Middle East & North Africa

05 May 2022; MEMO: Abu Dhabi hosted its first official Israeli memorial event on Tuesday to commemorate the dead soldiers from the Israeli army.

The proceedings took place in Hebrew at the Israeli Embassy in Abu Dhabi, and were led by the Israeli Ambassador to Abu Dhabi, Amir Hayek.

RAMALLAH/GAZA, May 6 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, yesterday condemned a deadly axe attack in central Israel, while the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) justified the attack as a response to Israel’s recent violations against Palestinian sanctities.

“The killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians only leads to a further deterioration of the situation,” Abbas was quoted as saying.

Abbas warned that the incident would be used as an excuse “to carry out attacks and reactions against our Palestinian people.”

Turkiye's annual inflation jumped to a two-decade excessive of 69.97 per cent in April after final 12 months' lira crash, Reuters reports.

According to the report, the surge in costs has badly strained households, just over 12 months before presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in 2023.

The hit to trade puts further pressure on Turkiye's economy after a currency crisis in December.

Falling export income adds to the Turkish current account deficit, which is swelling following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

05 May 2022; MEMO: Thousands of Syrians have been waiting outside prisons in the country for the release of their relatives detained by the regime of Bashar Al-Assad, following a general amnesty issued by Assad.

ADDIS ABABA, May 5 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing Ukraine crisis is negatively affecting East Africa's food security through reduced food supplies, accessibility and high prices of food, fuel and fertilizer, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warned Thursday.

Export restrictions on grains, vegetable oil and fertilizers have surged since the start of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the scale having reached the levels of the 2008 global food crisis in terms of share of global trade, the WFP said in its latest situation update on the food security conditions in Eastern Africa.

KUWAIT CITY, May 5 (Xinhua) -- The decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies to raise oil output will help restore market balance, Kuwait's Deputy Prime Minister and Oil Minister Mohammad Al-Fares said on Thursday.

The minister said that the decision aims to "restore market balance through a monthly increase," and will ensure market stability and achieve a balance between supply and demand.

JERUSALEM (AP) — A pair of Palestinian attackers went on a stabbing rampage in a town near Tel Aviv on Thursday night, killing at least three people and wounding four others before fleeing in a vehicle, Israeli authorities said.

Police launched a massive search for the assailants, setting up roadblocks and dispatching a helicopter. The stabbing, coming on Israel’s Independence Day, was the latest in a string of deadly attacks in Israeli cities in recent weeks.

TEHRAN, May 5 (NNN-IRNA) – An Iranian lawmaker reiterated yesterday, the importance of seeking a reliable guarantee from the United States, in the talks to salvage the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Zohreh Elahian, member of Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, told the semi-official Mehr news agency, Iran must get a “reliable guarantee” from the U.S., to prevent Washington from scrapping the agreement again and reimposing sanctions on Tehran.

CAIRO, May 5 (NNN-MENA) – A total of 85 tombs, dating back to the period from the Old Kingdom of Egypt, some 4,500 years ago, until the Ptolemaic dynasty, spanning from 305 BC to 30 BC, were unearthed in the southern Egyptian province of Sohag, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said yesterday.

BEIRUT, May 5 (NNN-NNA) – All the preparations for Lebanon’s parliamentary elections “have been completed,” Lebanese Interior Minister, Bassam Mawlawi, announced yesterday.

“The legislative elections will take place for sure. All the preparations have been completed. The security forces are fully ready and will not hesitate to play their role,” Mawlawi confirmed, in an exclusive interview with the Al-Hurra TV channel.