Category Archives: Middle East and North Africa

‘We feel like prisoners’: the Moroccans stuck in Spanish enclaves during lockdown

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More than 500 Moroccans remain in limbo, far from home and with few resources to support themselves

On 14 March, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, ordered the country into Covid-19 lockdown, saying “extraordinary decisions” needed to be taken as the country struggled with a “health, social and economic crisis”.

The Moroccan authorities had taken their own extraordinary decision the day before, when they ordered the shutdown of the border crossings that connect the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla with the rest of the country. With the only land borders between Africa and Europe closed, many citizens from both continents found themselves trapped.

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‘Rolling emergency’ of locust swarms decimating Africa, Asia and Middle East

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Unseasonal rains have allowed desert pests to breed rapidly and spread across vast distances leaving devastation in their wake

Locust swarms threaten a “rolling emergency” that could endanger harvests and food security across parts of Africa and Asia for the rest of the year, experts warn.

An initial infestation of locusts in December was expected to die out during the current dry season. But unseasonal rains have allowed several generations of locust to breed, resulting in new swarms forming.

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Black boxes of downed Ukrainian plane of ‘no help’, Iran claims

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Tehran says it will transfer boxes of Flight 752 abroad but insists investigation is nearly complete

The black boxes of a Ukrainian plane that was mistakenly downed near Tehran airport will be of “no help” in any investigation, but Iran is ready to transfer them abroad, state media said Saturday.

Flight 752, an Ukraine International Airlines jetliner, was struck by a missile and crashed shortly after taking off from the Tehran airport on 8 January.

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Egyptian president announces plan for ceasefire in Libya

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Sisi’s initiative includes peace talks in Geneva and is backed by rebel general Khalifa Haftar

Egypt’s president has announced an initiative to end nearly a decade of civil war in Libya, backed by the main commander in the oil-rich country’s east, whose siege of the capital, Tripoli collapsed this week.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi said a ceasefire will start on Monday and is meant to pave the way for elections. He called for peace talks in Geneva and the exit of all foreign fighters from Libya.

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Egyptian father to stand trial on charges of forced FGM of three daughters

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Girls were allegedly told they were to have Covid-19 vaccinations but were cut by doctor after being sedated

Egypt’s public prosecutor has ordered the immediate trial of a father on charges of forcing his three young daughters to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM), after he told them they were going to be vaccinated against coronavirus. The doctor involved will also go on trial.

The procedure was banned in 2008 and criminalised in 2016.

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Zaghari-Ratcliffe endures further wait for Iranian decision on release

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Campaigners contrast British-Iranian’s plight with return of prisoner Michael White to US

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian dual national detained by Iran since 2016, has been told her furlough from prison will be extended beyond the previous cut-off date of early June, according to her lawyer. But she has not been informed she will be granted a full clemency, which would allow her to return to the UK.

Her family said they were investigating the reports. They previously said they expected to hear on Saturday whether she was to be given clemency. Her lawyer, Mahmoud Behzadi-Rad, was reported by Iran International TV on Friday as saying only her furlough had been extended.

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Israel’s West Bank plans condemned by leading British Jewish figures

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Simon Schama and Sir Malcolm Rifkind among those warning that annexation ‘would have grave consequences’ for Palestinians

Some of the most prominent and respected names in British Jewry have raised alarm over the Israeli government’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank, saying such a move would be an existential threat to Israel.

Among more than 40 signatories of an unprecedented letter to the Israeli ambassador to the UK are Sir Ben Helfgott, one of the best-known Holocaust survivors in Britain; the historians Sir Simon Schama and Simon Sebag Montefiore; the former Conservative foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind; the lawyer Anthony Julius; the philanthropist Dame Vivien Duffield; the scientist Lord Robert Winston; the former MP Luciana Berger; the Times columnist Daniel Finkelstein; and the author Howard Jacobson. 

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Family fears grow for activists detained in notorious Saudi prison

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Reports of Covid-19 cases and allegations of withheld medical treatment have sparked concern for those held in al-Ha’ir prison

Relatives of prisoners held in a sprawling complex outside Riyadh say they fear prison conditions and denial of medical treatment are risking the lives of detainees including members of the Saudi royal family. 

Two sources close to the family of Princess Basmah bint Saud bin Abdulaziz al-Saud say the senior royal, known as an outspoken advocate for reform, is in a life-threatening condition inside al-Ha’ir prison south of Riyadh. Concerns grew following the death in a Riyadh hospital last month of prominent rights activist Abdullah al-Hamid, formerly held in al-Ha’ir.

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Iran releases US navy veteran detained for nearly two years

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Michael White was detained in 2018 and sentenced 10 years on charges of insulting the supreme leader and posting a private photo

A US navy veteran detained in Iran for nearly two years flew out on Thursday, a day after an Iranian scientist held by US authorities returned home.

“I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely on his way home,” Michael White’s mother, Joanne White, said in a statement.

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Iran cases hit record high in second wave of coronavirus

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Government faces political as well as health crisis as easing of restrictions continues

Iran is reluctantly confronting the possibility of a renewed political crisis as well as a health one after the latest figures showed the number of new coronavirus infections at a record high.

The government appeared to have brought the virus under control a month ago, but a second wave of the virus has steadily been gathering pace. According to data released by the health ministry on Thursday there were 3,574 confirmed new infections in 24 hours – an increase of 440 on the previous day.

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Facebook deactivates accounts of Tunisian political bloggers and activists

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Several accounts reactivated after protests with social media giant blaming ‘technical error’

The Facebook accounts of several high-profile bloggers and activists in Tunisia were among those deactivated without warning over the weekend.

