Middle East & North Africa

01 Feb 2021; MEMO: Iran has begun rotating centrifuges in response to the statements issued by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Washington would not rejoin the nuclear deal until Tehran showed full compliance with it, the Islamic Republic's parliament speaker said yesterday.

01 Feb 2021; MEMO: Thousands of Israelis demonstrated on Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called for him to step down, Quds Press has reported. This is the 32nd week that such protests have been held against the Israeli leader, who faces three indictments on corruption and fraud charges.

TEHRAN, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Iran welcomes the formation of a government with the participation of all ethnic and political groups in Afghanistan, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said here on Sunday.

"Political decisions cannot be made in vacuum, and the formation of an inclusive government must take place in a participatory process, taking into account fundamental structures, institutions and legislations such as the constitution," Zarif was quoted as saying by the Foreign Ministry's official website.

BEIRUT (AP) — Joana Dagher lay unconscious and hemorrhaging under a pile of rubble in her apartment after the massive Beirut port blast in August, on the brink of death.

She survived because of the courage of her husband who got her out, the kindness of a stranger who transported her in his damaged car and the help of her sisters during the chaos at the overwhelmed hospital.

31 Jan 2021; MEMO: Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian in an alleged stabbing attack in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, according to the Israeli army, Anadolu Agency reported.

A military statement said a Palestinian armed with three knives connected to a stick allegedly attempted to stab soldiers at Gush Etzion Junction south of Bethlehem.

The army said the attacker was neutralized. No injuries were reported among Israeli soldiers.

31 Jan 2021; MEMO: Dubai will roll out China's Sinopharm vaccine to the general public from Sunday as coronavirus infections surged to record levels in the Middle East tourism hub, the government said on Saturday, Reuters reported.

All Emirati nationals are eligible for the vaccine, the Dubai media office said in a statement.

RIYADH, Jan 31 (NNN-SPA) – Saudi Civil Defence announced yesterday that, a projectile landed near a hospital, in the border city of Jazan.

Mohammed AL Ghamidi, spokesman of the civil defence, said, the projectile was launched by the Houthi militia in Yemen, adding, no injury or damage was reported.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition announced the interception of a bomb-laden drone in Yemen, flying towards the kingdom.

31 Jan 2021; MEMO: The Israeli Health Ministry recorded 2,596 new infections and 23 fatalities from the coronavirus pandemic on Sunday, Anadolu Agency reported.

A ministry statement cited by the Maariv newspaper said the new virus cases were out of 26,000 Israelis who were subjected to the COVID-19 test.

Israel's count now rose to 640,644 cases, including 4,745 deaths. Among the active cases, 1,162 are in critical condition and 298 are depending on respirators.

31 Jan 2021; MEMO: Iran on Saturday dismissed the French president's remarks on the need for a new nuclear deal with Tehran, Anadolu Agency reported.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is "a multilateral international agreement that has been endorsed and stabilized by the (UN) Security Council Resolution 2231. It is by no means re-negotiable, and its parties are also definite and unchangeable."

Iran executed on Saturday an ethnic Baluch militant convicted of killing Revolutionary Guards members, the judiciary's official website reported, a day after the United Nations urged Iranian authorities to spare his life, reports Reuters.

30 Jan 2021; MEMO: The Mizan site said Javid Dehghan, who it said was a leader of the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl, or the Army of Justice, was hanged for shooting dead two Guards five years ago in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province.