Middle East Experience

Dubai hospitals have been issued a guideline to “enhance surveillance” on monkeypox cases as the disease continues to be reported across the world, according to a circular from the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) published Friday.The DHA issued a city-wide circular to hospitals under its umbrella to test for and report any possible monkeypox cases found.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The circular was sent as part of the authority’s “commitment to control and reduce the spread of communicable diseases,” it said.“Health facilities under the DHA jurisdiction are expected to be fully compliance [sic] with the provisions contained with the provisions contained therein to avoid any legal accountability,” the circular said.In addition to the main circular providing guidance to hospitals under DHA, an additional attachment provided guidance from the WHO “based on the limited information available at this stage.”It recommended all health care workers to follow three measures [sic]: Enhanced the surveillance by performing the required confirmatory RT-PCR test and gene sequencing to trace the infection source. Immediate reporting of the lab confirmed cases to the preventive medicine section - DHA Strictly isolate cases in health care Facilities and follow all household contacts and other close partners to timely detect secondary cases and prevent further spreadSymptoms and transmissionSymptoms of the disease include fever, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion and a chickenpox-like rash on the hands and face.It can be transmitted through contact with skin lesions and droplets of a contaminated person, as well as shared items such as bedding and towels, AFP reported.Australian health authorities on Friday also confirmed a case of monkeypox that has been detected in Victoria state with another suspected case in New South Wales, an AFP report said.Victoria state Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said a traveler in his 30s flew from London to Melbourne via Abu Dhabi earlier this week, in the same report. Sutton said contact tracing was underway for passengers who were sitting close to the man on the flights.The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it had “detected 11 new cases of monkeypox in England,” up from a total of nine, according to another AFP report.“Most cases are mild and I can confirm we have procured further doses of vaccines that are effective against monkeypox,” Health Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted.The UKHSA’s chief medical adviser, Susan Hopkins, said that she expected “this increase to continue in the coming days and for more cases to be identified in the wider community.”She particularly urged gay and bisexual men to look out for symptoms, saying a “notable proportion” of cases in UK and Europe came from this group, AFP reported.The UKHSA said monkeypox had not previously been described as a sexually transmitted infection.The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was also investigating the fact that many cases reported were people identifying as gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men, according to the same AFP report.Cases of monkeypox have also been detected in Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden as well as in the United States and Canada, leading to fears that the disease - normally concentrated in Central and West Africa - may be spreading.Monkeypox usually clears up after two to four weeks, according to the WHO.Read more: Explainer: What is monkeypox and where is it spreading?
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Dubai to ‘enhance surveillance’ over globally rising monkeypox cases: DHA circular

President Emmanuel Macron on Friday appointed France’s current ambassador to Britain, career diplomat Catherine Colonna, as the country’s new foreign minister, the Elysee said as part of a government overhaul following his re-election in April.Current Finance and Economy minister Bruno Le Maire and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin will keep their jobs, the Elysee’s secretary general added as he read out the new names standing on the palace’s front stairway, confirming earlier reports.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Outgoing Industry Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher will take over a newly created ministerial portfolio for “energy transition,” the Elysee said.They will report to Elisabeth Borne, 61, a soft-spoken, left-leaning career bureaucrat who Macron on Monday picked as his new prime minister, only the second woman to get the job.Read more: President Emmanuel Macron vows to build ‘stronger France’ in second term
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Le Drian out as French foreign minister as Macron shakes up cabinet

Moscow is Berlin’s largest supplier of gas, importing 42.6 billion cubic meters from Russia..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Qatar and Germany expand energy cooperation in new agreement

Reports about the incident Friday evoked anger and disbelief among multiple French Jews on social networks and beyond.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: 90-year-old Jewish man allegedly pushed to his death in Lyon, France

Syrian authorities on Friday rejected plans by Turkey to return one million Syrian refugees to a “safe zone” on the border, state media reported.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in early May said Ankara was aiming to encourage one million Syrian refugees to return to their country by building them housing and local infrastructure there.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Turkey is today home to more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees, who fled after a civil war broke out in 2011 in Turkey’s southern neighbor.Erdogan’s “cheap statements” reveal his regime’s “aggressive games against Syria and the unity of its land and people,” the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on the official news agency SANA.Erdogan is facing rising public anger over the refugees’ presence and is wary of the issue dominating elections next year.He said around 500,000 Syrians have returned to “safe zones” on the Turkey-Syria border since 2016.These are controlled by Ankara-backed groups. The areas are designed to keep Syrians displaced by war from crossing into Turkish territory, and to allow it to send back others who already did.“The government of the Syrian Arab Republic absolutely rejects such games,” the ministry said, calling on countries not to finance the Turkish projects and to stop supporting Ankara.“The main objective is colonialism... The so-called safe zone is in fact ethnic cleansing,” the ministry said.Ankara has periodically carried out military strikes on a Kurdish-administered zone in northeastern Syria, where groups it considers terrorists are based.The conflict in Syria has killed nearly 500,000 people since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression of peaceful demonstrations.Read more:Turkey aims for one million refugees to return to SyriaTurkey: US diplomat arrested, allegedly sold fake passport to SyrianTurkey’s Erdogan: Northeast Syria is suitable area for Arabs, not Kurds, to live
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Syria lambasts Turkey’s Erdogan plan to return million refugees

Egypt’s religious and secular institutions both breed mistrust in Tarik Saleh’s superbly realised paranoid nightmare..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Boy from Heaven review – stirring spy thriller set on an Egyptian campus

Egypt’s supply minister said the ship had been turned away on the grounds that it did not have the proper paperwork..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Ukraine thanks Egypt for turning away Russian ship carrying grain

The US called on Lebanese officials to quickly form a government after last weekend’s elections led to Hezbollah and its allies losing a parliamentary majority.“As Lebanon looks ahead, we urge those elected and the country’s political leaders to heed the Lebanese people’s call for change and to work seriously, and with urgency, to take the necessary actions to rescue the economy,” State Department Spokesman Ned Price said.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Price said the US was urging the swift formation of a new government able to carry out the “hard work required to restore the confidence of the Lebanese people and the international community.”Washington also commended the Lebanese Armed Forces and Internal Security Forces for their role in ensuring the elections were held without any major security incidents.Videos purported to show Hezbollah supporters swapping vote ballots or ripping up others while its supporters ransacked voting booths in Baalbek.Supporters of other candidates also were seen allegedly bribing voters with cash.“We share the concerns raised by our partners in the international community of allegations of vote-buying, clientelism, and reports of intimidation,” Price said.Several new faces, including members of the civil society, broke into the ranks for the first time.The first primary task in front of the new parliament will be to elect a speaker ahead of October’s presidential election.The World Bank has said that Lebanon’s financial crisis is one of the worst the world has seen in over 150 years.And officials have yet to implement badly needed reforms to unlock economic aid from the international community, World Bank and IMF.Read more: Senate confirms Barbara Leaf to lead State Department’s Middle East bureau
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: State Department calls on Lebanese leaders to work with ‘urgency’ to rescue economy

Bureaucratic complications related to Brexit have caused shortages of kosher food for Jews in Northern Ireland.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Boris Johnson vows to solve Northern Ireland’s kosher food shortages

Qatar's conservative leaders, who have spent about $300 billion on infrastructure, increasingly feel that nothing they can do will please their critics..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Six months from World Cup, rights issues still haunt Qatar