Middle East Experience

“We strongly urge the administration, our Democrat colleagues, and the international community to learn the lessons of the very recent past,” they wrote.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Senate Republicans: 'agreement with no bipartisan support won't survive'

The United Arab Emirates must “learn to live with COVID-19” and the pandemic response is no longer a key priority for businesses such as the country’s private healthcare companies, the CEO of one of the largest companies has said.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.“We never wanted to become COVID-reliant,” Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil, founder, chairman and managing director of VPS Healthcare Group, said. “We didn’t want to get into the business of quick wins… We went in quick, and we came out quick.”Vayalil also said while he believes face masks “are here to stay,” other safety protocols to manage the spread of the virus will continue to diminish.“We won’t see the daily [COVID-19] numbers anymore,” he said. “We need to learn to live with COVID and we have started to. It will become just like the flu.”“I don’t think getting scared and moving away is going to be an option, especially with the new waves. We have to get back to normality for the sake of the economy… It rather becomes part of us, and we all have to continue to learn to be living with something like that amongst us.”Worldwide, public health officials and infectious disease experts have said there is a high likelihood that COVID-19 will become an endemic disease and governments are starting to consider an eventual shift to a ‘living-with-the-virus’ approach – despite the World Health Organization (WHO) warning in January that it is too soon for countries to be treating COVID as an endemic illness like flu.Across the UAE, other media experts echoed the view that the threat of COVID-19 - and its impact on daily lives - will continue to diminish.Dr. Mohamed Khalafallah, Acting Medical Director and Consultant – Obstetrics and Gynecology at Bareen International Hospital – MBZ City, told Al Arabiya English: “In the UAE, COVID-19-related restrictions are gradually being lifted on activities and events in various economic, tourism, entertainment facilities, shopping centers, and modes of transport.”“Moving towards easing COVID-19 restrictions can be attributed to a high vaccination rate in the country and a solid commitment by the general public to continue following the basic health and safety measures such as frequent hand washing/sanitizing, wearing face masks, physical distancing, among others,” he continued.“The COVID-19 situation continues to be monitored with procedures and protocols updated accordingly but as the ease gradually continues, we need to align our efforts as well to address health issues such as obesity, diabetes, cancer and other chronic health conditions.”At VPS, Vayalil said his company is shifting its focus away from the pandemic.Initially, responding to COVID-19, became a major part of its operations.“We went all out,” the billionaire businessman told Al Arabiya English.To date, across its network of hospitals and clinics, VPS has overseen some 2.1 million PCR tests, with 18,000 tests still being carried out daily.At the onset of the pandemic, VPS worked with the government to implement heat scanners to screen passengers entering the airport and was also one of the first healthcare groups to transform its flagship hospital – Burjeel Medical City – into a COVID-19 dedicated hospital, with 400 beds ready for infected patients and rolled-out one of the largest vaccination missions, with more than five million vaccines administered to date.As the pandemic progressed, VPS became “more creative” with its business approach to handling COVID-19, such as winning the contract to manage “bio bubbles” to ensure the safe return of major sporting events such as T20 World Cup in Abu Dhabi.However, now it believes the time has come to shift the focus away from the pandemic.At VPS, Burjeel Medical City has shifted its focus back to oncology and no longer accepts COVID-19 patients.Only one hospital under its operations – Abu Dhabi’s Mafraq Hospital – is dedicated to COVID-19. VPS is reprioritizing its longer-term missions of education, clinical research and specialties, pharmaceutical exports, biopharma and medical tourism.“We didn’t want to become a one-trick pony… At the time we had a responsibility for the community,” said Vayalil.“But the pandemic, we always knew, was going to be a one-off. We didn’t want to become too dependent on COVID-19 as a business stream.”Read more:China’s daily local symptomatic COVID-19 cases more than tripleChina’s COVID-19 lockdowns could threaten half of economy, affect growth prospectsFormer US President Obama tests positive for COVID-19, encourages vaccines
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: COVID-19 pandemic no longer key priority for private healthcare companies

Saudi Arabia will resume in person classes across all ages after the Ministry of Education implements the latest COVID-19 protocol from the Public Health Authority, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Monday.The new guidelines recall the mandate to maintain social distancing between students in the classrooms and during group prayers, morning assemblies and extra-curricular activities.The updated rules will come into effect on March 20. Students over the age of 12 are still required to be fully vaccinated, according to SPA.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.All educational institutions must adhere to the “precautionary methods approved by the Ministry of Health,” the Ministry of Education announced in its statement.Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Health Fahad al-Jalajel said that the immunization rates against COVID-19 in the Kingdom have reached 99 percent among those over the age of 12, according to a Saudi Gazette report.Saudi Arabia has dropped most of its COVID-19 restrictions in recent weeks, including an outdoor mask mandate.As of March 13, 146 new cases of COVID-19 were reported, bringing the total number of active cases in the country to 8,891.At least 61,997,056 vaccine doses have been administered country-wide.Read more:COVID-19 pandemic no longer key priority for private healthcare companiesChina reports more local COVID-19 cases this year than in whole of 2021Travel to 15 countries from Saudi Arabia remains suspended due to COVID-19
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabia to resume in-person learning for all ages, scraps distancing rules

