Middle East & North Africa

CAIRO, Nov 5 (NNN-MENA) – The water ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, yesterday, failed to agree on a methodology for completing their negotiations over Ethiopia’s giant Nile River dam in the coming stage, said the Egyptian water ministry in a statement.

The three ministers held a virtual meeting earlier in the day to discuss the optimal framework for managing the ongoing negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which are held under the auspices of the African Union (AU).

05 Nov 2020; MEMO: The head of the High Council for Syrian Tribes and Clans, Sheikh Salim Al-Muslat, yesterday announced that Syrian tribes have rejected all forms of cooperation or rapprochement with the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad.

05 Nov 2020; MEMO: The Bahrain High Criminal Court has convicted 51 people on charges of belonging to an “unnamed” militant group.

Bahrain claimed the convicts received orders as well as weapons from the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to target “vital economic installations, security patrol sites, the headquarters of the Ministry of Interior and the Bahrain Defence Force”.

05 Nov 2020; MEMO: The Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim for the occupied Palestinian territory, Yvonne Helle, said on Wednesday that the Israeli authorities have carried out their largest demolition operation in years against Palestinian structures in the occupied West Bank.

05 Nov 2020; MEMO: Egypt has released over 400 people arrested for taking part in the September protests.

On 20 September Egyptians took to the streets to protest against the ruling regime after soaring living costs, austerity and a widespread house demolition campaign left thousands unable to make ends meet.

DOHA, Nov 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Qatar’s ruler said that a long delayed vote for the country’s policy reviewing chamber will be held in October 2021, marking the Gulf emirate’s first national election.

The currently un-elected Shura Council advises the absolute ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, on draft laws but does not create its own legislation and can be overruled by a simple decree.

October’s vote would be Qatar’s first national election although Sheikh Tamim did not give details on who would be permitted to vote or who would be able to stand.

ISTANBUL, Nov 5 (NNN-ANADOLU) – A total of 116 people were killed and 1,035 others wounded, in a strong earthquake that hit Turkey’s western province of Izmir, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), said yesterday.

AFAD said, 137 citizens are still under treatment in hospitals.

Mehmet Gulluoglu, head of AFAD, announced that, the rescue operations were completed in all the 17 collapsed buildings.

Previously, authorities said, a total of 107 people were pulled out alive from the rubbles.

05 Nov 2020; MEMO: Syrian President Bashar al Assad said billions of dollars of deposits held by his countrymen in Lebanon’s financial sector that was blocked after a major financial crisis were the main cause of Syria’s deepening economic crisis, Reuters reports.

JERUSALEM, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that street stores in Israel will be allowed to reopen from this coming Sunday, marking another step out of a nationwide lockdown.

Netanyahu chaired a meeting of the special cabinet for handling the COVID-19 on Wednesday on the outline of returning to routine and the policy on the restrictions.

04 Nov 2020; MEMO: Egypt’s Foreign Minister said on Monday that Turkey is not among the countries with which Cairo might cooperate in order to reach a peace deal in Libya, TASS has reported. Sameh Shoukry said that there are parties that support extremism and gangsterism, and have moved foreign militants and terrorists from Syria to Libya.