Middle East Experience

The UN health chief declared Friday that positive results from coronavirus vaccine trials mean the world “can begin to dream about the end of the pandemic,” but he said rich and powerful nations must not trample the poor and marginalized “in the stampede for vaccines.”For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.In an address to the UN General Assembly’s first high-level session on the pandemic, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned that while the virus can be stopped, “the path ahead remains treacherous.”The pandemic has shown humanity at “its best and worst,” he said, pointing to “inspiring acts of compassion and self-sacrifice, breathtaking feats of science and innovation, and heartwarming demonstrations of solidarity, but also disturbing signs of self-interest, blame-shifting and divisions.”Referring to the current upsurge in infections and deaths, Tedros said without naming any countries that “where science is drowned out by conspiracy theories, where solidarity is undermined by division, where sacrifice is substituted with self-interest, the virus thrives, the virus spreads.”He warned in a virtual address to the high-level meeting that a vaccine “will not address the vulnerabilities that lie at its root” -- poverty, hunger, inequality and climate change, which he said must be tackled once the pandemic ends.“We cannot and we must not go back to the same exploitative patterns of production and consumption, the same disregard for the planet that sustains all life, the same cycle of panic and meddling and the same divisive politics that fueled this pandemic,” he said.On vaccines, Tedros said, “the light at the end of the tunnel is growing steadily brighter,” but vaccines “must be shared equally as global public goods, not as private commodities that widen inequalities and become yet another reason some people are left behind.”He said WHO’s ACT-Accelerator program to quickly develop and distribute vaccines fairly “is in danger of becoming no more than a noble gesture” without major new funding.He said $4.3 billion is needed immediately to lay the groundwork for mass procurement and delivery of vaccines and a further $23.9 billion is required for 2021. That total, Tedros said, is less than one-half of 1 percent of the $11 trillion in stimulus packages announced so far by the Group of 20, the world’s richest countries.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a similar appeal for funding for the ACT-Accelerator at Thursday’s opening of the two-day General Assembly session. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Friday that Guterres is frustrated and would have liked see “a much much higher rate of investment by those countries who can.”Henrietta Fore, head of the UN children’s agency UNICEF, said, “When poor countries started to try to buy vaccines,” there were none available or the price was too high.UNICEF typically distributes 2 billion vaccine doses a year, she said, and once it can get COVID-19 vaccines, “We’re going to double that next year, so we need all hands on deck.”US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said three of the six vaccine candidates that the US government has supported have reported promising data and “I have every reason to believe that more good news about vaccines and other countermeasures is on the way.”US President Donald Trump has formally notified the UN of its withdrawal from WHO, which he has harshly criticized for its response to the pandemic and accused of bowing to Chinese influence.Azar criticized the lack of “transparent information sharing” about COVID-19 and WHO’s investigation of the virus’ origin. But he said he wanted health ministers to know they can count on US cooperation to defeat the virus “with no strings attached,” and stressed that the US “is providing to countries combating the virus more funding, equipment, and support than any other nation.”Despite years of warnings, WHO’s Tedros said, many countries were unprepared for the pandemic and assumed their health systems would protect their people. Many countries that have done best dealing with the crisis had experience responding to the outbreaks of SARS, MERS, HINI and other infectious diseases, he said.WHO has been sharply criticized for not taking a stronger and more vocal role in handling the pandemic.Tedros told the meeting that “clearly, the global system for preparedness needs attention.”He said a WHO commission established in September is reviewing international health regulations. WHO is also working with several countries on developing a pilot program in which countries agree to regular and transparent reviews of their health preparedness, he said.The pandemic also showed the need for a global system to share samples of viruses and other pathogens that cause disease to facilitate development of “medical counter-measures as global public goods” he said, welcoming Switzerland’s offer to use a high-security laboratory to manage a new biobank.Tedros also backed European Union chief Charles Michel’s proposal for an international treaty under which WHO would monitor the risks of emerging infectious diseases in animals for transmission to humans, ensure alerts of health risks, improve access to health care, and address financing needs. He said this would provide “the political underpinning” for strengthening the global health sector.The world spends $7.5 trillion on health every year, almost 10 percent of global GDP, Tedros said, but most of that money is spent in rich countries on treating disease rather than on “promoting and protecting health.”“We need a radical rethink on the way we view and value health,” he said.“If the world is to avoid another crisis on this scale,” Tedros said, “investments in basic public health functions, especially primary health care, are essential, and all roads should lead to universal health coverage with a strong foundation of primary health care.”Read more: Coronavirus: WHO says vaccines won’t prevent short-term COVID-19 surgeCoronavirus: WHO head says not to ‘politicize probe of virus origins’Coronavirus: WHO warns countries with decreasing COVID-19 cases to stay alert
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: UN health chief says world ‘can begin to dream’ about pandemic’s end

Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Saturday that there has been “significant progress” in resolving the Gulf crisis that began in 2017.The crisis erupted when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt cut all diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar in June 2017. But now, it seems the ice is thawing in the three-year-old rift.“We have seen significant progress in the last few weeks, which means we are now hopeful we can reach a final conclusion very soon that will be satisfactory to all parties,” Prince Faisal said, at speaking at the International Institute for Security Studies Manama Conference on Saturday.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The Arab Quartet, comprised of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, cut ties with Qatar, citing concerns that it supported terrorist groups and was friendly with regional foe Iran.Qatar's neighbors demanded that the nation shut down media network Al Jazeera, cut diplomatic ties with Iran, immediately halt the establishment of a Turkish military base, and end any military cooperation with the NATO member."I am hopeful that we’ll be able to announce the details soon," Prince Faisal said at the conference.Last week, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the GCC said that they would be open to restoring diplomatic relations with Qatar, but only when Doha agrees to meet the demands of the Arab Quartet.Read more: UAE minister: Gulf has changed and cannot go back to what it was before Qatar crisisSaudi Arabia optimistic on finalizing deal to end Gulf rift soon: FM
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: ‘Significant progress’ made to resolving Gulf crisis: Saudi FM Prince Faisal

