Middle East & North Africa

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A Turkish court sentenced a former executive of Amnesty International Turkey to more than six years in jail and convicted three other rights activists on terrorism-related charges on Friday, the rights group said.

Amnesty Turkey said on Twitter that 7 other defendants, who were first detained three years ago during a crackdown following a 2016 attempted coup, were acquitted in a case which fuelled expressions of concern over Ankara’s human rights record.

03 July 2020; MEMO: Iran will “change its strategy of confrontation” with the US and Israel if they cross the red lines and target its national interests, Noor News, known to be close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), warned yesterday.

03 July 2020; MEMO: The Hamas and Fatah have agreed to unite to confront Israel’s planned annexation of the occupied West Bank, they said in a statement yesterday.

03 July 2020; MEMO: Production has resumed at the Al-Khafji joint oil field located in the neutral zone between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the acting CEO of the Kuwait Gulf Oil Company said Thursday, Anadolu reports.

Output at the field had been suspended since June 1 according to a decision by the Khafji Operations Joint Executive Committee, Abdullah Al-Sumaiti said in a press release.

03 July 2020; MEMO: Turkey expects France to apologise after an incident between Turkish and French warships in the Mediterranean, the country’s foreign minister said yesterday.

02 July 2020; MEMO: Saudi Arabia stressed on Tuesday that the water security of Egypt and Sudan are an integral part of Arab security, rejecting “any measure that affects the rights of all parties to the Nile’s water”.

02 July 2020; MEMO: Turkey’s top administrative court today announced that it will deliver the verdict on whether Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia should remain a museum or be turned into a mosque within 15 days, Turkish daily Milliyet reported.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has proposed restoring the mosque status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, a building at the heart of both Christian Byzantine and Muslim Ottoman empires and today one of Turkey’s most visited monuments.

02 July 2020; MEMO: Iranian cargo ships in Lebanese waters have been prevented from docking and unloading over fears the move may lead to the extension of US sanctions onto the Mediterranean state, according to a report by Al-Hurra.

The imports include foodstuffs, medicine and fuel, among other items and are intended to help alleviate the deteriorating living standards in Lebanon as the country faces its worst economic crisis since the end of the civil war in 1990.

02 July 2020; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has taken another step in its long-held ambition to develop a domestic arms industry. An agreement has been signed in Riyadh between government officials and industry bosses that will see the Kingdom reach one of its key objectives.

The deal between the Saudi General Directorate of the Border Guard and the Military Industries Corporation (MIC) will see a new vehicle, known as the Dahna, being built in the country.

02 July 2020; MEMO: A five-day lockdown throughout the occupied West Bank is to return tomorrow following an increase in coronavirus infections there, reported Wafa news agency.

Government spokesman, Ibrahim Milhem, announced yesterday in a news briefing that starting tomorrow, all West Bank governorates will be in lockdown and all businesses will be closed except for pharmacies and supermarkets, which will open 12 hours a day.