Middle East Experience

Hezbollah's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech on Saturday that Tarek Bitar, the investigator of the Beirut port explosion, was politically biased..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Nasrallah says Beirut port blast investigator biased

Lebanon registers five COVID-19 deaths, 1,552 cases in last 24 hours..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Lebanon registers five COVID-19 deaths, 1,552 cases in last 24 hours

Analyzing stamped jars, Hebrew University archaeologists raised new questions on what happened in the land of Israel after the war with King Sennacherib.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Pottery shows new culture in biblical Judah after Assyrian conquest

“Israel will not accept shooting into its territory,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Bennett: Israel won’t accept rocket attacks from Lebanon

Moshe Etzion was an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor and lost his son in a mortar explosion in the last hours of protective edge.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Father ends his life over grave of son who was killed in Protective Edge

The plan consists of six layers of protective actions to help keep COVID-19 out of the school system.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israel’s Bennett approves COVID outline to open schools on Sept. 1

The men were arrested three years ago and accused of affiliation with a terrorist organization and raising funds on its behalf.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: 69 Hamas members sentenced to prison in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has administered over 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines across the Kingdom, the country’s Ministry of Health announced on Monday.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.Over 587 inoculation centers have been set up around the Kingdom to ensure that all citizens and residents have access to coronavirus vaccines, according to the ministry.Saudi Arabia has plans to reach herd immunity and vaccinate at least 70 percent of its population against COVID-19 by October this year. So far, almost 30 percent of the population have been vaccinated.About 311,674 people are vaccinated in the country each day, which indicates that the Kingdom would reach its goal in time if it continues to do so at the current rate.Four vaccines are currently approved in the country: Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca-Oxford.The Kingdom’s health ministry spokesman Dr. Mohammed al-Abd al-Ali denied on Sunday rumors that Saudi Arabia had approved the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines.He also denied rumors that people had died in Saudi Arabia after receiving vaccine doses.According to al-Abd al-Ali, 99 percent of critical cases of the coronavirus were not vaccinated.Curbs on unvaccinated citizens, residents To encourage more people to get vaccinated, Saudi Arabia has imposed restrictions on unvaccinated citizens and residents in the country.Without proof of vaccination, individuals cannot enter malls, restaurants, cafes, beauty parlors, barbershops, shopping centers, governmental and private facilities, public and private schools, weddings, events, and markets.Public transport and all economic, commercial, cultural, recreational, and sports activities are limited to vaccinated individuals.While Saudi Arabia has reopened its borders to tourists, only those who have been vaccinated with the approved COVID-19 jabs will be granted entry.Here is the full list of countries whose citizens can apply for an e-visa to Saudi Arabia.Tourists who received the Sinopharm or Sinovac vaccine can enter the Kingdom if they have received a booster shot from any of the four approved vaccines.Read more:Saudi Arabia’s health ministry denies approving Sinopharm, Sinovac COVID-19 vaccinesSaudi Arabia grants $133,000 to families of healthcare workers who died from COVID-19Saudi Arabia vaccinates 25 pct of population, on track to reach herd immunity by Oct
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabia administers more than 30 mln doses of COVID-19 vaccines

Egypt has brought back an ancient statue of Nikaw-Ptah from Holland as the government works to recover many stolen antiquities from abroad.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Egypt retrieves ancient priest statue from Holland

The prevalence of the lambda COVID-19 variant, deemed a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization, has increased in the US.“There are currently more than 1,300 lambda sequences in the US as of August 4, 2021, and the lambda variant has been identified in 44 states,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) spokesperson told news media Newsweek on Thursday.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.The lambda variant, first identified in Peru in November 2020, has spread to around 40 countries across the world and eight in South America alone, according to the global science initiative (GISAID).The variant resulted in 595 deaths per 100,000 people on average in Peru – making it one of the hardest-hit countries (per capita) during the pandemic.The lambda variant contains three mutations on the virus’ spike proteins, causing it to be more infectious than the original COVID-19 virus, a Japanese study found.The study entitled ‘SARS-CoV-2 Lambda variant exhibits higher infectivity and immune resistance’ found that two other mutations present on the spike proteins make the variant about 150 percent more resistant to antibodies (produced from vaccines).The strain has been classified as a “variant of interest” by the WHO, meaning that it might have some mutations that could make it resistant to COVID-19 vaccines, and could be more infectious. But, it has not yet been identified as a “variant of concern.”The researchers cautioned that classifying the strain as a ‘variant of interest’ minimized the threat that it posed.“Because the lambda variant is a VOI [variant of interest], it might be considered that this variant is not an ongoing threat compared to the pandemic VOCs [variants of concern],” the study stated.“However, the lambda variant is relatively resistant to the vaccine-induced [antibodies], it might be possible that this variant is feasible to cause breakthrough infection.”It is important to note that the study has not been peer reviewed yet.The WHO categorizes variants based on their severity, and classifies them with letters from the Greek alphabet.The current variants of concern include alpha (first identified in the UK), beta (discovered in South Africa), gamma (first discovered in Brazil) and delta (identified in India) while variants of interest are eta (identified in multiple countries), iota (first identified in the US), kappa (identified in India), and Lambda.The 1,300 diagnosed lambda variant COVID-19 infections in the US account for less than 0.2 percent of new cases, meaning that it might not spread as quickly as infections of the delta strain. The CDC has said that around 93 percent of US COVID-19 cases are of the delta variant.Epidemiologist and technical lead of COVID-19 response at the WHO Marie Van Kerkhove has noted that the lambda variant does not seem to “take off once it’s reported in a country,” unlike the superspreading delta strain.Read more:Explainer: Everything you need to know about the Lambda COVID-19 variantCOVID-19 vaccines not strong enough to stop Delta variant alone: StudyBeyond Delta: Scientists are watching other new COVID-19 variants
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Vaccine-resistant lambda COVID-19 variant appears in US