Middle East & North Africa

ABU DHABI, May 11 (NNN-WAM) – The United Arab Emirates sent an aid plane containing seven metric tonnes of medical supplies to Sierra Leone, to bolster the country’s efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The aid will assist approximately 7,000 medical professionals, as they work to combat the virus.

Commenting on the aid delivery, Omar AlMeheiri, Charge d’Affaires of the UAE Embassy in Senegal, said, “The UAE is committed to assisting its partners throughout Africa, in their relentless fight against COVID-19.

TEHRAN, May 11 (NNN-TASNIM) – An Iranian army general said on Sunday that, the recent launch of Noor 1 satellite, by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), is a prelude to the “shift in the balance of power” in favour of Iran.

The launch of the homegrown Noor 1 satellite, amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, shows the Iranian army is playing a role in the battle with COVID-19, said Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Hossein Baqeri.

11 May 2020; AFP: An Iranian warship was accidentally hit by a missile during exercises in the Gulf of Oman, killing at least one, state television said Monday, amid tensions with the US in the waterway.

The friendly fire incident involving the Konarak vessel occurred on Sunday afternoon near Bandar-e Jask, off the southern coast of the Islamic republic, it said on its website.

One report said the vessel had sunk after being hit by a missile fired by another Iranian warship.

ADEN (Reuters) - Yemeni authorities declared Aden, interim seat of the Saudi-backed government, an “infested” city on Monday after the number of coronavirus cases there jumped to 35, with four deaths.

A five-year war has shattered Yemen’s health system, pushed millions to the brink of famine and divided the country between the internationally recognised government and the Houthi group that ousted it from power in the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014.

RIYADH, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi-led coalition on Sunday rejected as "baseless" the allegation of the Houthis militia that the kingdom deported 800 Somalis to Yemen, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Instead, Turki Al Maliki, the coalition spokesman, accused the Houthis of forcefully deporting more than 8,000 Africans, including children and women, from Yemen to Saudi borders in April.

Saudi Arabia had provided the deportees with the required aid, he noted.

ANKARA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Turkish foreign ministry warned on Sunday that it would consider the forces of Libyan General Khalifa Haftar as "legitimate targets" if their attacks on Turkey's interests and diplomatic missions in Libya persists.

CAIRO, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's COVID-19 cases on Sunday hit 138,657 with 1,542 new infections, while Iran's tally reached 107,603.

The death toll from the coronavirus in Turkey rose to 3,786 after 47 new fatalities were added in the past 24 hours, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has inspected the construction sites of two COVID-19 hospitals in the country's biggest city of Istanbul, which are expected to be completed soon.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s judiciary ordered courts on Sunday to release anti-government protesters, carrying out one of the first decisions of the recently inaugurated prime minister just as dozens of demonstrators burned tires in renewed protests against the new leadership.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian navy sailor was killed and several injured in an unexplained “incident” on a military support ship in the Gulf of Oman, Iranian media reported Monday.

Iranian state television, as well as the semiofficial Fars and ISNA news agencies, said the incident happened Sunday aboard the Konarak, a Hendijan-class support ship. The incident occurred near the port of Jask, some 1,270 kilometers (790 miles) southeast of Tehran on the Gulf of Oman.

10 May 2020; MEMO: The decline in oil prices and the value of investment assets since the start of the coronavirus outbreak will have an adverse impact on the “financial solvency” of the state, Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah said on Saturday.