Region

DAMASCUS — Syrian president Bashar Assad and Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday slammed their common foe the United States for maintaining sanctions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On his first official meeting with Zarif in a year, Assad expressed condolences to Iran, the regional epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic with 5,209 deaths from COVID-19.

A photo released by Assad's office showed him and Zarif sitting opposite each other, both in face masks. Zarif also wore light blue plastic gloves.

The Islamic republic says it has recorded 83,505 coronavirus infections, while Syria has declared 39 cases, including three deaths.

Assad criticised the United States for keeping economic sanctions in place on countries like Syria and Iran "despite these exceptional humanitarian conditions", the Syrian presidency said in a statement.

"The coronavirus crisis has exposed the failure of western regimes... and their lack of morals," it added.

Zarif said that "the US real agenda in not lifting its cruel sanctions on countries fighting this disease has now become clear", a statement from Tehran said.

During the meeting, Assad also condemned "ongoing encroachments by Turkey on the sovereignty and territory of Syria",  in the country's north where Ankara has deployed troops, set up military posts and backed rebels battling the government.

Earlier on Monday, Zarif met with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem, the foreign ministry in Damascus said.

They stressed "the importance of continued coordination and the exchange of information and expertise between... the two countries to enhance their ability to confront" the pandemic and "secure the necessary needs and requirements for prevention, diagnosis and treatment".

Iran, along with Russia, is one of the Syrian government's main allies in a nine-year civil war that has killed more than 380,000 people and forced more than half of the country's pre-war population from their homes.

Zarif last met with Assad during a visit to Damascus in April last year.

RIYADH — From cancelled iftar feasts to suspended mosque prayers, Muslims across the Middle East are bracing for a bleak month of Ramadan fasting as the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic lingers.

Ramadan is a period for both self-reflection and socialising. Believers fast from dawn to dusk and then gather around a family or community meal each evening of Islam's holiest month, which begins later this week and ends with Eid Al Fitr festivities.

But this year, the fast-spreading novel coronavirus threatens to dampen Ramadan like never before, with millions locked down across the Middle East -- from Saudi Arabia and Lebanon to the battle zones of Libya, Iraq and Yemen.

More dispiriting for many devout Muslims is the banning of congregational worship, including taraweeh nighttime prayers, in mosques across the region, with many closed in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.

Several countries' religious authorities, including Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, have ruled that prayers during Ramadan and Eid be performed at home.

"Our hearts are crying," said Ali Mulla, the muezzin who gives the call to prayer at Mecca's Grand Mosque.

"We are used to seeing the holy mosque crowded with people during the day, night, all the time... I feel pain deep inside."

In recent weeks, a stunning emptiness has enveloped the sacred Kaaba -- a large black cube structure draped in gold-embroidered cloth in the Grand Mosque towards which Muslims around the world pray.

The white-tiled area around the Kaaba is usually packed with tens of thousands of pilgrims.

Ramadan is considered an auspicious period to perform the year-round Umrah pilgrimage, which Saudi authorities suspended last month.

It is likely the larger Hajj pilgrimage, set for the end of July, will also be cancelled for the first time in modern history after Saudi Arabia urged Muslims to temporarily defer preparations.

'No feasts, no visits'

The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories Muhammad Hussein has announced similar prayer restrictions during Ramadan, while also advising against the public sighting of the crescent moon, which is used to estimate the start of the holy month.

The restrictions are in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organisation, which has urged countries to "stop large numbers of people gathering in places associated with Ramadan activities, such as entertainment venues, markets and shops".

The restrictions have hit businesses hard, including retailers who would normally be preparing for the Ramadan rush.

This year many Muslims are saving their money for masks, gloves and other COVID-19 protective gear.

"I had saved up an amount to spend on Ramadan shopping, but I spent it instead on purchasing things needed for quarantine and protection against the virus," said Younes, 51, who works at a clothing store in the Syrian capital Damascus.

"This year, no feasts, no visits... I feel we are besieged by the virus wherever we go."

Sanctions-stricken Iran last week allowed some shuttered Tehran businesses to reopen, despite being one of the worst-hit countries in the Middle East, as many citizens braved possible infection to avoid economic ruin.

