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  • Muslims mark Ramadan amid virus surge and new restrictions

    Still, there were glimmers that Ramadan 2021 could feel less restricted than last year, when Islam’s holiest period coincided with the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Mosques have since reopened and limits on movement have eased as vaccine rollouts continue in Muslim-majority nations. Clerics in such places as Indonesia have issued assurances the vaccine does not break one’s daytime fast.

  • Israel Honors Holocaust Victims as COVID-19 Vaccines Keep Survivors Alive

    A memorial siren brought traffic to a halt in Israel on Thursday as it honored six million Jews killed in the Nazi Holocaust, and gave thanks for its swift rollout of COVID-19 vaccines as a lifesaver for elderly survivors. With around 57% of the population having already received at least one vaccine dose, Israel's infection rate has dropped dramatically.

  • Iranian prosecutor announces indictments in downing of Ukrainian jet

    The announcement of the indictments comes after the country faced harsh criticism for its final report on the incident last month and before Iran is expected to begin indirect discussions with the U.S. to reenter a nuclear pact.

  • US Praises Saudi Commitment to End Conflict in Yemen

    In a television interview with the British BBC channel and the American PBS, Lenderking said, “what I hear is a consistent message from the Saudi leadership that they want to do their part to bring the conflict to a close … I'm confident that we're going to be able to count on Saudi Arabia to do its part.”

  • Saudi IPO Market Predicted to See 10 Listings in 2021

    According to the Ernest and Young Middle East and North Africa (MENA) IPO Eye Q4 2020 report, the region saw nine IPOs raise proceeds of $1.86b, a fall of 40% in total issuances and 94% in total proceeds when compared with 2019.

  • UN Chief: 10 Years Into Conflict, Syria Remains ‘A Living Nightmare’

    The U.N. secretary-general said Wednesday that the situation in war-torn Syria “remains a living nightmare” a decade after the government sought to violently suppress peaceful protests and plunged the country into civil war. “Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have died. Millions have been displaced. Countless others remain illegally detained and often tortured, missing, disappeared, or living in uncertainty and deprivation,” Antonio Guterres said. “For 10 years, the world has watched Syria spiral into destruction and bloodshed.”

  • Afghanistan conflict: US makes new push for UN-led peace process

    In a letter to the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Mr Blinken called for a 90-day reduction in violence and a transitional government formed from both sides. Mr Blinken also said no decision had been made about whether to stick to a planned US troop withdrawal by 1 May. He called on President Ghani to show "urgent leadership".

  • Predicting growth, Saudi’s Ma’aden to boost fertiliser capacity

    It said it expects its Waad al-Shamal fertiliser project to reach 85% of capacity by the end of this year from 70% now and hit full capacity of 3 million tons of fertiliser products by the first quarter of 2022.

  • Saudi Arabia sued by families of victims of 2019 Florida base attack

    Families of three U.S. service members who were killed and 13 others who were wounded in a shooting by a Saudi gunman at Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida in 2019 have sued Saudi Arabia for damages. The complaint, which was filed on Monday in a federal court in the city of Pensacola, alleged that Saudi Arabia had known about the gunman being radicalized and that it could have prevented the killings.

  • In Pictures: Jerusalem turns white after rare snowfall

    The snowfall, which also landed in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, covered areas in the region it has not reached in years, disrupting traffic and postponing vaccination campaigns against COVID-19 and even exams at some universities.