Middle East Experience

The Electoral College decisively confirmed Joe Biden on Monday as the nation’s next president, ratifying his November victory in an authoritative state-by-state repudiation of President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede he had lost.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The presidential electors gave Biden a solid majority of 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232, the same margin that Trump bragged was a landslide when he won the White House four years ago.Heightened security was in place in some states as electors met to cast paper ballots, with masks, social distancing and other pandemic precautions the order of the day. The results will be sent to Washington and tallied in a January 6 joint session of Congress over which Vice President Mike Pence will preside.For all Trump's unsupported claims of fraud, there was little suspense and no change as every one of the electoral votes allocated to Biden and the president in last month's popular vote went officially to each man. On Election Day, the Democrat topped the incumbent Republican by more than 7 million in the popular vote nationwide.California’s 55 electoral votes put Biden over the top. Vermont, with 3 votes, was the first state to report. Hawaii, with 4 votes, was the last.“Once again in America, the rule of law, our Constitution, and the will of the people have prevailed. Our democracy — pushed, tested, threatened — proved to be resilient, true, and strong,” Biden said in an evening speech in which he stressed the size of his win and the record 81 million people who voted for him.He renewed his campaign promise to be a president for all Americans, whether they voted for him or not, and said the country has hard work ahead on the virus and economy.But there was no concession from the White House, where Trump has continued to make unsupported allegations of fraud.Trump remained in the Oval Office long after the sun set in Washington, calling allies and fellow Republicans while keeping track of the running Electoral College tally, according to White House and campaign aides. The president frequently ducked into the private dining room off the Oval Office to watch on TV, complaining that the cable networks were treating it like a mini-Election Night while not giving his challenges any airtime.The president had grown increasingly disappointed with the size of “Stop the Steal” rallies across the nation as well as efforts for the GOP to field its own slates of electors in states. A presidential wish for a fierce administration defense led to TV appearances early Monday by Stephen Miller, one of his most ferocious advocates, to try to downplay the importance of the Electoral College vote and suggest that Trump’s legal challenges would continue all the way to Inauguration Day on January 20.Late in the day, he took to Twitter to announce that Attorney General William Barr was leaving the administration before Christmas. Barr’s departure comes amid lingering tension over Trump's unsupported fraud claims, especially after Barr's statement this month to The Associated Press that the election results were unaffected by any fraud.In a Fox News interview taped over the weekend, Trump said that “I worry about the country having an illegitimate president, that’s what I worry about. A president that lost and lost badly.”On Monday in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — the six battleground states that Biden won, and Trump contested — electors gave Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris their votes in low-key proceedings. Nevada’s electors met via Zoom because of the coronavirus pandemic.Trump's efforts to undermine the election results also led to concerns about safety for the electors, virtually unheard of in previous years. In Michigan, lawmakers from both parties reported receiving threats, and legislative offices were closed over threats of violence. Biden won the state by 154,000 votes, or 2.8 percentage points, over Trump.Georgia state police were out in force at the state Capitol in Atlanta before Democratic electors pledged to Biden met. There were no protesters seen.Even with the Electoral College's confirmation of Biden’s victory, some Republicans continued to refuse to acknowledge that reality. Yet their opposition to Biden had no practical effect on the electoral process, with the Democrat to be sworn in next month.Republicans who would have been Trump electors met anyway in a handful of states Biden won. Pennsylvania Republicans said they cast a “procedural vote” for Trump and Pence in case courts that have repeatedly rejected challenges to Biden’s victory were to somehow still determine that Trump had won.In North Carolina, Utah and other states across the country where Trump won, his electors turned out to duly cast their ballots for him. Electors in North Carolina had their temperatures checked before being allowed to enter the Capitol to vote. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes withdrew as a Trump elector and was in quarantine because he was exposed to someone with COVID-19.Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated four years ago, were among New York's 29 electors for Biden and Harris.In New Hampshire, before the state’s four electors voted for Biden at the State House in Concord, 13-year-old Brayden Harrington led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. He had delivered a moving speech at the Democratic National Convention in August about the struggle with stuttering he shares with Biden.Following weeks of Republican legal challenges that were easily dismissed by judges, Trump and Republican allies tried to persuade the Supreme Court last week to set aside 62 electoral votes for Biden in four states, which might have thrown the outcome into doubt.The justices rejected the effort on Friday.Read also: Twitter disables, reactivates retweets on US President Trump’s election fraud tweetsThe Electoral College was the product of compromise during the drafting of the Constitution between those who favored electing the president by popular vote and those who opposed giving the people the power to directly choose their leader.Each state gets a number of electors equal to its total number of seats in Congress: two senators plus however many members the state has in the House of Representatives. Washington, DC, has three votes, under a constitutional amendment that was ratified in 1961. With the exception of Maine and Nebraska, states award all their Electoral College votes to the winner of the popular vote in their state.The bargain struck by the nation's founders has produced five elections in which the president did not win the popular vote. Trump was the most recent example in 2016.Read more:Biden's incoming national security aide condemns Iran’s execution of journalistBiden will keep Wray as FBI director: New York TimesTrump ready to run for president in 2024 as Biden prepares to confront coronavirus
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US Electoral College confirms Joe Biden election victory

