Middle East & North Africa

23 June 2020; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has banned entry for the Hajj pilgrimage this year to international pilgrims, implementing the long-expected decision in order to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus.

The annual pilgrimage, which draws an estimated two million Muslims from around the world to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, will now only be attended by those currently living in the kingdom, according to Saudi state media.

23 June 2020; MEMO: Sanaa Seif, the sister of political prisoner Alaa Abdelfattah, has been kidnapped outside the attorney general’s office in a van by state security officers.

Alaa’s relatives were at the attorney general’s office to file a complaint after they were beaten outside Tora Prison.

TEHRAN, June 23 (NNN-IRNA) – Three international drug trafficking gangs were disbanded, in Iran’s capital city of Tehran, Police Commander, Hossein Rahimi, said on Monday.

In the police operation, over 1,000 kg of narcotics were seized, and 27 illicit drug traffickers were arrested, Rahimi was quoted as saying.

Rahimi said that Iran is always in danger of importing illicit drugs to the country, because of its proximity to Afghanistan.

ADEN, June 23 (NNN-SABA) – Nearly 30 people were killed on Monday, as fighting continues intensively between Yemen’s government forces and the Houthi militia in the country’s central province of al-Bayda.

“Battles intensified after the Houthi militia carried out new attacks on positions of the government forces in Qaniya, north of al-Bayda province,” the local military official said, on condition of anonymity.

The source confirmed that the fighting resulted in the killing of six members of the government forces and about 24 Houthis, and wounding dozens from both sides.

BAGHDAD, June 23 (NNN-NINA) – A Katyusha rocket landed near Baghdad International Airport on Monday, without causing casualty, the Iraqi military said.

The attack took place in the evening, when unknown militants fired the rocket from a village in Abu Ghraib in western Baghdad, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.

AMMAN, June 23 (NNN-PETRA) – Jordan and the Netherlands, on Monday, reaffirmed their rejection to Israel’s plan to annex Palestinian territories, according to the Jordanian foreign ministry.

The remarks were made during a phone call between Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and his Dutch counterpart, Stef Blok.

They examined the latest developments of the Palestinian cause, mainly Israeli threats to regional peace about annexing Palestinian lands.

RIYADH, June 23 (NNN-SPA) – Saudi Arabia announced on Monday, that, only a limited number of pilgrims will be allowed to perform the Hajj in the kingdom this season, over the COVID-19 concerns.

The decision was made, given the increase in the number of cases in most countries, and the risks of the virus spread in crowded gatherings, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah was quoted as saying.

Saudi Arabia has so far registered a total of 161,005 COVID-19 infections, with 54,523 active cases, including 2,045 critical ones.

TEHRAN, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran's international forward Karim Ansarifard will leave Qatari football club Al-Sailiya at the end of the season, Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.

The 30-year-old striker joined Al-Sailiya from English second tier outfit Nottingham Forest in July 2019 on a one-and-a-half-year contract.

Ansarifard has been reportedly linked with a move to Iran's Persepolis. 

RAMALLAH, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki announced that the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted on Monday three resolutions in favor of Palestine.

A resolution against the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories won the support of 26 member states of the UN council, while two voted against and nine abstained, al-Maliki said in a press statement.

BEIRUT (AP) — One of the Arab world’s oldest and most prestigious universities, which endured civil war, kidnappings and various economic crises, is preparing for what may be the biggest challenge in its 154-year history.

The American University of Beirut is confronting a global pandemic, a severe recession and the collapse of Lebanon’s currency — all at the same time — and is planning a series of sweeping layoffs and salary cuts in response.