Middle East Experience

Touristic establishments in the Gaza Strip are slowly regaining life with more local singers holding music events amid the ongoing Israeli siege and the difficult economic conditions.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Artistic, musical events bring some joy to grief-stricken Gaza

Since the Houthi seizure of Sanaa in 2014, the group has brought new sectarian pressure to Yemen's north, forcing both Shiites and Sunnis to observe Shiite customs.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Houthis revive Shiite festivals to strengthen grip on north

The indecision for facemask requirements for schools is deepening in the United States as officials spar on how to approach the matter as the delta variant spreads across the country. Accompanied with a spike in the number of children contracting COVID-19, CNN reported on Sunday.Florida, which has the second-highest rates of new COVID-19 infections per capita in the US, has seen a surge in the number of children being infected with the virus and admitted to hospital, with hospitals and staff saying they are “overwhelmed.”For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.“The number of cases in our hospitals in children and our children’s hospitals are completely overwhelmed,” infectious disease expert at Florida International University Dr. Aileen Marty told the CNN on Friday.A surge in COVID-19 cases fueled by the highly contagious delta variant of the virus has overwhelmed hospitals in the area.“Our pediatricians, the nursing, the staff are exhausted, and the children are suffering. And it is absolutely devastating… our children are very much affected. We’ve never seen numbers like this before,” she added, noting that the Children’s Hospital in Miami was at 116 percent capacity for coronavirus patients.The spike in cases came as the US readies itself to send millions of children back to school. This has reignited conversations for preventative measures in an effort to reduce virus transmission rates. Officials on state and local levels have failed to streamline their mask-wearing mandate for children returning to schools, the CNN reported.“We have not seen kids pile into pediatric ICUs across the South like we’re seeing right now,” Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Peter Hotez, told the CNN.In Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s made an executive order to prohibit school districts and other local officials from wearing masks. The superintendent Millard House II of the Houston Independent School District has said that he will move to mandate mask-wearing once students return to school on August 23.Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis last week issued an executive order to the state’s education and health departments to create rules that will stop mask mandates for schools. As a result, two lawsuits have been filed against him since, the CNN report.According to a statement from Florida-based Hillsborough Country Public Schools superintendent Addison Davis released on Saturday, schools will “require face coverings” for the beginning of the school year, but parents can choose to opt their children out.“While the outcome may be the same whether we make face coverings optional or required with an opt-out, we believe this decision continues to illustrate that Hillsborough County Public Schools takes public safety seriously,” Davis stated, adding that masks will be optional for employees.“The places where you see kids in the hospital, the places where you see footage of kids in the hospital, are all places that are not taking mitigation strategies to keep our children safe,” said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) head Dr. Rochelle Walensky.The CDC has recommended that everyone, including school staff and visitors, wear masks in schools.Half the US population has been fully vaccinated against the virus, according to the CDC, but children have not yet been cleared for inoculation.The CDC recommends that people aged two or older wear masks whenever they are in a public setting, traveling on public transport, or gathering around people who are not from the same household. It also suggests limiting children’s presence inside family homes if members of that household are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19, have been immunocompromised or have been in contact with someone who has been infected with the virus.Read more:Delta COVID-19 infection: New symptoms to watch out forFit, healthy 42-year-old bodybuilder who refused vaccine dies of COVID-19Friends of conspiracy believers may help reduce vaccine hesitancy: Study
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US officials divided over mask rules for schools as child COVID hospitalizations rise

