Middle East Experience

Should Syria’s economy and currency continue to deteriorate, it is likely that the cost of wheat will also rise, further straining the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in its efforts to maintain bread subsidies and keep basic goods affordable in northeast Syria.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Syrians in Kurdish-administered regions struggle with price of bread

Teva, the world's largest generics drugmaker, both approached and was approached by vaccine makers.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israel's Teva in talks to co-produce COVID-19 vaccines

Says Netanyahu must be replaced so Israel can get along with Biden
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israel Elections: Yair Lapid vows to help Anglos deal with coronavirus

"The goal is also to protect the teachers themselves, who have previously said that they feel as though they are walking into a battlefield unprotected."
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Vaccines should be mandatory for teachers - Health Min. D-G

Kuwaiti singer Basma Al-Kuwaiti posted a video on Twitter where she announced that she had left Islam and was now Jewish..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Uproar as Kuwaiti singer 'converts' to Judaism from Islam

The trial is being run by Ziv and Rambam medical centers with researchers from Bar-Ilan University and Technion Institute of Science.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israeli COVID cure? Researchers hope treatment slows disease

The government is considering granting employers the right to not allow employees who are not vaccinated to enter the workplace, including in the education system.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Coronavirus: Positive tests dropped below 8% as schools prepare to reopen

A university in Saudi Arabia has started the first phase of clinical trails for the production of a local COVID-19 vaccine with the support of the Kingdom’s Ministry of Education.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.The Imam Abdul Rahman bin Faisal University began the trial this week after its vaccine proved its efficacy against the coronavirus, according to local media reports.The university also signed a contact with one of the largest specialized companies in the United Kingdom and Sweden, and has been working with leading companies, such as AstraZeneca, to create enough doses for use in the first phase of the clinical trial.The trial’s phases include: the fermentation phase, the risk assessment phase, the safety and quality of plasmid material phase, and the production of the first vaccine batch phase.The university signed a separate contract with a center that specializes in conducting clinical trials, so that a research team can also prepare and supervise the project.The center will also help provide volunteers to participate in the trial, as well as conduct all the tests necessary to assess the immunity levels provided by the vaccine.The move comes as part of the Kingdom’s efforts to curb the COVID-19 outbreak. Saudi Arabia has so far reported 362,368 cases of the coronavirus and 6,415 virus-related deaths.Read more:COVID-19 vaccination drives across the GCC: How do they compare?Gulf countries re-impose COVID-19 restrictions as new cases near 2020 highsSaudi Arabia’s entry ban of travelers from 20 countries officially comes into effect
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabian university begins first phase of COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials 

Egypt says a recently constructed 36 km concrete and wire barrier encircling Sharm el-Sheikh will help protect tourism at the Red Sea resort on the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula.Authorities in southern Sinai hope to revitalize tourism which has been dented by upheaval after Egypt’s 2011 uprising, the crash of a Russian passenger jet in Sinai in 2015 and the coronavirus pandemic. In 2005, bombings in Sharm el-Sheikh killed dozens in one of Egypt’s deadliest militant attacks.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The security barrier is made of concrete slabs with stretches of wire fencing separating the resort from the desert around it. Some of the slabs are marked with black peace symbols.Those entering the city by road have to pass through one of four gates equipped with cameras and scanners.Sharm el-Sheikh is about 360 km (224 miles) south of Sinai’s northern, Mediterranean coast, where an insurgency by Islamist militants has been concentrated.“The distance between them is huge, plus there is great security with Egypt’s Second Army securing the North Sinai, and the Third Army securing South Sinai,” South Sinai Governor Khaled Fouda told journalists on a tour of the area at the weekend.“They will be searched, security cameras will identify them, vehicles will go through a scan, so that when they arrive in the city, it’ll be after a full search operation.”A museum housing ancient Egyptian artifacts opened in Sharm el-Sheikh last year amid efforts to diversify tourism activities at the beach resort. A university named after Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has also opened recently in the city.Before the coronavirus pandemic, Sharm el-Sheikh often hosted international summits attended by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.Read more:Egyptian 12-year-old teaches neighbors during school closureCOVID-19 jab done? These nations are opening their frontiers to vaccinated visitorsWhat was behind the UAE’s mission to Mars?
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Egypt builds 36km barrier around Sharm el-Sheikh in bid to protect tourists

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Thursday began a ground forces drill near Iraqi border, state TV reported.The report said the annual exercise dubbed the “great prophet” is ongoing in southwest of the country and has aimed at readiness and assessment of forces.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Drones, helicopters will be used in the drill, too. In recent months, Iran has increased its military drills as the country tries to pressure President Joe Biden over the nuclear accord, which he has said America could reenter.In January, the Guard conducted a drill and launched anti-warship ballistic missiles at a simulated target in the Indian Ocean.A week before that, Iran’s navy fired cruise missiles as part of a naval drill in the Gulf of Oman, state media reported, under surveillance of what appeared to be a US nuclear submarine.That came after speedboats parade in the Persian Gulf and a massive drone exercise across the country.Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew the US from Iran’s nuclear deal, in which Tehran had agreed to limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.When the US then increased sanctions, Iran gradually and publicly abandoned the deal’s limits on its nuclear development.Read more:Iran’s IRGC chief urges US to leave behind Trump’s ‘failed’ policies Iran state TV airs launch of newest satellite-carrying rocketIran IRGC-linked agency denies ‘rumors’ of Israeli F-35 jets entering Iranian skies
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard begins ground forces drill near Iraqi border