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17th April 2020
Migrant workers are bearing the brunt of the coronavirus epidemic in the wealthy Gulf states. Often living in over-crowded accommodation, they are at particular risk of infection. Many are now also jobless. Some have been deported. Thousands more want to return home – but can't.
India… Read more
16th April 2020
A couple of weeks ago Reuters news agency reported that Iraq probably has several thousand more Covid-19 cases than the official figures show. Its report quoted three doctors closely involved in the testing process, a health ministry official and a senior political official – all speaking… Read more
15th April 2020
The coronavirus situation in Algeria is "under control" according to President Tebboune, and "stable" according to the health minister. Despite these assurances, the level of testing for Covid-19 in Algeria remains low and of the 2,070 people so far confirmed as having been infected, 326 – 16% of… Read more
14th April 2020
Arab states in the Gulf are reporting large numbers of new Covid-19 infections among migrant workers.
● In Bahrain, foreign labourers account for almost half the confirmed cases – more than 600 have tested positive.
● In Kuwait, 679 of the 1,300 confirmed cases are reported to be Indian workers… Read more
13th April 2020
A further 3,930 Covid-19 infections have been reported in the Middle East and North Africa since yesterday's update – 1,657 of them in Iran and 2,273 in the rest of the region.
Although there's no doubt that the virus is still spreading (and in some countries more than others), figures published… Read more
12th April 2020
Police in Egypt used tear gas on Saturday to disperse protesters who were trying to prevent the burial of a doctor who died after being infected by coronavirus. Ahram Online reports that 23 people were arrested.
It was the second attempt to bury the 64-year-old female doctor. Residents in her home… Read more
11th April 2020
While many countries are struggling to raise levels of testing for the Covid-19 virus, the UAE has been pressing ahead and has now carried out almost 600,000 tests. This is far more than any other country in the Middle East and, worldwide, it's surpassed only by the US, Germany, Russia and Italy.… Read more
10th April 2020
Coronavirus has now arrived in Yemen. The country's first case of Covid-19 was reported early today in ash-Shihr, a small port on the Indian Ocean coast of Hadramaut province.
Reuters quotes a local official as saying the person diagnosed is a Yemeni who works in the port.
Yemen is already in a… Read more
9th April 2020
Syrian government forces carried out three chemical attacks on a rebel-held village in 2017, according to a new investigation by the OPCW. Based on the available evidence, that is the only conclusion that can "reasonably be reached", it said in a 82-page report published on Wednesday:
"At… Read more
9th April 2020
War-torn Yemen is one of the few countries in the world where no Covid-19 cases have yet been reported, but it's widely expected that if the virus does take hold there the result will be catastrophic.
Yesterday, at the behest of the UN's special envoy, the Saudi-led coalition which has been… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