The Russia-Ukraine war has created significant hurdles in the logistics for aid groups and disrupted food supply chains in Ukraine, an expert from the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) told Al Arabiya English in an exclusive interview.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“The war has already created significant problems in the logistics and on the food supply chains within Ukraine. Securing food supply chains and safeguarding household-level production of nutritious foods such as vegetables and livestock will be critical to averting a food crisis,” said Rodrigue Vinet, Senior Emergency and Rehabilitation Officer, Designated Responsible Official (DRO) of the FAO Scale-Up Activation in Ukraine.Coming months ‘critical’ for food security in Ukraine “In Ukraine, the escalating war poses a clear and growing threat to food security and the agricultural-based livelihoods of smallholders, although field assessments will be necessary to get firm data on damage, food security outcomes, and needs,” he said. “The coming months are critical.”Farmers in Ukraine planted the winter wheat between September and October 2021, Vinet explained, which will be harvested in July and August this year.“In coming weeks, farmers would typically be preparing lands for vegetable production, with sowing expected from mid-March through mid-May and harvesting between July and September,” Vinet told Al Arabiya English.Land preparation and sowing for grains including Spring barley, maize and sunflower also occur between March and May, with harvests expected in July and August for spring barley and September and October for maize and sunflower.“We are deeply concerned about the potential for the war to impact planting and harvesting,” he said. “Especially if farmers cannot access inputs and animal feed.”FAO scales up food aid efforts amid Russian invasion The FAO has a team of 81 people currently working in Ukraine, and it is now being “pivoted to scale up” its humanitarian response, Vinet said.The UN agency launched a Rapid Response Plan for Ukraine on March 7 to cover the period of March to May 2022, seeking an immediate $50 million to rapidly assist 240,000 vulnerable rural people affected by the war. This represents only the most urgent needs out of the total amount needed to support food security and livelihood clusters under the UN flash appeal.“In terms of food security and agricultural livelihoods, FAO, [the UN’s World Food Program] WFP and partners have requested $183.5 million to provide food aid and agricultural livelihoods assistance to 1.5 million people,” he added.The assistance provided by the FAO in Ukraine includes food aid, emergency agricultural support packages for 100,000 households (accounting for up to 300,000 people) including vegetable garden seeds and tools as well as veterinary care to farm animals, and multi-purpose financial aid for around 1.8 million people.The organization has said that it continues to work closely with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food to identify emerging needs and priority actions “to safeguard rural livelihoods and is closely monitoring the situation on the ground.”FAO and its partners have also been preparing for a rapid food security assessment to better estimate the country’s agricultural and food security needs, “as conditions permit.”Global food crisis looms Before the Russian invasion, the FAO had a field presence across the entirety of Ukraine to delivery various kinds of support, including cash-based assistance, to rural communities.However, food insecurity issues were present on a global level before the Ukraine war due to the effects brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and an increase in global food prices.“Even before the expansion of hostilities in Ukraine, global levels of acute food insecurity had reached historic levels in 2021, with localized famine-like conditions experienced in four countries last year, due to various, situation-specific factors that were compounded by the knock-on effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a steady rise in international food commodity prices,” said Vinet.He added that while the Russia-Ukraine war has piqued the world’s interest over the past few weeks, people must not forget that other countries have also been grappling with their own food security issues such as acute hunger.“As we respond in Ukraine, we must also redouble our efforts to help these [other] communities and food crises affected countries produce more food locally, right where it is needed most, to mitigate the impacts of any import reductions and/or rising food prices.”The war in Ukraine has also affected food supply chains in many other countries, according to a Reuters report on Monday, as fertilizer prices continue to soar. This poses some serious implications for famers as they can no longer afford soil nutrients.Last Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that food prices could rise globally due to the increase in fertilizer prices if the West created problems for Russia’s export of fertilizers, which account for 13 percent of world output.Putin’s statement comes as the West continues to sanction Russian businessmen such as Russian fertilizer and coal billionaire Andrei Melnichenko.The European Union sanctions included freezing assets of several wealthy Russians and cutting off the Russian corporate sector from the global economy in an effort to force Putin to change course.Russia is a major producer of potash, phosphate and nitrogen containing fertilizers - major crop and soil nutrients. EuroChem, which produces nitrogen, phosphates and potash, told Reuters that it is one of the world’s top five fertilizer companies.Russia’s trade and industry ministry told the country’s fertilizer producers to temporarily halt exports earlier this month, causing further distress to an already disrupted global food supply chain.Read more:‘Frightening conditions’: Aid staff face logistical hurdles, urge Ukraine ceasefireIraq issues tender to buy 50,000 tons of hard wheat from all origins: Ministry sourceUkraine bans exports of several grains, sugar, salt, meat
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Russian invasion poses ‘clear, growing threat’ to food security in Ukraine: FAO

