Jerusalem Controversy

By Aya BatrawyThe Associated PressSun., May 31, 2020timer4 min. readDUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Tens of thousands of mosques across Saudi Arabia reopened Sunday for the first time in more than two months, with worshipers ordered to follow strict guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as Islam’s holiest…

Follow the latest coronavirus news in Ireland and across the world on the Independent.ie live blog. 17.15 31/05/2020 Two more people die of coronavirus with 66 new confirmed cases A further two people have died of coronavirus in Ireland, the Department of Health has confirmed, bringing the total up to…

The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the third holiest site for Muslims after Saudi Arabia’s Mecca and Medina, reopened for prayers on Sunday for the first time since it was closed in mid-March. Throngs waited outside the holy site’s gates before it opened, with many wearing surgical masks. As they were…

Two altars in an ancient shrine in Israel have been revealing their secrets.Material on the altars of the shrine, which was originally at Tel Arad in the Beersheba Valley, was found to include cannabis and frankincense. The shrine, which dates back to around 750 to 715 B.C., has been rebuilt…

A 6-year-old boy in Israel has discovered a 3,500-year-old clay tablet depicting an ancient captive and his captor.Imri Elya found the tablet during a hiking trip to the Tel Jemmeh archaeological site in the Negev desert with his parents, according to the Times of Israel. He picked up the small…

At first glance, Moshav Renan, near the town of Ofakim in the northwestern Negev, and Moshav Matzliach, in central Israel, look like typical cooperative farming villages: grocery store, warehouse converted into a gym, memorial site, farmers in faded caps. But these are the only two principally Karaite communities left in…

Chancellor Angela Merkel said that although Germany was still at the beginning of the pandemic, the country now had better grip on the coronavirus. The death toll in the US has reached 100,000. Follow DW for the latest. The EU Commission proposes a €750 billion package to boost EU economies…

Without much fanfare or notice, the first known commercial aircraft from the United Arab Emirates recently landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport. It was carrying Covid-19 supplies for the Palestinian Authority, which, out of pique, rejected them. As unprecedented as the flight was, it really shouldn’t have come as much…

As Nordic countries ponder opening borders with each other, concerns have been raised about Sweden's inclusion. The country's COVID-19 death toll is nearly four times the total of its neighbors. Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said on Tuesday that her country should not be excluded from a potential open border…

Each member state is approaching the end of its coronavirus lockdown and border closures a bit differently. DW looks at how some European countries are facing the decision to reopen their borders. Germany Some border crossings with neighbors Austria, Switzerland, and France began to open on May 16 under tightly…