DUBAI (AFP) – Dubai on Friday (April 24) launched a mobile testing service to carry out free coronavirus screening at home for the elderly and most vulnerable, after slightly easing strict confinement measures. The new “Mobile Laboratory Units” are converted ambulances fitted with auto-sterilisation equipment, thermal scanners and safe storage cabins for samples, state news […]

With more than 18,000 infections reported, Turkey surpasses other G20 nations that discovered the virus weeks earlier. Ankara, Turkey – Since declaring its first coronavirus case three weeks ago, Turkey has recorded one of the steepest trajectories of new cases in the world, amid fears it could become a hot spot of the pandemic. The […]

DUBAI (AFP) – The body of the Indian migrant who died from coronavirus far from home was kept inside the ambulance in front of the crematorium in case a friend came by for a last goodbye. But nearly an hour later no one had appeared, and the workers in protective suits had to carry out […]

JERUSALEM • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his centrist election rival Benny Gantz have signed a deal to form a national emergency government, ending a year of unprecedented political deadlock. Monday’s power-sharing agreement came after weeks of negotiations and gave a clear end-date for the premiership of Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving leader, who has […]

Despite UN call for a global ceasefire and warnings of humanitarian disasters, warring sides have continued to fight. With cases of the novel coronavirus confirmed in Syria, Libya and Yemen in recent weeks, there are rising fears of potential mass outbreaks in war zones in the Arab world. Rights groups and experts have predicted that […]

Fatemeh Khishvand, better known as Sahar Tabar, is now quarantined in prison after displaying symptoms of the virus. An Iranian social media star has contracted the coronavirus disease in prison, her lawyer said. Fatemeh Khishvand, better known as Sahar Tabar, became famous after posting her heavily altered face through numerous plastic surgeries on her Instagram […]

Holy Fire celebration takes place with very few worshippers amid coronavirus restrictions on movement. A small group of Christian clergy celebrated on Saturday the Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in a deserted Jerusalem as pilgrims who normally attended the ancient ritual stayed home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Clergymen entered […]

Some businesses in the capital reopen as the country’s daily death toll falls to lowest in more than a month. Iran has allowed some businesses in Tehran to reopen as the country’s daily death toll from the new coronavirus fell to 73, its lowest in more than a month. So-called “low-risk businesses” including many shops, […]

Top religious authority says prayers could be performed at home if not possible at mosques due to coronavirus measures. Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti, the highest religious authority in the kingdom, has said prayers during Ramadan and the subsequent Eid al-Fitr festival should be performed at home if the coronavirus outbreak continues, according to a Saudi […]

GENEVA (REUTERS) – Coronavirus outbreaks across the Middle East threaten to shatter the lives of millions of already destitute people in conflict zones, and could fuel socio-economic upheaval, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday (April 16). Curfews and lockdowns imposed as public health measures to stem spread of the virus […]