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been held in Tehran since 2016, has had her British passport returned, her local MP in London said on Tuesday, raising hopes for her release.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“I am very pleased to say that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been given her British passport back,” Labour MP Tulip Siddiq wrote on her Twitter account.“I also understand that there is a British negotiating team in Tehran right now,” she added.There was no immediate confirmation or comment from the foreign ministry in London when contacted by AFP.Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested during a visit to her family in the Iranian capital in 2016 and convicted of plotting to overthrow the government. She was jailed for five years.She was then sentenced to another year’s imprisonment in April last year for participating in a rally outside the Iranian embassy in London in 2009.The project manager for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the news and data agency, has always strenuously denied the accusations.Her employer quoted her lawyer, Hojjat Kermani, as saying: “I am hopeful that we will have good news soon.”Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, believes his wife is being used as a political pawn between London and Tehran over an unpaid debt dating back to the time of the Shah of Iran.He staged a hunger strike outside the foreign ministry in London last October after she lost her latest appeal, and as government ministers held talks with Iranian counterparts.She was freed from prison with an electronic tag in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.Read more: UK PM says he’d consider cash to free Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe detained in IranHusband of detained UK-Iranian in ‘last days’ of hunger strikeHusband of detained UK-Iranian national ends hunger strike
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Hopes for detained UK-Iranian as passport returned: MP

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to travel to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia this week, according to people familiar with the matter, as pressure mounts on the OPEC members to raise oil output.The visit comes as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roils energy markets, driving crude prices close to $100 a barrel.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Johnson is tentatively scheduled to meet the de facto ruler of the UAE, Mohammed bin Zayed, and energy officials in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. He is meant to travel to Riyadh later the same day and meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, two of the people said, declining to be named as the information is not public.The prime minister’s possible trip to Saudi Arabia was reported earlier by UK media. Downing Street declined to comment to Bloomberg. Johnson’s plans may still change, some of the people said.Resisting WashingtonSaudi Arabia and the UAE pump more than 13 million barrels a day of oil between them and are among the few producers with significant spare capacity. They are key members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The cartel is in an alliance with Russia that’s known as OPEC+.The Saudis and Emiratis and have so far resisted calls from the US, Japan and European nations to accelerate production increases.Last week, the UAE’s ambassador to Washington said Abu Dhabi would call on other members of OPEC+ to boost output faster. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the overture, though the UAE oil minister later tempered expectations and reiterated his country was committed to OPEC+.The group, which next meets on March 31, has pledged to add an extra 400,000 barrels per day to global markets each month. Traders say that’s not enough to balance supply and demand.Russian tiesSaudi Arabia and the UAE would risk breaking up the OPEC+ partnership and hurting their relationship with Russia if they did pump above their quotas.Still, Johnson has come under pressure to ask the Saudi crown prince for more oil. He has maintained better ties with Prince Mohammed, known as MBS, than US President Joe Biden.Biden has chosen to bypass MBS, who runs day-to-day affairs in the kingdom, and communicate only with King Salman. It’s a policy perceived as a slight in Riyadh and it’s hindered US efforts to rally Gulf Arab oil producers behind efforts to isolate Moscow.“At a time of a major global energy crisis that has been caused by this war in Europe,” Sajid Javid, the UK health secretary, told Times Radio on Monday, “it is right for the prime minister and other world leaders to engage with Saudi Arabia.”Read more: Washington has ‘deep concerns’ over China ties with Russia: Senior US official
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: UK’s Johnson to meet UAE, Saudi leaders in push for more oil

Ukraine is considering canceling the visa-free agreement with Israel.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Ukrainian official raps Israel’s refugee policy

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will examine the widespread unlawful surveillance using Pegasus spyware in El Salvador..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: El Salvador: Hearing on abuse of Pegasus spyware to be held by Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

In the latest of a series of issues facing the club, Paris Saint Germain's training base gets vandalised..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: “Paris will never be Qatari”: PSG's training base vandalised by fans

The Jerusalem Post Podcast - Travel Edition, Episode 29
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Happy St. Patrick's Day and Purim with our Ireland special