Middle East & North Africa

BEIRUT, June 17 (NNN-NNA) – Chinese peacekeepers in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), received a UN medal on Tuesday, for their contribution to keeping peace in southern Lebanon.

A medal-awarding ceremony was held at the Chinese troops’ camp in Hanniyah village, in southern Lebanon, with the attendance of Head of Mission and Force Commander of UNIFIL, Stefano Del Col, Chinese Ambassador to Lebanon, Wang Kejian, representatives of the Lebanese armed forces and fellow peacekeepers.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey said Wednesday it has airlifted troops for a cross-border ground operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq.

The airborne offensive in Iraq’s Haftanin region, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the border, was launched following “intense” artillery fire into the area, a A Defense Ministry statement said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — This was supposed to be Saudi Arabia’s year to shine as host of the prestigious G20 gathering of world leaders. The event would have seen Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman share handshakes and wide smiles with presidents and prime ministers.

16 June 2020; AFP: Saudi Arabia is expected to scale back or call off this year's hajj pilgrimage for the first time in its modern history, observers say, a perilous decision as coronavirus cases spike.

Muslim nations are pressing Riyadh to give its much-delayed decision on whether the annual ritual will go ahead as scheduled in late July.

But as the kingdom negotiates a call fraught with political and economic risks in a tinderbox region, time is running out to organise logistics for one of the world's largest mass gatherings.

16 June 2020; MEMO: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has sparked outrage among campaigners over his decision yesterday to remove the Saudi-led coalition against Yemen from a UN blacklist, which had previously named and shamed the kingdom for killing and injuring children in the war-torn country.

16 June 2020; MEMO: Syrian regime President Bashar Al-Assad said yesterday that his ruling Baath Party committed some mistakes during its rule causing its role to decline.

16 June 2020; MEMO: The Iraqi Joint Operations Command yesterday denounced Turkey’s “violations” of its air space, after 18 Turkish warplanes bombed alleged sites belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Sinjar and Makhmour on Sunday evening.

The Iraqi Command said in a statement that 18 Turkish aircrafts violated Iraqi airspace heading towards Sinjar, Makhmour, Gwer and Erbil, reaching the district of Sharqat at a depth of 193 kilometres from the Turkish border.

16 June 2020; MEMO: Chief of Israeli Mossad, Yossi Cohen, is set to visit Arab countries to persuade them to accept the planned annexation of the occupied West Bank, Al-Rai Al-Youm reported yesterday.

Quoting Israeli TV Channel 11, the Arabic paper said Cohen would visit both Arab countries with and those that do not have relations with Israel in order to discuss the plan which Israel is set to put into place next month.

AMMAN, June 16 (NNN-PETRA) – Jordan, on Monday, took several measures to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on the tourism sector.

Under the new decisions, sales tax on the tourism sector was reduced from 16 percent to eight percent, and the government allocated 150 million dinars (around 210 million U.S. dollars) as financing programmes to help the tourism establishments.

As part of the financing programme, loans at low-interest rates will be extended to establishments working in the tourism sector, Jordanian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Majd Shwiekeh said.

RIYADH, June 16 (NNN-SPA) – The Saudi-led coalition, involved in a war in Yemen, on Monday, intercepted several bomb-laden drones launched towards Saudi Arabia’s southwestern city of Asir.

The coalition spokesperson, Turki Al Maliki, revealed that Houthi militia had targeted the kingdom with 357 drones.

He said that the drones were intercepted and destroyed before reaching their targets.