in a statement on Thursday that “there is concern at continuing destruction by the IDF (army) in residential areas, agricultural land and road networks in south Lebanon.”
The statement added that “this is in violation of Resolution 1701,” which was adopted by the UN Security Council and ended the last Israel-Hezbollah war of 2006.
The UN force also reiterated its call for “the timely withdrawal” of Israeli troops from Lebanon, and “the full implementation of Resolution 1701.”
The resolution states that Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon, where Hezbollah exerts control, and also calls for Israeli troops to withdraw from Lebanese territory.
“Any actions that risk the fragile cessation of hostilities must cease,” UNIFIL said.
On Monday the force had urged “accelerated progress” in the Israeli military’s withdrawal.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported on Thursday “extensive” operations by Israeli forces in the south.
It said residents of Qantara fled to a nearby village “following an incursion by Israeli enemy forces into their town.”
On Wednesday the NNA said Israeli aircraft struck the eastern Baalbek region, far from the border.


Syria forces carry out operation against pro-Assad ‘militias’: state media

Updated 26 December 2024
Follow

Syria forces carry out operation against pro-Assad ‘militias’: state media

  • Operation had already succeeded in ‘neutralizing a certain number’ of armed men loyal to Assad

DUBAI: The new Syrian military administration announced on Thursday that it was launching a security operation in Tartous province, according to the Syrian state news agency.

The operation aims to maintain security in the region and target remnants of the Assad regime still operating in the area.

The announcement marks a significant move by the new administration as it consolidates its authority in the coastal province.

The operation had already succeeded in “neutralizing a certain number” of armed men loyal to toppled president Bashar Assad, state news agency SANA reported said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor has reported several arrests in connection with Wednesday’s clashes.

Further details about the scope or duration of the operation have not yet been disclosed.