Middle East & North Africa

KHARTOUM, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chairman of Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council and General Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan on Thursday headed to the Qatari capital of Doha on an official visit, the sovereign council said in a statement.

Al-Burhan would discuss with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani the means to enhance bilateral relations, issues of mutual concern, and the developments in Sudan, the statement said.

BEIRUT (AP) — The weeklong clashes between rival U.S.-backed militias in eastern Syria, where hundreds of American troops are deployed, point to dangerous seams in the coalition that has kept a lid on the defeated Islamic State group for years. That could be an opportunity for the radical group to reemerge.

CAIRO (AP) — The United States imposed sanctions Wednesday on Sudanese paramilitary commander Abdel-Rahim Hamdan Dagalo for acts of violence and human rights abuses committed by his troops in their monthslong conflict with Sudan’s army.

The U.S. Treasury said in a statement that it had sanctioned Abdel-Rahim — a senior military commander and brother of Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who is the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces — accusing him of leading a group of soldiers responsible for “the massacre of civilians, ethnic killings, and use of sexual violence.”

BEIRUT (AP) — Over a thousand Syrian refugees each week fleeing to Lebanon from their country’s worsening economic and financial conditions “could create harsh imbalances” in the small Mediterranean nation, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati warned Thursday.

Over the past months, thousands of Syrian citizens made it to Lebanon through illegal crossing points seeking a better life. But Lebanon is going through its own four-year meltdown, with a drowning economy pinning its hopes on tourism and crumbling infrastructure where electricity and water cuts are widespread.

CAIRO, Sept 6 (NNN-MENA) – Egypt’s Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV) and Sweden’s Volvo, yesterday signed in Cairo, an agreement to jointly manufacture electric buses in Egypt, for the European market.

MCV will manufacture the buses with “50 percent local content,” according to a statement by Egypt’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.

RIYADH, Sept 7 (NNN-SPA) – The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), has completed the sale of its 10.92-percent stake in the National Gas and Industrialisation Company, for 491.19 million Saudi riyals (around 131 million U.S. dollars), it was reported yesterday.

The shares were sold on Tuesday, through a private sale transaction to Jadwa Investment Company, which acted as a manager and bought the stake for “its managed investment funds and its clients’ portfolios,” local news website, Arabian Business, reported.

JERUSALEM, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Stem cell researchers created artificial models of human embryos and successfully grew them outside the womb up to day 14, the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) in central Israel said in a statement on Wednesday.

In a new study published in the journal Science, the researchers created artificial stem cell embryo models that accurately mimic all the essential features and components of this developmental stage, including the placenta, yolk sac, chorionic sac, and assorted external tissues essential for facilitating dynamic and healthy growth.

TRIPOLI, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Libya Abdoulaye Bathily on Wednesday stressed the United Nations' willingness to support constructive dialogue between the Libyan institutional players.

Bathily made the remarks on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, after visiting Al-Aziziyah city, the Warshafana Region, some 30 km southwest of Tripoli.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Greek shipper has pleaded guilty to a charge over it smuggling sanctioned Iranian crude oil and agreed to pay a $2.4 million fine, U.S. federal court papers seen Thursday by The Associated Press show.

Empire Navigation agreed to be put on corporate probation under the plea agreement, according to the federal court filings.

CAIRO, Sept 6 (NNN-MENA) – Egypt’s Manufacturing Commercial Vehicles (MCV) and Sweden’s Volvo, yesterday signed in Cairo, an agreement to jointly manufacture electric buses in Egypt, for the European market.

MCV will manufacture the buses with “50 percent local content,” according to a statement by Egypt’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.