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suggested today that he would not allow domestic critics of the nuclear deal to delay Iran’s reentry to the deal.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Iran's Rouhani attacks domestic critics over sanctions relief

Saudi Arabia has opened registration for the COVID-19 vaccine via the Ministry of Health's Sehhaty mobile application, the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.Nationals and residents can register through the application (http://onelink.to/yjc3nj) for the vaccine, which will be available free of charge.On Thursday, Saudi Arabia’s Food and Drug Authority announced that the Kingdom had approved the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to be used in the country.In early December, a health ministry spokesman said that Saudi Arabia will be one of the first countries to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.The Ministry of Health has confirmed the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, after successful tests showed it provided a strong immune response and antibodies in trial participants, according to SPA.The vaccination will be administered over three stages. The first will prioritize citizens and residents over the age of 65, as well as those on the front lines battling the pandemic and people with certain preexisting health conditions.Individuals who are obese and have a body mass index (BMI) of over 40, those who are immunocompromised, and any individual with two or more preexisting conditions such as diabetes or asthma will also be vaccinated in the first stage.Other preexisting conditions that fall under the first stage include the following: chronic kidney disease, chronic heart disease, including coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, in addition to individuals with a history of a stroke.The second stage will target individuals over the age of 50, as well as the remainder of health practitioners. People with a BMI between 30 to 40 may receive the vaccination during the second stage of the rollout.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Other individuals that suffer from any of the following chronic disease will also be vaccinated in the second stage: asthma, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, chronic heart diseases including coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and active cancer.The third stage will include any remaining citizens or residents who wish to be vaccinated.Read more:Saudi Arabia approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for useSaudi Arabia will be one of first countries to receive COVID-19 vaccine: SpokesmanFirst COVID-19 vaccines administered to US citizens
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia opens COVID-19 vaccine registration via Sehhaty app

