Middle East Experience

Thousands of families have been affected, many of them already displaced by the country's civil war..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Yemen flash flooding causes large-scale damage

Defense uses ex-Walla chief’s own words to undermine him.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Netanyahu trial: Yeshua told staff Bibi 'destroying Zionist enterprise'

If the bills pass - and most of them have a majority - they would be brought to a vote in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Likud advances bills legalizing outposts

On Monday, soldiers continued the search for the Palestinian attacker, but found only his torched and bullet-ridden vehicle.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Palestinians arrested but Tapuach shooter at large as IDF manhunt peaks

Over 70,000 liters of disinfectant are used daily to clean the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia’s Mecca during the holy month of Ramadan as a coronavirus countermeasure, the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques announced on Tuesday.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.Saudi Arabian authorities imposed strict measures in the courtyards around the Kaaba to ensure pilgrims are safe.Muslims performing Umrah must socially distance and wear face masks at all times. Guided walkways and sanitization stations have also been set up around the Grand Mosque area.A total of 1,500 liters of sanitizing perfumes are also released daily around the Kaaba, and each square around in the Grand Mosque is washed 10 times a day.A total of 750 guides and 4,000 hygiene workers have been working around the clock to implement safety protocols.Read more:Saudi Arabia employs 750 guides to navigate Umrah pilgrims, apply COVID-19 rulesSaudi Arabia to grant Umrah permits during Ramadan for vaccinated peopleSaudi Arabia to fine pilgrims $2,666 for attempting Ramadan Umrah without permits
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Over 70,000 liters of disinfectant used to clean Mecca’s Grand Mosque in Ramadan

Dubai-based airline flydubai has launched additional flight routes, it announced on Wednesday. It brings its network to over 80 destinations.The carrier plans to grow its network in Russia to 11 destinations by introducing new services to Moscow Zhukovski International Airport as of May 12, Novosibirsk Tolmachevo International Airport from May 28 and Perm International Airport from June 2. It will resume operations to four more airports in the market this month.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.In addition, the carrier plans to grow its operations in Iran to five locations through the resumption of flights to Iran’s Bandar Abbas International Airport from May 12 and Mashhad International Airport from May 13.flydubai recently announced that it will operate seasonal flights to Turkey’s Bodrum and Trabzon and Georgia’s Batumi.It plans to restart seasonal operations to Montengero’s Tivat Airport from June 25.“It is now 11 years since flydubai’s first flight to Russia. During this period, we have grown our network in Russia providing direct air links from these key cities in Russia to the UAE; many of which are less than four hours flying time,” said the carrier’s CEO Ghaith al-Ghaith in a statement.“We’ve made Dubai much more accessible and at the same time improved connectivity to more than 155 destinations from Dubai’s international aviation hub. Today, we are pleased to see our operations take off once again as we continue to support trade and travel between the countries,” he added.Read more:Budget carrier flydubai posts $194M loss due to pandemicAll 14 737 MAX jets in service by June after two-year grounding, says flydubaiFlydubai prepares for Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to rejoin its fleet: Government
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Flydubai expands network to over 80 destinations, resumes flights to Russia and Iran

