Middle East & North Africa

JERUSALEM, Dec 5 (NNN-WAFA) – A Jewish settler attempted today, to burn down the Gethsemane Church, in the Mount of Olives area, in occupied East Jerusalem, according to local sources.

Witnesses reported that an illegal Jewish settler, sneaked into the premises of the church, before he was seen pouring some flammable liquid there.

The settler then tried to set some of the seats on fire but was thwarted by local Palestinian citizens, who handed him over to a police force that had just arrived at the scene.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Oman’s foreign minister said on Saturday the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East had discussed with his country the possibility of Washington designating Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement as a terrorist group.

“Yes, that was raised,” Sayyed Badr Al Busaidi told a Bahrain summit in response to a question on whether the potential blacklisting had been broached by David Schenker during a recent visit to Muscat.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey has entered its first full weekend lockdown since May after coronavirus infections and deaths hit record highs in recent days.

The country of 83 million people on Friday recorded 32,736 new cases, including asymptomatic ones, the highest number since the beginning of the pandemic in March.

The total death toll rose by 193 on Friday, touching a daily record level seen earlier this week, to 14,509.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain will not allow the import of Israeli goods produced in settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, state news agency BNA reported, disavowing comments made by the Gulf state’s trade minister earlier this week.

Bahrain’s Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed bin Rashid al-Zayani had voiced openness to settlement imports, adding that Manama would make no distinction between products produced in Israel or in the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights.

CAIRO (Reuters) - The head of a leading Egyptian human rights group who was held for two weeks on terrorism charges said on Saturday he hoped that the campaign to secure his release would help others still jailed on similar allegations.

Activists saw the detention last month of Gasser Abdel Razek, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), and two of the group’s other staff, as the latest escalation of a broad crackdown on political dissent under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

BEIRUT, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese President Michel Aoun said that Lebanon does not mind resorting to international arbitration if the country fails to reach a fair agreement with Israel on maritime border demarcation, al-Akhbar local newspaper reported on Saturday.

The indirect talks between Lebanon and Israel started on Oct. 14.

The next round of indirect negotiations between Lebanon and Israel over the maritime border demarcation has been postponed following Israel's rejection of Lebanon's demands. 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The island kingdom of Bahrain said it has become the second nation in the world to grant an emergency-use authorization for the coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

The state-run Bahrain News Agency made the announcement on Friday night, following an earlier announcement by the United Kingdom on Wednesday, making Britain the first in the world.

KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Kuwait voted Saturday for its National Assembly, the first election since the death of its longtime ruling emir and as the oil-rich nation faces serious economic problems under the coronavirus pandemic.

This tiny country’s hundreds of thousands of voters selected lawmakers for 50 seats in the parliament, the freest and most-rambunctious assembly in the Gulf Arab countries. However, Kuwait’s parliament has tamped down on opposition to its ruling Al Sabah family since the 2011 Arab Spring protests that saw demonstrators storm the chamber.

05 Dec 2020; MEMO:  Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has asserted that "no one has the right to question Turkey's membership" in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

05 Dec 2020; MEMO:  An Israeli settler was arrested on Friday for an arson incident at a church in occupied Jerusalem, Anadolu Agency reports.

"A 49-year-old suspect from Jerusalem arrived in the Church of Agony (Church of All Nations), poured flammable liquid, and set a fire, causing slight damage to one of the benches," Israeli police said in a statement.

The suspect was caught by security guards at the church and later taken into custody by police, the statement added.