The forced cremation of a Muslim baby in Sri Lanka has brought communities together in protest against the country’s controversial ban on burials for coronavirus victims.Cremations are traditional for Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese-Buddhist majority, but Islamic and Christian traditions require burying the dead. In April, Sri Lanka made cremations compulsory for all victims of the pandemic, prompting widespread criticism from rights groups and international organizations.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The infant, Mohammed Shaikh, was 20 days old when he died at an intensive care unit in Colombo, the country’s capital last week. He was cremated the following afternoon against his parent’s will.“The evening of his death they told us our son had tested positive for COVID-19 with an antigen test, and asked us to sign a form permitting his cremation,” Mohammed Fahim, the baby’s father, told Al Arabiya English. “We asked for an additional PCR test to be done on the baby and they refused.”Fahim, who drives a rented three-wheeler taxi, told the hospital he planned to raise the 9,000 Sri Lankan rupees (50$) needed for a private PCR test, which he believed would produce a more reliable result than the antigen test.The next morning, as Fahim was raising funds for the test from his clients, a death certificate from the hospital was delivered to his home, and the baby’s body was transferred to the crematorium, so that it could be cremated within 24 hours.“I want to know why they rushed to cremate my baby,” said Fahim. Activists say some bodies of coronavirus victims were in morgues for up to ten days before being cremated.The hospital’s doctors told Sinhalese TV that the infant’s parents had not come to claim the child’s body. “Those were lies. I told them I was going to collect money for a PCR test,” said Fahim.Read more: Coronavirus: Muslims in Sri Lanka forced to cremate dead, stigmatized under lockdownThe only country to force cremations during the pandemicSri Lanka is the only country in the world to have forced cremations during the pandemic, ignoring advice that permits burials from the World Health Organization.The controversial bill is widely viewed as targeting the country’s Muslim minority, which has faced popular resentment after the Easter bombings of 2019, when an Islamist terror group targeted churches and hotels, killing 257 people. Critics say that the ruling Rajapaksa family are capitalizing on this anti-Muslim sentiment for their own political gain.Petitions against the bill from political parties, lawyers, Islamic organizations and activists of all faiths have so far been ignored. On December 4, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court rejected a case by 11 affected families from both Muslim and Christian communities.On Monday, the government announced that Muslim victims of the coronavirus could have their bodies flown to the Maldives for burial.“We are citizens of Sri Lanka and our ancestors were born on this island. We have chosen to live here in a multicultural country, why should we be buried abroad?” said Shreen Suroor, a human rights activist who has petitioned against the bill, and is in contact with the affected families.While Sri Lanka’s Christian leadership has not publicly spoken out against the bill, individual activists from the community have opposed it on both religious and political grounds.“One of our fundamental beliefs as Catholics is to support the rights of the community and to help those who are oppressed and suffering,” said Ruki Fernando, a human rights activist from Colombo who petitioned against the bill in July.“The last rites are a very important tradition for all communities in Sri Lanka. During the civil war, the families of Tamil militants were allowed to show remembrance” said S.C.C. Elankovan, an activist from Jaffna who also signed the petition. “But now, the government’s policies have been extremely disrespectful towards the families of the dead.”Communities come together in protestThere are growing signs that wider public acceptance of the bill might be waning.The day following the cremation of Fahim’s son, two people from Colombo tied white cloths outside the crematorium in solidarity, and shared anonymous photos on social media. The pair declined to speak to Al Arabiya English as they feared reprisals from the authorities, but activists who know them personally described them as members of the Catholic and Hindu faiths.Then, Buwanaka Pereira, a 25 year-old former flight attendant in Colombo, became the first Sinhalese-Buddhist to post a video condemning the ban on burials.“I became aware of the issues surrounding the burial ban about a month ago, and a Muslim friend explained to me why these rituals were so important” he told Al Arabiya English. “I realized not enough people were talking about it. It was often buried at the bottom of newspapers or appeared briefly in news announcements”In just days, his video received over 49,000 views. “At first I received a lot of messages thanking me for speaking out,” he said, “Now I’ve started receiving hate mail, which is a sign my video is reaching the right people.”Peaceful protestors poured to the crematorium, including high profile politicians, to tie white cloths at the gate. The campaign was replicated in a crematorium in Batticaloa, a city on the northeastern coast of the island.“We are a nation in healing from a twenty year civil war and the Easter bombing attacks. We should be focusing on acceptance and integration,” said Pereira. “Instead our government tries to emphasize the differences between us.”Fahim, the baby’s father, hoped this campaign would allow burials for coronavirus victims to resume.He shared a photo of his newborn, adding: “My baby should be the last Muslim to be cremated in Sri Lanka, and I hope that every parent sees his photo and asks our government to stop this punishment.”Nonetheless, activists say the hurdles towards repealing the ban are immense. On Monday, Sri Lankan police removed the white cloths outside the crematorium and are now guarding the premises.“I urge moderate Sinhalese-Buddhists to speak up on this issue. We must work together to find a local solution” said Suroor. “Sadly, public opinion is still on the government’s side” said Elankovan.Read more:Sri Lanka capital Colombo to go into lockdown after coronavirus surgePompeo tour: Washington urges Sri Lanka to make ‘difficult’ choices over China tiesSri Lanka’s fading Muslim minorities hark back to seafaring traders and soldiers
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: Sri Lankans protest forced cremation of Muslim baby after burial ban

