Middle East & North Africa

01 May 2022; MEMO: The UAE will send an astronaut on a long-term mission to the International Space Station (ISS) next year, becoming the first Arab state to do so.

After purchasing a seat on a SpaceX rocket from private firm Axiom Space, the UAE will take part in the six-month mission. The Emirati astronaut will be part of the SpaceX Crew-6 mission, scheduled for launch in the first half of 2023 at the Kennedy Space Centre in the US State of Florida.

May 1 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will discuss the possibility of supporting the kingdom's $3 billion deposit in Pakistan's central bank by extending its term "or through other options," a joint statement carried by Saudi state news agency SPA said on Sunday.

Last year, Saudi Arabia deposited $3 billion in Pakistan's central bank to help support its foreign reserves. With a yawning current account deficit and foreign reserves falling to as low as $10.8 billion, the South Asian nation is in dire need of external finances.

BAGHDAD, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Two Katyusha rockets hit an air base housing U.S. military experts and agencies in Iraq's western province of Anbar on Saturday, the Iraqi military said.

The two rockets landed in the evening in the Ayn al-Asad AirBase near the town of al-Baghdadi, some 190 km northwest of the capital Baghdad, causing no casualties, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

TEHRAN, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Iran's parliament speaker said on Sunday that the United States seeks to cause insecurity in Afghanistan and to push the country into an unprecedented crisis.

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf made the remarks in an address to the parliament in reaction to recent developments in Afghanistan, according to the legislative body's website.

He accused Washington of using the Islamic State (IS) militant group to compromise Afghanistan's security and create an "ethnic-religious sedition" in the country.

SALE, Morocco (AP) — As a combatant for the Islamic State group who left his native Morocco to join what he felt was a holy fight in Syria, Mohsin says he saw all the horrors of war. “A terrifying experience,” he says.

Now a prisoner, the 38-year-old claims he is no longer the fanatic he was then, enraged with a murderous hatred for non-Muslims. Captured in Turkey and extradited to Morocco, he is serving a 10-year prison term on terrorism charges.

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian authorities freed three journalists early Sunday, the head of a journalists’ union said, the latest in a string of releases as President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi appears to be reaching out to critics of his administration.

Ammer Abdel-Moneim, Hany Greisha and Essam Abdeen walked free from jail after they spent around a year and a half in detention in separate cases.

Diaa Rashwan, head of the Journalists’ Union, posted images showing the three journalists wearing white jail uniforms and embracing their families in the street.

01 May 2022; MEMO: Egypt's Suez Canal Authority said Sunday that its monthly revenues hit all-time high in April, Anadolu reports.

In a statement, the Suez Canal Authority said the international waterway made $629 million in revenues in April, an increase of 13.6% from $553.6 million last year.

The strategic waterway raised the transit fees for ships since last year amid a boom in global trade movement.

In 2021, the Suez Canal recorded its highest revenues, raking in $6.3 billion.

30 April 2022; MEMO: Former Israeli Defence Minister Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon announced on Friday that Israel is not currently facing an "external, but internal" threat, the Akka news website reported.

30 April 2022; MEMO: Chief Commander of the Quds Brigade in the Iran Revolutionary Guards Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani revealed on Friday that Iran had carried out a successful drone mission in Israel, Arabic Post reported.

According to Arabic Post, Iranian media reported Ghaani stating that 41 Israeli fighter aircraft failed to intercept the two Iranian drones that carried out the mission.

30 April 2022; MEMO: Egypt and Israel have been at odds over the "provocative" situation at Al-Aqsa Mosque, senior Palestinian sources told Rai Al-Youm on Friday.

The sources stated that Egypt had threatened Israel that it would stop its mediation between the Israeli occupation state and the Palestinian resistance.