Middle East & North Africa

15 Dec 2020; MEMO: The Israeli occupation's Jerusalem Municipality yesterday raided an Islamic cemetery in the occupied holy city, Palestinian sources reported.

Municipal teams, along with Israeli soldiers and bulldozers, demolished the wall and stairs in the northern part of the Al-Yusufiye Cemetery to make a garden in the area, Executive Director of the Commission for the Protection of Muslim Graves Ahmed Al-Dajani told Anadolu Agency.

CAIRO (AP) — Was it real?

It’s all been erased so completely, so much blood has been shed and destruction wreaked over the past decade. The idea that there was a moment when millions across the Middle East wanted freedom and change so much that they took to the streets seems like romantic nostalgia.

“It was very brief, man. It was so brief,” said Badr Elbendary, an Egyptian activist.

RABAT, Dec 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States adopted a “new official” map of Morocco that includes the disputed territory of Western Sahara, the ambassador to Rabat said.

“This map is a tangible representation of President Trump’s bold proclamation two days ago — recognising Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara,” Ambassador David Fischer said according to a statement.

He then signed the “new official US government map of the kingdom of Morocco” at a ceremony at the US embassy in the capital Rabat.

BAGHDAD, Dec 14 (NNN-NINA) – Commando forces of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), carried out an operation in Nineveh Province and killed 42 Daesh militants, the Iraqi military said yesterday.

Acting on intelligence reports, the CTS forces, backed by Iraqi and international coalition aircraft, pushed into Ayn al-Jahash, in the south of Nineveh’s provincial capital Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, and fought fierce clashes with the militants for two successive days, Yahia Rasoul, spokesman of the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi forces, said.

14 Dec 2020; AA: With a 30-year lifetime, Turkey's fifth-generation satellite, the Turksat 5A, will have the country's orbital rights secured, an executive at Airbus told Anadolu Agency.

Jean-Marc Nasr, Head of Space Systems within Airbus, said: "Turksat 5A will secure the orbital rights of Turkey."

Citing a production contract for the Turksat 5A between Turksat and Airbus Defense and Space, Nasr said efforts to produce the satellite had started immediately after the deal was signed on Nov. 9, 2017.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Hassan Diab, has declined to be questioned by the judge who charged him and three former ministers with negligence over the Beirut port blast, an official source said on Monday.

Investigating magistrate Fadi Sawan has been criticised for bringing charges by influential parties including the Shi’ite group Hezbollah and Sunni leader Saad al-Hariri.

14 Dec 2020; MEMO:  The US announced its adoption of a new map of Morocco on Saturday that includes the disputed Western Sahara, after recognising the Kingdom's sovereignty over the territory.

Ambassador David Fisher made the announcement on the fringe of the signing ceremony of the new map at the US Embassy in Rabat.

14 Dec 2020; MEMO: Israeli settlers escalated their attacks against Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported yesterday.

On Saturday night, a group of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian homes in Sa'ir neighbourhood in the West Bank city of Hebron. They raided homes and attacked people and threatened to set their properties on fire.

14 Dec 2020; MEMO:  The Iranian Embassy in Ankara announced on Sunday that the "misunderstanding" with Turkey over the poem recited by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, has been resolved.

The embassy explained that Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif and his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, spoke on the phone to discuss the issue.

14 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Egyptian authorities have detained Abdul-Latif Shehab, transportation minister in the cabinet of late President Mohamed Morsi, local media reported on Saturday evening.

Abdul-Latif, who was detained from his house east of Cairo, is the second minister from Morsi's cabinet to be detained in the space of one week over claims of joining the "banned" Muslim Brotherhood.