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Sam McNeil
A worker inside a lab at the SinoVac vaccine factory in Beijing on September 24, 2020. (AP/Ng Han Guan)
September 25, 2020, 6:34 am
Chinese firm claims it will have vaccine ready for world by early 2021
SinoVac CEO says company will apply for FDA approval after phase 3 trial completed, but in meantime has begun distributing doses of experimental drug to some in China
By Sam McNeil
Chinese SWAT officers salute each other at the former United States Consulate in Chengdu in southwest China's Sichuan province on July 27, 2020 (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
July 27, 2020, 1:17 pm
Consulate closures an inflection point in China-US relations
The forced shuttering of Chinese mission in Houston and American mission of Chengdu marks a new low point in ties, and won’t be easily smoothed over
By Sam McNeil
Chinese policemen prepare for duty around a neighborhood sealed off before the official closure of the United States Consulate in Chengdu in southwest China's Sichuan province, July 27, 2020 (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
July 27, 2020, 7:47 am
US consulate in China shuts down as Beijing hits back at Washington
Beijing ordered closure in retaliation for US move to shutter Chinese consulate in Houston as dispute over tech, trade and security escalates
By Sam McNeil
In this April 11, 2020, photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a staff member tests samples of a potential COVID-19 vaccine at a production plant of SinoPharm in Beijing. In the global race to make a coronavirus vaccine, the state-owned Chinese company is boasting that it gave its employees, including top executives, experimental shots even before the government OK'd testing in people. (Zhang Yuwei/Xinhua via AP)
July 17, 2020, 10:16 pm
Chinese firm boasts it gave experimental COVID-19 vaccine to employees
Controversial ‘pre-testing’ move by SinoPharm raises ethical questions, coming before vaccine had government approval for trials in people
By Sam McNeil and LAURAN NEERGAARD
Travelers with their luggage walk past the Hankou railway station on the eve of its resuming outbound traffic in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on April 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
April 7, 2020, 9:20 pm
China’s virus pandemic epicenter Wuhan ends 76-day lockdown
11 million residents of city where coronavirus emerged finally allowed to leave their homes after communist authorities report no new cases Tuesday
By Sam McNeil
A security guard takes a customer's temperature at the entrance to a grocery store in Beijing, February 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
February 1, 2020, 11:14 am
WHO calls on countries to ready for ‘domestic outbreak control’ as virus spreads
Death toll in China from coronavirus hits 259; Beijing slams US travel restrictions on foreigners who recently visited there
By Joe McDonald and Sam McNeil
People walk past a display of Cold War-era tanks at the Royal Tank Museum in Amman, Jordan, February 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)
February 6, 2018, 5:15 pm
A century of Middle East wars on display at new Jordanian tank museum
Collection of 110 tanks that saw battle includes armored vehicles from conflicts between Israel and its Arab neighbors in the Golan Heights, Jerusalem
By Sam McNeil
Israeli military medics assist wounded Syrians on April 6, 2017 in a military ambulance. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic)
April 8, 2017, 1:32 pm
Changing perceptions between countries at war, Israel treats thousands of wounded Syrians
Jewish state has helped 3,000 patients so far, and expects needs may increase amid fallout from US strike on Assad airbase
By Sam McNeil
In this Monday, November 7, 2016 file photo, an Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Sgt. 1st Class Matthew C. Lewellen past Army Secretary Eric Fanning, fifth from right, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Marcel Lettre, third from right, and Gen. Daniel B. Allyn, right, Army vice chief of staff, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.
November 17, 2016, 4:34 pm
US refutes Jordan’s claim Americans sparked deadly shooting
American embassy in Hashemite kingdom says reports that military trainers disobeyed Jordanian orders are false
By Sam McNeil
Swimmers attempt a seven-hour swim across the Dead Sea in from Jordan to Israel a bid to draw attention to its environmental degradation on November 15, 2016. (EcoPeace Middle East)
November 15, 2016, 2:21 pm
Swimmers attempt 7-hour crawl across shrinking Dead Sea
Wearing protective masks and snorkels, participants embark on ‘historic and iconic’ attempt to highlight lake’s environmental degradation
By Sam McNeil and Video by Iacopo Luzi
A Syrian refugee woman pushes a stroller at the Zaatari refugee camp, near the Jordanian border with Syria, on March 8, 2014. (AFP/Khalil Mazraawi)
October 2, 2016, 2:46 am
Syrians refuse attempted relocation along Jordan border
‘If we move from the Jordanian border, Syrian and Russian planes will come and bomb us,’ warns one refugee
By Sam McNeil
Circassian guards pose for a photograph outside Basman Palace, in Amman, Jordan, January 11, 2016 (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
January 30, 2016, 9:30 am
Jordan royals’ Circassian guards a symbol of thriving minority
A rare look at the deeply traditional order that has served Hashemite kings for almost a century
By Sam McNeil
Syrian children walk amid the dust during a sandstorm on September 7, 2015 at a refugee camp on the outskirts of the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek. (AFP Photo/STR)
September 13, 2015, 9:48 pm
Desperate and miserable, Syrian refugees dream of Europe
Amena Abomosa is one of the few lucky ones to receive a French visa, while Rim Helal is willing to risk the dangerous journey by sea
By Bassem Mroue and Sam McNeil
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, 18 (left), walks with Mezon al-Melihan, a 17-year-old refugee from the southern Syrian town of Deraa, during Malala's visit to the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan, July 13, 2015. (AP/Muhammed Muheisen)
July 14, 2015, 12:32 am
Nobel winner: World must boost aid to Syrian refugees
Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai, youngest ever Peace Prize laureate, marks 18th birthday by opening school for refugees in Lebanon
By OMAR AKOUR and Sam McNeil
In this photo taken Thursday, March 19, 2015, archaeologist Morag Kersel holds a pottery shard found at a Bronze Age cemetery, known as Fifa, in southern Jordan. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil)
April 3, 2015, 10:11 am
At Jordan site, drone offers glimpse of antiquities looting
Archaeologists and criminologists use new technologies to study global trade in stolen artifacts
By Sam McNeil
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Give a Hanukkah gift that connects

At this time when so many feel isolated, here’s a Hanukkah gift that connects you and those you care about to Israel, the Jewish people and to one another.

It’s not so easy to visit Israel - or, in many cases, each other - this year. So our connections through shared values, ideas and discussion are now more important than ever.

A Times of Israel Community gift membership entitles your recipient to one full year of membership benefits, at a special, discounted price.

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