Official statistics show the disease has killed more than 5,000 people and infected over 80,000 in Iran, but the actual figures are thought to be higher.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has appealed to Iranians to pray at home during Ramadan, while urging them to "not neglect worship, invocation and humility in our loneliness".

There is some levity in Cairo, where the Egyptian capital's narrow alleys and downtown markets are still covered with traditional Ramadan decorations and brightly coloured lanterns known as fawanees.

These decorations also typically adorn restaurants and cafes, but they are all closed due to the outbreak, lending a more subdued feel to the city as the holy month approaches.

Prayers and charity

Hardliners across the region have rejected some online suggestions by Muslims that they should be exempt from fasting this year owing to the pandemic, insisting that while social distancing was necessary, the virus did not stop them from observing the rules of Ramadan from home.

The WHO has pointed out that no studies have looked into links between studies of fasting and risk of COVID-19 infection.

"Healthy people should be able to fast during this Ramadan as in previous years, while COVID-19 patients may consider religious licenses regarding breaking the fast in consultation with their doctors, as they would do with any other disease," it said.

Iran's Khamenei issued a fatwa on Saturday allowing patients not to fast during Ramadan if a "pious doctor" considers it a risk, and to defer their fasting to a later date.

His ruling falls in line with long-standing Islamic traditions.

For many trapped in their homes in war-battered countries such as Libya, Ramadan is still a time for prayer, introspection and charity.

"For me, Ramadan has come early this year. During these curfew times, it means fewer working hours, similar to Ramadan," said Karima Munir, a 54-year-old banker and mother of two in Libya.

"Ramadan is always about being charitable and this year the needy are numerous, especially with the [displacement] from the war."

AMMAN — The UN children's agency on Monday appealed for $92.4 million in new funds for the Middle East and North Africa to help combat the effects of coronavirus on already poverty-stricken areas.

"The region has the biggest number of children in need in the world due to ongoing conflicts and wars," said Ted Chaiban, UNICEF director for the Middle East and North Africa, in a statement.

The combination of a lack of "or inadequate basic services, years of conflict, poverty, deprivation and now COVID-19 are hitting vulnerable children the most, making their hard lives simply unbearable", he added.

Nearly 25 million children across the region are in need, including many who are refugees and internally displaced, the statement said.

The majority were uprooted due to armed conflicts in Iraq, Libya, the Palestinian territories, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, it said.

The devastating effects of population lockdowns -- introduced to forestall the spread of coronavirus -- on employment and business will drag around eight million more people into poverty regionally, an estimated half of them children, UNICEF added.

Around 110 million children are now stuck at home rather than in school, it said.

The agency was therefore working with education ministries across the region on "distant learning programmes and... making material available on radio, TV and online platforms" for continuity of learning.

It also said it was focusing on distributing printed copies of learning materials for "vulnerable communities".

TEHRAN — Iran on Monday reported 91 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, as the government allowed more economic activity to resume after a gradual reopening in the past 10 days.

After nearly a week of declining fatalities, there has been a slight uptick in the past few days for the Islamic republic, one of the world's hardest hit.

The sanctions-hit country had shut down all non-essential economic activity in mid-March, weeks after its coronavirus outbreak first came to light.

But top officials argued that Iran's battered economy could not remain shuttered, and President Hassan Rouhani has allowed low-risk businesses to reopen since April 11.

Shops in passages and bazaars were the latest businesses that were permitted to resume trading as part of Iran's gradual reopening of its economy.

Nearly all retailers were open at north Tehran's Tajrish Bazaar, said an AFP correspondent who visited the sprawling complex on Monday.

But Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour appealed for people to remain vigilant as he announced the latest tolls from the deadly virus.

"With some businesses reopening and movement increasing, observing health protocols and social distancing become more and more necessary," he said.

"It does not mean we should be less careful, but the exact opposite," he told a televised news conference.

Iran reported its first coronavirus cases on February 19 -- two deaths in the Shiite holy city of Qom.

Jahanpour said the latest COVID-19 fatalities brought the country's official number of dead to 5,209.

An additional 1,294 infections took the country's total number of COVID-19 cases to 83,505.

