Middle East Experience

The four-time champions qualify for the semifinals of the Asian Men’s Handball Championship after the South Korean team tested positive. The match could not be played due to several positive Covid-19 tests within the South Korean camp. As a result, the game was forfeited by South Korea and counted as a 10-0 win for Qatar. Qatar ..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Qatar qualify for Handball Championship semifinals due to forfeit

The UAE reported on Friday 2,545 COVID-19 infections and two new deaths in 24 hours after conducting 490,562 tests.This raised the country’s death toll to 2,234 caused by the pandemic.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.The daily reported recovery is 1,320, and the total recovery count is 755,670.The UAE boasts a 93.8 percent fully vaccinated population, with 23,445,868 doses administered since the beginning of the pandemic.The UAE, on Thursday, announced the resumption of entry for travelers from 12 African countries.Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the UAE, recently clarified that vaccinated tourists do not need to show proof of a booster shot to cross into the emirate, after strict entry restrictions were reintroduced to curb the spread of COVID-19.Case numbers in the emirates and the wider Gulf have been climbing rapidly in recent weeks after the first cases of the omicron variant were recorded in December.Read more:Saudi Arabia marks minor dip in COVID-19 cases with 4,474 new infections, two deathsCOVID-19 cases plateauing in parts of India but omicron still surgesPhilippines to reopen borders to vaccinated tourists after nearly two years
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: UAE reports 2,545 COVID-19 cases, two new deaths in 24 hours

Phlogis kibalensis, the new leafhopping discovery, is the first member of the rare genus to be stopped since 1969.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Rare insect species with leaf-shaped genitals found in Uganda

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu “threatened” him last year when he was fighting to unseat the veteran leader, in an interview published Friday.The Jewish nationalist Bennett became prime minister in June 2021, after he banded with blocs ranging from right to left to Arab Islamic conservatives to end Netanyahu’s 12-year rule.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“Establishing the government was very hard for me. I knew clearly where I was going. I knew I was about to get hit with the mother of all battles,” Bennett told Haaretz newspaper.Bennett said he had been negotiating with Netanyahu in May as the long-serving PM fought hard to stay in power, but their talks hit a brick wall.“When he realized that I didn’t intend to let him drag Israel into a fifth election, he really threatened me,” Bennett said.“‘Listen,’ he said to me, ‘If I understand correctly what you’re going to do, you should know that I am going to turn my whole machine on you, the army’,” he said, recounting what Netanyahu had told him.He said Netanyahu followed his comments by making a gesture with his arm as if to indicate “an airplane descending for an attack,” Haaretz reported.According to Bennett, the former prime minister had told him: “‘I will send the drones at you, and we’ll see’.”Bennett said he thought that with those remarks, Netanyahu was threatening to unleash against him “his army of bots” of broadcasters from television, radio and social media.“A kind of change came over me. I realized that everything was resting on my shoulders” and that Netanyahu’s re-election “would have thrown us into a terrible spin,” Bennett said.“I know that this sounds big, but I think we saved the state,” he added.Bennett’s coalition won a wafer-thin margin of 60 votes to 59 in parliament in June last year, allowing him to form a government.A tech millionaire, Bennett was once an ally of Netanyahu.Losing the top job left the hawkish former prime minister exposed to legal battles involving corruption.Netanyahu is on trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, and could be jailed if found guilty. He has denied any wrongdoing.“I wouldn’t want to see Netanyahu in prison, in a prisoner’s uniform. It’s not a picture that would respect him or the citizens of this country,” Bennett told Haaretz.On Monday Netanyahu denied reports he had reached a deal with prosecutors that would force him to quit politics.Read more:Merkel and Israeli PM Bennett differ on key issues of Iran, PalestineThousands in Israel’s Tel Aviv celebrate end of Netanyahu governmentIsraeli PM Bennett arrives in UAE on official visit
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Israel’s PM Bennett says Netanyahu ‘threatened’ to target him with drones

The World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned against making such conclusions before further study can be done.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: New MERS-related virus NeoCoV may be more lethal, transmissible - study

Your child’s picky about food? Here are 5 things you should not do
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: 5 things you shouldn't do if your child is a picky eater

China’s Embassy in Riyadh welcomed Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who will be attending the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Beijing on February 4, according to a post on the embassy’s Twitter account.The embassy also said it hopes this visit will “promote the development of the global Olympic field and the development of Sino-Saudi comprehensive strategic relations.”For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The Beijing Winter Olympics kick off in one week, putting sports at center-stage following preparations that have been clouded by diplomatic boycotts and the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced the Games into a tightly sealed bubble.Beijing will become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games, and some venues from 2008 will be re-used, including the Bird’s Nest stadium, where the opening ceremony will again be overseen by famed Chinese director Zhang Yimou.Almost everything else is different.Where the 2008 Summer Games dazzled in what was a considered China’s arrival on the world stage, the Winter Olympics will be staged by a country that has grown far wealthier, more powerful and, under President Xi Jinping, more authoritarian and increasingly at odds with the West.In the COVID-19 era, China has isolated itself with a zero-tolerance policy, cancelling nearly all international flights, meaning Olympic athletes and others must fly directly into a Games bubble on charters.With ReutersRead more:China demands US halt Olympics ‘interference’China blasts US over reports of withdrawing diplomatic staffOmicron detected in Beijing as China battles COVID-19 clusters
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: China’s embassy in Riyadh welcomes Saudi Crown Prince to attend Olympics

The spot market will enable licensed generators for the first time to offer their surplus capacity at the most competitive rate..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Oman launches first electricity spot market in the Middle East

'Rifkin’s Festival' star Wallace Shawn still works with Woody Allen and writes about Israel. He’s used to ‘painful conversations.’
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Wallace Shawn is used to ‘painful conversation'

The fourth Al Ain Film Festival took place this week at a time when there seems to be an influx of movie industry events in the Middle East..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: New climate boosts film festivals in the Middle East