Palestine Liberation Organisation secretary general and chief negotiator Saeb Erekat died yesterday of coronavirus complications at the age of 65, the Palestinian president’s office said. A lung transplant recipient who suffered from pulmonary fibrosis, “Saeb Erekat died at Hadassah Hospital” in Jerusalem, where he had been admitted on October 18, president Mahmud Abbas’s office said. Hadassah hospital said Erekat “passed away in the intensive care unit,” where he had been in critical condition for several weeks. Erekat was part of every team to negotiate with Israel since 1991, with the notable exception of the delegation that secretly hammered out the Oslo accords of 1993.

‘Lockdown’ is Collins

Dictionary Word of the Year

Collins Dictionary yesterday said that “lockdown” is its Word of The Year in 2020 following a dramatic increase in usage during the spread of Covid-19. Lexicographers said they picked the word because it had become synonymous with the experience of populations across the world as governments look to curb the coronavirus pandemic. Collins registered more than a quarter of a million usages of “lockdown” during 2020. “Coronavirus”, “social distancing”, “self-isolate” and “furlough” as well as “lockdown” and “key worker” were included in the longer list of 10 words of the year.

Thai PM urges calm ‘from

all sides’ in protests

Thai Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha yesterday urged calm from all sides as tensions rise between royalist groups and pro-democracy protesters calling for reforms to the monarchy. The kingdom has for months seen massive demonstrations led by student leaders calling for democratic reforms, with some bolder figures issuing challenges to Thailand’s unassailable monarchy. The movement’s demands have sent shockwaves through its royalist establishment, spurring monarchist groups to stage counter-protests which have led to some minor scuffles with protesters. Prayut -- whose removal from office is one of the movement’s key demands – yesterday said both sides are entitled to “express their opinions” -- as long as it is within the law. “A confrontation is not the way to solve a problem,” he said after a cabinet meeting.