Of those admitted to hospital, 59,273 had recovered and were discharged, while 3,389 remained in critical condition.

There has been scepticism about Iran's declared coronavirus casualty figures from officials and experts both in the country and abroad.

Rouhani's government allowed "low-risk" shops in the capital to reopen on Saturday and other provinces last week.

Businesses such as restaurants, gyms and wedding halls are still closed due to the high risk of spreading the virus.

Iran has been under crippling US sanctions since President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark nuclear deal and reimposed them in 2018.

With sanctions targeting key oil and banking sectors, Tehran has struggled to keep its economy running while handing out cash to the poor.

"The government must fight the direct and indirect impacts of coronavirus like poverty, unemployment, and recession, with the fight becoming harder and more complicated due to sanctions," government spokesman Ali Rabiei told a news conference on Monday.

TRIPOLI — Already tired of the tribulations of war, Libyans in the capital Tripoli are reluctant to respect intensified lockdown measures introduced on Friday to forestall coronavirus.

The round-the-clock curfew was flagged by the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) on Wednesday night and will apply for 10 days in areas under its control, although people are allowed to shop on foot between 7am and noon.

An earlier curfew had forbidden only night-time movement. Driving is now banned.

Data from authorities shows 49 people have so far tested positive for coronavirus in the country.

Hassan, a 52-year-old who only gave his first name, ignored the restrictions as he drove to fill water containers, while artillery boomed in the distance.

"I don't have a choice," he said. "With my back pain, I can't carry all this on foot" for 500 metres -- the distance from his house to the well at the neighbourhood mosque.

The capital's water supply has been cut since April 6 by an armed group in a region to the south under the control of Khalifa Haftar, the eastern-based strongman who has been fighting to seize Tripoli, the seat of the GNA, since last April.

 Long queues

Ahead of the driving ban, long queues formed outside petrol stations on Thursday. And while Tripoli's usual traffic has reduced, there are still cars on the road, particularly in the suburbs where there are few police to enforce the lockdown.

"There is nearly nothing around us, without a car we can't do the shopping, especially to buy cooking gas, milk or water containers... only the bakery is within 500 metres of us," said Abdel Alim Al Abded, who lives with his wife and three children on a family farm on the southeastern outskirts of Tripoli.

With sheep, chickens, and outdoor space, the family has all the meat, eggs and vegetables they need. But most Libyans are not this self-sufficient and many have not received government salaries and pensions for months.

Meanwhile, the curfew has resulted in long queues outside stores, raising transmission risks. In the suburb of Janzour east of the capital, more than 100 men, women and children waited outside the only neighbourhood bakery on Friday.

Baker Jamal Al Nafati struggled to enforce social distancing requirements on his customers.

"We are trying to bake more bread early in the morning," he said. "But because of the health risks four of my employees have quit, leaving me with only three guys to do the work."

He continued: "It's difficult. I hope that opening hours for bakeries will be extended to reduce these queues."

Fines planned

While most Libyans consider the lockdown another frustration on top of existing wartime difficulties, for a privileged few it represents a chance to stretch their legs unhindered by traffic.

Hallouma, a retiree who only gave her first name, is finally wearing the trainers she bought years ago but never wore. Accompanied by her son "for more security", she said she was "profiting from the lockdown by going for a walk... it's something rare for us."

Four young women wearing bright clothes said they had the same idea. "I never go out on foot, even to buy something from the corner store," said one.

"But with the curfew, we can be sure we won't be harassed by men in cars," said another.

Acknowledging limited compliance with the lockdown, the GNA health ministry reminded citizens of the rules on Saturday, warning of fines for those who ignored them.

Rim Taher

TRIPOLI — Several hundred people protested in Lebanon on Friday despite the country's coronavirus lockdown, marking six months since mass rallies broke out over government corruption and economic hardship.

Protestors in the northern city of Tripoli threw rocks at security forces, who responded with teargas to disperse a group attempting to approach a parliamentarian's house, an AFP reporter said.

Burning tyres in the central Al Nour square, a focal point of months of rallies that began on 17 October, they refused to leave when a 7:00 pm (16:00 GMT) curfew came into effect.

The protestors, few of whom wore protective masks against the virus, also shouted slogans against the government and the chief of the central bank.