Saudi Arabia will grant the families of healthcare workers who died from COVID-19 while treating infected patients $133,300 (500,000 Saudi Riyals), the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Sunday. For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.Families of all healthcare employees who died of the coronavirus – regardless of whether they were Saudi nationals or expatriate residents, worked in the government or private sector, or in the civilian or military sector – will be compensated, SPA said. According to SPA, “500,000 Saudi Riyals [will be given] to the families of those who died as a result of COVID-19 working in the health sectors, be it government or private, civilian or military, Saudi or non-Saudi.”The healthcare workers “gave their lives in the fight against the pandemic to preserve the health and safety of citizens and residents in the kingdom,” the SPA statement added. The Kingdom appreciates the sacrifices made by healthcare workers to help treat people infected with the disease and combat the pandemic in the country, Minister of Health Dr. Tawfiq al-Rabiah said on Sunday. Al-Rabiah also stressed that the health sector in the Kingdom made great efforts to contain the coronavirus, control the outbreak, and prevent its spread using all scientific and practical means available, allocating large funds to do so, SPA reported. Saudi Arabia has reported 532,785 confirmed cases of COVID-19 so far, and 8,320 deaths. More than 29 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered around the Kingdom as of Saturday. Read more:Saudi Arabia arrests 60 people for violating COVID quarantine rulesTerror groups utilized COVID-19 to spread ideology, false rhetoric: Saudi’s EtidalStudents in Saudi Arabia must receive first COVID-19 vaccine dose before Aug 8
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabia grants 3,000 to families of healthcare workers who died from COVID-19

The chief negotiator for the Iran-backed Houthi milita said on Sunday it would be futile to hold talks with the United Nations new special envoy for Yemen without movement on the group’s key conditions under stalled peace efforts.The appointment of Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg on Friday as the new UN envoy comes as the United Nations and United States struggle to secure a breakthrough to end the war between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally-recognized government.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.A UN-led initiative for a ceasefire and the lifting of sea and air restrictions imposed by the coalition on Houthi-held areas has stalled, with the Arab Coalition seeking a simultaneous deal and the Houthis insisting on an end to the blockade first.“There is no use in having any dialogue before airports and ports are opened as a humanitarian necessity and priority,” Houthi negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam, who is based in Oman, tweeted in response to Grundberg’s appointment.When contacted by Reuters, Abdulsalam said in a text message a meeting would be pointless as Grundberg “has nothing in his hands” and that there was no progress following last month’s visit to Riyadh by the US envoy for Yemen, Tim Lenderking.Lenderking’s latest trip to the region came as ground battles spread beyond Yemen’s gas-rich Marib, the government’s last northern stronghold that the Houthis are trying to seize.Read more:UN taps veteran Swedish diplomat to be new Yemen envoyUS diplomat Lenderking flies to Germany, Gulf region for Yemen ceasefire talksHouthi gunmen kill Yemeni university professor after he requested salary increase
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Top Houthi negotiator says militia will not meet with new UN Yemen envoy

Daily infections remained above the 1,500 mark throughout the month of July..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: UAE: Lowest daily Covid-19 cases in nearly 3 months

Saudi Arabia has not approved Sinopharm or Sinovac vaccines against COVID-19, the spokesperson for the Kingdom’s Ministry of Health Mohammed al-Abd al-Ali said on Sunday, denying rumors circulating online.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.However, citizens and residents who received either one of the Chinese-made vaccines can take a booster shot from any of the approved vaccines.The four vaccines that are currently approved in the Kingdom are: Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca-Oxford.Last week, the country’s e-visa portal said that Saudi Arabia will only allow entry to travelers who were vaccinated with Sinopharm or Sinovac vaccines if they received a booster shot from one of the four approved vaccines in the Kingdom.“Guests who have completed two doses of the Sinopharm or Sinovac vaccines will be accepted if they have received an additional dose of one of the four vaccines approved in the Kingdom,” the Ministry of Tourism said in a statement on the e-visa portal.The spokesman also denied rumors that people have died in Saudi Arabia after taking a coronavirus vaccine, adding that people should not believe rumors they hear from unofficial sources.He also encouraged people to register to receive the vaccine, saying that most of the newly recorded COVID-19 cases were among unvaccinated citizens and residents.Read more:Saudi Arabia vaccinates 25 pct of population, on track to reach herd immunity by OctSaudi Arabia permits entry with Sinopharm, Sinovac vaccines after booster shotsSaudi Arabia grants $133,000 to families of healthcare workers who died from COVID-19
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabia’s health ministry denies approving Sinopharm, Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines

