Middle East & North Africa

NICOSIA, Feb 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Cyprus green-lighted an independent investigation on Monday after police were accused of using excessive force against protesters, leaving one woman reportedly needing eye surgery.

Police used water cannon and tear gas in Nicosia on Saturday as hundreds held an initially peaceful protest against government corruption and coronavirus restrictions.

Attorney-General George Savvides gave the go-ahead Monday for an independent watchdog to appoint criminal investigators to probe accusations of police brutality, his office said in a statement.

ERBIL (Reuters) - A rocket attack on U.S.-led forces in northern Iraq killed a civilian contractor on Monday and injured a U.S. service member, the U.S. coalition in Iraq said, in the deadliest such attack in almost a year.

The rockets landed in and around a military air base operated by the coalition at Erbil International Airport.

The coalition spokesman tweeted on Tuesday that the dead contractor was not American, but did not elaborate. He said three 107 mm rockets had landed inside the base.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel held out the possibility on Tuesday that it would not engage with U.S. President Joe Biden on strategy regarding the Iranian nuclear programme, urging tougher sanctions and a “credible military threat” against its arch-enemy.

The remarks by Israel’s envoy to Washington came at a touchy juncture for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Up for re-election next month, he has revived his hard line on Iran while not yet having any direct communication with Biden.

16 Feb 2021; MEMO: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and the US secretary of state on Monday discussed all aspects of bilateral relations, according to diplomatic sources, reports Anadolu Agency.

Cavusoglu congratulated Antony Blinken on his new post, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

They also agreed to discuss in detail all issues on the agenda in the coming days.

16 Feb 2021; MEMO: The Chief Executive of Dubai Airports, Paul Griffiths, yesterday warned of another tough year for Dubai International Airport after the number of passengers passing through its terminals decreased by 70 per cent in 2020, Reuters reported.

"We are planning for it to be a tough year. That's undoubtedly the case … anyone that doesn't think it's going to be a tough year has clearly not been observing what's been going on," Griffiths told the news wire.

16 Feb 2021; MEMO: Egyptian MP Enas Abdel Halim confirmed that 30 per cent of the country's textiles factories have closed as a result of the recession and deteriorating economic conditions in the country.

Abdel Halim said the remaining factories had reduced production by 50 to 70 per cent.

She explained that Egypt had about 1,260 spinning, weaving and dyeing factories registered in Mahalla, but now only 320 factories are operating, employing 120,000 workers.

Yemen's Houthis have intensified their attacks on Saudi Arabia and the central Yemeni province of Marib.

16 Feb 2021; MEMO: The Iraqi Prime Minister and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi yesterday announced the arrest of the so-called "death gang" believed to be responsible for the killing of activists and journalists in the city of Basra during the 2019 anti-government protests.

16 Feb 2021; MEMO: A Saudi woman has been convicted of murdering her Bangladeshi maid by a criminal court in Saudi Arabia, in a ruling rights groups in the South Asian nation said was a rare example of an employer being found guilty of abusing a migrant worker, reports Reuters.

ANKARA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday criticized the United States for "supporting" the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) after the group killed 13 Turkish people in northern Iraq.

The president also denounced a U.S. statement that declined to immediately back Turkey's claim of the PKK members executing 13 Turks in Iraq.