Middle East & North Africa

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An American-owned oil tanker long suspected of carrying sanctioned Iranian crude oil offloaded its cargo near Texas on Sunday, tracking data showed, even as Tehran has threatened to target shipping in the Persian Gulf over it.

Ship-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed the Marshall Islands-flagged Suez Rajan began the hourslong ship-to-ship transfer of its oil to another tanker, the MR Euphrates, near Galveston, some 70 kilometers (45 miles) southeast of Houston.

18 August 2023; MEMO: Egyptian political prisoner, Mahmoud Abdel-Raheem, has died in the Gamasa Prison in Damietta governorate, two months after both his daughter and wife were killed in a car accident while on their way to visit him in detention, a rights watchdog has said.

The Egyptian Network for Human Rights (ENHR) said Abdel-Raheem, a former employee at the Ministry of Religious Endowments, was sentenced to three years in prison.

18 August 2023; MEMO: An Israeli who received a ten-year prison sentence in Turkiye for possession and attempted smuggling of illegal qat leaves will be released over the weekend, reported the Times of Israel.

Danny Aweke, 35, was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of smuggling qat leaves through Turkiye, where the substance is considered an illegal, and was later convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison.

18 August 2023; MEMO: Turkiye warned Russia after an incident involving a cargo ship in the Black Sea which took place within international waters, Reuters reports.

According to the report, the “Sukru Okan” vessel was flying the flag of Palau when it was fired on by the Russian Navy last Sunday.

19 August 2023; MEMO: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman discussed with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian ways to strengthen relations between the two countries during a meeting on Friday in Jeddah.

19 August 2023; MEMO: Former intelligence officers of the Special Operations Division of the Israeli Military Intelligence on Friday sent what they called a “real alarm” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in protest against his plan to weaken Israel’s judiciary.

19 August 2023; MEMO: Tens of Syrians in Jaramana in the Damascus countryside, south of Syria, demonstrated on Friday against deteriorating living conditions in the regime-controlled area, Aram Media reported.

Local sources said that the demonstrations started before the municipal council and headed towards Al-Soyouf Square in the city centre.

19 August 2023; MEMO: At least 500 prisoners in Bahrain are undergoing a hunger strike in what is said to be the largest such demonstration within the Gulf state’s prison system, amid authorities’ ongoing detention of prisoners of conscience. 

According to The Guardian newspaper, detainees began refusing food on 7 August, with increasing numbers of prisoners having joined the hunger strike throughout the following weeks.

DAMASCUS, Aug 18 (NNN-SANA) – Over 100 schools, ravaged by the massive Feb 6 earthquakes, in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo have been successfully renovated.

Mustafa Abdul-Ghani, the education director of Aleppo, confirmed the accomplishment of the restoration work of 146 schools, adding that, another 49 quake-damaged schools were under renovation.

SANAA, Aug 18 (NNN-SABA) – An Omani delegation arrived in Yemen’s rebel-held capital, Sanaa yesterday, in a bid to persuade the Houthi group to accept a UN proposal, for resuming a truce with the Yemeni government, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.

The delegation is scheduled to hold talks with top Houthi leaders in the coming hours, the television channel said, without elaborating further.