Middle East & North Africa

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Rebel forces from Ethiopia’s Tigray region fired rockets on Friday at the distant capital of the neighbouring Amhara region, Amhara authorities said, raising worries the conflict could spill into a wider war.

Two weeks into the conflict, the United Nations said it was making plans for as many as 200,000 refugees fleeing into neighbouring Sudan, and made an urgent appeal for $200 million to assist them.

20 Nov 2020; MEMO: A former foreign minister of Sudan and other officials are facing charges that, if proven, could see them facing the death penalty or life imprisonment for attempting to use violence against the transitional authority, Sputnik has reported.

20 Nov 2020; MEMO: The Lebanese army announced yesterday that an agreement had been signed with Germany's Combi Lift company to handle and dispose of 52 containers containing dangerous materials from Beirut port.

The agreement was signed between the Army Command, the Customs Directorate and the Beirut Port Administration on the one hand and Combi Lift.

The army statement did not specify the date of signing the agreement with the company.

20 Nov 2020; MEMO: A prominent Egyptian rights group said security agents arrested its executive director on Thursday, days after two other senior members were detained under charges including joining a terrorist group, Reuters reports.

"e was detained by security forces from his home in Maadi and taken to an unknown location," the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) tweeted late on Thursday.

20 Nov 2020; MEMO: Jewish settlers on Wednesday placed a large candelabrum on the rooftop of the Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied Hebron, south of the occupied West Bank, to mark a Jewish occasion, the Palestinian Information Centre reported.

Manager of the Ibrahimi Mosque Hafdhi Abu Sneineh denounced the practice by the settlers as an act of aggression and provocation against the Muslim nation, stressing that the Ibrahimi Mosque is an Islamic holy site.

20 Nov 2020; MEMO: Iran has rejected a United Nations (UN) resolution that condemns human rights abuses in the country, Al Jazeera reported.

The resolution, which was put forward by Canada, was adopted by the third committee of the UN General Assembly last week by a vote of 79 to 32, with 64 abstentions.

20 Nov 2020; MEMO: Israeli occupation authorities have issued a decision to forcibly evict 400 Palestinians, including women and children, from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.

Jerusalem affairs specialist, Fakhri Abu Diyab, told Al-Mugtama news site that occupation authorities have issued a decision to evacuate 28 buildings, housing 80 Palestinian families to hand them over to Jewish settlers who in turn will convert them into military barracks.

ISTANBUL, Nov 19 (AA/APP): The World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa said Wednesday that the international health body was planning to vaccinate at least 20% of the continent’s population for COVID-19.

Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said in a teleconference that all African countries should prepare themselves for the COVID-19 vaccinations, adding the WHO planned to carry them out as soon as possible.

Moeti further noted that the WHO was coordinating with African countries regarding the vaccinations and was currently assessing the nations’ logistic capabilities.

19 Nov 2020; MEMO: Iraq and Saudi Arabia have reopened the Arar border crossing for trade exchanges on Wednesday, which has been closed for 30 years.

"The Arar border crossing with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been officially reopened for trade movement between the two neighbouring countries," confirmed the Iraqi Border Crossing Authority in a statement, of which Anadolu Agency obtained a copy.

Dr Khaled Al-Ouda, brother of prominent Saudi preacher Dr Salman Al-Ouda, was sentenced by a Saudi court to five years in prison over claims of "inciting sedition and destabilising security", Anadolu reported yesterday.

The news agency reported Dr Abdullah Al-Ouda, son of Dr Salman Al-Ouda, wrote on Twitter: "The [Saudi] authorities have sentenced my uncle Khaled to five years in prison and imposed travel ban on him over charges of seeking to employ the arrest of his brother to incite sedition and destabilise security."