Rouhani: Face masks to become compulsory as of next Sunday
Lebanon’s foreign minister summoned the US ambassador to Beirut over comments she made recently in which she attacked the resistance movement Hezbollah, state-run National News Agency reported Sunday.
The agency gave no further details other than saying that the meeting between Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti and Ambassador Dorothy Shea is scheduled for Monday afternoon.
Local media said the minister will tell the ambassador that according to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, an ambassador has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of another country and should not incite the Lebanese people against one another.
On Saturday, a Lebanese judge banned local and foreign media outlets in the country from interviewing the US ambassador for a year saying that her criticism of Hezbollah was seditious and a threat to social peace.
The court order said that Shea “discussed in her interview a Lebanese party represented in parliament and cabinet and that enjoys a wide popular base,” referring to Hezbollah.
“The US ambassador has no right to talk about this party,” the order added.
The judge’s ruling came a day after Shea told Saudi-owned TV station Al-hadath that Washington has “great concerns” over Hezbollah’s role in the government.
“It has syphoned off billions of dollars that should have gone into government coffers so that the government can provide basic services to its people,” the envoy said.
“It has obstructed some of the economic reforms the Lebanese economy so desperately needs,” she added.
Hezbollah legislator Hassan Fadlallah on Sunday called Shea’s comments “a flagrant aggression on the sovereignty of our country and its national dignity.” He called on the Foreign Ministry to force the ambassador to “respect international law.”
AP and AFP contributed to this story.
The Central Bank of Iran has injected hundreds of millions of dollars to stabilize the currency market, CBI Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said on Saturday.
“Over the past few days, hundreds of millions of dollars entered the market through (Cbi-linked) brokers and thwarted many of the plans of those trying to destabilize the foreign exchange market,” Hemmati said in an Instagram posting.
The rial currency sank to its lowest-ever level on Tuesday before recovering slightly. It has been under pressure from US sanctions and the coronavirus crisis, Reuters wrote.
After saying on Friday that the CBI would not “’spray’ its resources onto the market”, Hemmati said that he did not mean the bank would hold back from supporting the rial. “Our market intervention will be prudent and goal-oriented,” he said. The rial was trading at around 200,000 per US dollar on the unofficial market on Sunday, according to foreign exchange websites.
The currency gained slightly against the US dollar earlier, trading at around 192,000 per dollar on Friday, after falling to a historic low of 205,000 on Tuesday.
The official exchange rate is 42,000 rials per dollar and is used mostly for imports of state-subsidized food and medicine.
Voters in France donned face masks to cast their ballots on Sunday in a delayed second round of countrywide municipal elections, a midterm test for President Emmanuel Macron and his ruling party which could fail to win a single big city.
A year ago Macron had hoped the local elections would help anchor his young centrist party in towns and cities across France, including Paris, ahead of an anticipated 2022 re-election bid. But more recently, presidential aides have been playing down expectations, Reuters wrote.
France’s 35,000 mayors set policy on issues from urban planning to education and the environment and while local factors typically drive voter choices, they give the electorate an opportunity to support or punish a president mid-mandate.
“We have a government that is completely disconnected from reality,” said Naouel, a voter in Paris’ 9th district who said she was backing the centre-right opposition candidate.
France pressed ahead with the first round of the municipal elections in mid-march, less than 48 hours before Macron imposed one of Europe’s strictest coronavirus lockdowns, forcing a long delay before
President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday mask-wearing will become mandatory in certain areas as he allowed virushit provinces to reimpose restrictions to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Rouhani said Iran would have to live with the virus for the “long haul”, as he announced the latest measures to combat it.
Mask-wearing would be “obligatory in covered spaces where there are gatherings”, he said during a televised meeting of the anti-virus taskforce.
According to him, the measure would come into force as of next Sunday, continue until July 22 and would be extended if necessary.
Rouhani said the Health Ministry had devised “a clear list” of the types of spaces and gatherings deemed high-risk.
He did not say what the penalty would be for those who fail to observe the measure.
Iran has refrained from enforcing full lockdowns to stop the pandemic’s spread, and the use of masks and protective equipment has been optional in most areas.
According to Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi, services would not be provided to those without masks in areas such as government organizations and shopping malls.
But implementing the measure may be difficult, as according to Tehran’s mayor, many do not wear masks in places like the capital’s public transport network, where it is already mandatory.
“Fifty percent of metro passengers the second round.
The pandemic could still depress turnout. At midday this was at 15.3%, below the 19.8% registered at the same time in 2014.
In the capital, the election’s biggest prize, the sitting socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo is on track for a comfortable win after a shambolic campaign by Macron and his La Republique en Marche (Larem) party.
Paris is unlikely to be the only disappointment for Macron.
The Greens could to do well in wear masks... and even fewer in buses,” Mayor Pirouz Hanachi said.
“We can’t forcefully confront people without masks,” he added.
The government launched an “#I wear a mask” campaign on Saturday and pleaded with Iranians to observe guidelines aimed at curbing infections.
One Iranian is infected with COVID-19 every 33 seconds and one dies from the disease every 13 minutes, Harirchi said on Saturday.
Zanjan in northwestern Iran has already reimposed restrictive measures for two weeks, its governor said in a televised interview.
It followed a “certain indifference from Zanjan residents and as the number of our (virus) deaths picked up again in recent weeks,” said Alireza Asgari.
The limitations include closing wedding halls and a ban on funeral events held at mosques, as they can lead to large gatherings, he added.
Iran reported its first COVID-19 cases on February 19 and it has since struggled to contain the outbreak.
The Health Ministry on Sunday announced 144 virus deaths in the past 24 hours, the highest for a single day since April 5, raising the total to 10,508.
Spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari also raised total confirmed infections to 222,669, with 2,489 new cases during the same period.
Official figures have shown an upward trajectory in new confirmed cases since early May, when Iran hit a near two-month low in daily recorded infections. cities such as Lyon, Marseille and Bordeaux, sometimes in alliance with the Left, building on momentum they created in 2019’s European elections. In Perpignan, Marine Le
“Considering the rising numbers, I plead with you to definitely use masks outside and in covered places,” Lari said.
Iran closed schools, cancelled public events and banned movement between its 31 provinces in March, but the government progressively lifted restrictions from April to try to reopen its sanctionshit economy.
The increasing virus caseload has seen some previously unscathed provinces classified as “red” – the highest level on Iran’s color-coded risk scale – with authorities allowing them to reimpose restrictive measures if required.
According to Rouhani, the measure would also be extended to provinces with “red” counties.
“Any county that is red, its provincial (virus) committee can propose reimposing limitations for a week”, which could be extended if needed, he said.
He also is experiencing its toughest year because of US sanctions coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s been the most difficult year due to the enemy’s economic pressure and the pandemic,” Rouhani said.
“The economic pressure that began in 2018 has increased ... and today it is the toughest pressure on our dear country.”
US President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018 from Iran’s nuclear deal with major powers and reimposed sanctions
AFP and Reuters contributed to this story.
Pen’s far-right party may take control of its first city with a population of more than 100,000.
Macron has said he will “reinvent” his presidency and present a detailed plan next month for the final two years of his mandate.
A government reshuffle is widely expected. The biggest question mark is over the future of Edouard Philippe, Macron’s popular prime minister, who is running for his old job as mayor of Le Havre.