Middle East & North Africa

ALGIERS, Apr 5 (NNN-APS) – Algeria declared a nationwide lock-down to slow down the spread of COVID-19, which claimed 130 lives in the country.

The Algerian government, said that, a full lock-down has been maintained in the epicentre of the virus outbreak, the province of Blida.

Meanwhile, in nine provinces including Algiers, Oran, Medea, Setif, Ain Defla, Bejaia, Tizi Ouzou, Tlemcen and Tipaza, a partial lock-down will continue from 3.00 p.m. to 7.00 a.m., the statement added.

BEIRUT, Apr 5 (NNN-NNA) – The United Nations Press Office in Beirut, distributed an article by the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, the English version of which was published in “The Guardian” newspaper, as follows:

SHARJAH, Apr 5 (NNN-WAM) – Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, directed the Department of Islamic Affairs in Sharjah, not to bury any of the victims of COVID-19, in Al Saja’a area in Sharjah, and to confirm that none of the victims had been buried in the mentioned area or other areas in Sharjah.

The Ruler’s directives refute what a tendentious video clip, embedding that burial of COVID-19 victims, are taking place in the said area.

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates’ central bank said on Sunday it had reduced banks’ reserve requirements for demand deposits by 50% to support the country’s economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The aggregate value of all capital and liquidity measures adopted by the central bank since March 14 is 256 billion dirhams ($69.70 billion), the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) said in a statement.

DUBAI (Reuters) - The oil ministry of the internationally-recognized, Saudi-backed government in Yemen said on Sunday the Iran-aligned Houthi group had attacked an oil pipeline pumping station in the province of Ma’rib, the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The pipeline is operated by the Safer oil company, owned by the Yemeni government, SPA said, without giving details on the attack, but there has been no oil pumped through that pipeline for years.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran’s president said on Sunday “low-risk” economic activities would resume from April 11 in the Middle Eastern country worst-affected by the new coronavirus.

Iran has been struggling to curb the spread of the highly infectious respiratory disease known as COVID-19 but authorities are also concerned that measures to curb public life to contain the virus could wreck an already sanctions-hit economy.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco has appointed Mark Weinberger to its board of directors as an independent board member, replacing Andrew Gould, the company said in a statement on Sunday.

Weinberger was the global Chairman and CEO of EY (previously known as Ernst & Young) from 2013 to 2019.

He currently serves as a director on the boards of Johnson & Johnson and Metlife as well as being a member on several boards of trustees, including the United States Council for International Business (USCIB).

TEHRAN, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran will start constructing a 6,000-ton destroyer, Amir Rastegari, head of Defense Ministry's Marine Industries Organization, was quoted as saying by semi-official Mehr news agency on Saturday.

"This destroyer will extend the capabilities of Iranian Navy for longer operations in the seas with very special defensive and offensive capabilities," Rastegari said.

The ship can "conduct operations for at least two months without docking for supplies," he said.

ADEN, Yemen, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's government forces declared on Saturday that 25 Houthi fighters were killed during an armed ambush in the country's northeastern province of Marib.

The government forces lured groups of the Houthi rebels into a well-prepared armed ambush in Sirwah district located in the western part of Marib, the state-run Saba News Agency reported.

"The ambush resulted in the killing of more than 25 members of the Houthi rebels and wounding several others while the rest of them escaped under the army's strikes," the report said.

TUNIS, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian security forces killed two terrorists in the western province of Kasserine, the Interior Ministry said Saturday.

This operation "is the result of intelligence work carried out by the national counterterrorism units as part of a preventive operation," the ministry said in a statement.

The security units succeeded in foiling a scheme of the terrorists who tried to infiltrate into civilian gatherings to obtain supplies, the statement said.