Israel and the United Arab Emirates are set to join forces in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jerusalem Post reports. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the partnership in a statement on Thursday, saying the decision to cooperate had come after months of intense negotiation.
The U.S. economy shrank at a 5.0% rate in the first quarter with a much worse decline expected in the current three-month economic period because of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a new study, many African nations struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic may find themselves defaulting on debt repayments, DW reports. Weak currencies, higher interest rates, and reduced oil prices could result in African governments losing an estimated US$45 billion in revenue this year alone, the study found.
Russia has begun a week-long vote on constitutional reforms that could allow President Vladimir Putin to rule until 2036.
The cabinet and the Knesset voted on Wednesday to advance legislation that would enable the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) to use its digital tools to track coronavirus patients. The bill passed a preliminary reading in the Knesset plenum by a vote of 44 to 33, but still must pass additional readings in a Knesset committee and the plenum next week in order to become law.
In a display of power, the US Navy now has three aircraft carriers to the Taiwan Strait in the South China Sea, Fox News reported Monday. This is the first three-carrier mission to take place in several years and it reportedly sends a message of deterrence to China.
An Iranian Christian rights activist who was jailed for protesting against Iran’s Islamic government says more than a dozen Christians remain behind bars in the country’s overcrowded prisons.
Hope but also frustration and uncertainty marked the world’s efforts Sunday to deal with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. President Donald Trump has blamed mainstream media and “radical protesters” for scaring away attendees during his first election rally in more than three months.
Serbia’s ruling populists were due to tighten their grip on power in the first European national election since the coronavirus pandemic. Voting began Sunday in the, heavily Orthodox, Balkan nation despite concerns about ongoing COVID-19 cases and what critics view as the autocratic style of the current president.
The first judge to rule in favor of churches during COVID-19 lockdowns has been confirmed to the influential Court of Appeals, the Washington Examiner reports. President Trump nominated 38-year-old Kentucky Judge Justin Walker to the seat being vacated by retiring Judge Thomas B. Griffith.
Religious freedom group Open Doors USA has been told that Christians in Iran are risking their lives to help fellow citizens with food and hygiene parcels during the coronavirus outbreak, Fox News reported Thursday. Known internationally for its radical Islamic terrorism, Iran is the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Middle East.
The UK’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has announced a “major breakthrough” in the treatment of patients who are seriously ill with COVID-19. On Twitter Tuesday the NIHR said a RECOVERY trial it supported showed that the steroid dexamethasone “significantly reduces” the risk of dying for coronavirus patients requiring respiratory intervention.
The leader of Lebanese terror group Hezbollah said Tuesday that new US sanctions are intended to “starve” both Syria and Lebanon, the Times of Israel (ToI) reports.
Hungarians dressed in white have braved pouring rain to mourn those who died of the government’s coronavirus measures and COVID-19 patients who passed away. Their ‘White Silence’ rally in Budapest was, at times, interrupted by the tolling of small church bells on top of two ladders.
Israeli firm Pangea, a maker of smart digital ID cards and border control software, is hoping to use its know-how to help airports reopen during the coronavirus pandemic to jumpstart travel and tourism.
The Knesset approved in second and third reading on Tuesday night the novel coronavirus-era emergency powers bill, the emergency powers will come into effect on Wednesday at 6 a.m. There were ten MKs present during the readings, Army radio reported on Tuesday night.
US President Donald Trump is considering an infrastructure plan worth $1 trillion to help revive the economy from the fallout of coronavirus and push ahead with his longstanding goal of spending big on US infrastructure, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
Borders reopened across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus lockdowns. But many restrictions persist and remain unclear how willing Europeans will be to travel this summer.
A human rights group supports a European court case against Hungary for “failing to protect its citizens” and “causing death” by emptying hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic.