“Demonstrations in Egypt,” and Saudi Arabia “might consider” recognition of Israel...

On Wednesday morning, British newspapers discussed several topics, including “confronting Egyptian security, anti-government demonstrations,” “prospects for normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel” and “the third wave of the Corona epidemic in Iran.” And British arms sales to the Middle East and “increased hopes for a vaccine for the Coronavirus.”

The Guardian published a report by Ruth Michaelson, the journalist following up on Egyptian affairs, entitled “Egyptian security forces target rare anti-government demonstrations.”

Roth says, “Human rights groups confirm that two Egyptian citizens have been killed and hundreds injured, while others have been arrested during the latest wave of demonstrations opposing the Egyptian regime, at a time when society is subjected to major economic blows in the midst of the Corona epidemic.”

She added that the demonstrations “were concentrated in the poorest areas and villages due to the increasing feelings of anger towards the government, especially after the new law, which requires citizens to pay fines to legalize their homes that they previously built on agricultural land, which most of them say they cannot afford” even though the government is demolishing the homes of those who fail to pay.

Roth explains that the security forces used “smoke bombs, tear gas canisters, and sometimes live bullets in the face of the demonstrators, which led to the death of a person on the 25th of last month, according to Amnesty International.”

The writer referred to the killing of Aweys al-Rawi in Luxor last Thursday, noting that according to the Egyptian Human Rights Commission, a non-governmental organization working in the field of human rights, “the security forces have arrested 510 people since September 20, most of them between the ages of 18 and 30 years. However, other bodies confirm that the number of detainees exceeds that, as the London-based Arab Network for Human Rights confirms that the number of detainees exceeds 600, while Khaled Ali, the lawyer and human rights activist, says that the number is more than 735.

Roth added that, according to the Egyptian Public Prosecution, there are 68 underage detainees who were arrested in connection with the demonstrations that took place in the country in several major cities last year, and the security forces arrested 4 thousand people, including children.

Roth concluded by saying that “police brutality and the effects of austerity measures are the most prominent reasons that prompted the new wave of demonstrations, as the citizen’s material burdens have rapidly ballooned after the local economy suffers from the effects of the Corona epidemic, especially since a third of Egyptians live below the poverty line, and half of the citizens have had to borrow to pay off.” The basic needs of their families, according to the Government Information Center.

The Saudi leadership “may have lost its patience”

The Financial Times published a report by Middle East correspondent Andrew England entitled “A Saudi Prince criticizes Palestinians for accusing Gulf states of treason.”

England says that Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the former Saudi ambassador to the United States, launched a ferocious attack on the Palestinian political leaders after they accused the Gulf states of betrayal due to the normalization of relations with Israel, considering their accusations reprehensible and totally unacceptable.

England adds that the prince’s statements, which came on the Saudi Arabia channel, could not have been issued by him spontaneously and without clear tacit approval from Riyadh, which reinforces the suspicions that the Kingdom may be considering recognizing Israel and normalizing with it overtly.

The journalist quotes Michael Stephens, of the London-based Royal United Services Institute, “Russian”, as saying, “This official Saudi policy is preparing the ground for greater normalization with Israel because the public and direct criticism of the Palestinian leaders aims to form a political space in front of the Saudi regime to take their next step,” adding that Bandar “He was clearly informed of what he says. It is known about Bandar that he had been in contact for years with the Palestinian file and he is the kind that makes his speech attractive, so if the matter collapses, the regime can back down and blame Bandar and disavow responsibility.”

England points out that Saudi Arabia “has, over the past years, increased its relations with Israel secretly, especially in the field of security and intelligence cooperation, just as the UAE did. Perhaps Bandar’s statements indicate that the Saudi leadership may have lost patience due to criticism of the Palestinian leaders.

The “third wave”

The Telegraph published a report by Middle East correspondent Campbell McDiarmid entitled “Iran is witnessing record numbers of Corona injuries in the third wave.”

The correspondent says that the Iranian authorities recorded record numbers of people infected with the virus, exceeding 4,151 infected people in one day, after the Ministry of Health warned of the third wave that is sweeping the whole country without exception.

He adds that Iran is the Middle East country that has recorded the most infections, and has so far recorded about 50 thousand injuries and 27,419 deaths, and all of Iran’s 31 provinces are considered hotspots for the outbreak of the virus, and the capital, Tehran, is the worst ever despite the start of almost total closure measures about a week ago. In the city, the same measure imposed by several other cities.

The correspondent explains that the authorities blamed citizens for the spread of the virus and that President Hassan Rouhani said last Saturday that only 53 percent of citizens had taken preventive measures such as using face masks and observing safe distances, and he also threatened to impose fines on violators, especially those who do not adhere to personal isolation after they are confirmed infected. With virus.

He indicates that Iran was one of the first hotspots for the outbreak of the epidemic outside China about eight months ago, and the daily number of infected people reached 3,200 at the end of last March, before the authorities were able to impose lockdown measures that reduced the number of infected people, but the country witnessed a second wave before 4 Months, the daily number of injured reached 3,500.

The correspondent confirms that the numbers published by the authorities indicate that the daily number of injured during the third wave that the country is currently witnessing is increasing by 300 injured every day more than the previous day, which prompted China and more than 25 other countries to demand the United States to reduce the embargo measures and the economic sanctions imposed To Tehran to help it cope with the epidemic.

Arms exports

The Guardian published a report by military affairs correspondent Dan Sabbagh entitled “Britain is the second largest exporter of arms worth 11 billion pounds.”

Sabbagh explains that this value is what British companies exported from weapons during the past year, which places Britain in the second place as the largest exporter of weapons in the world, despite the court ruling that prevented Britain from selling weapons to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in anticipation of their use in Yemen.

Sabbagh added that this volume of exports places Britain ahead of Russia and France on the list of arms exporters for the second year in a row after the United States, despite the decline in total British exports from 14 billion pounds in 2018 to 11 billion only in 2019. But Britain continued to export arms. To Saudi Arabia last June after an internal review by the Ministry of Defense of export licenses related to the court ruling.

Sabbagh explains that the government report on arms exports does not put a specific number on the value of exports to Saudi Arabia, although it shows that arms exports to the unstable Middle East are the highest according to the report, and the value of what was exported from Britain to the Middle East in 2019 amounted to 60 percent of the total British arms exports during That year, which was a decline from the previous year in which the countries of the region imported 80 percent of British arms exports.

Sabbagh points out that Britain exported 86 billion pounds in the last decade between 2010 and 2019, 60 percent of which was exported to Middle Eastern countries, such as the Typhoon fighter jets produced by BAE Systems and sold by the company to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.

The Daily Mail published a report by its correspondent, Milo Boyd, entitled “Corona vaccine may be ready by the end of the year.”

Milo says that the Secretary-General of the World Health Organization, Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has raised hopes for reaching a safe vaccine for the Corona virus so that it will be available by the end of this year, after his statements in which he said, “We will need a vaccine quickly, and there are hopes that we will have a vaccine by the end of this year,” noting that Adhanom’s comments came after a two-day meeting of the organization’s executive council.

Milo explains that the organization confirmed that its goal is to reach the distribution of more than two million doses of the new vaccine before the end of next year. But a professor at the University of Bristol, Adam Fenn, played down the aspirations that the world would get rid of the Corona epidemic once a vaccine for it was reached, saying that it would take time because the vaccine would be given first to the elderly.