Middle East & North Africa

ANKARA, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Friday reported 1,848 new COVID-19 cases and 48 more deaths in Turkey.

The total number of confirmed cases in the country has climbed to 135,569 while the death toll surged to 3,689, Koca tweeted.

Turkey conducted 33,687 tests for the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of tests carried out to 1,298,806, he stated.

In addition, 86,396 patients have recovered from COVID-19, while 1,219 are being treated at intensive care units and 653 intubated, according to the minister.

8 May 2020; MEMO: An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 struck Iran early Friday, prompting some residents in the capital to evacuate their homes, Anadolu Agency reports.

The earthquake occurred at 00:48 a.m. local time (2118GMT) in Damavand district of Tehran at a depth of seven kilometers (4.34 miles), according to the Tehran University Seismological Center.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

8 May 2020; MEMO: On Thursday, the Syrian authorities announced the postponement of parliamentary elections scheduled for this month for the second time, within the framework of a series of precautionary measures taken by the government to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

8 May 2020; MEMO: The US and Iran have agreed to support the new Iraqi government headed by Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, which won the trust of parliament after months of political stalemate in the country.

Jerusalem, May 8 (PTI) Israeli president has tasked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with forming a new unity government after Parliament passed legislations approving details of a power-sharing deal between the his Likud and centrist rival Benny Gantz's Blue and White parties, ending more than a year of political impasse.

JERUSALEM, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Israel said it will lease drones to Greece to defend its borders, in the first military deal between the two countries which includes an option to buy the system.

The Israeli Defence Ministry said that the agreement with the Hellenic Ministry of National Defence was signed digitally due to the coronavirus crisis.

Under the deal, Israel’s Defence Ministry will lease the Heron unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system, made by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries for three years.

WASHINGTON, May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US is pulling out four of its powerful Patriot missile systems from Saudi Arabia, after determining the threat from Iran that sparked an arms buildup in the region last year had waned, a Defense Department official said.

Two of the anti-missile batteries deployed following the September attacks on Saudi oil installations “are now leaving,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

TEHRAN, May 8: At least one person is dead and 11 more have been injured following an earthquake in the approximate vicinity of the Iranian capital of Tehran, Pirhossein Kolivand, the head of Iran’s emergency medical services, stated.

"Eleven people sustained injuries as they fled their houses," Kolivand was quoted as saying by Iranian news agency Mehr. "A 60-year-old Iranian national was reported to be killed in the natural disaster."

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — As she was treated for COVID-19 in a hospital isolation ward in Kuwait City, Amnah Ibraheem wanted to credit those caring for her. The nurses were all South Asian, the radiologist was African, another of her doctors was Egyptian. The only fellow Kuwaiti she saw, briefly, was a lone volunteer.

Ibraheem pointed this out on Twitter, in a rejoinder to some voices in Kuwait and other parts of the Gulf who have stoked fear and resentment of foreigners, blaming them for the spread of the coronavirus.

7 May 2020; MEMO: Saudi has installed “advanced self-sterilisation gates” at the entrances of the grand mosques in Makkah and Madinah in an effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

According to Saudi24, the move is part of the government’s “Together Guarded” initiative which has seen precautionary measures put in place since the pandemic hit the kingdom’s shores.