Middle East Experience

El Al reassured passengers that additional flights might be made available if demand requires it.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: El Al to operate direct emergency flights between Israel-US

Gantz called on the Lebanese government to assume responsibility.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Gantz: We will not hesitate to stop Iran's entrenchment near Israel

Gantz vows to keep Justice portfolio in next government.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Sa'ar: Keep politics out of Netanyahu trial

Authorities hope that additional protections will help improve tourism at the Red Sea resort, which has been dented by a long-running Islamist insurgency, the coronavirus pandemic and other disasters..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Egypt says concrete wall will protect resort of Sharm el-Sheikh

Pascale Descamps has been on hunger strike since February 1 to get her daughter repatriated from detention camp in Syria with her four children..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: French mother on hunger strike to bring home daughter from Syria camp

The biggest challenge for the United Arab Emirate’s Hope Probe to Mars will be its entrance into the red planet’s orbit, according to UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, adding that there was a 50-50 chance for success or failure."Within a few hours, the Hope Probe will arrive at Mars. The biggest challenge for the Probe is to enter Mars orbit, with a 50 percent success rate; though the failure rate is 50 percent, I believe success is within our grasp,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid said in a message released on the eve of the probe’s arrival to Mars.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“But I say, even if we could not enter the orbit, we've already made history. This is the farthest point in the universe to be reached by Arabs throughout their history... More than five million working hours by over 200 Emirati male and female engineers,” he added.The probe is expected to arrive on Mars on February 9 at 7:42 p.m. local UAE time, according to Emirates News Agency (WAM).The unmanned spacecraft will explore Mars’ climactic dynamics in daily, and seasonal timescales for a full Martian year – which equates to 687 earth days. The mission has never been completed previously, WAM said.The mission will make the UAE the fifth country in the world to reach the planet after the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the European Space Agency and India, WAM reported.The probe’s complex maneuver next week will be the most critical part of the mission as the spacecraft will have to swiftly reduce its speed from 121,000km/h to 18,000km/h to enter Mars’ orbit.Read more:
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Mars Hope Probe 50-50 chance on orbiting, but history already made: UAE VP

Slim's wife said an independent autopsy was necessary and is also calling for an international investigation, as opposed to leaving it up to the Lebanese government.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Autopsy of slain Lebanese intellectual Lokman Slim shows no torture

No sooner had an agreement been reached between the Syrian regime and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces to lift the mutual sieges imposed in northeast Syria that accusations were traded about violations of the Russian-sponsored deal.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Syrian government, SDF trade accusations of violations of Russian-mediated cease-fire

Dubai authorities have issued a fine of 50,000aed ($13,000) to the organizer of a private home party, while each partygoer was fined 15,000aed ($4,000) for violating COVID-19 precautionary measures, the Dubai Media Office announced on Tuesday.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.“Dubai Police, in cooperation with Dubai Tourism, issues fines of AED50,000 to the organizer and AED15,000 for every participant in a home private party for violating social distancing & COVID-19 precautionary measures,” the media office said in a tweet.A video shared on Twitter showed blurred footage of people dancing to loud music in a dimmed house. In January, authorities issued tighter restrictions on social gatherings, weddings, restaurants and gyms, amid a spike in COVID-19 cases.Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management outlined the new rules which included reducing the number of attendees at social events, increasing the required distance between tables at restaurants and workout equipment at gyms. Authorities limited the attendees for weddings, social events, and private parties to a maximum of 10 first-degree relatives only. This rule, which went into effect on January 27, was applied to all events whether held at hotels, venues, or homes.Live entertainment permits for hotels and restaurants have also been suspended as a precautionary measure.The daily number of infections in the United Arab Emirates, which includes Dubai, crossed the 3,000 threshold on January 12 and continued to climb, hitting nearly 4,000 daily cases. The daily toll has slightly dropped in recent days.Read more: Dubai suspends live entertainment permits as COVID-19 cases surgeDubai's latest COVID-19 rules for weddings, restaurants, gyms, concertsDubai Police shuts down desert camp party for flouting COVID-19 rules
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Dubai fines home party organizer k, partygoers k for breaking COVID-19 rules

United Arab Emirates visitors will receive a “Martian Ink” passport stamp upon their arrival in the country’s airports on February 9, in honor of the Hope Probe’s expected arrival at Mars, according to a statement.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The stamp, which reads, “You’ve arrived in the Emirates. The Emirates is arriving at Mars on 09.02.2021,” was produced by the UAE’s Government Media Office in collaboration with Dubai Airports.“To commemorate this historic occasion and celebrate the mission’s incredible victory with the rest of the world, we have created a special stamp printed with ‘Martian Ink’… This will be embossed on the passports of all the visitors to the UAE arriving at this time for a limited period,” said Khaled al-Shehhi, Executive Director of the Production and Digital Communication Sector of the country’s government office.The stamp was made using the world’s first ‘Martian Ink,’ that was reportedly extracted from “volcanic basalt rocks that give Mars its distinct rusty color,” according to al-Shehhi.Experts and gemologists collected the rocks during a special mission to the UAE’s eastern al-Hajar mountains and Sharjah’s Mleiha, the statement added. The process of creating the stamp required crushing the rocks into a fine paste, drying it in the sun, then mixing it with adhesives “to create three separate colors that represent the Red Planet.”The probe is expected to arrive on Mars on February 9 at 7:42 p.m. local UAE time, according to Emirates News Agency (WAM).Read more:Mars Hope Probe 50-50 chance on orbiting, but history already made: UAE VPCountdown begins as UAE’s Hope probe nears Mars in first Arab interplanetary missionUAE launches Hope Probe in landmark space mission to Mars
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Hope Probe: UAE visitors to receive ‘Martian Ink’ passport stamp upon arrival