Middle East & North Africa

20 Aug 2020; MEMO: The oil-rich Gulf state of Kuwait will not have sufficient funds to cover public servants’ salaries after November, Finance Minister Barak Al-Sheetan warned parliament on Wednesday.

According to Bloomberg, Al-Sheetan confirmed that his country’s government is withdrawing from its General Reserve Fund at a rate of 1.7 billion dinars a month.

20 Aug 2020; MEMO: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi announced on Wednesday that UN refugee agency UNHCR will provide shelter for 100,000 Lebanese citizens.

His remarks came during a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun at Baabda Palace in Beirut.

“The UN refugee agency UNHCR usually focuses on supporting Syrian refugees, but we will also help Lebanese hospitals and will cooperate with the Lebanese Red Cross to provide shelters for 100,000 people,” Grandi informed Aoun.

20 Aug 2020; MEMO: The Managing director of Iranian Ports and Maritime Organisation, Mohammad Rastad, said yesterday that Tehran is considering building another oceanic port on the Makran coastal strip on the Gulf of Oman.

Rastad said the project is currently being researched, noting that the new port is distinguished by its proximity to international trade lines which would provide access to deeper waters and allow the reception of major ships.

20 Aug 2020; MEMO: Consultant paediatrician and Chairman of the Gaza Neonatal Network (GNN) Dr Nabil Al-Baraqoun warned on Wednesday that the frequent electricity outages threaten the lives of 120 newborn babies currently being taken care of in intensive care incubators in Gazan hospitals.

ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) Commission on Wednesday suspended Mali from the pan-African bloc following the forced detention of senior officials, including the country's president and prime minister.

The decision to suspend Mali from AU membership was made by the Peace and Security Council of the AU Commission during its latest meeting that dwelt upon the situation in the western Africa country.

RAMALLAH, Aug 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that Palestinians were not concerned about the normalisation deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, referring to the accord as “nonsense”.

In his first public remarks since the US-sponsored deal was announced last week, Abbas accused the Gulf Arab state of turning its back on Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank and an Israeli-led blockade in Gaza.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon’s leading Sunni cleric on Wednesday joined calls for early parliamentary elections and an international investigation into the explosion at the Beirut port, which he said deepened the country’s existential crisis.

At least 179 people were killed and 300,000 left effectively homeless when massive amounts of highly explosive material stored unsafely for years detonated early this month, destroying swathes of the city and prompting the government’s resignation amid mass protests.

19 Aug 2020; MEMO: Lebanese President Michel Aoun has said that it is “impossible” that Hezbollah’s arms were the cause of the explosion that devasted Beirut earlier this month, Reuters reported yesterday.

Aoun made the remarks to the Italian daily Corriere, adding that all possibilities would be investigated.

The president denied that Hezbollah is storing weapons at Beirut port, echoing comments by the group’s leader earlier this month.

19 Aug 2020; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stressed that the deal to normalise relations with the UAE does not include the sale of US F-35 fighter jets to the Gulf state, Anadolu reported yesterday.

In a statement, Netanyahu’s office said the agreement did not include “any approval by Israel on any arms deal between the United States and the United Arab Emirates.”

19 Aug 2020; MEMO: The only electricity plant in the Gaza Strip shut down yesterday after running out of fuel banned from entering the besieged enclave by the Israeli occupation, Gaza Electricity Distribution Company announced.

“The power plant has shut down completely,” the company said in a brief statement.

Israel banned fuel imports into Gaza as part of punitive measures over the launching incendiary balloons from the Strip.