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Media Summary

Russia and Saudi Arabia close to oil deal

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The Guardian, the Financial TimesReuters, the Associated Press and The Times report that global oil prices rebounded to more than $30 a barrel for the first time in almost a month on Thursday after Saudi Arabia and Russia signalled a possible truce in a price war that has triggered the fastest oil market collapse in decades.

BBC News reports that Saudi Arabia has imposed a 24-hour curfew on the holy cities of Mecca and Medina as part of efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus.

BBC News reports that restrictions have been placed on movement around an ultra-Orthodox Jewish town in western Israel, Bnei Brak, which has become an epicentre of the coronavirus.

Reuters reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tested negative for coronavirus on Thursday after his health minister was diagnosed with it, officials said, after the 70-year-old leader’s second infection scare this week.

The Times reports that President Trump has threatened a large assault on Iranian targets if it attacks US troops in Iraq again, asserting matters “would go up the food chain” if sporadic attacks by pro-Iranian forces in Iraq increased in severity.

The Telegraph reports that Iran has been accused of attempting to hack into the personal email accounts of staff at the World Health Organization during a severe outbreak of coronavirus.

The Telegraph reports that US officials have accused Iranian spies of assassinating an Iranian dissident in Turkey, in a case that echoes the alleged murder by Saudi agents of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

The Financial Times reports that Qatar is preparing to issue a $5bn bond to support state finances strained by the impact of coronavirus and depressed hydrocarbon prices.

Reuters reports that Iraq has thousands of confirmed COVID-19 cases, many times more than the 772 it is has publicly reported, according to three doctors closely involved in the testing process, a health ministry official and a senior political official.

The Associated Press report that Iran’s parliament speaker has contracted coronavirus, the country’s highest-ranking government figure yet to catch the disease.

In The Independent, Sebnem Arsu writes that Turkey is to release thousands of prisoners to combat Covid-19, but not those “unfairly deemed state enemies”, prompting anxieties over the fate of hundreds of journalists, politicians and activists.

In the Financial Times, the former UK Ambassador to Libya, Peter Millett, writes that foreign powers are blatantly flouting Libya’s arms embargo, as the UAE, Egypt and Turkey continue to arm Libya’s warring factions and are reneging on their own calls for a ceasefire.

All the Israeli media report significant progress in coalition talks between Likud and Blue and White. The main points of contention – apart from applying Israeli sovereignty to Israeli settlements in the West Bank – are believed to have been resolved. According to reports, Avi Nissenkoren (Blue and White) will become Justice Minister, Miri Regev (Likud) will become Interior Security Minister, Yariv Levin (Likud) will become Knesset Speaker and Yuli Edelstein (Likud) may become Foreign Minister. In this scenario Blue and White number two, Gabi Ashkenazi, would become Education Minister. With respect to the West Bank, Blue and White are demanding that any decision to apply Israeli sovereignty to settlements should be delayed for 4 to 6 months until the coronavirus crisis is resolved, after which it can be raised again for negotiation. Yariv Levin, who runs the Likud’s negotiating team, said yesterday that it was “a precondition for any government” and that Israel would not “miss a historical opportunity” with the Trump Administration still in office.

All the Israeli media report on the lack of ministerial jobs for the pro-settler Yamina party, led by Defence Minister Naftali Bennett. At present the party has two additional senior posts – Transport and Education – although in the new government that may fall to two. Yamina in response attacked the Likud and threatened to join the opposition. In a statement last night the party said that if this were to happen one of the central issues it would focus on would be the “battle against corruption.”

Maariv reported yesterday on the possibility of Israel using the coronavirus outbreak as an opportunity to reach a prisoner release deal with Hamas in Gaza. According to the report, Defence Minister Naftali Bennett wants to tie the provision of greater medical aid and humanitarian relief for Gaza to progress on obtaining the return of two Israeli citizens (Avera Mengistu and Hisham a-Sayed) and the remains of two fallen IDF soldiers (Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul). “We are open to many ideas,” Bennett was quoted as saying. Hamas, for its part, rejected the move and insisted again that any prisoner release be in exchange for Hamas prisoners held in Israel.