Middle East & North Africa

26 Sep 2022; MEMO: Turkiye said that Malaysia and Indonesia had expressed keen interest in buying armed drones from Turkish Defence firm, Baykar, Reuters reports.

According to the report, Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, announced Malaysian-Turkish partnership during a press conference in Tokyo.

"Many Asian countries, especially Malaysia and Indonesia, show great interest in our defence industry products. Agreements are being signed," Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said.

27 Sep 2022; MEMO: Egypt yesterday condemned "repeated violations" committed by right-wing Israelis against Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In the statement, which was issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Egypt said that the Israeli raids "are being carried out with the support and protection of the Israeli occupation police."

27 Sep 2022; MEMO: The policies of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the occupied West Bank have "destroyed Palestinian institutions", the Head of National Democratic Forum, Naser Al-Qudwa, said yesterday.

PA policies "led to the absence of law and flagrant violations of human rights that keep up with the policies of the Israeli occupation," he explained.

27 Sep 2022; MEMO: Father Manuel Musallam, a Palestinian catholic priest, yesterday called for all Christians in Palestine to mobilise and protect Al-Aqsa Mosque from planned Israeli settler raids in the coming days and weeks.

In a press release, Musallam said that the "success of the settler plans to demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque means the demolition of the Christian and Islamic existence in Jerusalem."

27 Sep 2022; MEMO: Over 100 political parties, organisations, groups and youth initiatives around the world yesterday called on the Arab League to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the escalating Israeli aggression on Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In a statement the bodies condemned Israeli settler raids of Al-Aqsa Mosque which have escalated in the run up to the Jewish holidays.

TEHRAN, Sept 26 (NNN-TASNIM) – Ali Salehi, chief prosecutor of Tehran, said yesterday, his office has filed criminal charges against 14 individuals, for involvement in the assassination of the country’s high-ranking nuclear physicist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

The prosecutor said, the individuals have been accused of “corruption on earth,” intelligence and espionage cooperation with Israel, collusion with the aim of compromising Iran’s security, and acting against national security.

TEHRAN, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Monday slammed the "interventionist" remarks of American and other Western politicians against Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"The enemies' approach against the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation has always been accompanied by hypocrisy and double standards," Nasser Kanaani, the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, said in reference to the remarks made by Western officials over the protests that followed the death of a young girl in the police custody in Iran.

TEHRAN, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian foreign minister urged Washington to prove its determination and goodwill to reach an agreement on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal with realism, the official news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in an address to Iranian reporters in New York after meeting with other countries' foreign ministers following the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

DAMASCUS, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- A total of 102 bodies have so far been found after a boat carrying illegal migrants capsized off the Syrian shore, while 40 others were still missing, a war monitor reported on Sunday.

Twenty people have been rescued by the Syrian authorities, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The boat, which was carrying up to 150 immigrants, set off from Lebanon on Tuesday and was heading toward Europe. It sank near the shore of the Syrian coastal city of Tartous on Thursday, according to Syrian official statements.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates, home to global business and travel hub Dubai, will ease masking requirements imposed over the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said Monday.

As of Wednesday, the wearing of face masks will no longer be required in public places, except for medical facilities, mosques and public transportation, the official WAM news agency reported.

Masks will also be optional in schools. But food service workers and anyone confirmed or suspected of being infected with COVID-19 are still required to wear one.