15 Aug 2020; MEMO: Russia has suspended its participation in patrols with Turkey along the strategic M4 highway in Syria’s Idlib province.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said yesterday: “Joint Russian-Turkish patrols on the Idlib highway have been stopped due to continued provocations of militants in the region.”
DAMASCUS, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian ground forces shelled rebel-held areas in the countryside of Idlib and Aleppo provinces in northern Syria on Friday, a war monitor reported.
The Syrian forces pounded the vicinity of the town of Bara in Idlib countryside by heavy artillery, and targeted the villages of Kafr-Ama and al-Qasar in the western countryside of Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
14 Aug 2020; MEMO: Lebanon’s central bank Governor Riad Salameh and his family own a total of $100 million in overseas assets, a report by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and its Lebanese partner Daraj claims.
14 Aug 2020; MEMO: The Palestinian government has recalled its ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in protest over the country’s agreement to normalise ties with Israel.
Palestine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad Al-Maliki said in a statement: “At the request of [PA chairman] Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian foreign ministry has decided to immediately recall its ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.”
14 Aug 2020; MEMO: Lebanon’s parliament agreed yesterday to a two-week state of emergency in Beirut giving the army new powers, ten days after a massive blast rocked the capital killing nearly 200 and injuring thousands more.
The order grants the army new sweeping powers to deal with the aftermath of the explosion but has prompted human rights groups to warn of a potential crackdown on protesters and activists.
14 Aug 2020; MEMO: Kuwait, facing one of the worst economic crunches in the oil-rich state’s history, posted an actual deficit of $18.44 billion in the 2019-2020 fiscal year, the Finance Minister said yesterday.
Total revenues fell by over 16 per cent in the fiscal year which ended in March, dropping to 17.22 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($56.3 billion), the Finance Ministry announced on Twitter.
Kuwait has been scrambling to boost state coffers badly hit by the coronavirus crisis and low crude prices.
14 Aug 2020; MEMO: A team of North Korean hackers breached Israel’s security and penetrated its computer system, according to the international cybersecurity firm ClearSky.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Only the Lebanese people and their representatives can decide the country’s future, Iran’s foreign minister said on a visit to Beirut on Friday, following the massive blast at the city’s port that killed 172 people and prompted the government to resign.
Iran backs Lebanon’s powerful armed movement Hezbollah, which along with its allies helped form the outgoing government. The United States classifies Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Angry Palestinians in Jerusalem accused the United Arab Emirates of collaborating with Israel and endangering Al-Aqsa mosque - Islam’s third-holiest site - as they gathered for Friday prayers the day after the Gulf state’s deal with Israel.
Under an agreement brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump, Israel and the UAE announced on Thursday that they will normalise diplomatic ties, brought together by a confluence of interests against Iran.
DUBAI/RIYADH (Reuters) - As media and people in the United Arab Emirates hailed the Gulf state’s deal to normalise relations with Israel as a diplomatic victory that helps the Palestinians, silence reigned in Saudi Arabia, longtime figurehead of regional policy towards Israel.
Analysts see the surprise UAE-Israel agreement announced on Thursday as a strategic boost for the UAE’s regional and global standing that could put it ahead of its powerful Saudi neighbour and ally, especially in critical relations with Washington.
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