Up to 60 accounts are understood to have been deactivated, including that of journalist and political commentator Haythem El Mekki.

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The Gambia demands US investigation into police killing of citizen in Atlanta

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Shooting of Lamin Sisay, son of former UN diplomat, last week prompts outrage as family and friends reject police version of events

The Gambia has demanded the US investigate the police killing one of its citizens, a former UN diplomat’s son.

The shooting of Lamin Sisay, 39, in Atlanta last week prompted anger in the Gambian community, who have described it as another example of the police brutality against black Americans that has prompted country-wide protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

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Yemeni journalist who backed independence for south is shot dead

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Nabil Hasan al-Quaety, who worked for AFP among others, targeted in his car in Aden

A Yemeni journalist has been shot dead in the southern city of Aden in an incident that is likely to inflame tensions between the government and secessionists seeking independence for the south. 

Nabil Hasan al-Quaety, a 34-year-old photographer and video journalist who worked for news organisations including Agence France-Presse, was shot in his car shortly after leaving his home on Tuesday morning. 

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‘Sarah and Omar have disappeared’: children of ex-Saudi official missing since March

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Aljabri family tells of anguish over what they describe as act of vengeance by Prince Mohammed bin Salman

The family of a former senior Saudi intelligence official have told of their anguish over the disappearance of two of his adult children in Riyadh, in what has been described to the Guardian as an act of vengeance by the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to force the official’s return from exile.

The disappearance of Omar and Sarah Aljabri, son and daughter of Saad and Nadyah Aljabri, in March showed how Saudi’s de facto ruler had used the children of his perceived enemies against them, said Khalid Aljabri, the siblings’ older brother.

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Coronavirus live news: India evacuates Covid-19 patients ahead of cyclone as Brazil deaths pass 30,000

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Yemen aid funding falls short by US$1bn; Zoom profits double; global cases pass 6.3m. Follow the latest updates

China reported one new coronavirus case and four new asymptomatic Covid-19 cases in the mainland on 2 June, the country’s health commission said.

The National Health Commission said the one confirmed case was imported involving a traveller from overseas. Mainland China had five confirmed cases, all of which were imported, and 10 asymptomatic cases for 1 June.

China does not count asymptomatic patients, those who are infected with the coronavirus but not exhibiting symptoms, as confirmed cases.

Total number of infections to date in the mainland stands at 83,021. The death toll remained unchanged at 4,634.

Dan Collyns brings you this action-packed update from Bolivia:

“Thanos is beating us” warned a Bolivian government minister in a live televised press conference on Monday as he called for his compatriots to comply with sanitary measures and lockdown restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Mientras tanto, en bolivia pic.twitter.com/5VPR4sDoX3

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Brazil poised to overtake Italy as country with third-highest death toll – as it happened

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Sweden death rate now higher than France; Pakistan records largest single day rise in new infections; global deaths pass 380,000. This blog is now closed

We’ve launched a new blog at the link below:

Related: Coronavirus live news: Germany reveals major stimulus plan as global cases grow by 100,000 a day

At least three people were reported dead as coronavirus-hit Mumbai appeared to escape the worst of Cyclone Nisarga Wednesday, the first severe storm to threaten India’s financial capital in more than 70 years, AFP reports.

The city and its surrounds are usually sheltered from cyclones - the last deadly storm to hit the city was in 1948. Authorities had evacuated at least 100,000 people, including coronavirus patients, from flood-prone areas in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat ahead of Nisarga’s arrival.

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Yemen faces ‘macabre tragedy’ as aid funding falls short by $1bn

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UN says country is on cliff edge after fundraising summit raises only $1.35bn for the year

Yemen remains on the brink of “a macabre tragedy”, the UN has warned after a humanitarian fundraising summit raised only $1.35bn (£1.05bn) for this year, around $1bn short of the target and only half the sum raised at the equivalent pledging conference last year.

The UN’s humanitarian chief, Mark Lowcock, said unless more money was raised Yemen “will face a horrific outcome at the end of the year”. 

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Yemen’s hidden migrants risk conflict and coronavirus in fight for survival

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Refugees face violence and disease as they travel across the Red Sea hoping to find work in the Gulf states

Yellow and purple headscarves and patterned dresses made a jarring contrast with the camouflage uniforms worn by soldiers milling around a bullet-ridden checkpoint in the southern Yemeni city of Aden. 

It was 8am, and the sun was already hot. The family of six – four women and two men from Ethiopia, across the Red Sea – had already walked eight miles (13km) so far that morning. They stopped to ask the soldiers for water before continuing on their journey.

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US activist sues former Egyptian prime minister over arrest and torture

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  • Hazem Abdel Aziz El Beblawi sued in Washington
  • Mohamed Soltan alleges he was targeted for assassination

A US activist arrested as part of a brutal crackdown in Cairo has filed a lawsuit against a former Egyptian prime minister who now lives in Washington DC, arguing he was targeted for assassination, arrest and torture. 

Mohamed Soltan was arrested following the violent dispersal of protesters in Cairo in 2013. Court documents chronicle the extensive physical torture Soltan suffered in multiple detention facilities during his 643-day detention, including beatings, denial of medical treatment and cigarette burns to the back of his neck.

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‘Palestinian lives matter’: Israeli police killing of autistic man draws US comparison

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Caregiver for Iyad Halak says she told police he was disabled shortly before he was shot

A caregiver for an unarmed, autistic Palestinian man killed in Jerusalem by Israeli police has said she repeatedly warned officers he was disabled before they opened fire, in a case that has drawn parallels with US police violence.

The body of Iyad Halak, 32, was buried late on Sunday night. He was shot dead the day before, reportedly after becoming confused by shouting police and fleeing in a panic to hide among rubbish bins.

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