Middle East & North Africa

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey is open to dialogue with Greece to solve disagreements over Mediterranean rights and resources, as long as Athens is too, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.

The NATO allies vehemently disagree over claims to hydrocarbon resources in the eastern Mediterranean Sea based on conflicting views on the extent of their continental shelves in waters dotted with mostly Greek islands.

Speaking at a news conference, Cavusoglu also said Greece was trying to provoke Turkey by adopting a hostile attitude.

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has betrayed the Islamic world and the Palestinians by reaching a deal toward normalising ties with Israel, Iran’s top authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech on Tuesday.

“Of course, the UAE’s betrayal will not last long, but this stigma will always be remembered. They allowed the Zionist regime to have a foothold in the region and forgot Palestine,” Khamenei said.

“The Emiratis will be disgraced forever for this treachery against the Islamic world, Arab nations and Palestine.”

01 Sep 2020; MEMO: Lebanon’s prime minister-designate Mustapha Adib called on Monday for the formation of a new government in record time and urged immediate reforms as a step towards securing an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, reports Reuters.

01 Sep 2020; MEMO: The International Committee to Support Gaza has called on the world community to save Gaza amid Israeli’s ongoing aggression, siege and the spread of COVID-19.

This came in a statement by Essam Yousef, head of the Committee.

Yousef called on charitable institutions that support the Palestinian people to “expedite the organisation of urgent relief campaigns for the health sector in Gaza, in addition to providing food aid and parcels for poor families.”

BEIRUT (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron has warned Lebanese politicians they risk sanctions if they fail to set the nation on a new course within three months, stepping up pressure for reforms in a country collapsing under the weight of an economic crisis.

Visiting Lebanon for the second time in less than a month, Macron marked the country’s centenary by planting a cedar tree, the emblem of a nation that is facing its biggest threat to stability since the 1975-1990 civil war.

JERUSALEM, Aug 31 (NNN-MA’AN) – Israel’s director of budget, at the Finance Ministry, resigned yesterday, claiming intervention by the political echelon, mainly Finance Minister, Israel Katz, in professional decisions.

In his resignation letter to the minister, Shaul Meridor wrote that, “the ability to perform my duties has become impossible. Unfortunately, you do not allow me and others to formulate policy measures that will enable the Israeli economy to get through the severe COVID-19 crisis.”

31 Aug 2020; MEMO: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Sunday it was only a matter of time before the group killed an Israeli soldier to avenge the death of one its fighters in Syria and that it would not be drawn into clashes on the Lebanon-Israel frontier, Reuters reports.

31 Aug 2020; MEMO: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Sunday condemned the burning of a copy of the Muslim holy book Quran in the southern Sweden city of Malmo, Anadolu reports.

In a statement, the Jeddah-based bloc described the burning as an “act of incitement and provocation” and “contradicts with global efforts to combat extremism and incitement to hatred based on religion and faith”.

31 Aug 2020; MEMO: Qatar announced on Sunday changes to its labour laws, raising its minimum wage on Sunday by 25 per cent to 1,000 riyals ($274.6) a month and scrapping a requirement for employees to get the permission of their employers to change jobs, Reuters reports.

It is the latest in a series of labour reforms by the 2022 FIFA World Cup host which in the lead up to the tournament has faced accusations that migrant workers are exploited.

31 Aug 2020; MEMO:  Jordan on Sunday decided to release a cartoonist held for drawing a cartoon mocking a recent deal to normalize relations between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel, Anadolu reports.