Archives for April, 2020

Israelis take part in a demonstration on April 25, 2020, in Rabin Square in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, to protest what they consider threats to Israeli democracy, against the backdrop of negotiations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ex-rival Benny Gantz. - The protesters stood two meters apart from each other, thereby respecting the social distancing measures in force to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel under coronavirus: Economic straits revive social protests

In the spirit of the wave of social justice demonstrations in 2011, Israelis in desperate economic situations due to the coronavirus outbreak are taking to the streets of Tel Aviv.

A Syrian refugee man walks in Elbeyli refugee camp near the Turkish-Syrian border in Kilis province, Turkey, December 1, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC118F65CE00

Turkey's Syrian refugees among hardest hit amid coronavirus pandemic

Some 4 million Syrians scattered across Turkey are among the most vulnerable to the novel coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout as most of them are unable to work due to restrictions and also cannot benefit from relief assistance.

Israel’s Black Flag protest gathers momentum

Around 2,000 people gathered at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on April 26 in a Black Flag demonstration against the unity deal between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, and in defense of the country’s democracy.

Russia doubles down on Iraq despite COVID-19

Moscow and Baghdad continue to plot a course for bilateral relations, though the process is being complicated by Iraq’s precarious political situation and the global coronavirus crisis.

Iraqi soldiers search for IS along Tigris River

Iraqi army soldiers look for IS fighters in Samarra, where IS has been active during the coronavirus lockdown in the country.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo holds a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry at the ministry of foreign affairs in Cairo, Egypt, January 10, 2019. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via REUTERS - RC1A495CFE00

Intel: Egypt’s medical aid to US fails to stem outrage over American prisoners

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry by phone on Thursday to discuss “continued collaboration on key regional issues and bilateral COVID-19 assistance."

A man walks past closed for prayers Suleymaniye Mosque during the first day of Ramadan and the second of a four-day curfew, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Istanbul, Turkey April 24, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC20BG9OLAZD

Istanbul’s coronavirus outbreak is ‘under control,’ claims health minister

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca compared Turkey's largest city to Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in China.

A woman wearing a protective face mask and gloves walks past the Imamzadeh Saleh shrine, amid fear of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Tehran, Iran April 2, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Ali Khara via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY - RC2DWF9GIRD0

Women, children face increased risk of abuse during Mideast lockdowns

No COVID-19 furlough for imprisoned Iranian women’s rights activists; Interreligious, LGBT couples struggle to connect; Yemen’s cease-fire gets a second chance.

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic at an event in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., March 12, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RC2HIF91AUNH

Intel: Biden vows to back Armenian genocide resolution as president

Former Vice President Joe Biden marked Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day on Friday with a pledge to back a resolution recognizing the Ottoman Empire’s massacre of more than 1 million mostly Christian Armenians as a genocide.

Defence lawyers Serkan Alkan (L) and Martin Heising (R) look on as the Iraqi defendant, identified only as Taha al-J., believed to have belonged to the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, hides his face while arriving into the courtroom for the start of his trial for genocide and murdering a young Yazidi girl, he held as a slave, on April 24, 2020 at the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Frankfurt am Main. - Defence lawyers Serkan Alkan (L) and Martin Heising (R) look on as the Iraqi defendant, identified only

Justice for genocide: Yazidis hopeful as Islamic State trial opens in Germany

An Iraqi man is on trial in a German court for human trafficking and genocide against the Yazidis.

A vendor wearing a protective face mask serves customers inside his shop, ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, amid concerns over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Algiers, Algeria April 19, 2020. Picture taken April 19, 2020. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina - RC249G90A84T

Egypt, Algeria relax coronavirus restrictions for Ramadan

Egypt and Algeria are allowing greater civilian movement for the Islamic holy month, as are the United Arab Emirates and Iraq.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for a speech at his Jerusalem office, regarding the new measures that will be taken to fight the coronavirus, March 14, 2020. Gali Tibbon/Pool via REUTERS - RC2WJF9BHL7Z

Netanyahu looks to boost image with COVID-19 talks with world leaders

Advancing the WHO videoconference, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participated in another videoconference with six other world leaders on fighting the coronavirus.

A worker in a protective suit sprays disinfectant at Grand Bazaar, known as the Covered Bazaar, to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Istanbul, Turkey, March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC2YQF9I7XRJ

COVID-19 crisis stokes fear of food insecurity in Turkey

The novel coronavirus is threatening to inflate food prices in Turkey, whose agricultural sector was already in dire straits and overly reliant on imports before the pandemic.

A health worker and armed Palestinians gather under the portrait of their late leader Yasser Arafat at the Wavel Palestinian refugee camp (also known as the Jalil camp) in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, on April 24, 2020, after cases of infection by the novel coronavirus were detected there. - The residents of the Wavel camp were tested after a member of a household, a Palestinian refugee from Syria, was admitted to the state-run Rafic Hariri hospital in the capital Beirut for demonstrating COVID-19 sympt

Four new coronavirus cases in refugee camp in Lebanon

The four infected individuals are relatives of the first refugee woman who tested positive for the coronavirus in a Palestinian refugee camp this week.

Saudi-led coalition in Yemen extends unilateral truce by one month

The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi rebels in Yemen has announced it's extending a cease-fire another month to allow for UN-brokered negotiations as well as efforts to control the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Concerns over coronavirus in prisons push Israel-Hamas deal forward

With Hamas concerned about a coronavirus outbreak in Gaza and Israel concerned about overcrowding in its prisons, the pandemic offers a unique opportunity to reach a prisoner exchange deal.