DUBAI (REUTERS) – Kuwait will allow non-citizens to enter the country from Aug 1 if they have been fully vaccinated with Covid-19 vaccines that have been approved by the Gulf state, the government said on Thursday (June 17). A PCR test must be taken before flying and another during seven days of home quarantine on […]

KABUL (REUTERS) – The Covid-19 pandemic is spiralling out of control in Afghanistan, with cases rising 2,400 per cent in the past month, hospitals filling up and medical resources quickly running out, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday (June 17). More than a third of tests last week came back positive, […]

The ultra-conservative head of Iran’s judiciary, Mr Ebrahim Raisi, is likely to emerge victorious in a presidential election in the Islamic Republic on Friday (June 18). The result may have long-term implications for the country. What’s at stake Five candidates, including Mr Raisi, 60, are in the race, but the disqualification of a number of […]

DUBAI (REUTERS) – About two-thirds of people eligible for inoculation against Covid-19 have now received two doses of the vaccine in Dubai, the tourist and business hub of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai Health Authority (DHA) said. Dubai is the most populous of the seven emirates that make up the UAE and has one of […]

ERBIL, Iraq — Basim Razzo’s apartment in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Erbil is pristine, with none of the clutter of most family homes. The spotless kitchen cupboards hold cans of Maxwell House coffee, a brand he and his wife Mayada became fond of when they lived in the United States in the 1980s. In […]

CAIRO (AFP) – Egypt is banking on a US$500 million (S$661 million) Gaza reconstruction project to shore up its influence in the Middle East, capitalising on clout it garnered by brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pledged the cash injection to rebuild the Gaza Strip after it was left in […]

SOCOTRA, YEMEN (AFP) – Centuries-old umbrella-shaped dragon’s blood trees line the rugged peaks of Yemen’s Socotra – a flagship symbol of the Indian Ocean archipelago’s extraordinary biodiversity, but also a bleak warning of environmental crisis. Forests of these ancient trees are being decimated by increasingly intense storms, while replacement saplings are gobbled by proliferating goat […]

RIYADH (AFP) – A US-based lawsuit against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman centred on a Caribbean oil refinery, but unexpectedly highlighted something else – the disappearance of his main rival. Former crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef (MBN), unseated as heir to the throne by his cousin Prince Mohammed in 2017, has not been seen […]

JERUSALEM — Still reeling from bearing the brunt of Israel’s coronavirus pandemic, then a deadly stampede at a religious festival, Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jews now face the prospect of losing the power they have wielded in government — a setback that could relax some of the strictures on life in Israel. The heterogeneous coalition that is […]

AMMAN (REUTERS) – There were “armed attacks on security forces” on the outskirts of the Jordanian capital of Amman on Saturday (June 5), the state media reported, citing the Interior Ministry, and witnesses told Reuters the attacks were triggered by tribal supporters of a lawmaker who was banned from Parliament. The lawmaker, Mr Osama al […]