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Author: Vijeta Uniyal

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Vijeta Uniyal

Vijeta Uniyal is an Indian journalist based in Germany. He is Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute.

France has deployed riot police in the country's second biggest city Marseille to enforce face mask rules aimed at quelling the spread of Wuhan coronavirus. "Government spokesperson Gabriel Attal announced on Monday that 130 police officers are being sent to Marseille, a coastal city in south-eastern France," French TV channel EuroNews reported.  

The United Arab Emirates has hit back at Tehran over threats made by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) following a peace agreement reached by the country with Israel.

The United States and Poland have signed a landmark defense agreement on Saturday aimed at increasing U.S. troop presence in the country. Under the agreement, a thousand U.S. troops in Germany will be moved to Poland, raising their total strength to 5,500. The deal was inked by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak in Warsaw.

Gaza-Based terrorist group Hamas is stepping up its campaign of ecological terrorism against Israel, launching explosives-laden balloons across the border. At least 45 fires were sparked by the incendiary balloons set off from Hamas-controlled territory, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.

TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is planning to mount a legal and public relations offensive against U.S. President Donald Trump's ban on China-owned social media app. "ByteDance, the Chinese owner of short video hit TikTok, is preparing to escalate its legal and public relations battle against US President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban the app in the United States" Hong Kong based South China Morning Post revealed Monday.

While most Western leaders silently watched the conversion of Hagia Sophia, one of Christianity's holiest churches, into a mosque, India's Hindus seem to have bucked the trend. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for a temple on the holy Hindu site destroyed by the Muslim invaders in the sixteenth century. 

A propaganda stunt turned into a major embarrassment for Iranian military after it accidentally sunk a fake U.S. aircraft carrier, blocking the country's main waterway, satellite imagery shows. "A replica US aircraft carrier that Iran struck with a barrage of missiles in a propaganda video less than a month and a half ago appears to have capsized in the Strait of Hormuz," Times of Israel reported on Friday. 

Japan is offering financial incentives to its companies willing to divest from China. Tokyo has "offered a group of 87 companies subsidies totaling US$653 million to expand production at home and in Southeast Asia," Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday. China is getting increasingly worried "as Japan bankrolls exodus of firms," the daily added. 

European Union economies have taken a big hit in the wake of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, registering their biggest decline in recent history. The eurozone economies, comprising of 19 out of 27 EU member states, reported an annualized GPD decline of 40.3 percent, higher than the annualized drop of 32.9 percent registered in the United States. 

U.S. President Donald Trump has angered many German politicians and media commentators with his decision to withdraw nearly 12,000 troops from Germany. Defense Secretary Mark Esper laid out the plan on Wednesday.

Under the proposed pull-out, close to 6,400 troops will return to the U.S. and another 5,400 redeployed within Europe. 

The Israeli military on Monday foiled a cross border attack by Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group along the Lebanon border. A group of armed terrorists crossed into Israel and were spotted by Israeli soldiers, who repelled the intruders, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed.

Israel is mobilizing troops along its northern border as tensions rise with Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization. The Israeli reinforcements along its border with Lebanon come in light of threats issued by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah after Israel's Defense Forces (IDF) took out his operatives linked to an attack on Israeli troops across the Lebanese and Syrian border.

Church bells across Greece tolled in mourning on Friday as neighboring Turkey held its first Islamic prayer marking the conversion of Hagia Sophia cathedral into a mosque, Greek newspapers reported. Hagia Sophia, the first cathedral of the Eastern Roman Empire, is particularly sacred to Christian Orthodox believers, represented largely by the Greek Church. 

Baden-Württemberg became the first German state to ban the burqa and other Sharia-mandated full-face coverings from its schools, local newspapers reported on Wednesday. The southern German state already forbids teaching staff to wear such garbs.