On Orthodox Easter, Lebanon’s Greek Orthodox Metropolitan slammed the country’s political leaders. The latter must revive the economy but ordinary Lebanese must not pay for their mistakes. Rumours that the authorities plan to take money from depositors have caused widespread anger. For Maronite Patriarch al-Rahi, ordinary people are paying the price of the tug-of-war between politicians and banks.

Yesterday, thousands of people rallied in Tel Aviv to “Save Democracy,” many of them young. Protesters followed distancing and other coronavirus restrictions. For Sobhy Makhoul, the emergency has revealed dirty political games and revived the centre-left, which has been on the political margins for some time. A coalition deal is a high-stake game.

The government approves a 20-point strategy to fight COVID-19 during Ramadan. However, some religious leaders have criticised its restrictions. For Pakistani President Arif Alvi, those who do not respect the rules “commit sin". Children, people over 50 and sick people must pray at home.

At present in the state there are 140 positive Covid-19 cases for a total of 399 since recording began and three deaths. In India, there are 17265 positive cases and 543 deaths to date; half of the country has not yet been affected by the pandemic. The secrets of success: readiness to deal with problems; a strong experience of past epidemics; close collaboration between nearly 300 thousand volunteers and the government; no struggle between central government and municipal and village authorities.

As family members prayed, two people burst into their home saying that such a gathering had been banned. Yesterday’s incident and related videos posted on social media sparked interest among ordinary Indonesians.

Defenceless civilians, including women and children, are victims of the ongoing fighting between the Myanmar military and Buddhist rebels from the state of Rakhine. Hospitals have had to treat the wounded rather than contain the COVID-19 outbreak.