Middle East Experience

The United Arab Emirates reported 1,359 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, a drop from the recent high of 1,578 cases, announced the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) on Twitter.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.NCEMA added that there has been two new deaths from COVID-19 during the last day.A further 2,037 people had recovered from the virus.The new cases were detected after authorities carried out 118,058 tests in a 24-hour period, explained NCEMA.The UAE currently has a total of 125,123 cases, of which 118,931 have recovered, according to government figures.Read More:Coronavirus: Italy tightens nationwide restrictions amid record COVID-19 casesCoronavirus: Dubai beaches require face masks, distancing, and other COVID-19 rulesCoronavirus: Experts warn COVID-19 vaccine will reach global coverage by end of 2023
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: UAE reports 1,359 new COVID-19 cases, drop from recent spike of 1,578

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Sunday they have deployed troops along the border with Azerbaijan and Armenia, following stray fire from the fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh.“Units of (the Guards) ground forces have been dispatched to and stationed in the region,” their commander Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour said, quoted by state news agency IRNA.Their mission was “to protect national interests and maintain peace and security.”For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Pakpour said Iran respects its neighbors’ territorial integrity but that “any shift in border geopolitics is the Islamic Republic of Iran’s red line.”The commander visited the border county of Khoda Afarin on Saturday, the Guards’ website Sepahnews reported.The region in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province borders territory in Azerbaijan adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh.Khoda Afrin and nearby villages have reportedly been hit by stray cross-border mortar fire.“If there is any repetition of such fire, the Islamic Republic of Iran will not remain indifferent,” foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh warned on October 16.Read more:Where Russia, Turkey, Iran stand in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflictAzerbaijan leader demands full Armenian withdrawal, apology before any ceasefireIn the first week of the fighting, mortar rounds repeatedly strayed across the border, with one wounding a six-year-old child.Armenia and Azerbaijan have for decades been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnically Armenian region of Azerbaijan which broke away from Baku in a 1990s war.Both sides have defied international calls for a ceasefire since all-out war erupted on September 27.On Thursday, Azerbaijan said it had taken full control of its border with Iran as Baku pressed its assault on Nagorno-Karabakh, driving out Armenian forces near the frontier.Armenia also borders northwest Iran.
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Iran’s IRGC says deployed troops on border near Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Iraqi security forces fired water cannon and tear gas at anti-government protesters on Sunday to prevent them crossing barricades on a bridge leading toward government buildings.The skirmishes came as hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad and some southern cities to hold anti-government protests, marking a year since mass anti-government unrest that killed more than 500 people.Read more: Iraq protests one year on: Demands, Iran’s role, al-Kadhimi and the future“We will not stop protesting to demand our stolen rights. We are the victims of corrupted governments,” said Najim Abdullah, a protester standing near the Jumhuriya bridge in the capital.Security forces had deployed in force to control protests that began in the morning, and to stop demonstrators crossing Jumhuriya bridge, which leads to the fortified Green Zone that houses government buildings and foreign missions.There were no immediate reports of casualties.Sunday’s protests were more subdued than demonstrations last year where thousands rallied in Baghdad and the south, facing off against security forces and militiamen in clashes that maimed and killed mostly young, jobless demonstrators.Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who took office in May after his predecessor was driven out by last year’s unrest, has painted himself as a leader who supports demonstrators.In a televised address on Saturday he pledged to hold early and fair elections, a demand of many pro-democracy activists, and said security forces would this time around not harm any peaceful protesters.“We want our freedom. We want our rights,” one protester said after throwing stones at riot police above Jumhuriya bridge. He retreated when police responded with tear gas.Security forces and unidentified gunmen carried out a fierce crackdown on anti-government disturbances that erupted in October 2019, killing hundreds of mostly unarmed protesters using live gunfire and tear gas.The protesters had taken to the streets in mostly uncoordinated opposition to the political elite that has ruled since the 2003 US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.They accuse those in power, especially Iranian-backed parties and militia groups, of fuelling endemic corruption that kept large swathes of the oil-rich Arab country in ruins even during times of relative peace.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Since the 2017 defeat of ISIS terrorist group, a moment many Iraqis hoped would signal a turning point for their country, millions have struggled to make a living and been deprived of reliable electricity, clean water and education.Threats, killings and abductions of activists have continued since the protests lost steam earlier this year, out of a combination of protester fatigue and movement restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.Read more:Iraq's parliament building in Basra set on fire by protesters after activists killedIraqi protesters chant anti-Hezbollah slogans during slain al-Hashemi’s funeral marchWho is Iraq’s new Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi?
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Protesters and security forces clash in Baghdad as year-old movement reignites

