Middle East & North Africa

MOSCOW, June 4 (NNN-Xinhua) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for an early cessation of hostilities at a meeting with Ahmed Maiteeq, deputy prime minister of Libya’s UN-rcognised Government of National Accord (GNA), and Mohamed Siala, foreign minister of the GNA, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel’s intention to annex parts of the occupied West Bank is being challenged by Jewish settlers who might have been expected to cheer the plan promoted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under a U.S. peace blueprint.

A month before the proposed expansion of Israeli jurisdiction is due to be discussed by Netanyahu’s new unity government, some settler leaders have resorted to rhetoric likely to embarrass him at the White House.

ANKARA, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Turkish health minister on Wednesday said Turkey does not expect a second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak as long as the citizens take precautions.

"Under the current circumstances, we can say that we do not expect a second wave depending upon your understanding with regards to the pandemic and precautions," Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said at a press conference.

03 June 2020; MEMO: As part of military measures aimed at holding back growing indignation among Palestinians who reject the occupation’s intention to annex large swathes of the West Bank, occupation forces have escalated arrest campaigns, detaining 15 Palestinians yesterday, in parallel with ongoing demolition operations of Palestinian homes and facilities.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that the killing of George Floyd in police custody had exposed the true nature of the rulers of the United States.

“The crime committed against this black man is the same thing the U.S. government has been doing against all the world,” Khamenei said in televised speech. “This is the U.S. government’s true nature and character that is being exposed today.”

03 June 2020; MEMO: The Lebanese Army and Israeli occupation forces squared off yesterday along the border between the two countries. According to reports, two Israeli Merkava tanks were deployed to the border but remained on the “Israeli side” of the so-called Blue Line, representing the first time Israeli tanks crossed the fence since the 2006 war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement.

03 June 2020; MEMO: Chairman of the Israeli Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, Zvi Hauser, on Monday invoked the controversial 2018 Jewish Nation-State Law to prevent Palestinians from moving to Israel to be united with their families, Haaretz newspaper reported.

The Israeli Knesset voted by a majority of 41 in favour to 13 against extending the application of “the Citizenship and Entry” into Israel Law by a year which prohibits Palestinians from moving to Israel to be with their relatives.

03 June 2020; MEMO: International donors raised $1.35 billion in humanitarian aid for Yemen on Tuesday but the amount fell short of the United Nations’ target of $2.4 billion needed to save the world’s biggest aid operation from severe cutbacks.

03 June 2020; MEMO: Jordan’s foreign minister warned Tuesday of serious consequences in terms of his country’s relations with Tel Aviv and for peace in the region if Israel annexes parts of the West Bank and Jordan Valley, reports Anadolu Agency.

According to a statement from Jordan’s Foreign Ministry, Ayman Safadi took part in a ministerial meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee for aid to Palestinians via videoconference.

TEHRAN, June 3 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, on Tuesday, urged the European Union to stand against U.S. “illegal” sanctions against the Islamic republic, Press TV reported.

Washington violated international regulations by increasing sanctions against Iran, he said.

“Under the ongoing circumstances, the European Union, particularly Finland, should carry out its duty by condemning the illegal measures of the United States,” Rouhani was quoted as saying.