Middle East & North Africa

BEIRUT, June 16 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese army on Thursday arrested 34 Syrian nationals, including women and children, in Lebanon's southern village of Sarafand over plans to illegally leave for Europe by sea.

A statement released by the Lebanese army noted that the arrested people also include members of a human smuggling network.

The arrested people were referred to relevant judicial bodies for further investigations and other legal procedures, it added.

15 June 2022; MEMO: A tanker built by an Iranian shipyard for Venezuela plans to depart next month from the Middle Eastern country with a cargo of fuel components for the gasoline-thirsty nation, three sources with knowledge of the deal told Reuters.

The new vessel is the latest sign of the growing energy collaboration between the two nations under US sanctions. Iran and Venezuela are increasingly swapping crude for diluents and for fuel the South American country desperately needs due to the poor condition of its refining network.

16 June 2022; MEMO: Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid does not expect US President Joe Biden's visit to the Middle East to achieve a breakthrough in relations with Saudi Arabia.

In a press conference on the issue, Lapid expressed that Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia bears only symbolic significance.

16 June 2022; MEMO: The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel have rejected the US proposal to meet ahead of US President Joe Biden's visit to Israel and the West Bank, news agencies reported on Wednesday.

The meeting, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, would be similar to the one attended by Israeli, US and Arab officials held in the Negev in March.

16 June 2022; MEMO: Iranian authorities have seized a vessel carrying 90,000 litres of smuggled fuel in the waters around Kish Island in the Gulf, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported today, according to Reuters.

The captain and five other crew members were issued with criminal warrants and have been detained, IRNA added.

16 June 2022; MEMO: Leader of Israel's Religious Zionism alliance, Bezalel Smotrich, is planning to propose a bill to the Knesset asking it to vote on applying Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank, Israel's Channel 7 reported yesterday.

ANKARA, June 15. /TASS/: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a phone call with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Wednesday, during which he stated that Turkey will not change its position regarding the membership of Sweden and Finland, until these countries provide written guarantees on combating terrorism to Ankara.

RAMALLAH, Jun 15 (NNN-WAFA) – The two-state solution is the only way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammed Ishtaye, stressed here yesterday.

He reiterated this position, during a meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Barbara Leaf, and her deputy, Hady Amr, ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s planned visit to the Middle East next month.

14 June 2022; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country will start pumping ten million cubic metres of natural gas per day from the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea in the first quarter of 2023, Anadolu news agency reported.

14 June 2022; MEMO: Turkiye's state-run aid agency, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) has supported the renovation and reopening of an Orthodox church in Lebanon, built 170 years ago.