Kuwait’s retail co-ops have pulled French products in boycott over the use of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a French school class on freedom of expression whose teacher was then beheaded by an “Islamist.”The non-governmental Union of Consumer Co-operative Societies, which groups more than 70 establishments, issued the boycott directive in an October 23 circular.Several co-ops visited by Reuters on Sunday had cleared the shelves of items such as hair and beauty products made by French companies.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.“All French products have been removed from all Consumer Cooperative Societies,” union head Fahd Al-Kishti told Reuters, adding that the move was in response to “repeated insults” against the Prophet and had been taken independently of Kuwait’s government.The co-ops, some the size of hypermarkets, carry government-subsidized staples for Kuwaitis and account for a big part of retail in the country, as well as organizing some educational courses and recreational activities.Muslims see any depiction of the Prophet as blasphemous.The Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Friday decried the brutal murder that has shaken France but also criticized the “justification for blasphemy-based harassment of any religion in the name of freedom of expression.”Kuwait’s foreign minister, who met the French ambassador on Sunday, condemned the October 16 killing as a horrendous crime but stressed the need to avoid insulting religion in official and political remarks that “inflame hatred, enmity and racism,” the ministry tweeted.Kuwait’s imports from France stood at 255 million dinars ($834.70 million) in 2019, and 83.6 million dinars in the first half of 2020, according to Reuters calculations based on data from Kuwait’s Central Statistics bureau.Read more:‘We will not give up cartoons,’ says France’s Macron in homage to murdered teacherAfter teacher beheading in France, Azhar Imam says insulting religions incites hatredFrench FM accuses Turkey of trying to ‘whip up hatred’ against FranceIn Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, a hashtag calling for the boycott of French supermarket retailer Carrefour was the second most trending on Sunday.After a Danish paper first published the cartoons in 2005, protests and boycotts on Danish goods swept the Islamic world.The beheading in a Paris suburb carried echoes of the “Islamist” attack in 2015 on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo after it republished the cartoons.France recalled its ambassador to Turkey on Saturday after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said his counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who this month declared war on “Islamist separatism”, needed mental help over his attitude towards Muslims.
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Kuwait retail co-ops remove French products in boycott over Prophet cartoon

Last week, Etihad Airways launched the first commercial flight from the UAE to Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport outside of Tel Aviv..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Israeli airline Arkia offers 9 fare for flights to Dubai from January 3

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet on Sunday approved Israel's normalisation accord with Bahrain, which now awaits parliamentary ratification, a cabinet statement said..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Israeli cabinet approves Bahrain accord, parliament vote pending

Mehrdad Sepehri was killed after being tied to a metal pole in the….
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Iranian man dies following 'police torture' on Mashhad street

Renewed anti-government rallies converge to mark one year since mass unrest over corruption and widespread deprivation that left over 500 dead..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Iraqi forces, anti-government protesters clash in Baghdad, injuries on both sides

Under the plan, those entering the country will not be required to pass a COVID-19 test and will not need to isolate for two weeks once they arrive.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Foreign nationals on business can enter Israel with a permit

Despite the global economic crisis caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic, the number of Israeli millionaires decreased by only 154 people and now stands at 157,286, Credit Suisse reports.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israel among ‘handful’ of countries reporting wealth increase in 2019