Middle East Experience

The United Arab Emirates has successfully trained police dogs to detect cases of novel coronavirus in passengers arriving at its airports, making the country the first in the world to do successfully do so, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on Thursday.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.Police dogs were trained and stationed across its airports as an additional line of defense to detect COVID-19, WAM added.While other countries, such as Lebanon, have begun to train dogs to sniff out the virus, the UAE is the only one to implement it so far, according to WAM.The dogs have been trained to detect the virus through a person’s sweat and do not have to come into direct contact with individuals. Within seconds of an infected person passing by a dog, the animal will be able to determine whether that individual is carrying the coronavirus.“The UAE experiment and its protocols are unique in avoiding any direct contact between the dogs and the persons under examination according to the highest standards of health precautionary measures,” WAM said.“This is considered as additional line that [will] enhance the security and safety of passengers at airports with the gradual return and opening of more international airports and the increasing number of flights,” the statement added.Airports across the UAE began welcoming back residents abroad and tourists from around the world earlier this month while still enforcing precautionary measures and requiring some arrivals to be tested.Read more:Coronavirus: Emirates covers funeral costs in case of passenger death due to COVID-19Coronavirus: UAE uses K9 sniffer dogs to detect COVID-19 patientsCoronavirus: UAE, Saudi Arabia turn to staycations for Eid al-Adha as tourism hit
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: UAE’s police dogs first in the world to successfully sniff out COVID-19

Architects and archaeologists in Egypt are angered by the demolition of the Tombs of the Mamluks in Cairo to establish a road project.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Destruction of historical tombs raises controversy in Egypt

The United States is Iran’s main enemy, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said on Friday, ruling out negotiations with the US over Tehran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs, calling on Iranians to resist US bullying.In a speech on live television, Khamenei also said that US sanctions aimed to collapse Iran’s economy and he chastised European powers for failing to salvage the deal whose failure has seen sanctions put back on the Islamic Republic. In 2018, the US unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that has subsequently led to the reimposition of sanctions on the regime.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Khamenei also spoke about the killing of Iran's elite Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, saying it had united Iranians and Iraqis.Soleimani was killed in an airstrike at Baghdad's international airport in January in a US airstrike, as was Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF.Since Soleimani's killing, Iran-backed militias in Iraq have struggled as Iran faces a domestic economic crisis and cannot provide the level of support provided in the past.Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi was ushered into power on the promise that he would rein in the militias, and Esmail Ghaani, Soleimani's successor was forced to apply for a visa for his second visit, a shift in procedure from Soleimani's time in the position. Al-Kadhimi is seen to be closer to the West than to Iran, and at the end of June the Iraqi premier said that relations between Iran and Iraq would have to be based on non-interference.Read more:Iraq should hold Iran-affiliated militias accountable for killing Iraqis: US analystIran’s revenge against US killing of Soleimani is not over: Iran senior adviserIraqi army confirms two rockets target Baghdad airport, no casualties reportedThe predominantly Shia PMF, that typically receive some funding from Iran, were told by Ghaani that they would now have to rely on Iraqi state funding, AFP reported in June.The assassination was carried out while the Trump Administration continues its strategy of maximum pressure on the Iranian regime.Khamenei also said in his televised address that US sanctions on the Islamic Republic aim to collapse Iran’s economy and that the US dream to achieve its goals through sanctions, part of its maximum pressure campaign on Iran, will never come true.“America’s brutal sanctions on Iran are aimed at collapsing our economy ... Their aim is to limit our influence in the region and to halt our missile and nuclear capabilities,” Khamenei said.Last week, US Senator Ted Cruz said in a video that it was his “belief that we need to collapse the regime,” calling for the US to invoke United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 that would reimpose all international sanctions on Iran.The supreme leader also called for all Iranians to unite in the fight against coronavirus, in the country that quickly emerged as the regional epicenter of the virus months ago.-With Reuters
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: US is Iran’s main enemy, ballistic missile & nuclear negotiations ruled out: Khamenei

