Middle East Experience

Al-Jawf police in Saudi Arabia arrested eight people for violating the country’s COVID-19 rules, including quarantine for those who test positive for coronavirus and isolation after returning to the Kingdom from abroad, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported Monday.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.Those arrested were violating the Kingdom’s COVID-19 precautionary and preventive measures, and the relevant authorities will penalize the violators, according to the news agency.COVID-19 isolation and quarantine violators in Saudi Arabia are to be penalized with a fine of up to 200 thousand riyals ($53.32 thousand), or imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years, or both, according to SPA, adding that in the event of a repeat violation, the penalty will be doubled.The Kingdom’s rules stipulate that if a violation was committed by a non-Saudi, he or she will be punished by deportation from the Kingdom, and he or she will be permanently banned from entering the country after the implementation of the penalty.Saudi Arabia on Monday recorded 1,109 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of cases in the Kingdom to 466,906, according to the Ministry of Health. The death toll rose to 7,590 after 18 new deaths were reported.Read more:Saudi Arabia records 1,109 COVID-19 cases, 18 deathsMore than 450,000 people in Saudi Arabia apply to perform HajjSaudi shopping malls open only to COVID-19 vaccinated people from August
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabia’s al-Jawf police arrests eight people for violating COVID-19 rules

A group of international and regional rights groups on Tuesday urged member states of the UN Human Rights Council to establish an investigative mission into last year’s massive deadly blast at Beirut’s port.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Human Rights Watch said the call was made in a joint letter by 53 Lebanese, regional, and international groups and individuals, as well as 62 survivors and families of the victims.HRW said it documented many flaws in the domestic investigation of the explosion — including flagrant political interference, lack of respect for fair trial standards and violations of due process.Nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate — a highly explosive material used in fertilizers — had been improperly stored in the port for years. The chemicals ignited in the catastrophic Aug. 4 blast that killed 211 people, injured more than 6,000 and damaged entire neighborhoods.It still remains unknown what triggered an initial fire at the warehouse that then caused the explosion and who was responsible for storing the rotting fertilizer there since 2014.“Lebanese authorities have had over 10 months to demonstrate that they are willing and capable of conducting a credible investigation,” said Aya Majzoub, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. “But they have failed on all accounts,”Six days after the blast, the Lebanese government referred the Beirut explosion to the country’s Judicial Council, a special court with no appeals process. No indictments have been issued so far.In December, the prosecutor probing the blast filed charges against the caretaker prime minister, Hassan Diab, and three former ministers, accusing them of negligence that led to the deaths of hundreds of people.Two months later, the judge in the probe was replaced following legal challenges by two former Cabinet ministers he had accused of negligence.Read more:Massive explosions rock Lebanon’s capital of BeirutLebanon explosion: Nearly 40 pct of Beirut severely damaged, new assessment showsBeirut explosion death toll rises to 171, says the health ministry
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Rights groups urge UN investigation into Beirut port explosion

One of the first tasks of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is to find a way to work with the administration of US President Joe Biden.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: First mission of Bennett-Lapid government to mobilize US support

Iran has made 6.5 kilograms (14 lb) of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent, the government said on Tuesday, detailing a move that rattled the country’s nuclear talks with world powers by taking the fissile material a step towards nuclear weapons-grade of 90 percent.Government spokesman Ali Rabiei was quoted by state media as saying the country had also produced 108 kg of uranium enriched to 20 percent purity, indicating quicker output than the rate required by the Iranian law that created the process.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Iran said in April it would begin enriching uranium to 60 percent purity, a move that would take the uranium much closer to the 90 percent suitable for a nuclear bomb, after Tehran accused arch-foe Israel of sabotaging a key nuclear site.Tuesday’s disclosure came as Tehran and Washington hold indirect talks in Vienna aimed at finding ways to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.Iran’s hardline parliament passed a law last year to oblige the government to harden its nuclear stance, partly in reaction to former President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018.Trump’s withdrawal prompted Iran to steadily overstep the accord’s limits on its nuclear program designed to make it harder to develop an atomic bomb - an ambition Tehran denies.“Under parliament’s law..., the Atomic Energy Organization was supposed to produce 120 kg of 20 percent enriched uranium in a year. According to the latest report, we now have produced 108 kg of 20 percent uranium in the past five months,” Rabiei was quoted as saying.“In the area of 60 percent uranium production, in the short time that has elapsed..., about 6.5 kg has been produced,” Rabiei added.A quarterly report on Iran’s nuclear activities by the UN nuclear watchdog in May said that, as of May 22, Tehran had produced 62.8 kg of uranium enriched up to 20 percent, and 2.4 kg of uranium enriched up to 60 percent, with the next level down being enriched to between 2 percent and 5 percent. Read more:Germany’s FM Maas urges flexibility, pragmatism in Iran nuclear talksUS: Iran nuclear talks to resume over the weekend, elections ‘complicating factor’AEA monitoring as agreed with Iran must continue or risk nuclear deal talks: US
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iran says it produced 6.5 kg of uranium enriched to 60 percent

After years of political partnership with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the ultra-Orthodox are sticking with him all the way to the opposition.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Ultra-Orthodox jump in Netanyahu's lifeboat

The hashtag calls for the ceasing of the Flag March that is set to pass through Jerusalem's walled Old City following postponement..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: #ItWontPass: Calls to halt right wing Israeli 'Flag March' in Jerusalem – Doha News | Qatar

In the UAE, it is illegal to raise money from the public without seeking prior approval from the competent authorities..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Dubai: Over 10 unlicensed charity fundraisers busted

Some Houthi officials in Yemen have already been sanctioned by the United States and the United Nations this year.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Republican senators ask Biden's UN rep to highlight Houthi rights abuses

Iranian government spokesperson Ali Rabiei made the announcement as world powers met in Vienna for the latest round of talks aimed at restoring the landmark nuclear accord.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Amid nuclear talks, Iran says 6.5kg of uranium enriched to 60%

A group of MPs and peers is demanding talks with the prime minister over the plight of IRA victims..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Libyan Semtex: Boris Johnson urged to help IRA victims