Medical experts in the United Arab Emirates say there is an urgent need for more people in the region to consider becoming midwives, amid a new report by the World Health Organization which has sounded an alarm over a global shortage of those in the profession.As the International Day of the Midwife (IDM) is marked on Wednesday, the WHO has highlighted what they say is their essential role in providing care to pregnant women.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.However, it said there are too few women considering midwifery as a career. According to a new report by the heath body, millions of lives of women and newborns are lost, globally and millions more experience ill health or injury, because the needs of pregnant women and skills of midwives are not recognized or prioritized.The world is currently facing an international shortage of 900,000 midwives, which represents a third of the required global midwifery workforce. The COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated these problems, with the health needs of women and newborns being overshadowed, midwifery services being disrupted and midwives being deployed to other health services.In the UAE, Sumaia Salameh, director of nursing at Sharjah’s Burjeel Specialty Hospital, told Al Arabiya English the shortage of midwifes globally is echoed in the Emirates.“As the WHO report suggests, there is an international shortage of trained midwives and the condition is the same in the UAE as well,” she said. “The services of a midwife bring additional value to the labor department in a hospital yet there is too few numbers of trained midwives.”The nursing director said this is down to many reasons, including a lack of regional knowledge and understanding about the role of midwives.“Firstly, a large number of countries do not offer courses on midwifery,” she said. “Generally, a nurse performs the role of a midwife in hospitals.”“Secondly, there is a misconception that a midwife is of less importance than a nurse. It is a myth. There is a lack of awareness about the role and importance of midwives in hospitals.”Midwives are trained professionals in assisting women in labor, however, their role is “much more”, said Salameh.“Midwives are trained to assist women throughout their pregnancy. They can help pregnant women with pre and postnatal checkups and care. Midwives can also assist women with exercises during pregnancy and post-delivery.”“However, due to the shortage of midwives, hospitals generally rely on trained nurses to perform these responsibilities,” Salameh explained.Regionally, more must be done to promote midwifery as a professional career, she said.“Many countries do not offer a course on midwifery. Medical institutions should consider starting courses that would produce trained midwives. Also, awareness needs to be created to encourage more people to opt for midwifery as a career option.”“Countries should also consider giving midwifery license to nurses who have long experience in labor delivery and able to perform similar responsibilities.”Dr Kamlesh Mishra, a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology at the UAE’s Bareen International Hospital, told Al Arabiya English that the figures released in the WHO report were “alarming” and said COVID-19 would further exacerbate the situation as many midwives have been deployed to other health services.“This going to affect maternity services and safe childbirth and maternal health untowardly,” she said. “Maternal mortality and morbidity and neonatal morbidity and mortality are directly related to percentage of births attended by skilled and trained healthcare professionals.“As female doctors are also choosing other specialties of medical stream, not only obstetrics as their career. To remedy the situation, strategic intervention is needed.”"A point to ponder is why nursing staffs are less attracted towards an extremely noble profession of midwifery, which is associated with positive vibe and delight of assisting mothers to give birth to a new life, a bundle of joy to the family and community."Proper job description, assigning more autonomy and allowing for more decision-making powers, ensuring healthy and respectful mutual relationship in the workplace, providing attractive compensation and benefits, and supporting education and training can attract more women to join midwifery workforce across the globe, said the doctor.According to the WH0, the acute shortage of midwives is exacting a terrible global toll in the form of preventable deaths.An analysis conducted for a report by the heath body, published in the Lancet last December, showed that fully resourcing midwife-delivered care by 2035 could avert 67 percent of maternal deaths, 64 percent of newborn deaths and 65 percent of stillbirths. It could save an estimated 4.3 million lives per year.The WHO said gender inequality is an unacknowledged driver in this massive shortage. The continued under-resourcing of the midwifery workforce is a symptom of health systems not prioritizing the sexual and reproductive health needs of women and girls, and not recognizing the role of midwives – most of whom are women – to meet these needs. Women account for 93 per cent of midwives and 89 per cent of nurses.As well as assisting with births, midwives have a range of other medical responsibilities including providing antenatal and postnatal, assisting with family planning, and upholding women’s rights.Dr Franka Cadée, president of the International Confederation of Midwives, said: “As autonomous, primary care providers, midwives are continually overlooked and ignored.”“It’s time for governments to acknowledge the evidence surrounding the life-promoting, life-saving impact of midwife-led care.”D. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, said that while midwives play a vital role in reducing the risks of childbirth for women all over the world, many have themselves been exposed to risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.“We must learn the lessons the pandemic is teaching us, by implementing policies and making investments that deliver better support and protection for midwives and other health workers and support WHO’s longstanding call to strengthen the midwifery workforce, which will deliver a triple dividend in contributing to better health, gender equality and inclusive economic growth,” Ghebreyesus said.Read more:Exhausted by COVID-19 fight, Lebanese nurses want pay not praiseNurses battle conspiracy theories, COVID-19 deniers as well as diseaseOver 400 acts of violence against COVID-19 health workers in 2020: Report
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: WHO sounds alarm on global midwife shortage, UAE experts urge more to consider career

