Middle East & North Africa

17 Dec 2020; MEMO: Iran said on Thursday that around 60,000 nurses have contracted the coronavirus across the country, including 100 of them losing their lives, Anadolu Agency reports.

According to the Iranian ISNA news agency, head of the Nurses Association Mohammad Mirzabeigi said that out of 145,000 nurses across the country, around 60,000 of them have so far contracted the novel coronavirus.

17 Dec 2020; MEMO: Israeli officials are reported to have expressed concerns that Norwegian diplomat Tor Wennesland has been appointed as UN Special Envoy to the Middle East Peace Process, local media have reported. The appointment was announced on Monday by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

17 Dec 2020; MEMO: Activists on Wednesday launched an online campaign to boycott the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) over its cooperation with Israel's Leumi Bank which is involved in settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Popular Campaign to Boycott Zionist Enterprises said on Twitter that ADIB has concluded an agreement with Leumi Bank; which is on the United Nations list of companies involved in illegal Israeli settlements, and called for a boycott.

18 Dec 2020; MEMO: The Libyan Red Crescent yesterday recovered the bodies of four children whose boat sank at sea on Wednesday.

Hassan Al-Bayi of the Libyan Red Crescent told AFP that the organisation was "informed [Wednesday] of a boat that was sinking on the high sea with 30 people on board in the Zawiya area."

He added that rescue workers discovered three of the children's bodies near Zawiya, around 45 kilometres from Tripoli, and the fourth a few kilometres further west.

TUNIS, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian President Kais Saied on Thursday discussed with visiting Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva the ways to boost cooperation and diversify its fields, the Tunisian Presidency said in a statement.

Saied underlined Tunisia's desire to promote the ties with Portugal and the European Union as a strategic partner.

"Portugal will assume the periodic presidency of the EU in the first half of 2021," said the Tunisian president.

EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Two roadside bombs exploded in restive northern Sinai Peninsula killing three members of Egypt’s security forces and wounding 10 others, officials said Friday.

The bombs went off near separate checkpoints in the town of Sheikh Zuweid late Thursday, said two security officials and a medical official, who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to brief the media.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has begun construction on a site at its underground nuclear facility at Fordo amid tensions with the U.S. over its atomic program, satellite photos obtained Friday by The Associated Press show.

Iran has not publicly acknowledged any new construction at Fordo, whose discovery by the West in 2009 came in an earlier round of brinkmanship before world powers struck the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.

17 Dec 2020; AA: Turkey’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that 136 members of the Special Mine Detection and Clearance Team (OMAT) began clearing mined areas of Upper Karabakh that were liberated from Armenian occupation.  

"Clearing of mines and handmade explosives continues in [territories of] Karabakh which were heroically and selflessly liberated from Armenian occupation by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.

17 Dec 2020; AA: The US' unilateral sanctions attack sovereign rights of Turkey and other countries, the Turkish foreign minister said Thursday.

In an interview with Turkish news broadcaster 24 TV, Mevlut Cavusoglu said relations between the two countries could normalize if the US meets Turkey’s expectations.

He stressed that the sanction decision is a wrong step both legally and politically.

The US on Monday imposed sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system.

17 Dec 2020; AA: Turkish parliament speaker on Thursday called on humanity to walk to the future together against the novel coronavirus.

"Since the virus does not differentiate people, we have common pain and wounds. So we have to heal the wounds, walk to the future together without leaving anyone behind," Mustafa Sentop told at the 6th parliament speakers' meeting of MIKTA.

Established in 2013, MIKTA is an informal partnership consisting of Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, and Australia.