Middle East & North Africa

Istanbul Police, Tuesday, seized unprocessed raw diamonds with a market value of TL 20 million ($1 million), estimated to be 61.38 carats, during an operation in the Grand Bazaar – one of the historical trade centres of Istanbul, local Turkish media reports.

According to the report, the Istanbul Police Department and the Department of Combating Financial Crimes received information about the smuggling of diamonds in the historic Grand Bazaar, Istanbul.

They detained four foreign national suspects, the report added.

19 Apr 2023; MEMO: Israel will impose a 3-day lockdown on the Palestinian Territories as of April 24 for the upcoming Memorial Day and Independence Day celebrations, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The closure is set to begin on Monday, 24 April, at 5 p.m., and last until Wednesday, 26 April, at 11:59 p.m.

A military statement said border crossings with the Gaza Strip will also be closed.

20 Apr 2023; MEMO: Israeli occupation settlers demolished, on Wednesday, five Palestinian shops in the Old City of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Wafa news agency reported.

The demolition, witnesses said, was carried out with full protection of the Israeli Occupation Forces.

Director of Hebron Reconstruction Committee, Imad Hamdan, said that the five shops are located in the market area of the old city.

20 Apr 2023; MEMO: The Higher Presidential Committee of Church Affairs in Palestine yesterday called on world churches to support Palestinian Christians.

In a letter, the head of the committee, Ramzi Khoury, raised an alert regarding the danger facing Palestinian Christians, urging world churches to help and support the Christian presence in Palestine.

20 Apr 2023; MEMO: The US State Department yesterday condemned Tunisia's arrest of former Speaker of Parliament Rached Ghannouchi, the closure of his party's headquarters and the banning of meetings held by opposition groups.

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Sudan’s rival generals on Wednesday made a new attempt at a 24-hour humanitarian cease-fire after a failed truce the night before. But sporadic fighting continued, and aid groups said they needed guarantees and a wider window to help civilians trapped by five days of intense urban combat.

Terrified Sudanese fled Khartoum earlier in the day, hauling whatever belongings they could carry and trying to get out of the capital, where forces loyal to the country’s top two generals have been battling each other with tanks, artillery and airstrikes since Saturday.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A crowd apparently panicked by gunfire and an electrical explosion stampeded at an event to distribute financial aid during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Yemen’s capital late Wednesday, killing at least 78 people and injuring at least 73 others, according to witnesses and Houthi rebel officials.

The tragedy was Yemen’s deadliest in years that was not related to the country’s long-running war, and came ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan later this week.

April 19 (Reuters) - Russia on Wednesday accused Ukraine of sabotaging the Black Sea grain deal by demanding bribes from ship owners to register new vessels and carry out inspections under the cover of a deal the United Nations hopes could ease a global food crisis.

There was no immediate comment on the allegation, levelled by Russia's Foreign Ministry, from Ukraine which has blamed Moscow for problems with the agreement. Moscow did not immediately provide documentary evidence to back its assertion.

KHARTOUM, April 19 (Reuters) - Air strikes and explosions hammered Sudan's capital on Wednesday after the failure of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between the army and paramilitary forces, forcing residents to stay hunkered down and prompting Japan to prepare to evacuate its citizens.

Continuous bombardments and loud blasts could be heard in central Khartoum in the area around the defence ministry compound and the airport, which has been fiercely contested and put out of action since fighting erupted at the weekend.

Thick smoke billowed into the sky.

DOHA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The Qatari Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are expected to reopen their embassies in the coming weeks.

Majed bin Mohammad al-Ansari, the ministry's spokesperson, made the announcement at a weekly press briefing, according to the ministry's statement.

He said there was positive progress in the meetings of the technical committees that work to facilitate the reopening of their embassies.

"The issue is currently procedural and it is expected to reopen the embassies in weeks," he noted.