19 May 2020; MEMO: Jordan has topped a list of countries which appear to have siphoned large sums of foreign aid into offshore bank accounts, World Bank analysis shows.
In 2018-19, Jordan received £2.13 billion ($2.6 billion) in foreign aid, including £110 million ($134 million) from Britain.
19 May 2020; MEMO: The Syrian government ordered the seizure of assets belonging to President Bashar Al-Assad’s cousin Rami Makhlouf, one of Syria’s richest men, as well as his wife and children, according to a government document reviewed by Reuters.
The document, stamped 19 May and signed by the Syrian finance minister, said the “precautionary seizure” aimed to guarantee payment of sums owned to the Syrian telecom regulatory authority.
19 May 2020; MEMO: A major cyberattack on a key Iranian port earlier this month has been claimed to have been conducted by Israel, a new report by the US-based newspaper the Washington Post has revealed.
19 May 2020; MEMO: Hatice Cengiz, fiancée of the late Saudi journalist and writer, Jamal Khashoggi, called for the English Premier League not to allow the completion of the sale of
19 May 2020; MEMO: Russian media outlets have speculated the sanctions that the US might impose on Egypt in the event that it acquires the Sukhoi Su-35 fighter, as Washington has previously threatened.
TEHRAN, May 19. /TASS/: The Russian and Iranian sides stopped personal contacts at the highest level amid the coronavirus spread but stepped up telephone diplomacy, Russia’s Ambassador to Tehran Levan Dzhagaryan told TASS on Tuesday.
"Personal contacts stopped and telephone diplomacy intensified," he said in an interview timed for the centenary of the Russian-Iranian relations.
PALMYRA/, May 19. /TASS/: Refugees in Syria’s Rukban camp receive only 10% of the international humanitarian aid, the rest is being sold by the Islamic State terrorists, controlled by the US military, says Abu Hamzi, a 34-year old former militant commander who surrendered to the Syrian Army.
CAIRO, May 19. /TASS/: The area near Baghdad’s green zone has been targeted by a missile attack early on Tuesday, Iraq’s Alsumaria TV reports.
According to the channel, two missiles exploded near the area of the Iraqi capital where state agencies and foreign diplomatic missions are located, including the US embassy. Simultaneously, air raid sirens went off at the time of the attack.
JERUSALEM, May 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Israel has sworn in a unity government after the longest political crisis in the country’s history, and amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Under a power-sharing deal agreed in April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will serve for another 18 months.
His rival Benny Gantz will serve as deputy PM, before taking over.
The two politicians have agreed to press ahead with a controversial plan to annex part of the occupied West Bank area as early as July 1.
ISTANBUL, May 19 (NNN-Xinhua) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a four-day lockdown on May 23-26 in the entire country to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The curfew will comprehend all the 81 provinces, Erdogan said, after attending a cabinet meeting via videoconference from Istanbul.
The lockdown would cover the Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim feast marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
The travel restrictions for 15 cities, including Istanbul, were extended for another 15 days, the president also noted.
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