Middle East & North Africa

AMMAN, Jan 5 (NNN-PETRA) – Jordanian Health Minister, Nathir Obeidat, announced that, the COVID-19 situation in the country is good and improving.

A field hospital started operations in the capital, Amman, to treat patients, Obeidat said, adding, two others in Irbid and Aqaba will soon be opened and a fourth one to be opened in the southern city of Maan.

“The improvement in the situation does not mean we are safe, as we are still battling the virus, and more caution is needed. We all must adhere to physical distancing and wearing masks,” the minister noted.

GAZA, Jan 5 (NNN-WAFA) – A senior Hamas official said, Hamas agreed to hold general elections in the Palestinian territories, after four countries have guaranteed the success of the elections.

The guarantees were given by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and Russia, said Taher al-Nono, an aide to Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in a press statement

Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, earlier said, he received a letter from Haniyeh, on ending the dispute between Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah.

05 Jan 2021; MEMO: Hamas yesterday congratulated Saudi Arabia and Qatar following the announcement that the Gulf states had brought to an end an almost four year blockade on Doha.

05 Jan 2021; MEMO: Tunisia is set to propose a bill which would see women conscripted into the army, the Ministry of Defence announced.

Set to be presented to the House of Representatives, the bill will include mandatory military service for both men and women in an effort to achieve further equality between the sexes.

This comes as the country faces an economic crisis and terror attacks.

05 Jan 2021; MEMO: Iran is monitoring the "undeclared" moves made by the United States in Iraq and the region and will not hesitate to defend itself against any aggression, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said yesterday.

Khatibzadeh told reporters that Tehran had warned countries in the region against getting involved in "American games".

05 Jan 2021; MEMO: Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed has admitted that there is an oxygen crisis in hospitals following a tsunami of criticism on social media after an entire ICU ward died due to lack of oxygen.

For the past several days footage of the ward at El Husseineya Central Hospital in Ash Sharqia province has circulated online.

05 Jan 2021; MEMO: An Algerian court yesterday sentenced former Prime Minister in ousted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's government, Ahmed Ouyahia, to seven years in prison on corruption charges.

Local media reported that the Sidi M'hamed court in the capital Algiers also sentenced the former ministers of tourism and transport, Ammar Ghoul and Abdelghani Zaalan, to three years in jail in the same case.

05 Jan 2021; MEMO: The Ministry of Finance and Economy in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq yesterday suspended the salaries of more than 10,000 people who receive multiple payments from the government.

The ministry explained in a statement that "the decision affects 10,609 people including pensioners who receive two or more salaries from the government", adding that the decision comes in the framework of a reform plan adopted by the government.

Seoul, Jan 5 (AP-PTI) Armed Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops stormed a South Korean tanker and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran, the vessel's owner said Tuesday, the latest maritime seizure by Tehran amid heightened tensions with the West over its nuclear program.

The military raid on Monday on the MT Hankuk Chemi was at odds with Iranian explanations that they stopped the vessel for polluting the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt is being represented by its foreign minister at a summit of Gulf Arab leaders on Tuesday expected to produce a formal agreement towards ending a regional dispute with Qatar, an official source said.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry flew to the summit in al-Ula in Saudi Arabia after an announcement that Riyadh would reopen its airspace and sea and land border to Qatar, the source and Egyptian state media said.