Top stories on The Round Up today: Qatar extends prohibited summertime working hours Amir pledges $500mn to rebuild Gaza Officials address anger over ‘vaccination freedoms’ Venus set to light up sky this weekend..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: The Round Up | 27 May 2021 – Doha News | Qatar
US, Britain seek new WHO look into possible coronavirus origins in China
The United States and Britain are stepping up calls for the World Health Organization to take a deeper look into the possible origins of COVID-19, including a new visit to China where the first human infections were detected.WHO and Chinese experts issued a first report in March that laid out four hypotheses about how the pandemic emerged. The joint team said the most likely scenario was that the coronavirus jumped into people from bats via an intermediary animal, and the prospect that it erupted from a laboratory was deemed “extremely unlikely.”Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.Late Thursday, the US diplomatic mission in Geneva issued a statement saying the first phase of the study was “insufficient and inconclusive,” and called for a “timely, transparent, evidence-based and expert-led Phase 2 study, including in the People’s Republic of China.”For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The statement — coming in the middle of the WHO’s annual assembly in Geneva — demanded access for independent experts to “complete, original data and samples” relevant to the source of the virus and early stages of the outbreak.“We appreciate the WHO’s stated commitment to move forward with Phase 2 of the COVID-19 origins study, and look forward to an update from Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,” the statement said.Also Thursday, the British ambassador in Geneva, Simon Manley, said the first phase study was “always meant to be the beginning of the process, not the end.”“We call for a timely, transparent, evidence-based, and expert-led phase two study, including in the People’s Republic of China, as recommended by the experts’ report,” he said.WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said in an e-mail that a technical team -- led by Peter Ben Embarek, who headed the WHO team in China that co-authored the first report -- was preparing “a proposal for the next studies that will need to be carried out.”Jasarevic said that proposal would be presented to Tedros “for his consideration,” but said there was no timetable such a presentation.After the first report was released, the WHO chief acknowledged that further studies were needed on issues like early detection of cases and clusters, and the possible roles of animal markets, transmission through the food chain, and the lab-incident hypothesis, Jasarevic noted.The push in Geneva amounts to a new front of US pressure a day after President Joe Biden said that he had instructed the US intelligence community to “redouble their efforts” to get “information that could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion” on the virus’ origins, and to report back in 90 days.Biden’s administration wants to step up calls for China to be more open about the outbreak, aiming to head off complaints from opposition Republican senators that the president has not been tough enough, as well as to use the opportunity to press China on alleged obstruction.Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have promoted the theory that the virus emerged from a laboratory accident rather than naturally through human contact with an infected animal in Wuhan, China.On Tuesday, a Chinese representative, who was not identified, told the WHO’s assembly that China believed the “China part” of the origins-tracing study “has been completed.” According to an interpreter, he said China wanted a “global origin-tracing cooperation” — which suggested his government wants the hunt to be carried out elsewhere.On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian went further, suggesting that US sites should be explored — reiterating Chinese-fanned speculation that the coronavirus could have erupted elsewhere. China has provided no evidence for such claims.Read more:Pandemic won’t be over until 70 pct are vaccinated, says WHO’s Europe chiefEU regulator approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for ages 12 to 15UK approves single shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US, Britain seek new WHO look into possible coronavirus origins in China
Dubai: Minor fire at ceramics warehouse put out
Fire engines from Al Rashidiya and Karama were dispatched to the site..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Dubai: Minor fire at ceramics warehouse put out
Morocco: Imprisoned journalist must be granted medical care
Moroccan authorities must urgently end the solitary confinement of a detained journalist whose health is at risk after 51 days on hunger strike and ensure he is granted the specialized medical care he requires, said Amnesty International..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Morocco: Imprisoned journalist must be granted medical care
UN Human Rights Council votes for probe into ‘crimes’ committed in Gaza conflict
The United Nations Human Rights Council agreed on Thursday to launch an international investigation into crimes committed during the 11-day conflict between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.By a vote of 24 states in favor, 9 against, with 14 abstentions, the 47-member forum adopted a resolution brought by the organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations.“The draft resolution ... is therefore adopted,” Nazhat Shameem Khan, Fiji’s ambassador who serves as current president of the Geneva forum, said after an all-day special session.- developing
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: UN Human Rights Council votes for probe into ‘crimes’ committed in Gaza conflict
Covid-19: Dubai fines 4 stores during super sale for breaking rules; 49 eateries penalised
The stores in Mirdif City Centre violated mask and social distancing rules..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Covid-19: Dubai fines 4 stores during super sale for breaking rules; 49 eateries penalised
Lebanon records 319 new coronavirus cases, 8 deaths
Lebanon records 319 new coronavirus cases, 8 deaths..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Lebanon records 319 new coronavirus cases, 8 deaths
Lebanon registers 298 coronavirus cases, 6 deaths
Lebanon registers 298 coronavirus cases, 6 deaths..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Lebanon registers 298 coronavirus cases, 6 deaths
Hamas gains support, little else in battle with Israel
Many Gazans are now questioning what they first celebrated as a victory for Hamas.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Hamas gains support, little else in battle with Israel
Israeli forces kill Palestinian in West Bank clashes, says health ministry
Israeli forces on Friday shot dead a Palestinian man during clashes in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.A few hundred Palestinians had gathered near Nablus in the northern West Bank to protest Israeli settlement expansion on Palestinian land.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Some in the crowd, with their faces covered by masks, threw rocks at soldiers and burned tires, witnesses said. Israeli soldiers opened fire, killing one man, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.Zakaria Hamayel was struck by a bullet to the chest in the village of Beita, south of Nablus, the ministry said.A spokeswoman for the Israeli army said they were checkingthe report. Tensions remain high in the region despite a ceasefire reached last week between Israel and the Palestinian militantgroup Hamas in Gaza that ended 11 days of fighting.Read more:Netanyahu: Israel’s response will be very powerful if Hamas breaks ceasefireIsrael-Hamas ceasefire holds, UN to launch Gaza aid appealJordan’s King Abdullah says important to turn Gaza ceasefire into extended truce
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Israeli forces kill Palestinian in West Bank clashes, says health ministry