Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Shopping malls and bazaars reopened in Iran despite warnings by some health officials that a new wave of coronavirus infections could ripple through the Middle Eastern country hardest hit by the pandemic.

Iran has struggled to curb the spread of the highly contagious lung disease known as COVID-19 but authorities also worry that measures to limit public life to rein in the virus could finish off an already sanctions-battered economy.

ISTANBUL, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a four-day lockdown from Thursday in Istanbul and 30 other major cities as part of measures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“We are planning to implement confinement between April 23-26 in 31 cities,” Erdogan said in a televised address to the nation.

Turkey has so far applied a 48-hour lockdown in 31 cities over the last two weekends but the country of 83 million has stopped short of declaring a long-term nationwide lockdown.

JERUSALEM, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his political rival, Benny Gantz, have signed an agreement to form an emergency unity government.

The deal will see the pair rotating the leadership of the country, with Netanyahu going first as PM.

It brings political certainty to Israel after three inconclusive elections and a year of political paralysis.

Both men had faced calls to avoid a fourth election and form a coalition to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief rival announced Monday that they have forged a deal to form a coalition government, ending months of political paralysis and averting what would have been a fourth consecutive election in just over a year.

Netanyahu and former military chief Benny Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, signed the power-sharing agreement after weeks of negotiations for what they termed a “national emergency” government meant to steer the country through the coronavirus outbreak.

20 April 2020; MEMO: Turkey blocked public access to Saudi and Emirati state news websites yesterday including the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and the Emirates News Agency (WAM).

TEHRAN, Apr 20 (NNN-IRNA) – Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, is visiting Syria today (Monday), for talks with Syrian officials on topics of mutual interest, it was officially reported on Sunday (yesterday).

“During the one-day trip, Zarif will meet with Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad and Syrian Foreign Minister, Walid al-Muallem, to discuss bilateral relations, regional developments, as well as, the latest political developments in Syria’s fight against terrorism,” said the report.

JERUSALEM, Apr 20 (NNN-MA’AN) – Israel’s Ministry of Health, announced on Sunday, the shutting down of a COVID-19 testing laboratory, because of 19 wrong diagnoses.

The lab, located at the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS), in central Israel, began operating on Apr 10.

On Apr 17, Assuta Hospital, in southern Israel, said, nine patients, who were admitted to the COVID-19 ward, after being tested positive in the WIS lab, were actually healthy. Similar cases were found in two other hospitals in Israel.

RIYADH, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Health ministers of the Group 20 (G20) reviewed on Sunday the importance of utilizing digital solutions in current and future pandemics.

During a virtual meeting, the officials discussed further coordinate efforts in combating COVID-19 and the role of digital solutions, a statement by the G20 Saudi Presidency highlighted.

The ministers stressed that people's health and well-being are at the heart of all decisions taken to protect lives and alleviate the socio-economic impacts resulting from the virus.

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The U.N. children’s agency appealed Monday for an additional $92.4 million to help fight the coronavirus pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa, a conflict-battered region with the highest number of children in need anywhere.

Yemen is a top concern, said Ted Chaiban, the regional chief of UNICEF. After five years of civil war, half the health centers in Yemen no longer operate. Two million children are malnourished, including 400,000 who suffer from severe acute malnutrition.

19 April 2020; MEMO: The Iranian armed forces have acquired three bomb-carrying drones with a range of 1,500 kilometres (932 miles), Defence Minister Amir Hatami said on state television on Saturday.

The drones could monitor “enemy movements from a considerable distance” and were capable of combat missions, he said at the delivery ceremony in Tehran broadcast on TV.