Sunday 29 Mar 2020 | | AW

Top Stories

Lockdowns do not come easy but Arab governments have few options

Saudi-led G20 summit marks global turning point in tackling pandemic fallout

Egypt’s terror fight not over after killing ISIS emir

After oil price crash, Russia looks for OPEC deal

Mohammed Alkhereiji

Economy

A man walks past a banner that reads “We’re bankrupt” in the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli, March 18. (AFP)

Coronavirus epidemic delivers tough blow to Lebanon’s dying economy

A man wearing a protective face mask shops at Exception Market before the start of night-time curfew to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19 in Cairo, Egypt March 26. (REUTERS)

COVID-19 comes with a high cost to Egyptian economy

Saudi policemen man a checkpoint in the King Fahd main street in the capital Riyadh. (AFP)

Saudi, UAE roll out stimulus packages to blunt economic fallout from coronavirus

Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab (C) meets with a delegation from the International Monetary Fund in Beirut, last February. (DPA)

Epidemic only compounds Lebanon's socio-economic woes

Culture

A Tunisian woman wearing a protective face mask walks through an alley in the souk of the Medina, on the first day of a general confinement imposed by the authorities in order to stem the spread of the novel cononavirus. (AFP)

My days of COVID-19 quarantine in Tunis

A scene from the Grand Night ballet show aired on the Egyptian Ministry of Culture Youtube channel. (Ahmed Megahid)

Egypt cultural production goes online to circumvent virus constraints

A protester outside a tent in Tahrir Square in Baghdad. (Oumayma Omar)

COVID-19 empties Iraq’s protest squares as government imposes lockdown, travel bans

Travel

A general view of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum in Abu Dhabi.(Reuters)

UAE museums offer virtual voyages in history and civilisation of Arabian Peninsula

Society

A Tunisian woman wearing a protective face mask walks through an alley in the souk of the Medina, on the first day of a general confinement imposed by the authorities in order to stem the spread of the novel cononavirus. (AFP)

My days of COVID-19 quarantine in Tunis

A scene from the Grand Night ballet show aired on the Egyptian Ministry of Culture Youtube channel. (Ahmed Megahid)

Egypt cultural production goes online to circumvent virus constraints

A protester outside a tent in Tahrir Square in Baghdad. (Oumayma Omar)

COVID-19 empties Iraq’s protest squares as government imposes lockdown, travel bans

News & Analysis

Rockets hit Baghdad’s Green Zone as foreign militaries pull out troops

Tunisia’s leaders jostle for power amid coronavirus crisis

Iraqi PM-designate struggles to form government amid daunting challenges

Israel’s Gantz elected speaker, to seek unity government with Netanyahu

Heavy sentences affirmed in ex-Algerian PM cases

Egypt’s Salafists exploit mosques shutdown to expand influence

Moroccans reject Salafists’ ‘irresponsible’ attempt at assailing closure of mosques

Failure of GNA attack near Tunisian border marks a major setback for Fayez al-Sarraj

Gulf countries struggle to adjust in trying times

Radicalisation threatens Syria’s children of war

Simon Speakman Cordall

Hezbollah faces scrutiny over release of SLA commander

Simon Speakman Cordall

As coronavirus cases spike, IRGC pretends all is well

Hundreds of Iranians die ingesting methanol based on false notions about fighting virus

The pandemic exposes false hopes and laxness in Ankara’s response