Middle East Experience

Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit urged Netanyahu and Gantz over the weekend to make key appointments, including a new state prosecutor and police chief.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Gantz demands appointments to key posts

Criticizing the government response to the pandemic has virtually become Israel’s national sport over the last few months.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Experts present model for learning from coronavirus mistakes

Coronavirus vaccines are safe, protect society, and should be taken by everyone, said Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health official spokesman Dr. Mohammed al-Abdulaali on Sunday, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.The Saudi Food and Drug Authority has carried out strict and precise procedures to ensure the safety and effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines, explained al-Abdulaali, who highlighted the importance of vaccination to protect against COVID-19.“Our recommendation to all is to be sure to get the vaccine,” he said.“We understand that some people will have concerns and questions about the effectiveness and safety of vaccines, but at the same time we remind everyone that official authorities prioritize everyone’s health.”“The [Food and Drug] authority has very strict and meticulous procedures to ensure the strength of studies and all aspects related to the safety and efficacy of coronavirus vaccines before they are carried out,” he said.The spokesman said there will be phases in administering the coronavirus vaccine.He added that there will be two doses of the vaccine, adding that the second dose would be taken almost 20 days after the first dose.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“Like any vaccine or drug, there are indications and warnings of use, and we assure you that the health authorities will have all the information necessary to administer this vaccine in terms of the recommended and excluded categories, and this does not constitute a concern,” al-Abdulaali concluded.Al-Abdulaali did not name which coronavirus vaccine he was talking about specifically. Last week, Saudi Arabia’s Food and Drug Authority announced that it has approved registration of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in the Kingdom, according to SPA.Read more: Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus vaccine is safe, should be taken by all: Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah appointed a new government on Monday, following elections in the country this month.Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali al-Sabah will serve as deputy prime minister and minister of defense.The decree appointed Mohammad Abdulatif al-Fares as the new oil, electricity and water minister, according to the government communications office on Twitter. Al-Fares replaces the outgoing outgoing Khaled al-Fadhel.Sheikh Ahmed Nasser al-Sabah has been reappointed as foreign minister, added the office.Khalifa Hamade was named as finance minister, replacing Barak al-Shitan.Sheikh Thamer Ali Sabah Al-Salem al-Sabah has been appointed as the minister of interior and Nawaf Al-Yaseen is the minister of justice.The cabinet includes one woman, Dr. Rana Abdulla Abdulrahman al-Fares, reappointed as minister of public works and minister of state for housing affairs.Kuwait's only female MP Safa al-Hashem lost her seat in the recent parliamentary elections.The results saw opposition candidates make gains in the parliamentary vote for the 50-member chamber, in which two-thirds of incumbent MPs lost their seats.With Reuters.Read more:Emir of Kuwait accepts post-election government resignationCoronavirus: Kuwait authorizes emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccineSafa al-Hashem, Kuwait’s controversial and only female MP, loses seat
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Kuwait Emir appoints new government: Al-Fares oil minister, Hamade gets finance

The United Arab Emirates is proud of its strategic relations with Russia and has been cooperating with Moscow on the coronavirus vaccine, said UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Monday.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app."The UAE is proud to have strategic relations with Russia," said Sheikh Abdullah, adding that Moscow and Abu Dhabi were cooperating on the trials for the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.“Amid the ongoing [coronavirus] pandemic, we have seen very clearly that these relations are truly special. And we are determined to further promote our relations going forward,” he added.Sheikh Abdullah was speaking at a joint press conference following a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.“We are also proud to see that our experts are working closely, our embassies are also in close contact. It’s good to see that the UAE is about to complete the third phase of the clinical trials of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine,” the UAE foreign minister said.The two ministers were expected to discuss regional issues including Libya, Syria, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.Read more: Coronavirus: UAE to trial Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, says Kremlin
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: UAE foreign minister hails relations with Russia, COVID-19 vaccine cooperation