Egyptian authorities stepped up their crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood, this time arresting a number of businessmen they accuse of funding the group’s activities.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Egypt targets businessmen over alleged ties to Brotherhood

Lebanon is expected to sign a deal this week for supplies of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine and is set to receive the first batch eight weeks after that, the caretaker health minister said.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.A surge in infections is straining Lebanon's healthcare system which has been struggling amid a financial crisis and after a huge port explosion in August smashed up hospitals in Beirut.Adding to the pressures, the economic meltdown has prompted many doctors to emigrate and raised concerns that subsidies on medicines will be removed.Lebanon, with an estimated population of 6 million, has reported 1,210 deaths as a result of COVID-19.Despite the nation's dire shortage of foreign exchange, the government expects to sign the $18 million deal for supplies of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine this week, Health Minister Hamad Hassan told Reuters on Monday.Officials previously said Lebanon was in talks to secure 1.5 million shots of the vaccine.The first payment of $4 million “was secured” in a meeting with the central bank and outgoing prime minister.“We removed this obstacle,” the minister said, adding that the first batch of vaccines was expected to arrive eight weeks after the signing.Lebanon has also signed up to join COVAX, a global scheme backed by the World Health Organization to provide vaccines to poorer countries.Lebanon's latest two-week lockdown to curb a surge in infections ended this month. The authorities have struggled to enforce coronavirus restrictions in a country where half the nation has slipped into poverty.As hospitals have filled up, Hassan said Lebanon aimed to add 200 more intensive care unit (ICU) beds in the next two months, raising the total to 700.He urged UN agencies and non-governmental organizations to help secure more vaccines for Lebanon, where refugees make up at least a quarter of the population.“Protecting all the communities living in Lebanon ... should be part of the same plan,” he said.Read more:Saudi Arabia opens COVID-19 vaccine registration via Sehhaty app‘Fake news’ in Lebanon causes anxiety, panic for those bombarded with misinformationLebanon’s banks impose additional fees on dollar depositors
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Lebanon to sign with Pfizer for COVID-19 vaccine, first batch in two months: Minister

Despite being locked away in Israeli prisons, Hamas members elect a new leadership body every two years that wields great influence within the movement and participates in its major decisions.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Hamas prisoners elect leadership behind bars

Turkey’s power plant building spree has resulted in an enormous idle capacity but the construction of new plants continues at the expense of taxpayers despite the country’s bruising economic woes.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Critics say Turkey’s unfinished nuclear plant already redundant

The US designated an Iran-backed extremist group based in Bahrain as a terrorist organization on Tuesday, citing its threat to US national security and foreign policy.Read more: Bahrain imprisons 51 people for forming terrorist group which took orders from IRGCThe Saraya al-Mukhtar group is now considered “a Specially Designated Global Terrorist,” according to a US State Department statement.Saraya al-Mukhtar reportedly receives “financial and logistic support from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps” and says its goal is to depose the Bahrain government in order for Iran to exert greater influence on the country, the statement said.“The group has plotted attacks against US personnel in Bahrain and has offered cash rewards for the assassination of Bahraini officials,” the State Department said.The designation comes one day ahead of Bahrain’s National Day.Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain designated Saraya al-Mukhtar a terrorist organization in June 2017.Read more:‘We can be the good guys too’: Arab heroes fight ISIS in Hollywood film ‘Mosul’US imposes sanctions on Turkey’s presidency of defense industriesRussia playing political games, stalling progress in Mediterranean: Pompeo
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US designates Iran-backed Bahrain-based group as global terror organization

It depends mainly on the recommendation and evaluation of specialists..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Covid vaccine in UAE: Do infected residents need to take jab?