Middle East & North Africa

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said he was “confident” he will be able to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank this summer, with support from the U.S.

Speaking to an online gathering of evangelical Christian supporters of Israel, Netanyahu said President Donald Trump’s Mideast plan envisions turning over Israel’s dozens of settlements, as well as the strategic Jordan Valley, to Israeli control.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Saudi-led coalition mired in a yearslong war in Yemen on Monday urged Emirati-backed separatists to honor terms of a Riyadh peace deal and return control of Aden to the country’s internationally recognized government.

The statement by Saudi Arabia comes after the separatists’ Southern Transitional Council again claimed sole control Sunday of Aden, a Red Sea port that serves as the internationally recognized government’s capital as rebel Houthi forces still hold Sanaa.

26 April 2020; MEMO: Algeria has taken further steps to ease restrictions over the novel coronavirus by allowing several businesses to reopen “to reduce the economic and social impact of the health crisis” caused by the pandemic, the prime minister’s office said on Saturday, Reuters reports.

26 April 2020; MEMO: Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) has declared self-governance and a state of emergency in Aden and southern provinces, Anadolu reports.

The STC said the state of emergency would take effect at midnight Saturday.

Foreign Minister Mohamed al-Hadrami urged Saudi Arabia, as a guarantor of the Riyadh Agreement, to intervene against what he described as the STC’s “rebellion” in the southern provinces.

Tel Aviv, Apr 26 (AP) Several thousand Israelis demonstrated against a unity government deal reached last week that leaves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in power as he prepares to go on trial for corruption charges.

26 April 2020; AFP: Assailants lobbed an explosive device at a bank in Lebanon Saturday, in the latest attack on financial institutions in a country facing its worst economic crisis in decades.

The official National News Agency said the night-time assault targeted a branch of Fransabank in the southern port city of Sidon, damaging its glass facade.

There were no immediate reports of any casualties.

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israel’s Corsight AI, which has developed technology to recognize faces concealed by masks, goggles and plastic shields, raised $5 million from Awz Ventures, a Canadian fund focused on intelligence and security technologies.

Corsight said on Sunday it will use the funds to market the platform and to continue development.

In March, China’s Hanwang Technology Ltd said it has come up with technology that can recognize people when they are wearing masks, as many are today because of the coronavirus.

DJIBOUTI, April 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US military has declared a public health emergency in all its installations in Djibouti following a sharp rise of coronavirus cases in the country.

Djibouti has so far recorded two deaths and 986 positive cases of the virus, with concerns that it could spread even further in the tiny nation with a population of under one million.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia eased curfews on Sunday across the country, while keeping 24-hour curfews in the city of Mecca and in neighbourhoods previously put in isolation, state news agency SPA said.

Outside those exceptional areas, curfews will be eased between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. (0600-1400 GMT) effective Sunday until May 13. The Muslim fasting month of Ramadan began on Friday.

The royal order also allowed some economic and commercial activities to re-start, including wholesale and retail shops and shopping malls, from Wednesday until May 13.

BEIRUT, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab said on Saturday that the government in Lebanon has lost, over the past years, the confidence of people because of its malpractices, LBCI local TV channel reported.

"The government has lost the confidence of people because officials worked on meeting their own interests instead of the interests of citizens," Diab was quoted as saying during his visit to the Directorate General of Internal Security Forces.