Middle East & North Africa

ISTANBUL, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police detained on Monday at least 17 suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Istanbul, local media reported, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

The Istanbul Police Department's Counter-Terrorism Unit teams raided 17 addresses across the city simultaneously to capture the suspects, Anadolu said.

The suspects have been allegedly carrying out activities on behalf of the IS and having links with its members in Syria, it added.

09 Nov 2020; MEMO: Former US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said he expects that the new American administration run by President-elect Joe Biden to reconsider the two-state solution with regards to the Israel-Palestine conflict, RT reported yesterday.

09 Nov 2020; MEMO: Hundreds of Iraqi civil servants yesterday held protests in the governorates of Karbala, Babil, Muthanna and Maysan demanding the government pay their delayed salaries, Anadolu reported.

Last month, the Iraqi government submitted a draft law to parliament to borrow 41 trillion dinars (about $34 billion) to finance the fiscal deficit.

The Iraqi government has not paid the employees’ salaries for October or September due to the stifling financial crisis.

09 Nov 2020; MEMO: Palestinian Authorities in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip have applied strict measures ahead of a third wave of coronavirus infections after the number of people who have the disease increased recently.

Palestinian Health Minister, Mai Al-Kaila, announced that over the past 24 hours, three people have died of the disease, while the health authorities have recorded 549 new cases and 444 recoveries.

Ankara, Nov 9 (AP/PTI) Turkey's finance minister and son-in-law to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his resignation on social media Sunday.

Berat Albayrak said on Instagram that he was stepping down from his post for health reasons and would spend more time with his family.

Albayrak, 42, was appointed minister of finance and treasury in July 2018, having previously been energy minister for nearly three years.

TRIPOLI, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Sunday said that 119 illegal immigrants, among them women and children, have been rescued off Libyan coast.

"While IOM staff were at the disembarkation point to provide emergency assistance, we reiterate that Libya cannot be considered a safe port," the IOM tweeted later Sunday.

CAIRO (AP) — France’s top diplomat visited Egypt on Sunday in an effort to calm tensions with the Muslim world following anti-French protests over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad and three Islamic extremist attacks on France.

Jean-Yves Le Drian spoke at a press conference amid meetings with Egyptian political and religious leaders, saying that France is fighting against terror and extremism, not Islam.

07 Nov 2020; MEMO: US President Donald Trump’s defeat would not affect Israel, but could put Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in crisis, Israeli analyst Sima Kadmon conveyed on Friday.

“If Trump is defeated, the Israeli prime minister would face a strong slap, not Israel,” Kadmon wrote in Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

08 Nov 2020; MEMO: Palestine, the Arab League, Qatar, and Jordan on Saturday strongly condemned Israel’s demolition of a village in occupied West Bank, Anadolu reports.

Israel’s recent aggression is “a blatant violation of the rules of international law and international covenants,” Ambassador Saeed Abu Ali, the Arab League’s assistant secretary-general for Palestine and the Occupied Arab Territories told Palestinian news agency WAFA.

07 Nov 2020; MEMO: Palestinian teacher Asma Mustafa has won the Global Teacher Award 2020, Palestinian news agencies reported.

Asma Mustafa, an English Teacher in Halima Al Saadia Intermediate School for Girls, north of the besieged Gaza Strip, graduated from the English language department at the Islamic University of Gaza in 2008.