Middle East & North Africa

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An oil tanker sought by the U.S. over allegedly circumventing sanctions on Iran was hijacked on July 5 off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, a seafarers welfare organization said Wednesday.

Satellite photos showed the vessel in Iranian waters on Tuesday and two of its sailors remained in the Iranian capital.

It wasn’t immediately clear what happened aboard the Dominica-flagged MT Gulf Sky, though its reported hijacking comes after months of tensions between Iran and the U.S.

BEIRUT, July 15 (NNN-NNA) – A team of Lebanese cardiologists, on Tuesday, successfully performed the first complete artificial heart transplant for a 22-year-old patient.

The operation was conducted at the Rassoul al Aazam Hospital, by a team headed by surgeon, Mohamed Saab, the report said.

The hospital stated that, this is the first time that such an operation was done in Lebanon, despite the difficult circumstances prevailing in the country.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Air strikes on Yemen’s northern province of al-Jawf killed at least seven civilians on Wednesday, residents and an official from the Houthi movement said - the third such incident since June as violence resurges in the war-ravaged country.

The Houthi health ministry spokesman said air raids by a Saudi-led coalition hit residential houses in the al-Hazm district, killing nine people including two children and two women. Two residents told Reuters seven people had been killed.

15 July 2020; MEMO: A Lebanese man accused of financing Hezbollah was freed from jail in the United States last month as a result of indirect contacts between Tehran and Washington that are expected to yield more releases, three senior Middle East officials told Reuters.

15 July 2020; MEMO: The closing session of the technical and legal committees of the Renaissance Dam negotiations ended without agreement.

According to Al Jazeera, Egyptian Foreign Minister said that his country regretted the failure to reach an agreement.

 “Egypt has provided a tremendous level of flexibility and understanding. However, the negotiations ended again without reaching an agreement.”

15 July 2020; MEMO: A member of the Israeli parliament for the Joint Arab List has slammed claims by police officers that there is a “lack of evidence” in the killing of a disabled Palestinian man in Jerusalem last month, Al-Quds Al-Araby has reported. Aida Touma-Suleiman MK cast doubts on the narrative coming out of the Ministry of Justice that there is no video footage of the killing of Eyad Hallaq, who was autistic.

15 July 2020; MEMO: Iraq’s Ministry of the Interior yesterday announced the closure of all casinos, gambling halls, and nightclubs in the capital Baghdad.

“The ministry’s intelligence agency has carried out a security duty in different parts of Baghdad,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that the security forces had “closed casinos, nightclubs and alcoholic beverages outlets in a number of hotels and lounges across Baghdad.”

15 July 2020; MEMO: The UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash, on Monday, called for resuming oil production in Libya as soon as possible, stressing that his country supports a ceasefire there.

This came a day after the Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) accused Abu Dhabi of playing a role in the suspension of oil production in the country.

15 July 2020; MEMO: The UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs warned on Tuesday of possible war in the Libyan city of Sirte, RT has reported.

“War drums are being beaten in Sirte ushering in a dangerous development with dangerous humanitarian and political consequences,” said Anwar Gargash.

15 July 2020; MEMO: Tunisia’s Ennahda, the biggest party in the parliament, decided on Wednesday to withdraw confidence from the government, a senior official in Ennahda told Reuters.

Ennahda’s move will deepen the political crisis engulfing Prime Minister Elyas Al-Fakhfakh, whom Ennahda says has lost credibility due to an alleged conflict of interest.