Middle East & North Africa

ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) have applauded China's humanitarian support for needy people in the East African country.

Tadesse Bekele Fanta, senior disaster risk management advisor at Ethiopia's National Disaster Risk Management Commission, has recently highlighted China's positive role in contributing to Ethiopia's Humanitarian Requirements Document, a plan issued by the government to address humanitarian challenges across the country.

TEHRAN, Feb 13 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran will launch a direct shipping line from the southern port city of Bandar Abbas to Syrian port of Latakia, on Mar 10, Head of Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce, Keyvan Kashefi, announced yesterday.

Cargo ships will carry freight from Iran to Syria once per month, Kashefi was quoted as saying, by Tehran Times daily.

If demand for shipping to Syria increases, the cargo service could be offered twice a month, he said.

12 Feb 2021; MEMO: Plans by a member of the Abu Dhabi ruling family to purchase a 50 per cent stake in Israel's controversial Beitar Jerusalem Football Club have been frozen, following reports questioning the sheikh's finances, it was announced yesterday.

12 Feb 2021; MEMO: Israeli Education Minister, Yoav Galant, yesterday agreed with his Moroccan counterpart, Said Amzazi, to start an educational exchange programme.

13 Feb 2021; MEMO: The Ennahda movement in Tunisia announced on Thursday that it would call on its supporters to demonstrate in the streets in support of the democratic process, amid the ongoing constitutional crisis.

This came in a statement issued by the movement's spokesperson, Fathi Ayadi, on the radio station Mosaique MF.

12 Feb 2021; MEMO: The leader of Israel's Tikva Hadasha (New Hope) party, Gideon Sa'ar, has said that he will respect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's commitment to suspend annexation plans in the occupied West Bank if he becomes his successor after the next election.

"If I become the new prime minister of Israel, I will fulfill the commitment that Netanyahu has given from Israel to the United States administration," he was quoted by i24 News as saying.

12 Feb 2021; MEMO: Israeli occupation forces blew up the family home of a Palestinian prisoner being held in Israeli jails, who is accused of killing a settler last December.

The move came a week after the Israeli High Court of Justice gave the go-ahead to destroy the two-floor building in which Muhammad Maruh Kabha lived, based in the village of Tura, southwest of Jenin.

12 Feb 2021; MEMO: At least 400,000 Yemeni children under five could die of starvation this year without urgent intervention amid soaring rates of severe malnutrition driven by war and the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported four UN agencies saying today.

The warnings come nearly six years after the outbreak of war that rendered 80 per cent of the population reliant on humanitarian aid.

New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) India is gifting 2,000 metric tonnes of rice to Syria following a request from the Arab republic, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.

The first consignment of 1,000 metric tonnes of rice was handed over by Indian ambassador to Syria Hifzur Rahman to Syrian Minister of Local Administration Hussain Makhlouf at Latakia Port on Thursday, the MEA said in a statement.

The MEA said the remaining 1000 metric tonnes of rice is expected to reach Syria on February 18.

12 Feb 2021; MEMO:Suspected thieves have broken into an Israeli army base in southern Israel, using drones to gather intelligence and cause a blackout, reported Israeli media outlets.