Middle East & North Africa

NICOSIA, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus will oppose a proposal which is expected to be made by some member states of the European Union (EU) to impose a ban on visas for Russian citizens, a senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday.

The ministry's Permanent Secretary Kornelios Korneliou told the state-run Cyprus News Agency that the proposal is expected to be put forward by Baltic countries during the informal meeting of the EU foreign ministers (Gymnich) in Prague on Aug. 30 and 31.

New Delhi, Aug 21 (PTI) Former Lok Sabha member and prominent OBC leader Haribhau Rathod is all set to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday.

Rathod, who was the Lok Sabha member of the BJP from Yavatmal in Maharashtra, told PTI that he would join the AAP on Sunday in the presence of the party's National Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

20 August 2022; MEMO: Nine European countries on Friday expressed their "deep concern" after the Israeli army closed the offices of Palestinian NGOs in the occupied West Bank, accusing them of being "terrorist" organisations.

20 August 2022; MEMO: The Ennahda Movement in Tunisia on Friday criticised the 2022 Constitution as being "illegitimate" and: "An attempt to legitimise a coup against the revolution's Constitution, institutions and gains."

20 August 2022; MEMO: The Arab League on Friday rejected the German "campaign of bullying" against Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas following his "50 Holocausts" remarks.

A statement issued by the Arab League asserted that it: "Expresses its rejection and surprise at what appeared to be a German campaign of bullying against Palestine and President Mahmoud Abbas."

20 August 2022; MEMO: The United Nations (UN) announced on Friday that it is continuing contact with Israel regarding its army storming seven Palestinian NGOs in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank on Thursday.

20 August 2022; MEMO: Berlin police have opened an investigation into Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas for stating that the Israeli occupation has committed "50 Holocausts" against Palestinians, news agencies reported on Friday.

RAMALLAH, Aug 20 (NNN-WAFA) – A Palestinian man was killed yesterday by Israeli soldiers, in the West Bank city of Tubas, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The Palestinian health ministry identified the man as 58-year-old Salah Tawfiq Sawafta, and said, he succumbed to his wounds after he was shot in the head.

Salah Sawafta, 58, died from critical injuries after being shot in the head by Israeli soldiers, the ministry said in a press statement.

ISTANBUL, Aug 20 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday the United Nations is working with the United States and European Union to overcome obstacles to Russian food and fertilisers reaching world markets.

Guterres said that under a U.N.-brokered deal agreed in Turkey last month to resume Ukraine's grain exports cut off since Russia's invasion in February, more than 650,000 metric tonnes of grain and other food was already being exported.

DAMASCUS, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- A missile struck the vicinity of the largest U.S. base in Syria in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour on Friday night, a war monitor reported.

The missile landed near the al-Omar oil field, which has been taken by the United States as its military base, and no casualties were reported, said the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"It is likely that the missile comes from the area where the Iranian militias have influence in the west of the Euphrates," said the observatory.