Middle East & North Africa

BAGHDAD, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S.-led coalition aircraft carried out airstrikes on hideouts of the extremist Islamic State (IS) militant group in Salahudin province in the north of Baghdad, leaving five IS militants killed, the Iraqi military said on Sunday.

Based on a request by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC), the international aircraft bombarded an orchard near the town of Yathrib, some 80 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, destroying the hideouts and killing the five militants, the JOC media office said in a statement.

TEHRAN, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) endorsed on Saturday the parliament-ratified "Strategic Action to Lift Embargoes" law, intended to reduce international monitoring of Iran's nuclear program if embargoes on the country are not lifted in two months.

"The aforementioned law does not create a specific issue that damages national interests," a statement by the SNSC quoted by Tasnim news agency said.

HAMDAYET, Sudan (AP) — Ethiopia’s month-long war in its northern Tigray region has severely hampered efforts to fight one of Africa’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, as the fighting has displaced almost 1 million people and strained local humanitarian services to the breaking point.

Tens of thousands of those fleeing the conflict between Tigrayan and Ethiopian federal forces have crossed into neighboring Sudan, where countrywide virus numbers are also rising rapidly.

05 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Former Head of Saudi intelligence Prince Turki Al-Faisal has denied news of an approaching Saudi normalisation deal with the occupation, as well as the alleged meeting held by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling the latter a "liar".

This came in an interview with CNN, in which Al-Faisal discussed the leaks of a supposed meeting that took place between the Saudi crown prince and Netanyahu, which Saudi Arabia has denied.

05 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced on Friday that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) had exempted it from production cuts because of difficult conditions facing the country.

A statement issued by the NOC confirmed that the decision to exempt Libya from the production cuts was taken during a meeting held on Thursday via video conferencing.

05 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Lebanon's Hezbollah announced on Friday that it is suing those who accuse it of being responsible for the massive explosion in the Port of Beirut four months ago, news agencies reported.

Speaking to journalists before the Justice Palace in Beirut, Hezbollah's MP Ibrahim Mousawi announced: "There are news websites that step up to accuse Hezbollah of being responsible for the Beirut Port explosion… All of these claims are false as they lack evidence… They are cheap and shameful."

05 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Palestinian dismissed Fatah leader Mohammad Dahlan is preparing to return from exile to compete for presidency of the Palestinian Authority (PA),

05 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin on Thursday described the Israeli nation-state law as "self-incrimination of Israel" and "contrary to everything that Judaism represents."

In an article published by the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, Beilin said that the nation-state law: "Provides a reference to repeated claims by its [Israel's] enemies… [It] is a ringing slap in the face to anyone who supports Israel in the world."

CAIRO, Dec 5 (NNN-MENA) – The Arab League Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, praised Kuwait’s efforts to “heal Arab rifts.”

In a statement, Aboul-Gheit said, he is following the current efforts and good offices of Kuwait, to “heal the Arab rift and eliminate causes of disagreement among a number of Arab countries.”

The Arab League chief stressed that, restoring confidence among Arab countries and removing the roots of the problems that led to disputes are the only ways to end the differences.

RAMALLAH, Dec 5 (NNN-WAFA) – A 13-year-old Palestinian boy on Friday (yesterday), died of his wounds, sustained in clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian demonstrators in the West Bank, medical sources said.

Ali Abu Alia was critically wounded in the abdomen, by an Israeli soldier’s gunfire and died several hours later in a hospital in Ramallah, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a press statement.