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The US State Department notified Congress it approved the sale of 50 Lockheed Martin Co F-35 jets to the United Arab Emirates in a deal that could be worth $10 billion, sources say. An Israeli F-35 fighter jets performs during an air show, over Tel Aviv, on May 9, 2019. Photo: AFP Jack Guez The United States and the UAE aim to have a letter of agreement for the F-35 jets in time for UAE National Day celebrated on 2 December, Reuters reported in September. The US Senate Foreign Relations and House of Representatives Foreign Affairs committees, whose members have criticised the UAE's role in civilian deaths in Yemen, have the right to review, and block, weapons sales under an informal review process. Israel initially balked at the prospective sale but last week dropped its opposition after what it described as US guarantees that Israeli military superiority would be preserved. Any deal must satisfy a longstanding agreement with Israel that any US weapons sold in the region must not impair Israel's "qualitative military edge," guaranteeing US weapons furnished to Israel are "superior in capability" to those sold to its neighbors. "We all face a common threat," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an apparent allusion to Iran, told reporters on Thursday when asked about reports of the impending UAE jet sale. "But with that said, it was important that the [Israeli] defense establishment received this clear American undertaking to preserve our qualitative military edge," added Netanyahu, who earlier on Thursday hosted visiting Pentagon chief Mark Esper. Representative Eliot Engel, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, confirmed that an informal notification was sent to Congress on Thursday. "As Congress reviews this sale, it must be clear that changes to the status quo will not put Israel's military advantage at risk," he said. The sources said the Trump administration aims to send formal notifications for the deal in the coming days. Once formally notified, Congress can choose to pass legislation to block the sale. Typically the informal notification process for complex deals like the F-35 sale is 40 days, but the Trump administration is cutting it to just a few days to meet the goal of a UAE National Day signing ceremony, the sources said. "Rushing these sales is not in anyone's interest," Engel warned in his statement. Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made clear he would not automatically support the deal in a statement adding that "recklessly accelerating the timeline around a reportedly artificial deadline precludes sufficient consideration." The UAE, one of Washington's closest Middle East allies, has long expressed interest in acquiring the stealthy F-35 jets and was promised a chance to buy them in a side deal when it agreed to normalize relations with Israel. Because of the qualitative military edge restriction, in the past the F-35 has been denied to Arab states, while Israel has about 24 of the jets. Israel is currently slated to purchase 50 of the fighters. - Reuters

Global coronavirus cases rose by more than 500,000 for the first time on Wednesday, a record one-day increase as countries across the Northern Hemisphere reported daily spikes. medical assistant takes a sample from a patient for a coronavirus (Covid-19) test at an analysis laboratory in Le Peage-de-Roussillon, some 30kms south of Lyon, south-eastern France. Photo: AFP Global daily Covid-19 cases have risen by nearly 25 percent in less than two weeks as the world witnessed 400,000 daily reported cases for the first time last Friday. Most western countries and parts of Latin America have reported their highest single-day surges in the past few weeks. Many governments, with the notable exception of the United States, have started taking stronger measures to bring the spread of the virus under control. The global coronavirus tally stands at 44.7 million cases and about 1.17 million deaths. Europe, North America and Latin America account for over 66 percent of global cases and over 76 percent of global deaths. Europe's new daily infections have doubled over the past two weeks as it reported more than 250,000 cases for the first time on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally. The region has so far reported about 9.5 million cases and about 261,000 deaths. France reported a new record daily total of more than 50,000 infections for the first time on Sunday. Euro-zone economic activity has slipped back into decline this month as renewed restrictions to control the coronavirus pandemic forced many businesses in the bloc's dominant service industry to limit operations, a survey showed last Friday. The United States continues to lead the worldwide coronavirus tally with about 8.9 million infections and about 228,000 fatalities since the pandemic started. The US broke its daily record for new coronavirus infections on Friday as it reported 84,169 new cases due to outbreaks in virtually every part of the country shortly before its presidential election on Tuesday. The United States is reporting about 75,000 cases a day on an average, according to a Reuters analysis and its death toll from Covid-19 could surpass 500,000 by February unless nearly all Americans wear face masks, researchers said. Asia surpassed 10 million infections of the new coronavirus on Saturday, the second-heaviest regional toll in the world, according to a Reuters tally, as cases continue to mount in India despite a slowdown and sharp declines elsewhere. India, the world's second most populous country as well as the second worst affected country, is reporting about 48,000 cases a day on an average with a total of about 8 million cases, according to a Reuters tally. As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to provide any successful vaccine to each of India's 1.3 billion people. The country is preparing a database of all government and private health personnel to speed up vaccinations once they become available. In the Middle East, Iran, the most affected Covid-19 infections country is reporting one death every three minutes, according to state television. - Reuters