Middle East & North Africa

12 Jan 2021; MEMO: The health ministry of the Palestinian Authority (PA) has approved the main Russian vaccine against COVID-19, known as Sputnik V, for use in Palestinian self-ruled territory, Russia's sovereign wealth fund said on Monday, reports Reuters.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian Health Minister Mai Alkaila confirmed that her ministry had granted "emergency approval" for the Russian vaccine to be administered in areas under limited Palestinian self-rule.

12 Jan 2021; MEMO: Turkey and Greece said on Monday they wanted to resume suspended exploratory talks over territorial claims in the Mediterranean Sea which brought them close to conflict last year, reports Reuters.

Plans for talks last year foundered after a disagreement over a Turkish seismic exploration vessel deployed to disputed waters, but the ship has since returned.

12 Jan 2021; MEMO: Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, returned to Germany on Sunday to complete his treatment for COVID-19.

The Turkish Presidency and military have moved their messaging systems away from WhatsApp and onto a local Turkish messaging app due to new private data concerns, Anadolu Agency reports.

Officials said that the media office will update journalists via BiP, a unit of Turkish communication company Turkcell, from today.

12 Jan 2021; MEMO: Further concerns have been raised over Israel's ongoing failure to include Palestinians in its COVID-19 vaccination programme dubbed by critics as "medical apartheid". The latest comes from Dr Yousef Jabareen, head of the International Relations Committee of the Joint List, a political alliance of the main Arab-majority political parties in Israel.

Khalid al-Qahtani stood in the arrivals hall at Riyadh's main airport on Monday, waiting to see his sister almost four years after a diplomatic rift with neighbouring Qatar split his family apart, reports Reuters.

Other relatives from other families clustered around him waiting for the passengers to get off the first flight from Doha allowed into Saudi Arabia since a U.S-backed deal reopened travel routes.

KHARTOUM, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) - Sudan on Monday reiterated its adherence to the necessity of giving the African Union (AU) experts a bigger role in the negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan on Monday met with ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation. During the meeting, Al-Burhan was briefed on the developments of tripartite talks among Sudan, Ethiopia, and Egypt on the dam as well as the reason behind the recent impasse, said the sovereign council in a statement.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese authorities tightened a nationwide lockdown Monday, including an 11-day, 24-hour curfew, amid a dramatic surge in coronavirus infections and growing criticism of uncoordinated policies many blame for the spread of the virus.

News of the restrictions to be implemented starting Thursday morning sparked panicked grocery buying as people lined up outside of supermarkets to stock up, raising fears the crowds could further spread the virus.

JERUSALEM (AP) — A leading Israeli human rights group has begun describing both Israel and its control of the Palestinian territories as a single “apartheid” regime, using an explosive term that the country’s leaders and their supporters vehemently reject.

In a report released Tuesday, B’Tselem says that while Palestinians live under different forms of Israeli control in the occupied West Bank, blockaded Gaza, annexed east Jerusalem and within Israel itself, they have fewer rights than Jews in the entire area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.

11 Jan 2021; MEMO: Yemen's Houthis have threatened to attack "very sensitive" sites in Israel, Rai Al-Youm reported yesterday, after reports emerged that the occupation state was reenforcing its military in the south of the country ahead of a possible confrontation.