Middle East & North Africa

16 Feb 2021; MEMO: A delegation of Egyptian officials arrived in Libya yesterday to open the country's embassy.

In a statement to Anadolu Agency, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Al-Qablawi said the delegation of diplomats and security personnel will pay an official visit to Tripoli for a few days.

Al-Qablawi added that Egypt's embassy in Tripoli will be reopened.

15 Feb 2021; MEMO: Ali Asghar Haji, senior assistant to the Iranian foreign minister, said yesterday that Tehran is counting on the possibility of buying weapons from Russia to protect the region's security.

Regarding the arms embargo that was imposed on Tehran by the UN, Haji pointed out that "at a time when Iran did not have the right to purchase weapons, other countries in the region bought arms for billions of dollars," noting that these states have "turned the region into an armoury".

DUBAI (Reuters) - Dubai Airports’ chief executive warned on Monday it would be another tough year for the Middle East’s busiest hub, Dubai International, after passenger numbers slid 70% in 2020.

The airport, the base for airline Emirates and a major source of income for Dubai, handled 25.9 million passengers last year, mostly in the first quarter before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

15 Feb 2021; MEMO: Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, is preparing to dissolve parliament soon and call for early legislative elections, Echorouk newspaper reported a party leader and former candidate in the last presidential election saying.

15 Feb 2021; MEMO: The people of Iraq have been remembering the bombing of Al-Amiriyah Air Raid Shelter in Baghdad by the US Air Force on 13 February, 1991. The Americans targeted the shelter with two laser-guided "smart bombs", killing at least 408 civilians and wounding an unknown number of others.

A number of Israeli tanks today carried out incursion in the east of the city of Jabalya in the north of the Gaza Strip and opened fire at Palestinian farmers, Palestinian security sources said.

According to the sources, three bulldozers and three tanks breached the borders and trampled on agricultural land and farms inside Gaza.

They destroyed land and building dirt mounds and opened fire and shot smoke canisters.

Israeli occupation drones were flying overhead during the incursion.

15 Feb 2021; MEMO: Senior Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti is planning to stand for election as Palestinian Authority president despite an official request from the movement only to seek election to the Legislative Authority, news agencies reported on Sunday. Barghouti has been in an Israeli jail since 2002.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday it will block snap inspections by the U.N. nuclear watchdog this month if other parties to the 2015 nuclear deal fail to fulfil their obligations, a challenge to U.S. President Joe Biden’s hope of reviving the accord.

“If others do not fulfil their obligations by Feb. 21, the government is obliged to suspend the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

CAIRO, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Naval forces from Egypt and Spain conducted joint military exercises in the Red Sea, Egypt's armed forces said on Sunday.

The exercises included activities of sailing formation, transportation and training, which showed the ability, speed and accuracy of the participating units, the Egyptian military said in a statement.

The training contributed to exchanging experiences with the Spanish side as well as benefiting from the bilateral capabilities in achieving common interests, and enhancing mutual naval military cooperation, it added.

JERUSALEM, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Israel and Cyprus signed on Sunday a deal to allow Israelis and Cypriots who have been inoculated against COVID-19 to travel between the two countries without quarantine.

The deal was announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, who arrived in Israel for a one-day visit earlier in the day.

"It opens up the possibility of restarting tourism in the near future. Cypriot tourists in Israel and Israeli tourists in Cyprus," Netanyahu said in a statement.