News in Brief
JERUSALEM: Hundreds of Israelis protested outside Israel’s Supreme Court on Wednesday, calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be investigated in a scandal surrounding a $2 billion submarine deal with Germany.
Several Israeli businessmen, including confidants of Netanyahu and a former commander of the navy, are suspects in a graft scandal connected to the purchase of warships and submarines from German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp.
The protesters, many in cars that had driven in convoys from northern and southern Israel, carried makeshift submarines on top of their vehicles as they passed the court.
Netanyahu, who is on trial in three other corruption cases, was questioned but not named as a suspect in the submarine scandal.
Dan Halutz, a former military chief of staff, accused Netanyahu of hiding relevant information from defense officials when deciding to purchase the submarines from Germany.
Wednesday’s protest took place after emergency restrictions limiting public demonstrations expired. Those restrictions, imposed under a new lockdown, allowed people to demonstrate only within a kilometer (half mile) of their homes.
Netanyahu is standing trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in the three corruption cases in which he is accused of trading favors in exchange for lavish gifts and favorable news coverage.
He has professed innocence, saying the charges are trumped up by a biased justice system and a liberal media.
Netanyahu has also been facing growing dissatisfaction with his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the economy, with weekly protests against him being held for over three months.
The country entered a second nationwide lockdown last month, dealing another blow to an economy already hit hard by the pandemic.
Netanyahu announced Wednesday that the lockdown has brought down infection rates and that the government will soon announce its plans for an exit strategy. (AP)
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DUBAI: The UAE said on Thursday coronavirus cases increased by 1,398 to 111,437.
Two fatalities were registered as the death toll rose to 452, state news agency, WAM, quoted health authorities as saying.
Meanwhile, some 1,666 people were cured from the virus, raising the total recoveries to 103,325. (KUNA)
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MANAMA: Bahrain said on Thursday daily confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 349 as deaths increased by two to 288.
Some 397 new recoveries were also reported for a total of 72,561, as compared to 3,722 currently active cases, according to a health ministry statement. (KUNA)
DOHA: Qatar’s health ministry said its coronavirus case tally on Thursday reached 128,803 after 200 people were confirmed as testing positive in the last day.
The number of recoveries in the Gulf state stands at 125,802 after 218 more people were cured, according to a ministry statement. (KUNA)
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MUSCAT: Oman’s Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 564 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours.
The total infections have climbed to 107,776, Oman New Agency (ONA) quoted the ministry’s statement as saying.
Some 93,908 people recovered from the disease, while the mortalities stood at 1,061, it added. (KUNA)
TEHRAN: Iran’s daily confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 4,616 on Thursday as 256 people succumbed to the deadly pandemic in the last 24 hours.
This brings the country’s overall caseload to 517,835, ministry spokeswoman Dr Sima Sadat Lari said in a press statement.
The death toll has now reached 29,605, while on the other hand, a total 418,054 people have been cured since the beginning of the outbreak. (KUNA)
RAMALLAH: Palestinian Minister of Health Mai Al-Kaila announced Thursday eight deaths from COVID-19, as well as 442 cases in the past 24 hours.
The minister said in a statement that 81 recoveries took place as well. (KUNA)
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CAIRO: The Egyptian Ministry of Health said Wednesday that 128 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus, while six others died due to the viral illness over the past 24 hours.
The latest figures took the overall infections up to 104,915 and the death toll to 60,77, the ministry’s spokesman Dr Khaled Mujahed said in a press statement.
The number of treated virus patients went up by 79 to 97,920, he added. (KUNA)
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RABAT:
Morocco reported Wednesday 41 new coronavirus fatalities and 3,387 infections in the past 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health’s daily update on the killer virus.
The new figures take the overall number of COVID-19 related deaths and infections up to 2,726 and 160,333 respectively, noted the ministry.
It pointed out that there are currently 525 COVID patients receiving treatment at the intensive care units.
The ministry also reported the recovery of 2,497, raising the total to 133,959. (KUNA)
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health announced 1,377 new coronavirus infection cases, which raises the cumulative number of confirmed cases to 57,246.
In its daily briefing, the ministry added that 20 deaths have been registered over the past 24 hours as well, bringing the total number of deaths to 499.
Recoveries from the virus reached
25,164. (KUNA)
ALGIERS: The Algerian government announced on Wednesday end to the ban forced on the Friday congregational and ‘Fajr’ (early morning) prayers in mid-March as part of efforts to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Mosques nationwide, with occupancy of less than 1,000 worshippers, will be allowed to hold the Friday and Al-Fajr prayers as from Nov 6, provided that worshippers comply with the preventive measures, including social distancing and wearing facemasks, the government said in a statement.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, approved the decision after consultations with the higher Islamic affairs council and the interagency scientific committee, the statement added. (KUNA)
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s confirmed coronavirus cases climbed by 472 as related deaths rose by 19 over the past day, the health ministry said on Thursday.
The death toll now stands at 5,127 as confirmed cases hit 341,062, according to ministry data, which showed the number of recoveries as having risen by 507 to 327,327. (KUNA)
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s coronavirus deaths increased by 65 to over 10,086 as the confirmed cases rose by 3,587, the health ministry said on Thursday.
This brings the caseload across the country’s provinces, including the Kurdistan Region, to 416,802, read a ministry statement.
On the other hand, a total 350,752 people have been cured of the virus, according to official figures. (KUNA)
AMMAN:
Jordan said on Thursday it recorded 25 deaths and 2,459 new cases of COVID-19, summing up the total cases recorded to 33,009 and 282 deaths.
A joint statement by the Parliament and the Health Ministry said, 99 patients recovered with 27,500 tests done tallying up to 1,518 million lab samples since the virus began its dissemination.
All of Jordan’s provinces are under extensive lockdown control since Thursday midnight until 12:00 am, as this lockdown will be imposed at the end of every week until further notice based on decisions by the government, in order to prevent the spread of the virus. (KUNA)
TEHRAN:
Iran’s cybersecurity authority acknowledged cyberattacks on two governmental departments this week, state media reported Thursday.
The cyberattacks occurred Tuesday and Wednesday and were under investigation, the state-owned IRAN daily newspaper said.
While the report did not say which government departments were targeted, it called the attacks “important” and said some other departments temporarily took down their online services as a precaution against further attacks.
The brief report did not blame any group or country for the attacks.
Iran occasionally says it has thwarted cyberattacks on its infrastructure, although it has disconnected much of its infrastructure from the internet after the Stuxnet computer virus, widely believed to be a joint US-Israeli creation, disrupted thousands of Iranian centrifuges in the country’s nuclear sites in the late 2000s.
In December, Iran said it halted a massive cyberattack on unspecified “electronic infrastructure” but provided no specifics on the purported attack.
Last year, Washington officials said that US military cyber forces launched a strike against Iranian military computer systems, as President Donald Trump backed away from plans for a more conventional military strike in response to Iran’s downing of a US surveillance drone in the strategic Arabian Gulf.
Tensions have escalated between the US and Iran since Trump in 2018 withdrew America from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers and began a policy of “maximum pressure” on Tehran.
Tensions rose further after a US airstrike killed a top Iranian general at Baghdad’s airport in January. Iran retaliated with a ballistic missile strike on Iraqi bases housing American troops, wounding dozens of US troops. (AP)