The initial rallies last year were sparked by a raft of new taxes, and quickly morphed into a street movement calling for a full overhaul of the political class.

It led to prime minister Saad Hariri's resignation.

As the political crisis deepened, a liquidity crunch prompted informal capital controls, further stoking protesters' anger.

Karim, protesting on Friday, said he was angered by rising prices.

"Are we going to die of hunger or die of coronavirus?" he asked.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic forced a stringent lockdown, Lebanon was suffering its worst economic crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war, with a grinding recession and spiralling inflation.

One of the world's most indebted countries, in March it defaulted on sovereign bonds for the first time in its history.

With the International Monetary Fund now predicting national output will contract by 12 percent this year, authorities are working on a recovery plan.

The coronavirus pandemic is yet another critical blow for Lebanon, which has officially registered 668 cases of the illness including 21 deaths.

To help those most in need during the country's lockdown, the government is giving modest cash handouts.

But for many protesters, who see the banks and the government as to blame for their predicament, it is too little, far too late.

In Tripoli, Fatima, 27, said she was demonstrating in spite of the lockdown to demand the "rights of the people".

"They can try to scare us as much as they want, tell us 'stay at home, you'll be contaminated'," she said.

"But the Lebanese people won't let it pass any more."

TUNISIA — Tunisian engineers have created a web-based platform that scans lung X-rays and evaluates whether patients are likely to be suffering from the novel coronavirus.

While it's not the first initiative of its kind in the world, its creators say it is the first to be openly available. And though not a diagnostic tool, the technology provides a "90 per cent" reliable indication of the probability of infection, they add.

Teachers and students at the Tunisian engineering and technology institute INSAT have been developing the platform -- Covid-19 Exam Ct/XR images by AI -- since mid-March, with the support of German development agency GIZ, the Italian Society of Medical Radiology and US tech giant IBM.

Thousands of X-rays of the lungs of both healthy people and COVID-19 patients have been fed into the platform, allowing artificial intelligence to learn to recognise the marks of the virus on the lungs.

Improvements still need to be made for patients presenting with few symptoms, but the technology "allows the classification of a large number of images in a very short time, at low cost", Mustapha Hamdi, an academic and one of the platform's developers, told AFP on Friday.

"The more images we upload to the platform, the more exact and reliable it becomes."

It is still in the test phase, under evaluation by Tunisia's health ministry. But if approved, the technology would be particularly useful in areas of the country that lack major hospitals and specialist doctors.

"The initial idea was to allow the remote interior regions (of Tunisia) to do mass analysis", Hamdi said.

Uploading an X-ray image to the platform and running the test generates a recognition score, he explained -- requiring just an X-ray image and an internet connection.

X-ray procedures are inexpensive and common in Tunisia's public hospitals.

Fawzi Haddad, a doctor in Tunisia's main hospital for coronavirus patients, called the platform "a very good idea".

But, he noted, "it's still in the experimental stage."

Tunisia's health ministry has officially declared more than 800 novel coronavirus cases, including 37 deaths, since early March.

TEHRAN — Iran on Saturday announced 73 new deaths from the coronavirus, raising the official toll to 5,031 as the government allowed small businesses to reopen in Tehran as they already have in the provinces.

It was the seventh day that the number of deaths in the previous 24 hours had fallen.

It was also the fifth straight day that the number of new deaths had stayed in double figures, ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told a news conference.

"This [73] is a very low number compared to recent days," he said, hoping the downward trend would continue.

Jahanpour said the "small victory" against the coronavirus had been won despite "enmities" towards Iran.

He claimed that US sanctions had prevented Iran from buying virus testing kits from South Korea, but gve no further details.

"This is despite all their false claims that trade in medicines is not covered by the sanctions," he said.

"The world will judge such actions."

Jahanpour added that 1,374 new infections had been confirmed in the previous 24 hours, taking the total to 80,860.

Of those admitted to hospital, 55,987 have recovered and been discharged, while 3,513 remain in critical condition.

According to a parliamentary report, the published figures are based only on those hospitalised with "severe symptoms".

The report said the real death toll was estimated to be as much as 80 percent higher and infections "eight to 10 times" higher.

