Middle East Experience

Proud Boys member calls for armed revolt outside the meeting.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Giuliani calls on Arizona GOP lawmakers to not certify election results

Israeli Psychiatric Association: 15% increase in referrals to psychiatric clinics since pandemic’s start
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Coronavirus research: One in five Israelis suffer from depression

Pompeo: Israel a key partner in countering Iran, not part of the problem.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Bahrain FM calls on US to continue pressure on Iran

"I just walked through the city center and it was just horrible. There is a trainer lying on the ground, and the girl it belongs to is dead," Mayor Wolfram Liebe said, choking back tears.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: At least 2 dead, 15 injured as car plows into pedestrians in German town

Britain on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use and said that it will be rolled out from next week.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.“The Government has today accepted the recommendation from the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for use,” the government said.“The vaccine will be made available across the UK from next week.”Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the program would begin early next week.“It is very good news,” Hancock said.Read more:Saudi Arabia to announce lifting of COVID-19 travel ban details ‘later’: MOI sourceBioNTech, Pfizer file for approval of COVID-19 vaccine in EU: StatementModerna says will request US, Europe vaccine authorization Monday
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: UK first country to approve Pfizer, BioNTECH COVID-19 vaccine for use

Saudi Arabia saw a 98 percent drop in flu cases over the past three months compared to the same time last year, a decrease that the health minister said was a result of health precautions implemented amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.“As a result of applying health precautions, the number of seasonal flu cases in the Kingdom decreased by more than 98 [percent] in the past three months compared to the same period last year,” Health Minister Dr. Tawfiq al-Rabiah said in a tweet.The Kingdom implemented strict coronavirus measures including mandatory mask wearing, travel restrictions and social distancing requirements early during the outbreak to help curb the spread of the new virus. These preventative measures may have also prevented the spread of the flu, which spreads in the same way as the coronavirus: through aerial droplets and through contact with the eyes, mouth, or nose.Australia and other countries in the Southern Hemisphere saw similar “shallow figures” during their flu season earlier this year, according to Reuters. Data reported in Europe since early October also show a lower number of flu cases than previous years.“Some doctors say a combination of lockdowns, mask wearing and handwashing appear to have hampered transmission of the flu, while warning that the data should be treated with caution because the peak of the season is weeks or even months away,” Reuters reported on Tuesday.According to Flu News Europe, a joint monitoring platform of the European center for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization which collects samples in 54 European regions, only one person was diagnosed with flu out of 4,433 sentinel tests during September to November 22.This sentinel-source data – case figures collated by national health authorities based on samples taken by a range of community doctors – translates into a positivity rate of 0.02 percent. That rate is well below a 10 percent threshold that the WHO considers to be “epidemic” when it comes to flu.At the same time last year, this percentage stood at 15 percent.With ReutersRead more:Saudi Arabia to announce lifting of COVID-19 travel ban details ‘later’: MOI sourceCOVID-19 infections in GCC countries surpass 1 million: Reuters tallyCould the pandemic knock out flu in Europe this winter?
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Flu cases in Saudi Arabia drop by 98 percent due to COVID-19 precautions: Minister

Israel has released more than $1 billion in funds withheld from the Palestinian Authority, a Palestinian minister said Wednesday, weeks after coordination was renewed between the two sides.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“The #Israeli government transfers all financial dues of the clearance to the account of the #Palestinian Authority, amounting to three billion and 768 million shekels,” civil affairs minister Hussein al-Sheikh wrote on Twitter, referring to taxes, including customs taxes, that the Jewish state collects on behalf of the PA.In May, the Palestinians stopped coordination with Israel, with PA leader Mahmud Abbas saying it was in response to Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank.Israel later put its annexation plans on hold, in return for an agreement to normalize ties with the United Arab Emirates, announced in August.In halting the cooperation with Israel, the PA also stopped accepting transfer of taxes -- particularly customs duties -- collected by Israel on its behalf.Earlier in the week, an Israeli official told AFP on condition of anonymity that the “security cabinet approved transferring the money to the PA,” without specifying the amount.Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said on Monday the Palestinians were “entitled” to the funds, expected to relieve pressure on a Palestinian economy in the grips of a severe budgetary crisis.Officials “will take everything they are owed. They have been patient for months and it's only a matter of a little more time to make everything clear,” Shtayyeh said.Deprived of this income, the PA had to cut the salaries of its civil servants, at a time when the Palestinian economy had begun grappling with the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic.Read more:US Justice Department investigating potential White House bribery for pardon schemeHamas Gaza leader al-Sinwar tests positive for COVID-19, spokesman saysPalestine to resume relationship with Israel after monthslong pause: Official
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Israel transfers over bln to Palestinian Authority: Palestinian minister

US President-elect Joe Biden will insist Iran agrees to new demands if it wants the US to return to a nuclear deal and lift sanctions, The New York Times said Wednesday.The Times said the Biden administration would seek to extend the duration of “restrictions on Iran’s production of fissile material that could be used to make a (nuclear) bomb” in a new round of negotiations.Iran would also have to address its “malign” regional activities through proxies in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen in the talks that would have to include its Arab neighbors like Saudi Arabia, the report said.Read more: Shadowy new militias in Iraq targeting US forces as new front for IranPresident Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 and has reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign against the US’s arch enemy.Biden, who defeated Trump at the ballot box last month, said during campaigning that he intends to offer Iran a “credible path back to diplomacy.”For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.In the Times interview published on Wednesday, the incoming US president stood by those views, saying: “It’s going to be hard, but yeah.”“Look, there’s a lot of talk about precision missiles and all range of other things that are destabilizing the region,” Biden was quoted as saying.But, he added, “the best way to achieve getting some stability in the region” was to deal “with the nuclear program.”Biden warned that if Iran acquired a bomb, it would spark a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, “and the last ... thing we need in that part of the world is a buildup of nuclear capability.”“In consultation with our allies and partners, we’re going to engage in negotiations and follow-on agreements to tighten and lengthen Iran’s nuclear constraints, as well as address the missile program,” he told the Times.Biden was cited as saying that the United States always had the option to international snap back sanctions if need be, and that Iran knew that.Read more:Saudi Arabia’s Prince Turki cautions against same mistakes of Iran nuclear dealOn anniversary of Iran’s protests, Pompeo vows more US action against Iranian regimeThe 2015 nuclear deal – known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA – gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program.In response to Trump’s withdrawal, Iran has retaliated by rolling back its commitments to the accord.Iran’s government has offered a cautious welcome to Biden’s victory, but conservatives have accused it of yielding to what they say is an “illusion” of a change by the “Great Satan” of America.
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Biden sets new demands for US return to Iran deal, lift sanctions: NYT

The Islamic State has conducted several attacks in recent weeks on the Sunni-majority provinces of Anbar and Salahuddin.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Islamic State increases attacks in Iraq’s Sunni areas

The United Arab Emirates deepens its strategic partnership with Greece and its influence in the Eastern Mediterranean in a coalition to check Turkish ambitions.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: UAE joins Greek, Egyptian naval exercise in Eastern Mediterranean