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Hassan Diab, has declined to be questioned by a judge who charged him and three former ministers with negligence over the Beirut port blast, an official source said on MondayFor all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the appThe charges brought by Judge Fadi Sawan last week drew strong criticism from influential parties including the Shiite group Hezbollah and Sunni leader Saad al-Hariri.Read more:Lebanon judge indicts PM, three ex-ministers over Beirut explosionLebanon’s caretaker PM Diab says conscience is clear over Beirut port blastLebanon's Hezbollah rejects charges against caretaker PM in Beirut explosionSome politicians have suggested that Sawan was selective in deciding who to charge, and that he overstepped his powers by charging government ministers. Others have said he showed courage.Diab, who took office in January, has said his conscience is clear over the August 4 blast, which killed 200 people, injured thousands and devasted entire districts. He quit after the disaster but has continued to serve as a caretaker premier.The explosion, one of the biggest non-nuclear blasts on record, was caused by a massive quantity of ammonium nitrate that had been stored unsafely for years.Sawan contacted Diab’s office last week to request an appointment on Monday but was told that he was declining to be questioned, the official source at the prime minister’s office said. Sawan could not immediately be reached for comment.The caretaker interior minister, Mohammed Fahmi, said he would not enforce any arrest warrants for Diab or the other officials if they refused to be questioned. “I would not order the security agencies to implement such a legal decision, and let them pursue me if they wish,” the Lebanese newspaper al-Joumhouria quoted him as saying. After meeting with Diab on Friday, Hariri pledged not to let anyone violate the post of prime minister -- a seat reserved for a Sunni Muslim in the sectarian power-sharing system.The three former ministers charged by Sawan are members of parties allied to Hezbollah, which said on Friday the charges smacked of “political targeting.” Two are members of the Shiite Amal Movement of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.Lebanon’s senior Christian cleric, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai, said on Sunday he hoped reactions to Sawan’s move would not obstruct the probe or cause “a national division on a sectarian basis for which we do not find any justification.”
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Caretaker PM Diab declines questioning in Beirut blast probe, official source says

Syrians stranded in al-Rukban camp near the border with Jordan have been living under harsh conditions for years, and even childbirth has become very risky.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Birth in the desert: Team of nurses, Zoom deliver baby in al-Rukban

A fuel transport ship was subject to a terrorist attack by an explosive-laden boat on Monday morning while it was anchored in the fuel terminal in Jeddah, the Saudi Press Agency reported citing an official source at the Ministry of Energy.“The attack resulted in a small fire, which emergency units successfully extinguished. The incident did not result in any casualties, and there was no damage caused to the unloading facilities, nor any effect on supplies,” SPA added.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.SPA added that the source condemned the terrorist attack, which came shortly after other attacks on another ship in Al-Shuqaiq, on the petroleum products distribution station in north Jeddah, and on the floating unloading platform of the petroleum products distribution station in Jizan.These acts of terrorism and Vandalism, directed against vital installations, go beyond the Kingdom and its vital facilities, to the security and stability of energy supplies to the world and the global economy,’ the source added.The source emphasized to SPA the seriousness of such criminal acts and their destructive impact on maritime traffic, the security of petroleum exports, and the freedom of global trade. In addition, the spokesman highlighted the threat to coastal and regional waters and the risk of major environmental disasters that could result from the leakage of petroleum or petroleum products.SPA added that the spokesman urged the world, more than ever before, to stand together against such subversive terrorist acts, and take practical deterrent measures against all terrorist perpetrators that implement and enable them.Over the past months the Arab Coalition had successfully intercepted and destroyed explosive-laden boats in the Red Sea on regular basis. Those boats were launched by Iran-backed-Houthi militia in Yemen.“The boats represented a threat to regional and international security, maritime routes and international trade,” Arab Coalition Spokesperson Colonel Turki al-Malikial-Maliki said.The spokesman said the boats were launched from Hodeidah Governorate, which the Houthi militias use “as a base to launch ballistic missiles, drones, booby-trapped remote-operated boats, as well as the random deployment of sea mines in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and a violation of the provisions of the Stockholm cease-fire agreement in Hodeidah.”Read more:UN Security Council condemns Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah in NovemberUN calls on Yemeni government, Iran-backed Houthis to implement 'Stockholm'Arab Coalition destroys two bomb-laden boats belonging to Iran-backed Houthis
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Official sources confirm terrorist attack on fuel transport ship in Jeddah: SPA

Conservatives have rejected the idea of holding new talks with the United States.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Rouhani under fire for signaling nuclear deal reentry

The US government believes Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai were involved in the abduction, detention and probable death of the retired FBI agent.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: US sanctions Iranian officials over Robert Levinson’s abduction