The health ministry has confirmed the numbers may be higher due to limited testing.

Tehran city councillor Nahid Khodakarami told the Shargh newspaperon Wednesday that the daily death toll in the capital ranged between 70 and more than 100.

But a member of the national coronavirus taskforce, Masoud Mardani, dismissed the claim, stressing that "not every respiratory disease is coronavirus".

Iran has struggled to contain the outbreak and keep Iran's sanctions-hit economy running.

It shut schools and universities, postponed major events and imposed a range of other restrictions, but it has stopped short of ordering lockdowns.

The government allowed small businesses in Tehran to reopen on Saturday, following a similar move in the provinces last week.

There was a "significant" rise in the volume of traffic on the capital's streets on Saturday morning as many returned to work, Tehran's traffic police said.

TEHRAN — Iran said on Wednesday the world is learning that the United States "kills people", after President Donald Trump suspended US funding for the World Health Organisation (WHO) amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump has accused the UN body of covering up the seriousness of the COVID-19 outbreak in China before it spread around the world.

The US president on Tuesday ordered that payments amounting to $400 million be halted pending a review of the WHO's role in allegedly "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus".

The death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic has topped 125,000 around the world, with more than two million people infected by the disease since December.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif likened the funding freeze to the United States' "maximum pressure" campaign against his country.

The United States reimposed crippling sanctions against Iran in 2018 after Trump unilaterally withdrew from a nuclear deal.

"The shameful defunding of WHO amid a pandemic will live in infamy," Zarif wrote on Twitter.

"The world is learning what Iran has known & experienced all along," he said.

'Vainglorious blathering'

"US regime's bullying, threatening & vainglorious blathering isn't just an addiction: it kills people," added Zarif.

Iran itself is battling the Middle East's most deadly coronavirus outbreak and on Wednesday reported that another 1,512 people had tested positive for the COVID-19 illness.

It has repeatedly called on the Trump administration to reverse its sanctions policy, which has been opposed even by some US allies, particularly since the pandemic hit.

Medicines and medical equipment are technically exempt from the US sanctions but purchases are frequently blocked by the unwillingness of banks to process payments for fear of incurring heavy US penalties.

The new infections confirmed by Iran on Wednesday took the total number in the country to 76,389, Jahanpour said, noting that 49,933 of those hospitalised had recovered and been discharged.

The government of President Hassan Rouhani has struggled to contain the outbreak that emerged two months ago.

It shut schools and universities, postponed major events and imposed a range of other restrictions, but it has stopped short of ordering lockdowns.

Iran allowed small businesses outside Tehran to reopen on Saturday and is set to extend the measure to the capital next week.

The move has faced criticism from health experts and even some authorities.

Iran has requested a $5 billion emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund to battle the coronavirus outbreak.

But the United States, which effectively holds a veto at the IMF, has signalled it has no intention of agreeing to give Iran such a credit line, alleging that it would be used to fund "terror abroad".

BEIRUT — Some 74 million people in the water-scarce Arab region are at greater risk of catching the novel coronavirus because they lack a sink or soap at home, the United Nations said Wednesday.

This includes 31 million people in Sudan, more than 14 million in war-torn Yemen and 9.9 million in Egypt, a UN report said.

"While it has been agreed worldwide that hand-washing with soap and water is the best prevention against COVID-19 contagion, this simple act proves to be difficult in a region where 74 million people lack access to a basic hand-washing facility," the UN's Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia(ESCWA) said.

"Refugees and people living in conflict areas or under occupation bear an additional burden," it added.

An estimated 26 million refugees and displaced people are at greater risk of contracting the illness region-wide, as they lack adequate access to water and hygiene services, ESCWA said.

"It is urgent to ensure access to clean water and sanitation services to everyone everywhere, at no cost for those who cannot afford it, in order to avoid further spread of the coronavirus," ESCWA Executive Secretary Rola Dashti said.

About 87 million people in the region also lack access to drinking water at home, forcing them to collect it from a public source and similarly threatening their health, the UN agency warned.

In a region where 10 out of 22 countries have insufficient piped water supply, more hand-washing was likely to increase household demand by four million to 5 million cubic metres, it said.