Middle East & North Africa

KFAR CHOUBA, Lebanon (AP) — Twenty years after Hezbollah guerrillas pushed Israel’s last troops from southern Lebanon, both sides are gearing up for a possible war that neither seems to want.

Israeli troops are striking Hezbollah targets in neighboring Syria and drilling for what could be an invasion of Lebanon. The militant Hezbollah group is beefing up its own forces and threatening to invade Israel if provoked. The bitter enemies routinely exchange warnings and threats.

ANKARA, May 20. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu conducted negotiations over the phone, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry told TASS Wednesday.

"Our Minister conducted talks with head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov. During the phone call, they discussed regional issues, tourism and coronavirus prevention," the source said.

Turkey today called on the international community to condemn Israel’s plan to annex the West Bank.

Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the occupation and annexation are crimes, calling on the world to take a stand.

“We reject Israel’s plan to annex the West Bank and call for the world to take a stand against it. Occupation and annexation is a crime,” Ibrahim Kalin said on Twitter.

Kalin said Turkey is ready to cooperate with authorities who are willing to take action against the occupation and annexation of Palestinian land.

TEHRAN, May 20 (NNN-IRNA) – Iranian top security official, said on Tuesday that, the United States has failed to gather support, to renew a UN Security Council’s arms embargo against Iran.

“Fruitless efforts of the U.S., to continue the Iran weapon sanction, have provoked a strong reaction from Russia … and the confusion of U.S.’s allies,” Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, tweeted.

“The world is not tolerating bullying … The end of this path is collapse of unilateralism,” said Shamkhani.

BEIRUT, May 20 (NNN-NNA) – The Lebanese cabinet agreed on Tuesday, to end the academic year for schools and cancel official exams, amid increases in COVID-19 infections in the country.

Students will take no official exams but continue their online education until the end of this month, it said.

Meanwhile, all students will pass their classes with certificates issued by their schools as proposed by Education Minister, Tarek Majzoub.

JERUSALEM, May 20 (NNN-MA’AN) – Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, filed on Tuesday, a request not to stand before the court, at the opening session of his criminal trial next week.

In the request, Netanyahu’s lawyers say, his presence was “unnecessary” and would cost “a fortune.” According to the lawyers, the prime minister’s attending in court would require five security guards.

RAMALLAH, May 20 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestine, on Tuesday, declared the abolition of all agreements and understandings with Israel and the U.S., in protest against Israeli plan to annex parts of the West Bank.

TEHRAN, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Iranian top security official said on Tuesday that the United States has failed to gather support to renew a UN Security Council's arms embargo against Iran.

"Fruitless efforts of the U.S. to continue the Iran weapon sanction have provoked a strong reaction from Russia ... and the confusion of U.S.'s allies," Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani tweeted.

"The world is not tolerating bullying ... The end of this path is collapse of unilateralism," said Shamkhani.

CAIRO, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The total number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey, the hardest-hit country in the Middle East, soared to 151,615 on Tuesday, while Iran's tally surged past 124,000.

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca confirmed 1,022 new COVID-19 cases and 28 more deaths from the novel coronavirus, as the death toll surged to 4,199.

In addition, 112,895 patients had recovered from COVID-19 in Turkey, while 882 were being treated at intensive care units and 455 intubated, Koca tweeted.

19 May 2020; MEMO: Israel’s newly appointed Foreign Minister, Gabi Ashkenazi, expressed his support for US President Donald Trump’s ‘deal of the century’, stressing it is a “historic opportunity” to shape Israel’s borders, local media reported yesterday.

“We are facing significant regional opportunities, primarily President [Donald] Trump’s peace initiative,” Ashkenazi was reported by the Times of Israel as saying.