Middle East & North Africa

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt will hold inaugural elections for a new second parliamentary chamber on Aug. 11-12, election commissioner Lasheen Ibrahim said on Saturday.

Amendments made to Egypt’s constitution last year provided for the creation of the Council of Senators, a 300-member secondary chamber that will be two-thirds elected by the public and the remainder appointed by the president.

ISTANBUL 06 July 2020; MEMO: Turkey’s healthcare system, growing stronger with each passing day, will make Turkey an international hub for quality medical care, said Turkey's health minister on Saturday.

Speaking at the inauguration of Istanbul’s Kartal State Hospital, Fahrettin Koca said that they expect the public to follow COVID-19 preventative measures more carefully during the normalization period.

ANKARA, 06 July 2020; MEMO: Turkey's first indigenously produced maritime missile passed its latest long-distance test launch with flying colors, the nation’s top defense industry official said Saturday.

The Atmaca missile “performed its functions perfectly, it successfully hit a target over 200 kilometers [124 miles] away and is ready to enter the [Turkish Armed Forces'] weapons inventory,” Ismail Demir, the head of Turkey’s Defense Industries Presidency, said on Twitter.

VALETTA, 06 July 2020; AA: Turkey’s defense minister and chief of General Staff on Saturday held talks with Malta’s minister for home affairs and national security in Valetta, the capital of the island nation.

06 July 2020; MEMO: Iranian experts believe that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is working to strengthen its relations with Tehran, in parallel with the rapprochement with Israel.

TEHRAN, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Iran has filed a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice against the United States over effects of sanctions on Iran's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Leila Joneidi, Iran's presidential aide for legal affairs, said on Saturday.

The continuous U.S. sanctions against Iran at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic are an indication of "inhuman" move and against human rights, Joneidi was quoted as saying by Tehran Times daily.

The official made the remarks during a visit to the Pasteur Institute in the capital Tehran.

JERUSALEM (AP) — As scandal-plagued Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands trial for corruption, his 28-year-old son has emerged as a driving force in a counterattack against critics and the state institutions prosecuting the longtime Israeli leader.

A favorite of the prime minister’s nationalistic base and far right leaders around the world, Yair Netanyahu has become a fixture in the news, clashing with journalists on social media, threatening lawsuits against his father’s adversaries and posting online content deemed so offensive that Facebook briefly suspended his account.

05 July 2020; MEMO: The UK’s exit from the European Union (EU) will not affect its appreciation of Turkey’s strategic value, and the two sides’ relations will continue, Anadolu Agency reported Britain’s consul general in Istanbul stating on Wednesday.

05 July 2020; MEMO:Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab and Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar discussed on Friday exchanging Iraq’s oil with Lebanon’s food and other industries, news agencies reported.

According to Anadolu Agency, the discussions took place during Jabbar’s visit to Beirut and his meeting with Diab and other Lebanese ministers.

05 July 2020; MEMO: “Despite their sufferings, Palestinians will not raise the white flag,” the Head of the Sebastia Diocese of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem Archbishop Atallah Hanna announced on Friday.

In a press release sent to mass media, Hanna stated: “May God help the Palestinian people who endure the sufferings under coronavirus, unemployment and poverty.”