Saudi Arabia remains open to fully normalize ties with Israel on the condition of Palestinian statehood, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Saturday.Following the UAE and Bahrain’s decision to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel, there has been broad speculation that Saudi Arabia would soon follow. But for the Kingdom, Palestinian statehood remains a prerequisite to normalization.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“We’ve always been open to full normalization with Israel, and we think Israel will take its place in the region, but in order for that to happen, and for it to be sustainable, we do need the Palestinians to get their state and we need to settle that situation,” Prince Faisal said, speaking at the International Institute for Security Studies Manama Conference on Saturday.Prince Faisal said that getting Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table is key, adding that a “Palestinian state will deliver true peace in the region, and that should be the focus.”In September, the Abraham Accords were signed on the White House lawn in Washington, DC, formalizing the historic peace agreement between the two Gulf states and Israel that was brokered by the US.The UAE announced its deal to normalize ties with Israel in June before Bahrain followed suit. The most reacent deal means that four Arab states now recognize Israel after Egypt and Jordan signed peace treaties in 1979 and 1994.Read more:Saudi Arabia has always envisioned normalization with Israel would happen: FMIsrael’s parliament passes UAE agreement, bringing peace deal into full effect
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Saudi Arabia open to full ties with Israel, on condition of Palestine state: Saudi FM

Lebanon's capital Beirut and the surrounding suburbs experienced what meteorologists named a "historical hailstorm," which covered the capital in a white blanket for hours, causing massive floods and impeding traffic on the major coastal highway.Al Arabiya English reached out to Elias Saadeh, founder of Lebanon Weather Forecast, who mentioned that Saturday's phenomenon is due to severe supercell clouds. It lasted around an hour, coupled with severe thunderstorms and heavy hailstones.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app."This supercell affected only the coastal area around Beirut and its suburbs. A supercell effect is always local. Weather stations in Beirut recorded 50mm of rainfall in a lapse of 25 minutes. This quantity is considered enormous since it is equivalent to pouring 50 liters of water in each square meter in 25 minutes. Moreover, this supercell caused a drastic drop in temperature from 21°C to 13.5°C in a couple of minutes," added Saadeh.Saadeh added that supercell was formed because of favorable environmental atmospheric conditions, including but not limited to the variation in temperature between the sea surface temperature and the temperature in the upper levels of the atmosphere."The updraft and downdraft flows became organized and twisted around and reinforced each other. The updraft speed might have reached around 30 meters per second, explaining the size of hailstones recorded," he added.Saadeh elaborated that historically, and according to available captures of the previous severe hailstorms, the last time Beirut witnessed a similar event was in the year 1968.Similar captures were taken showing the hail accumulations all over the capital and sometimes snow accumulations during the years 1920, 1943, 1963, and 1968.The heavy hailstorm in Beirut has prompted prayers and messages of support from residents to those whose homes still bear the devastating hallmarks of massive blast that battered the city in August.As people took to social media on Saturday showing streets, cars and homes covered in a white icy sheet, many commented that their hearts go out to those who continue to live in homes ravaged by the explosion.One Twitter user commented: “Think of all the people whose homes were damaged in the blast who can’t afford to repair them properly, now having to cope with icy cold.”Another wrote on the social media platform: “My joy at seeing this much hail in Beirut for the first time in ages lasted but a few minutes; and then I thought of all those who are still without doors, or even homes, during such weather.”“May they be safe and warm and may those who deprived them the joys of winter suffer.”A local resident write on Twitter that the scene felt “apocalyptic” and “like a disaster movie.”The August 4 explosion of hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored at Beirut port killed more than 190 people, wounded thousands and ravaged large parts of the capital.The explosion left tens of thousands of apartments damaged and an estimated hundreds of thousands of residents temporarily displaced.The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated at the time that some 47,000 apartments were damaged or destroyed in the blast.Read more:Beirut blast: Residents told to front repair costs by Lebanon’s landlordsWatch: Closest footage yet of Beirut blasts from apartment balcony opposite portBeirut blast: Judge charges two, including alleged Hezbollah point man at port
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Beirut experiences a historical hailstorm, leaving a white blanket for hours

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan has said that the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt are all ‘on board’ regarding the resolution of a three-year diplomatic crisis with Qatar..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Saudi foreign minister says allies ‘on board’ as resolution of Qatar dispute nears

‘The exams will be conducted following all Covid-19 protocols’..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Coronavirus: UAE schools ready for on-site CBSE exams

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon spokesperson Andrea Tenenti Saturday called on Lebanese authorities to ensure the safety and freedom of movement of its peacekeepers..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: UNIFIL safety, freedom of movement must be secured: Tenenti

Joe Biden has signalled he will return the US to a nuclear accord….
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Saudi Arabia wants to be consulted in US, Iran nuclear deal

A mob of people blocked the route of a convoy of UNIFIL peacekeepers in the village of Kaouthariyet al-Saiyad in south Lebanon and seized their equipment..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Mob seizes UN peacekeeper equipment in south Lebanon

Ali Abu Alia, a Palestinian teen, was killed on Friday while attending a protest in the village of Al-Mughayyir near Ramallah.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Rashida Tlaib condemns death of Palestinian child by IDF near Ramallah