From Foreign Waters

In the world, apparently, now they will divide the time into what happened before the coronavirus pandemic, and what happened during and after it.  In any case, the virus made adjustments to relations between people, countries, forcing them to reconsider their views on many problems or postpone their solution until better times.  Recently it became known that this is exactly what the European Union and the USA did.  EU High Representative Josep Borrel over the phone discussed with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to join forces to contain and overcome the coronavirus.  This was reported by the press service of the European External Action Service.  “The parties discussed the coronavirus pandemic.  High Representative Borrel emphasized the importance of cooperation and international solidarity.  In light of the global dimension of this challenge and relying on a significant transatlantic partnership, the EU and the US have the opportunity to make a significant contribution to i

On Thursday  Earlier this week china shared what it considered to be a major victory in its battle against the contagion as between 18 March and 22 March, the Chinese city of Wuhan did not reported any new cases of the virus through domestic transmission. Wuhan, which was once the epicentre of the disease - Covid-19, was the place from where the deadly virus emerged about four months ago. The no new domestic case was a huge achievement for the country, where over 80,000 people got infected by this monstrosity.  But on March 26, the country reported its first locally transmitted infection in three days and adopted stricter preventive measure including closing its international borders to foreigners, even those with residency permits. Over the fear of a second wave, the WHO-Chinese report last month suggested "a clear recognition and readiness of the need to immediately react to any new COVID-19 cases or clusters as key elements of the containment strategy are lifted."

The United Arab Emirate displayed a true sprit of humanity, as the Gulf nation stepped forward not only to help its own people but also the citizens of other nations during the distressed times of global pandemic. At the beginning of the month, the Emirates’ Health and Community Protection Ministry issued a warning, urging its citizens and foreign residents not to travel abroad and sent 215 foreigners it evacuated from hard-hit Hubei in China to a quarantine set up in its Emirates Humanitarian City. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed also sponsored the transfer of Yemenis and Sudanese city from Wuhan in China. Yemen’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammed Abdullah al-Hadrami expressed gratitude towards UAE on the minsitry’s official Twitter account for its “cooperation and help” in the evacuation process. The tweet said the students were welcomed in the UAE and were temporarily put in quarantine before they got clearance to return home (Yemen). Wuhan is the Chinese city which was first to b

The current situation of wild coming into greet the subway stations and city streets, takes us back to futuristic movie ‘I Am Legend’ starring Will Smith. The future has come nearer than we could have expected as reports pour in from Japan, Chicago, California of animals coming out of the wild and checking out the length and breathe of the city confines as they are greeted with silent and deserted surroundings. The self imposed quarantine has actually become a blessing for animals whose habitat has been encroached into, and they have been pushed and pressured into surviving whatever green belt is left for them.   In Nara, Japan, for example the Sika deer was spotted wandering through city streets and subway stations, raccoons were also seen happily moving on the beach in an emptied San Felipe, Panama; and turkeys made a strong showing in Oakland, California. Barcelona has pleasant four legged visitors too. There is a lot of wildlife to be spotted.  But there are mixed reactio

European countries are committed to maintaining an agreement with Turkey on refugees and do not exclude the provision of greater financial assistance to Ankara.   This was stated at a press conference in Berlin by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, commenting on the videoconference talks that took place on Tuesday between her, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.   "We also discussed the topic of migration. Today, negotiations were held between the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and the European Union’s diplomacy Josep  Borrell. Here we do not lead the negotiations, but we clearly spoke out for maintaining the agreement between the EU and Turkey," Merkel noted.  "We also expressed our readiness to provide more financial assistance if necessary," she said.   According to the Chancellor, one should not “lose sight” of the possibility of negotiations with Ankara on the issue of

Some US politicians are using the Corona virus as a weapon to discredit China as a words war escalated between the two countries over how to cope with the outbreak, Beijing said. The article accused US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of spreading a "political virus" and using it to belittle China. O'Brien said last week that China's response to the Corona virus was slow, which cost the world two months during which it could have prepared for the disease spread, comments which angered China. As for Pompeo, he said that the lack of data from China hampered the US response to the outbreak of the Corona virus. But Xinhua said the measures taken by Beijing, including imposing strict quarantine on millions of people, had given the world "valuable time" to prepare for the outbreak, which the international community has recognized. She added that the efforts of the United States to deal with cases of HIV

The Libyan Coast Guards cooperates with EU preventing desperate immigrants to reach Europe through the Mediterranean, even in illegal way. After secret agreements between Italy, Malta and Libyan unrecognized Government of National Accord, this time the British “The Guardian” revealed a coordinated and unlawful EU assault on the rights of desperate people trying to cross the sea.  The investigation showed that on the night of 26 March 2019, two small boats made their way north across the Mediterranean. “The rubber crafts were flimsy; it would be nearly impossible for those onboard to make it to Europe without help. From the north, a twin-propeller aeroplane from the European Union naval force approached. From the south, the coastguard from the country they had just fled, Libya, was coming”.  Wrote Daniel Howden and Apostolis Fotiadis, adding that the aircraft arrived first but there would be no rescue from Europe. Instead the flight, callsign Seagull 75, radioed the Libyans t

Arab Ambassadors praised the UAE's humanitarian stance and its ongoing support for other countries, stressing that its initiative in China is a major humanitarian gesture not alien to the country, which is always the first to lead charitable and humanitarian work. “A quantity of welcome from the moment we arrived with the plane from Wuhan Airport until at Abu Dhabi Airport, and from there to the Emirates Humanitarian City, which beautifully equipped to receive us, was a surprise that I did not expect.” Said Ahmed Fateh Al-Aleem, a Sudanese student evacuated from China by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) special plane, revealing a great happiness for the kind welcome and the generous hospitality, humility and humanity of the Emirates people.  About 200 Sudanese from China left the country to UAE, on Emirates Airlines, to put them in quarantine for 25 days, before returning to the capital, Khartoum. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Su

The Libyan Embassy in Syria officially resumed work on Tuesday in Damascus.   The delegation of the interim government of Libya from Benghazi and the deputy head of the Syrian Foreign Ministry Faisal Mekdad took part in the ceremony of raising the flag over the diplomatic mission in the metropolitan area of ​​Abu Rumman.   "The resumption of diplomatic relations between our fraternal countries will allow them to jointly confront common challenges and, in particular, Turkish interference in the affairs of the Arab peoples," Mekdad said.   According to the diplomat, "the flags of other Arab states will soon be raised in the sky of Damascus."   On March 1, a memorandum was signed in Damascus on the resumption of diplomatic relations between Syria and Libya.   Both sides agreed "on coordinating foreign policy activities and joint steps to repulse Turkish aggression against the Syrian and Libyan peoples."   On Tuesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assa