Six new cases of the deadly MERS virus have appeared in the Middle East.
Five people in Saudi Arabia and one person in the United Arab Emirates have been infected with MERS according to the World Health Organization. One of the patients has died, bringing the death toll from the virus to 74 of 176 confirmed cases.
The WHO said the case in the United Arab Emirates was a woman married to a man who has been previously diagnosed with the disease. She is being kept in isolation in a hospital despite not showing any adverse symptoms.
Officials in the region are citing new research showing transfer between camels and humans in a warning telling people at risk for the virus to avoid barns and farms.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center has released its annual list of the worst anti-Semitic statements or actions of the past year and Iran’s Supreme Leader is at the top of the list.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel was the “rabid dog” of the Middle East and that “its leaders look like beasts and cannot be called human.” The anti-Semitic rhetoric continued as the U.S. was conducting secret talks with Iran over that country’s nuclear program.
Others on the list included the American Studies Association which voted to called for a boycott of Israel because of their refusal to give away their land for a Palestinian state while refusing to acknowledge terrorism against Israel by Palestinian groups.
An American school district also made the list. Pine Bush School District in New York has reportedly taken no steps to stop abuse of Jewish students which included their being forced to dive into garbage cans to retrieve coins, the beating of a Jewish boy with a hockey stick and a Jewish girl who was held down and had a swastika drawn on her face.
The first snowfall in 100 years fell in Cairo leaving adults in awe of the sight and children playing in snow dusted parks. Other parts of the city were pelted by rain and hail during the storm.
The winter storm that rolled through the Middle East brought three feet of snow to Israel making roads into Jerusalem impassable and leaving much of the country without power. The snow was so heavy in the West Bank that olive trees buckled under the weight of the snow.
The storm drove waves to the point it hammered the Egyptian Mediterranean coast and fisherman in Alexandria were warned by officials it was too dangerous to put out to sea.
Syrian refugees in Lebanon were hit particularly hard by the storm as constructed shelters were not designed to deal with heavy snowfall and bitter cold.
Pope Francis made a statement Thursday that the Catholic Church would not accept a Middle East that is devoid of Christians.
The Pope told reporters after a meeting with patriarchs in Syria, Iran and Iraq the church would not resign itself to a Christian-free Middle East. The Pope called for “the universal right to lead a dignified life and freely practice one’s own faith to be respected.”
“Syria, Iraq, Egypt and other areas of the Holy Land sometimes overflow with tears,” The Pope said.
The number of Christians in the Middle East continues to dwindle through oppression and civil war. Christians are just 10% of the Egyptian population, 5% in Syria, 2% in Iraq and 1.2% in Palestinian territories.
The Vatican said the population of Christians in the region has shrunk more than half since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Lady Warsi, a Muslim who is Great Britain’s Faith and Communities Minister, told the BBC that Christianity in large parts of the Middle East and in a majority of Islamic nations is on the brink of extinction.
I’m concerned that the birthplace of Christianity, the parts of the world where Christianity first spread, is now seeing large sections of the Christian community leaving, and those that are remaining feeling persecuted,” Lady Warsi told the BBC Radio 4 Today program. “One in 10 Christians live in a minority situation and large numbers of those who live in a minority situation around the world are persecuted.”
She said that as Islamic extremist groups gain influence, they are able to convince the local population that Christians are “newcomers” to the area that should be driven out when in many cases the Christians were living in the area before the arrival of the Islamists. She also said that Christians are being made the scapegoat for problems in the Middle East created by Islamists.
She also said that violence against Christians in Pakistan is threatening to drive all Christians from that nation.
She said that violence against Christians worldwide should not just reverberate in the Christian community but in all communities.
Consumers love falling oil prices because of the corresponding drop in gas prices at the pump.
However, a significant slide in the price of oil could end up causing major civil unrest in the Middle East and other oil producing nations according to multiple economists and researchers. Continue reading →
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome claimed another victim in Saudi Arabia Wednesday.
The Saudi health ministry announced the death Thursday and said that 40 other people are suffering from the disease. Continue reading →
The BBC is reporting that Iraqi officials have stopped a plot by al-Qaeda to carry out poison gas attacks in the Middle East, Europe and North America.
Remote-control toy planes would carry out the attacks. Continue reading →
The French Health Ministry has reported that a 65-year-old man has died from the novel coronavirus now called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.
The death is the 23rd out of 44 confirmed cases in the world. The latest victim had traveled to Dubai where doctors believe he contracted the virus. Continue reading →
Iranian media was bragging about their nation’s fielding of a “massive” number of new long-range missile launchers. The weapons systems would be able to reach inside Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East. Continue reading →