Facebook Inc’s oversight board on Wednesday upheld the company’s suspension of former US President Donald Trump but called for a further review of the penalty within six months.The board, whose decisions are binding on the leading social network, said Trump “created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible” with his comments regarding the January 6 rampage by his supporters at the US Capitol.For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.But the panel added that “it was not appropriate for Facebook to impose the indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension” and called for the platform to “review this matter to determine and justify a proportionate response” within six months.At the time of the suspension, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a post that “the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great.” The company later referred the case to its recently established board, which includes academics, lawyers and rights activists, to decide whether to uphold the ban or restore Trump.“Both of those decisions are no-win decisions for Facebook,” said Kate Klonick, an assistant law professor at St. John’s University who embedded at Facebook to follow the board’s creation. “So, offloading those to a third party, the Oversight Board, is a win for them no matter what.”The binding verdict marks a major decision for the board, which rules on a small slice of challenging content decisions and which Facebook created as an independent body as a response to criticism over how it handles problematic material. Facebook has also asked the board to provide recommendations on how it should handle political leaders’ accounts.Tech platforms have grappled in recent years with how to police world leaders and politicians that violate their guidelines. Facebook has come under fire both from those who think it should abandon its hands-off approach to political speech and those who saw the Trump ban as a worrying act of censorship.Trump was permanently banned from Twitter Inc, where he has more than 88 million followers.Trump, who has been sending out short, emailed press releases, continued to promote election misinformation in one on Monday, saying “the Fraudulent Presidential Election of 2020 will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!”On Tuesday, he launched a new web page to share messages that readers can then re-post to their Facebook or Twitter accounts. A senior adviser has said Trump also has plans to launch his own social media platform.Facebook has said Trump, who has 35 million Facebook followers, would be subject to the same policies as ordinary users after the end of his presidency. This means that if Trump returned to the platform, his posts would now be eligible for fact-checking. Following a widening of the board’s scope in April, Facebook users would also be able to appeal the former president’s posts to the board.Controversial decisionTrump’s suspension was the first time Facebook had blocked a current president, prime minister or head of state. Facebook’s oversight board said it received more than 9,000 comments from the public on the Trump ban, the most it has had for a case so far.Several academics and civil rights groups have publicly shared their letters urging the board to block Trump permanently, while Republican lawmakers and some free expression advocates have criticized the decision.Since taking action on Trump, social media companies have faced calls from some rights groups and activists to be more consistent in their approach to other world leaders who have pushed or broken their rules, such as Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Leader Ali Khamenei, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and lawmakers linked to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.“I would hope that they’re also thinking about the precedent-setting of this,” said Katie Harbath, a former Facebook public policy director and a fellow at the Washington DC-based Bipartisan Policy Center. “What does that look like internationally, what does that look like in the long term?” she added.The Oversight Board, an idea that Zuckerberg first publicly floated in 2018, currently has 20 members, including former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and several law experts and rights advocates. Decisions need only majority approval.The board, which some have dubbed Facebook’s “Supreme Court,” has been hailed as a novel experiment by some researchers but blasted by other critics who have been skeptical over its independence or view it as a PR stunt to deflect attention from the company’s more systemic problems.It is funded through a $130 million trust created by Facebook and has so far made rulings on a small number of cases from hate speech to nudity.Facebook’s head of global affairs Nick Clegg told Reuters in January that he was “very confident” of the company’s case on Trump’s ban and said “any reasonable person” looking at Facebook’s policies and the circumstances would agree.Read more: Trump launches place to post ahead of Facebook board ruling on his banHassan Nasrallah ridiculed in social media video following Saudi drug bustAbu Dhabi influencer jailed and account deleted after speeding video
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Facebook oversight board upholds Trump ban over Capitol riot

The attack was the first since a missile from Syria landed near an Israeli nuclear reactor last month.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Suspected Israeli airstrikes hit factory on Syrian coast

Canada on Wednesday approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in children aged 12 years and up, becoming the first nation to do so.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.“This is the first vaccine authorized in Canada for the prevention of COVID-19 in children and marks a significant milestone in Canada’s fight against the pandemic,” Health Canada chief medical advisor Supriya Sharma told a news conference.Data from clinical trials show the vaccine is as safe for adolescents as it is for adults, she saidRead more:Pfizer, BioNTech begin testing COVID-19 vaccine in children under 12US birth rate falls to lowest point in more than a centuryParents in the US begin to ponder: Should my child get a COVID-19 shot?
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Canada approves use of Pfizer vaccine for kids aged 12 and above