UAE announces new case of coronavirus

Tourists wearing surgical masks search for seashells on a beach next to Burj Al Arab on Jan. 29, 2020. (AFP)
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Updated 01 February 2020
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UAE announces new case of coronavirus

  • The person, the fifth to be identified as having the virus in the country, arrived from Wuhan, the center of the virus’ outbreak in China
  • China is facing deepening isolation over the epidemic as the death toll soared to 259 on Saturday

DUBAI: The UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention announced that a new case of coronavirus had been diagnosed in the country on Saturday.
The person, the fifth to be identified as having the virus in the country, arrived from Wuhan, the center of the virus’ outbreak in China.
All five patients are in a stable condition and the ministry called on all citizens and residents to adhere to guidelines that it has provided.
China is facing deepening isolation over the epidemic as the death toll soared to 259 on Saturday, with the US and Australia leading a growing list of nations to impose Chinese travel bans.
With the UK, Russia and Sweden among the countries confirming their first infections, the virus has now spread to more than two dozen nations, sending governments scurrying to limit their exposure.


Death toll in Iran protests over 3,000, rights group says

Updated 17 January 2026
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Death toll in Iran protests over 3,000, rights group says

  • The protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule
  • President Donald Trump, who had threatened ‘very strong action’ if Iran executed protesters, said Tehran’s leaders had called off mass hangings

DUBAI: More than 3,000 people have died in Iran’s nationwide protests, rights activists said on Saturday, while a “very slight rise” in Internet activity was reported in the country after an eight-day blackout.

The US-based HRANA ​group said it had verified 3,090 deaths, including 2,885 protesters, after residents said the crackdown appeared to have broadly quelled protests for now and state media reported more arrests.

The capital Tehran has been comparatively quiet for four days, said several residents reached by Reuters. Drones were flying over the city, but there were no signs of major protests on Thursday or Friday, said the residents, who asked not to be identified ‌for their safety.

A ‌resident of a northern city on the ‌Caspian ⁠Sea ​said ‌the streets there also appeared calm.

The protests erupted on December 28 over economic hardship and swelled into widespread demonstrations calling for the end of clerical rule in the Islamic Republic, culminating in mass violence late last week. According to opposition groups and an Iranian official, more than 2,000 people were killed in the worst domestic unrest since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

“Metrics show a very ⁠slight rise in Internet connectivity in #Iran this morning” after 200 hours of shutdown, the ‌Internet monitoring group NetBlocks posted on X. Connectivity ‍remained around 2 percent of ordinary levels, ‍it said.

A few Iranians overseas said on social media that ‍they had been able to message users living inside Iran early on Saturday.

US President Donald Trump, who had threatened “very strong action” if Iran executed protesters, said Tehran’s leaders had called off mass hangings.

“I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled ​hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been canceled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!” he ⁠posted on social media.

Iran had not announced plans for such executions or said it had canceled them.

Indian students and pilgrims returning from Iran said they were largely confined to their accommodations while in the country, unable to communicate with their families back home.

“We only heard stories of violent protests, and one man jumped in front of our car holding a burning baton, shouting something in the local language, with anger visible in his eyes,” said Z Syeda, a third-year medical student at a university in Tehran.

India’s External Affairs Ministry said on Friday that commercial flights were available and that ‌New Delhi would take steps to secure the safety and welfare of Indian nationals.