Middle East & North Africa

11 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Israel and Morocco have today agreed to normalise relations in a deal brokered with the help of US President Donald Trump.

As part of the agreement, Trump agreed to recognise Morocco's sovereignty over the Western Sahara, where there has been a decades-old territorial dispute with Morocco pitted against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, a breakaway movement that seeks to establish an independent state in the territory, Reuters reported.

11 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Two Russians, detained in Libya on espionage charges in 2019, were released on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, Anadolu Agency reports.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow, Zakharova said the Russian side is "satisfied" with the decision of the Libyan authorites to free Maxim Shugaley and Samer Hasan Ali Sueyfan, and thanked everyone who assisted in their release.

Dubai, Dec 11 (PTI) The UAE-based Lulu Group International has announced a plan to set up a food processing centre in Srinagar for sourcing a wide range of agri products from Jammu and Kashmir.

The announcement was made by Lulu group chairman Yusuffali MA on Thursday during a meeting with a delegation from Jammu and Kashmir headed by its Principal Secretary (Agriculture Production and Horticulture) Navin Kumar Choudhary on the sidelines of the UAE India Food Security Summit 2020.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey rejects the European Union’s “biased and illegal” approach at its summit this week and calls on the bloc to act as an honest broker in an ongoing dispute in the eastern Mediterranean, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

EU leaders agreed on Thursday to prepare limited sanctions on Turkish individuals over an energy exploration dispute with Greece and Cyprus, postponing any harsher steps until March as countries sparred over how to handle Ankara.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain has announced plans to give the public free coronavirus vaccines, as Saudi Arabia said it approved an inoculation by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech to fight the pandemic.

The island nation of Bahrain, off the coast of Saudi Arabia, made the vaccine pledge in an announcement published late Thursday by its state-run Bahrain News Agency.

“A safe vaccine will be provided free of charge to all citizens and residents within the kingdom,” the statement said, without elaborating on which vaccine it would offer.

TEHRAN, Dec 9 (NNN-IRNA) – The Iranian government ruled out the possibility of renegotiations over the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The JCPOA was fully discussed in detail five years ago and needs no renegotiations, said Ali Rabiei, spokesman of the Iranian government.

“No new members should join the 2015 nuclear deal,” he noted, responding to the requests of some other states to participate in likely renewed nuclear talks.

CAIRO, Dec 9 (NNN-MENA) – Egypt called for a comprehensive solution to the years-long rift between Qatar and the Arab quartet of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain.

In a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry said, Egypt values the ongoing efforts by Kuwait, to end the crisis that has lasted several years between Qatar and the Arab quartet.

TEHRAN, Dec 10 (NNN-IRNA) – Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, called for a reinforcement of Iran’s relations with Azerbaijan, during his meeting with visiting Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, Jeyhun Bayramov.

“We hope we can take advantage of the opportunity created by new international conditions, to further develop relations between the two countries.”

BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanon’s investigating judge has charged caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers with negligence over the Beirut port blast that killed 200 people and ruined a swathe of the capital in August.

The others are former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil, as well as former public works ministers Ghazi Zeaiter and Youssef Finianos, state news agency NNA said on Thursday.

10 Dec 2020; MEMO: The Sudanese Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday the halt of visa-free entry for Syrians, Anadolu  Agency reported.

This announcement came in a statement and follows 20 years of visa-free entry for Syrians.

"The head of Sudan's Transitional Military Council, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, issued a decision cancelling republican decree number 179 for 2001, which provided visa-free entry for Syrians," the statement indicated.