Middle East Experience

Your questions about Israel's plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, answered..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Explainer: All you need to know about Israel's Trump-backed annexation plan for the West Bank

Is this how a unity government makes a decision of such strategic proportions?
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Annexation might be right, but Netanyahu’s process is flawed

Program authorized for 21 days, long-term bill still under debate
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Knesset c'tee approves reinstating Shin Bet coronavirus surveillance

Common practices in these 11 detention facilities includes beatings, electrocutions, and being deprived food and water..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Houthis, UAE 'tortured and killed' Yemenis in unofficial prisons

Close to 500 new patients since midnight.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Health Ministry, Gov't considering additional red zones

Only one other woman has flown the 5th generation plane in combat – an American.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israel to soon get its first female F-35 pilot

COVID-19 & The Jews: Challenges & Opportunities
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: KKL Israel 2040: Coronavirus crisis as an opportunity for Diaspora Jewry

Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior has launched an investigation into the contents of the leaked audio of former Libyan dictator Col. Muammar Gaddafi and Kuwaiti hate preacher and author Hakem al-Mutairi discussing revolutionary plans, Al Seyassah newspaper reported citing a security source.Sources at Kuwait University, where al-Mutairi was a Sharia professor, revealed that the administration is monitoring the situation and will act depending on the results of the investigation.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.The interior ministry also said legal action will be taken in regard to the content in the undated audio recording leaked by a Qatari opposition figure.Al-Mutairi is the leader of the Kuwaiti Ummah Party, an unrecognized political party with conservative and allegedly extremist views. He was previously a founding member of Kuwait’s Salafi Movement and critical of the US and Saudi Arabia.In the recording, which Al Arabiya English was unable to independently verify, he told Gaddafi: “There is no atonement except through radical change to the region, and bringing things back to what they should be, and bringing down these governments or putting them in their place until the people can be liberated from this colonialism.”Gaddafi, who led Libya from 1969 until he was overthrown and killed in 2011, promoted a revolutionary ideology and frequently claimed to want to overthrow other Arab leaders.In 2017, the Arab Quartet of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain named al-Mutairi as one of 59 individuals and institutions that have financed terrorism and received support from Qatar.Read more:Qatar assured Gaddafi Al Jazeera will not stop negative Saudi coverage: Audio leaksQatar’s former emir, PM assure Gaddafi Al Jazeera won’t host anti-Libya guests: AudioGaddafi, extremist preacher discuss ‘liberating’ Arab world in new leaked recording
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Kuwait to investigate leaked audio of Libya’s Gaddafi and hate preacher al-Mutairi

The United Arab Emirates has recorded 430 new coronavirus infections and 760 recoveries, the health ministry announced on Thursday, one day after the national disinfection program ended.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.The total number of infections has reached 46,563 after an additional 49,000 COVID-19 tests were conducted over the past 24 hours by health authorities.One person who had previously tested positive for the virus has died, raising the death toll to 308 as of June 25.Meanwhile, the total number of recoveries has reached 35,165, according to the health ministry.For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.Restrictions eased, travel bans liftedAs the country continues to see an increasing number of recoveries as a result of strict measures and compliance of the public, the government began slowly lifting restrictions in recent weeks.On Wednesday, the UAE announced the completion of its national disinfection program which was launched on March 26 and resulted in lockdowns of up to 24-hours. The nationwide campaign was aimed at combating the spread of coronavirus in the country.Citizens and residents were also recently allowed to travel abroad to some “low risk” countries as a move to further ease restrictions. Dubai announced on Sunday that it will welcome back tourists through its airports from July 7.The UAE was recently ranked in the top 20 safest countries in the world during the ongoing pandemic, according to a comprehensive data analysis by Hong Kong-based Deep Knowledge Group.Read more:UAE lifts curfew, ends national COVID-19 sanitation driveAll the facts about UAE allowing travel amid coronavirusDubai open for tourists on July 7, read more about new coronavirus travel protocols
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: UAE reports 430 new COVID-19 infections, 760 recoveries as lockdown ends

Google has released a new data set that shows how well countries and regions have followed health advice to stay at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19.The country-specific data shows a major decrease in movement during the coronavirus pandemic in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where movement related to retail and recreation fell by 48 percent and 46 percent, respectively.For more on coronavirus, visit our dedicated section.Both countries implemented strict coronavirus lockdowns, implemented movement permit systems, and shut down non-essential businesses to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.For grocery stores and pharmacies, movement fell by 22 percent in the UAE, and by 26 percent in Saudi Arabia. Grocery stores and pharmacies remained open throughout lockdowns, but Google data shows that some people either limited trips or found alternative methods, such as grocery delivery.Park visits fell by 66 percent in the UAE, and by 60 percent in Saudi Arabia, for the period from May 8 to June 19. In the US, which has experienced one of the world’s worst COVID-19 outbreaks, park visits increased by 60 percent during the same period.Read more: Safest coronavirus countries: Saudi Arabia, UAE rank in top 20 of COVID-19 analysisCoronavirus: UAE lifts curfew, ends national COVID-19 sanitation driveIn the US, grocery and pharmacy traffic saw no change, but retail and recreation saw a modest 15 percent fall.The only category that saw an increase across the board was movement within residential areas, with 16 percent in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but 9 percent in the US.Google used location data – which users had to turn on – to get a picture of how movement across communities has shifted during the pandemic. Using a pre-pandemic baseline value, researchers compared volumes of visitors in certain locations, like supermarkets and offices, to garner movement-related insights.“These Community Mobility Reports aim to provide insights into what has changed in response to policies aimed at combating COVID-19,” Google’s information on the reports said. “The reports chart movement trends over time by geography, across different categories of places such as retail and recreation, groceries and pharmacies, parks, transit stations, workplaces, and residential.”Read more:Coronavirus: Dubai in touch with local, global sports federations to organize eventsCoronavirus: UAE reports 430 new infections, 760 recoveries as lockdown endsCoronavirus: Infections in GCC surpass 400,000 COVID-19 cases, Reuters tally shows
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: New Google data shows how COVID-19 hit movement in Saudi Arabia, UAE