Middle East & North Africa

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel and Sudan will finalise a diplomatic deal to normalise relations at a signing ceremony in Washington in the next three months, Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen said on Wednesday.

There was no immediate comment from Sudanese officials or from the U.S. embassy in Israel.

Sudan’s civilian government has said the deal to normalise relations with Israel can only take effect once approved by a transitional legislative council that is yet to be formed.

BEIRUT, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- More than 35 people were injured on Tuesday due to clashes between protesters and security forces in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, al-Jadeed local TV channel reported.

Protesters took to the street to demonstrate against the Lebanese authorities' decision to impose total lockdown in the country in the absence of a social safety net capable of securing the basic needs of citizens.

27 Jan 2021; MEMO: Iran threatened on Tuesday to block short-notice inspections of its nuclear facilities, demanding Washington reverse economic sanctions before it returns to compliance with a nuclear deal that President Joe Biden aims to restore, reports Reuters.

27 Jan 2021; MEMO: The US military is using a range of ports and air bases in Saudi Arabia's western desert and developing options for bases to use in the event of a conflict with Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

27 Jan 2021; MEMO: Turkey on Tuesday condemned missile attacks targeting the Saudi capital Riyadh, reports Anadolu Agency.

"It has been learned that Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, has been the target of missile attacks for the second time in the last three days," a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement.

"We strongly condemn these attacks, which have targeted civilian settlements and appear to have been neutralised by Saudi air defense systems," it added.

27 Jan 2021; MEMO: Kuwait's Health Ministry yesterday rejected the conditions proposed by the American company, Moderna, under which it would supply the Gulf state with the coronavirus vaccine.

Official sources told Al-Qabas that the conditions had included the company's failure to supply "specific quantities of the vaccine, as well as the lack of the ministry's right to return 30 per cent of the doses in case they were not used."

27 Jan 2021; MEMO: Israel's top general said on Tuesday that its military was refreshing its operational plans against Iran and that any US return to a 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran would be "wrong, reports Reuters.

25 Jan 2021; MEMO: US President Joe Biden has appointed Palestinian-American Maher Bitar as the senior director for intelligence programmes at the National Security Council (NSC), Politico newspaper reported.

Bitar served as general counsel to Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee and played a huge role in former President Donald Trump's first impeachment.

BEIRUT (AP) — When Lebanon’s financial meltdown began in late 2019, Hassan Shoumar was locked out of his dollar savings like everyone else in the country as banks clamped down with capital controls.

But the young engineer had an alternative. He could still pull out the dollars in his account at the al-Qard al-Hasan Association, the financial arm of the militant Hezbollah group.

26 Jan 2021; MEMO: Flag carrier Turkish Airlines has temporarily suspended all flights to Israel, the airline announced on Monday, Anadolu reports.

Under the suspension, there are no Turkish Airlines flights to or from Israel for the period Jan. 26 to Jan. 31, said the company on Twitter.

By way of explanation, the airline said the move was in line with a decision by "related authorities," but gave no further details.