King of Bahrain Congratulates the UAE on Deal With Israel, Iran daily says the deal makes UAE ‘legitimate target’

Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has "congratulated" the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) de-facto ruler, Mohammed bin Zayed, on his deal to normalize ties with Israel, calling it "historic," Bahrain's state news agency said on Saturday.

In a sharp contrast, an ultraconservative Iranian newspaper said today that the UAE’ decision to normalise ties with Israel has made it a “legitimate target” for pro-Tehran forces. The Kayhan daily, considered to be the mouthpiece of ultraconservatives in Iran, said the agreement was a “betrayal” of the Palestinian cause.

According to the daily: “The UAE’s great betrayal of the Palestinian people and its signing of an agreement to normalise relations with the Zionist regime, if it has only one result, it will be to turn this small, rich country heavily dependent on security into a legitimate and easy target for the resistance,” Kayhan said in a front-page commentary.

Iran’s government has strongly condemned the agreement. The move was an act of “strategic stupidity from Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv which will undoubtedly strengthen the resistance axis in the region,” the foreign ministry said yesterday.

The UAE and Israel announced on Thursday a US-brokered agreement to establish full diplomatic ties in return for Israel suspending a controversial plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

The deal makes the UAE the third Arab country after Egypt and Jordan and the first Arab Gulf state to have diplomatic links with Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed and US President Donald Trump hailed the agreement as "historic," while the Palestinians and some countries including Iran and Turkey decried it as a "betrayal."

In a telephone call, the Bahraini monarch described the UAE-Israeli pact as a "historic step for peace," saying it will boost peace efforts and stability in the Middle East, according to the agency.
King Hamad also said the deal preserves a two-state formula that envisages a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

On Thursday, Bahrain was the first in a six-nation energy-rich Gulf bloc allied with the US to hail the deal. Bahrain is home to the US 5th Fleet.

At a White House press briefing on Thursday, officials said that Oman and Bahrain would be the next countries to normalize relations with Israel.

Sources: Malaymail, Haaretz

Bahrain records first #coronavirus death in the Gulf: health ministry

DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain reported the Gulf's first death from the new coronavirus on Monday, as the total number of confirmed infections in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stood at 965.

The deceased woman was a 65-year-old Bahraini citizen who had underlying health conditions, the health ministry said on Twitter.

Bahrain has reported 214 cases of the disease so far.

Many cases in the Gulf are linked to travel with Iran, which on Sunday raised its toll to 724 dead and more than 13,900 infected.

Dozens of Bahrain's cases were confirmed among citizens evacuated from Iran on flights chartered by Bahraini authorities last week.


(Writing by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Jon Boyle and Alex Richardson)

Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix scrapped over coronavirus - official

AFP: The Bahrain Grand Prix scheduled for March 22 was postponed by Formula One officials on Friday due to the coronavirus outbreak, becoming the third race in less than 24 hours to be called off after Australia and Vietnam.

"Formula 1 and the FIA continue to work closely with the race promoters in Bahrain and Vietnam and the local authorities to monitor the situation and take the appropriate amount of time to study the viability of potential alternative dates for each Grand Prix later in the year should the situation improve," F1 officials said in a statement.

It is the fourth Grand Prix to be called off in total. The Chinese Grand Prix was postponed by motorsport's governing body in February because of the spread of the coronavirus.

The death toll from COVID-19 jumped to more than 5,000 on Friday as the number of cases around the world topped 134 000, according to an AFP tally.

Greece confirms first coronavirus case AS Iran reports 19 new deaths

12th person dies in northern Italy of coronavirus

France reports first French national death

Kuwait says more coronavirus cases confirmed, tally now 25

In Europe, Greece has confirmed its first coronavirus case, the health ministry said.

The patient is a 38-year-old Greek woman who had travelled from an area of northern Italy, said Sotiris Tsiodras, a representative of the Ministry of Health.

A 12th person has died in northern Italy of coronavirus, while the number of confirmed cases has risen to 374, an increase of more than 50 on the day before, the head of the Civil Protection agency said.

Angelo Borrelli told reporters that the dead man was 69. All those who have died so far in the outbreak, which came to light on Friday, have been elderly and most had underlying health problems.

France reported three new infections, including one new death, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 17 and the death toll to two.

The latest victim was a 60-year-old man, the first French national to die of the disease, the health ministry said. The first victim was an 80-year-old Chinese tourist, who died in mid-February.

In the Middle East, Iran's state television says 19 more people were killed by the coronavirus and the total number of confirmed cases rose to 139.

The official cited in the report urged limiting nonessential travel.

Iran's Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour told reporters in Tehran the outbreak was "likely" to spread to unaffected provinces "soon".

He said Iran hoped to contain the virus before the Persian new year, which starts on March 20.

"A more pessimistic prospect is that we will reach the containment phase by late April," Jahanpour added.

Also, Kuwait's health ministry said that the number of people diagnosed with coronavirus in the country rose to 25 after more cases were confirmed, the state news agency reported.

The ministry also confirmed in a statement that the new cases were all Kuwaiti citizens "who are related to travel to Iran".

Meanwhile, Bahrain's number of infections rose to 26 after three Bahraini women who arrived from Iran were confirmed to have the coronavirus, according to the health ministry.

Source

COVID-19: Spain, Bahrain, Oman confirm more cases

Spanish health authorities have identified a case of coronavirus in Catalonia on Tuesday, the first case in mainland Spain, according to the La Vanguardia newspaper.

The case is the country's fourth after three infected tourists from Germany, Italy and Britain were detected in the Canary Islands and in Mallorca.

In the middle east, Oman has identified two new cases of coronavirus, while Bahrain has confirmed nine new cases, the two countries health ministries reported.

Both Bahrain and Oman reported their first cases on Monday.

Earlier in Spain, hundreds of people were confined to their rooms at a Tenerife hotel Tuesday after an Italian tourist was hospitalised with a suspected case of coronavirus, health officials in the Canary Islands said.

"Hundreds of hotel clients are being monitored for health reasons and the degree of supervision will be assessed during the day, but so far, we're not talking about quarantine," health authority spokeswoman Veronica Martin told AFP, confirming that the Italian tourist "was staying at this hotel while on holiday in Tenerife".

Bahrain, Kuwait announce first coronavirus cases: state media

Iraq closes border crossing with Kuwait amid coronavirus spread

Bahrain  and Kuwait have confirmed their first cases of coronavirus, both of their state news agencies have reported.

Bahrain confirmed one case, a citizen arriving from Iran, the state news agency reported, citing the health ministry. Meanwhile, Kuwait had three cases, the state news agency KUNA reported, citing the ministry of health.

Iraq has shut its Safwan border crossing with Kuwait to travellers and trade at Kuwait's request, the local mayor has told Reuters news agency without providing a reason.

Kuwait said on Monday three people, including a Saudi national, who returned from Iran were infected by the new coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Iraq extended on Saturday an entry ban for any non-Iraqis coming from Iran, which has so far said it had confirmed 43 cases and eight deaths.


READ: Eight Death Toll, 43 Cases, Pakistan, Turkey, Others Close Border With Iran