Phone service starts between UAE, Israel after historic accord
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Telephone calls began ringing Sunday between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, marking the first concrete step of a U.S.-brokered diplomatic deal between the nations that required Israel to halt plans to annex land sought by the Palestinians.
Anger over the deal however continued as well, with protesters in Pakistan criticizing the UAE, and Iran making new threats about the accord, which will see the Emirates become only the third Arab nation to recognize Israel. The UAE responded by summoning Iran’s charge d’affairs to criticize earlier comments by Iran’s president it described as threatening.
But for Dubai’s small expatriate Jewish community, which has worshipped for years at an unmarked villa in this city-state, the calls represented so much more than just the convenience of being able to directly dial loved ones in Israel.
“There’s a sense of a miracle upon a miracle upon a miracle, as all of these hurdles fall away and people at last can come together and start talking,” said Ross Kriel, the president of the Jewish Council of the Emirates.
Direct telephone calls have been blocked in the Emirates, a U.S.-allied federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula, since its founding in 1971. That backed the standing position of Arab nations at the time, that Israel must first grant concessions to the Palestinians before being recognized — one of their few points of leverage.
Since Thursday’s announcements, Associated Press journalists have tried to make calls between the nations without success. But around 1:15 p.m. Sunday, AP journalists in Jerusalem and Dubai could call each other from landline and cellular phones registered to Israel’s country code.
Over an hour later, Emirati officials acknowledged that Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan had called his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi. The Israelis later acknowledged the call as well, saying the block had been lifted from the Emiratis’ side.
Israeli Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel issued a statement “congratulating the United Arab Emirates on removing the blocks.”
Georgia mask order: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who has opposed local mask mandates and even sued over one in Atlanta, has signed a new executive order that allows local governments to enact mask requirements to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.
As with previous orders, the one issued over the weekend says residents and visitors of the state are “strongly encouraged” to wear face coverings when outside of their homes, except when eating, drinking or exercising. But unlike previous orders, this one allows local governments in counties that have reached a “threshold requirement” to require the wearing of masks on governmentowned property.
A county meets that threshold requirement if it has had 100 or more confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people over the previous 14 days. Only two of Georgia’s 159 counties were below that threshold, according to data from the state Department of Public Health.
Kemp, a Republican, last month sued Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, and the Atlanta City Council after Bottoms made statements that the governor said some interpreted as orders for restaurants to close and ordered masks. Kemp dropped the lawsuit Thursday.
Georgia reported 1,873 new cases and 33 deaths Sunday, bringing the state’s total to 237,030 cases and 4,702 deaths.
Protests in Bangkok: Anti-government protesters gathered Sunday in Thailand’s capital Sunday for a rally that suggested their movement’s strength may extend beyond the college campuses where it had blossomed.
Thousands of people assembled at Bangkok’s Democracy Monument, a traditional venue for political activities, where they heard speeches, watched skits and listened to music. Hundreds of police were also present, as well as a small contingent of royalists opposed to the protesters.
The rally ended after almost eight hours with about two dozen students who are facing arrest joining together on stage to repeat their demands and renew their commitment to the cause of democracy. They issued a call for the government to take action by next month or face another major protest rally.
Pardon for Snowden? President Donald Trump said he would consider pardoning Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who faced criminal charges after leaking classified documents about vast government surveillance.
“There are many, many people — it seems to be a split decision — many people think that he should be somehow be treated differently and other people think he did very bad things,” Trump said during a news conference Saturday at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. “I’m going to take a very good look at it.”
The remarks signal a shift for the president, who repeatedly denigrated Snowden as a “traitor” and a “spy who should be executed” in the years before his election. The disclosures by Snowden, who sought asylum in Russia in 2013, set off a debate about surveillance and privacy.
In Somalia’s capital: Somalia’s security forces on Sunday ended a nearly fivehour siege by Islamic extremists at a beachside hotel in Mogadishu, a police and government spokesman.
At least 15 people were killed when the attackers invaded the Elite Hotel, a new establishment popular with Mogadishu’s young people, said Col. Ahmed Aden, a police officer.
Somalia’s homegrown Islamic extremist rebels, alShabab, who are allied to al-Qaida, have claimed responsibility for the attack via its radio arm, Andalus.
Knorr to rename sauce: One of Germany’s bestknown food companies said it will rename a popular spicy dressing because of the racist connotations of its name.
Food company Knorr will change the name of its “Zigeunersauce,” or “gypsy sauce” to “Paprika Sauce Hungarian Style,“the German weekly Bild am Sonntag reported Sunday.
Civil rights groups have for years called for the renaming of the brand.
The renaming of the brand follows recent international debates over racism, especially in the United States, where national companies have also renamed traditional brands in response to concerns about racial stereotyping.