The continued spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has spawned a Greek alphabet of variants - a naming system used by the World Health Organization to track concerning new mutations of the virus that causes COVID-19. Some have equipped the virus with better ways of infecting humans or evading vaccine protection.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.Scientists remain focused on Delta, now the dominant variant rising rapidly around the world, but are tracking others to see what may one day take its place.Delta The Delta variant first detected in India remains the most worrisome. It is striking unvaccinated populations in many countries and has proven capable of infecting a higher proportion of vaccinated people than its predecessors.The WHO classifies Delta as a variant of concern, meaning it has been shown capable of increasing transmissibility, causing more severe disease or reducing the benefit of vaccines and treatments.According to Shane Crotty, a virologist at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology in San Diego, Delta’s “superpower” is its transmissibility.Chinese researchers found that people infected with Delta carry 1,260 times more virus in their noses compared with the original version of the coronavirus. Some US research suggests that the “viral load” in vaccinated individuals who become infected with Delta is on par with those who are unvaccinated, but more research is needed.While the original coronavirus took up to seven days to cause symptoms, Delta can cause symptoms two to three days faster, giving the immune system less time to respond and mount a defense.Delta also appears to be mutating further, with reports emerging of a “Delta Plus” variant, a sub-lineage that carries an additional mutation that has been shown to evade immune protection.India listed Delta Plus as a variant of concern in June, but neither the US Centers For Disease Control and Prevention nor the WHO have done so yet. According to Outbreak.info, an open-source COVID-19 database, Delta Plus has been detected in at least 32 countries. Experts say it is not yet clear whether it is more dangerous.Lambda- on the wane? The Lambda variant has attracted attention as a potential new threat. But this version of the coronavirus, first identified in Peru in December, may be receding, several infectious disease experts told Reuters.The WHO classifies Lambda as a variant of interest, meaning it carries mutations suspected of causing a change in transmissibility or causing more severe disease, but it is still under investigation. Lab studies show it has mutations that resist vaccine-induced antibodies.Dr. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California, said the percentage of new Lambda cases reported to GISAID, a database that tracks SARS-CoV-2 variants, has been dropping, a sign that the variant is waning.In a recent call with the CDC, disease experts said Lambda did not appear to be causing increased transmissibility, and vaccines appear to be holding up well against it, said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who attended the discussion.B.1.621 – One to watch The B.1.621 variant, which first arose in Colombia in January, where it caused a major outbreak, has yet to earn a Greek letter name.The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control has listed it as a variant of interest, while Public Health England describes B.1.621 as a variant under investigation. It carries several key mutations, including E484K, N501Y and D614G, that have been linked with increased transmissibility and reduced immune protection.So far, there have been 37 likely and confirmed cases in the UK, according to a recent government report, and the variant has been identified in a number of patients in Florida.More on the way? Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical adviser, recently warned that the United States could be in trouble unless more Americans get vaccinated, as a large pool of unvaccinated people give the virus more opportunity to spread and mutate into new variants.Proponents of greater international distribution of vaccine doses by rich countries say the same thing could happen as variants emerge unchecked among the populations of poor nations where very few people have been inoculated.Even so, a key issue is that the current vaccines block severe disease but do not prevent infection, said Dr. Gregory Poland, a vaccine scientist at the Mayo Clinic. That is because the virus is still capable of replicating in the nose, even among vaccinated people, who can then transmit the disease through tiny, aerosolized droplets.To defeat SARS-CoV-2, he said, will likely require a new generation of vaccines that also block transmission. Until then, the world will remain vulnerable to the rise of new coronavirus variants, according to Poland and other experts.Read more:Experts weigh risks of crowds amid fast-spreading Delta COVID variantUS officials divided over mask rules for schools as child COVID hospitalizations riseFriends of conspiracy believers may help reduce vaccine hesitancy: Study
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Beyond Delta: Scientists are watching other new COVID-19 variants

The Jordanian family of five were returning to Qatar from their home nation when a car accident claimed their lives in Saudi Arabia..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Tragic road accident kills entire Jordanian family returning to Qatar – Doha News | Qatar

Events can be hosted at 60 per cent of capacity..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Covid-19: UAE announces increased capacity at restaurants, events, weddings