Middle East & North Africa

11 Nov 2020; MEMO: Bahrain's Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa has died, the royal palace announced on Wednesday on Twitter.

Sheikh Khalifa passed away on Wednesday morning at Mayo Clinic hospital in the United States, Bahrain's state news agency said.

The burial ceremony will take place upon the repatriation of his body and the funeral will be limited to a specific number of relatives, the statement said.

Official mourning has been declared for a week.

11 Nov 2020; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Republic of Myanmar have signed a joint agreement to establish diplomatic relations, WAM reported yesterday.

The agreement was signed by the UAE's permanent representative to the United Nations in New York, Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, and her Burmese counterpart, Kyaw Moi Tun.

11 Nov 2020; MEMO: Israel is planning to send its first official delegation to Sudan on Sunday to start talks about establishing diplomatic relations based on the normalisation deal announced last month, Reuters reported.

DAMASCUS, November 11. /TASS/: The US refusal to participate in an international conference on assistance in the return of Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons demonstrates double standards regarding Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in his greetings to the conference participants read out on Wednesday by Russian Special Presidential Envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev.

11 Nov 2020; MEMO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory in the 2020 presidential election, after years of rising tension between the NATO allies.

Bilateral ties have become strained over a host of issues, including Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 missile defence systems, differences in policy on Syria and the detention of US consulate employees and citizens in Turkey.

11 Nov 2020; MEMO: Crude oil prices increased by more than six per cent on Monday following statements by Saudi Arabia and the Emirates about the possibility of amending the OPEC+ production cut agreement.

Oil prices have received a secondary boost by the announcement made by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) of a strike to demand three months of unpaid wages owed to its members who work in public facilities.

BAGHDAD, Nov 11 (NNN-INA) – Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, agreed to strengthen bilateral ties in various fields.

11 Nov 2020; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan classified information on Iran, a former head of Shin Bet has said.

In a leaked testimony aired on Monday from one of the criminal cases against Netanyahu, Yuval Diskin said in 2010 Netanyahu had sent him to check if a Mossad spy had leaked information to Hollywood's Arnon Milchan, public broadcaster Kan reported.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain’s veteran prime minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa quashed repeated opposition unrest in almost half a century in office and was a fierce critic of the Arab Spring, saying it had brought Arabs only “death, chaos and destruction”.

The world’s longest-serving prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa died on Wednesday in Mayo Clinic hospital in the United States, Bahrain’s state news agency said.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Etihad Airways told cabin crew on Wednesday there would be layoffs this week, an internal email seen by Reuters showed, and a company source said the airline will keep its Airbus AIR.PA A380 superjumbos parked "indefinitely" due to a slower than expected recovery in air travel demand.

In the internal email, cabin crew were told those affected would be notified within 24 hours, without saying how many would lose their jobs.

The warning was sent out two days after a similar notice was sent out to pilots at the Abu Dhabi state carrier.