As several Islamic State attacks in Sunni provinces took out local commanders and a community leader in July, a lawmaker from Salahhuddin province has called for the arming of tribes in his region.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Iraqi lawmaker calls for arming tribes amid attacks on Sunni communities

The United Arab Emirates detected 302 new cases of the deadly coronavirus, which brings the total number of confirmed infections in the country to 60,223, the Ministry of Health announced on Thursday.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.Two people who had tested positive for the virus died due to complications, the ministry added. This brings the virus-related death toll in the country to 351.Meanwhile, the number of recoveries rose to 53,909 after 283 people recovered.Most COVID-19 health centers run by the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) will be open for testing during the Eid al-Adha holiday this weekend, reported Emirates News Agency (WAM) citing SEHA on Thursday.Muslims around the world are commemorating the end of the annual Hajj season from July 30 to August 2.Read more:Coronavirus: Abu Dhabi conducts study on its residents’ COVID-19 immunityCoronavirus: All the COVID-19 guidelines for the Eid al-Adha holiday across the Gulf
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: UAE reports 283 new COVID-19 cases on first day of Eid al-Adha

Saudi Arabia detected 1,686 new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing the total amount of confirmed infections in the Kingdom to 275,905, the Ministry of Health said on Friday.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.Mecca reported the highest number of infections with 178 new cases. No cases were detected among the Hajj pilgrims, the health ministry said.The rest of the new infections were confirmed in cities and provinces across the Kingdom.Twenty-four people died due to complications caused by COVID-19, which raises the virus-related death toll to 2,866.Meanwhile, the total number of recoveries rose to 235,658 after 4,460 people recovered.Earlier Wednesday, Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia embarked on the first day of rituals after self-isolating in a designated hotel amid strict coronavirus preventative measures, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.A health leader was assigned to each group of 50 pilgrims to ensure safety measures, including wearing a mask and social distancing, are implemented at all times, according to SPA. Al Arabiya English's Joanne Serrieh contributed to this report.
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia detects 1,686 new COVID-19 cases, none among Hajj pilgrims

Conflict between Israel on the one hand and Iran and Hezbollah on the other have been playing out this month in Syria and Lebanon.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Hezbollah, Israel jostle in Syria, Lebanon

Muslim pilgrims in Saudi Arabia took part in a symbolic stoning of the devil on Friday, but maintained social distancing in a ritual that usually brings millions of worshippers from all over the world shoulder to shoulder.For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.The ritual, at which pilgrims must hurl pebbles at a giant wall, has in the past been the scene of several deadly crowd accidents. In 2015, hundreds died in a crush at an intersection leading up to the site.Clad in white robes denoting a state of purity and face masks, men and women cast their stones, closely monitored by health professionals. The pilgrims stood apart on yellow markers marking a safe social distance.They will return over the next two days for more stoning before going back to Mecca to pray at the Grand Mosque at the end of Hajj.In previous year, some 3 million white-clad pilgrims from across the world flocked to Islam’s holiest sites to attend Hajj.But with large gatherings impossible given the pandemic, only a few thousand pilgrims - Saudis and foreign residents living in the country- are gathering this year.Although no official figure has been given, local media report there are around 10,000 pilgrims. The Hajj minister in June said pilgrims would number 1,000.This year Saudi Arabia faces the challenge of keeping Hajj, a once-in-a-lifetime duty for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it and a major source of income for the government, safe from COVID-19.Late on Thursday, a health ministry spokesman said that there were no Covid-19 infections, nor any other major diseases among pilgrims so far.Read more:Coronavirus: WHO chief hails Saudi Arabia’s COVID-19 measures during HajjSaudi Arabia: Hajj pilgrims head to Mount Arafat for most important ritual
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: Hajj pilgrims social distance during stoning devil ritual

The trio of paintings is Banksy's critical response to the ongoing refugee crisis. They are titled "Mediterranean Sea View 2017."
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Banksy to sell paintings to raise million for a Bethlehem hospital

The UN refugee agency is warning thousands of refugees and migrants are dying, while others face harrowing abuse in their attempts to reach Europe's Mediterranean coast in search of a better life..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: UNHCR: Refugees face rights abuses in their Mediterranean journey