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Morocco Receives Second Batch of 500,000 Sinopharm Doses

A health worker counts used vials of Sinopharm's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, at a vaccination centre in Karachi, Pakistan February 11, 2021. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
A health worker counts used vials of Sinopharm's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, at a vaccination centre in Karachi, Pakistan February 11, 2021. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
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Morocco Receives Second Batch of 500,000 Sinopharm Doses

A health worker counts used vials of Sinopharm's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, at a vaccination centre in Karachi, Pakistan February 11, 2021. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
A health worker counts used vials of Sinopharm's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, at a vaccination centre in Karachi, Pakistan February 11, 2021. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

Morocco received a second batch of 500,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday, part of its national vaccination campaign, health ministry sources said.

The 1 million Sinopharm doses add to 6 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by India’s Serum Institute which Morocco has received so far.

Morocco has ordered 66 million doses of the vaccines, which require two doses per person, under plans to inoculate 80% of its 36 million-strong population for free.

By Monday, Morocco had Africa’s largest vaccinated population of 1.7 million people. The number of infections had reached 478,595, including 8,491 deaths.

Despite a drop in daily registered cases, Morocco extended a night curfew for two weeks starting on Tuesday to contain the spread of new coronavirus variants.

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Arab World

Palestinian Authority Says Internet Down in Gaza After Attack on Fibre Optic Cable

Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed
Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed
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Palestinian Authority Says Internet Down in Gaza After Attack on Fibre Optic Cable

Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed
Palestinians charge their mobile phones from a point powered by solar panels provided by Adel Shaheen, an owner of an electric appliances shop, as electricity remains cut during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed

The Palestinian Authority said internet and fixed-line communication services were down in Gaza on Thursday following an attack on the territory's last fibre optic cable it blamed on Israel.

"All internet and fixed-line communication services in the Gaza Strip have been cut following the targeting of the last remaining main fibre optic line in Gaza," the PA's telecommunications ministry said in a statement, accusing Israel of attempting to cut Gaza off from the world, AFP reported.

"The southern and central Gaza Strip have now joined Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip in experiencing complete isolation for the second consecutive day," the ministry said in a statement.

It added that its maintenance and repair teams had been unable to safely access the sites where damage occurred to the fibre optic cable.

"The Israeli occupation continues to prevent technical teams from repairing the cables that were cut yesterday", it said, adding that Israeli authorities had prevented repairs to other telecommunication lines in Gaza "for weeks and months".

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the communication lines were "directly targeted by occupation forces".

It said the internet outage was hindering its emergency services by impeding communication with first responder teams in the field.

"The emergency operations room is also struggling to coordinate with other organisations to respond to humanitarian cases."

Maysa Monayer, spokeswoman for the Palestinian communication ministry, told AFP that "mobile calls are still available with very limited capacity" in Gaza for the time being.

Now in its 21st month, the war in Gaza has caused massive damage to infrastructure across the Palestinian territory, including water mains, power lines and roads.