Middle East & North Africa

JERUSALEM, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The bloc of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is three seats short of a majority coalition in the 120-seat parliament, the latest figures showed Wednesday after 99 percent of the votes have been counted.

The Central Elections Committee, which oversees the parliament election, said Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party gained 36 seats, while its main rival, Benny Gantz's Blue and White centrist party garnered 33.

Likud and its allies, a bloc of a pro-settler party and two Jewish ultra-Orthodox parties, won 58 seats.

CAIRO (AP) — Economic fallout continues from a protracted blockade of Libya’s vital oil fields and ports, with losses close to $2.6 billion, the national oil corporation announced Tuesday, intensifying the pressure on a U.N.-supported government in the capital.

Powerful tribes loyal to Libya’s eastern-based forces seized large export terminals and choked off major pipelines in January, aiming to starve the Tripoli-based government of crucial revenues.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran put its armed forces on alert Tuesday to assist health officials in battling the new coronavirus that’s killed at least 77 people, an outbreak that has sickened top officials and pushed even its supreme leader into wearing disposable gloves while trying to reassure the nation.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political future remained up in the air Tuesday as preliminary results and exit polls from Israel’s third election in under a year indicated the embattled leader would fall short of securing the parliamentary majority needed to form a new government.

03 Mar 2020; MEMO: An Egyptian criminal court today sentenced to death a former Egyptian military officer, who defected from the army and joined jihadists, along with 36 other militants, for their alleged responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks in the country.

Hisham Ashmawi and other defendants were convicted of 54 charges after carrying out several terror attacks including assassinations of policemen, according to local media.

03 Mar 2020; MEMO: Japan’s Deputy Justice Minister Hiroyuki Yoshiie met yesterday with Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Lebanese Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najem to discuss the return of former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn who fled house arrest in Japan to Lebanon last year.

Aoun’s office said on Twitter after the meeting that the officials discussed mutual relations and means of developing them, in addition to the matters that concern the two countries; without referring to Ghosn’s case.

03 Mar 2020; MEMO: So far, airline companies in the Middle East, which serves as a connection hub for east-west travel, have incurred losses amounting to $100 million following the outbreak of the Coronavirus, International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced yesterday.

03 Mar 2020; MEMO: Sudanese lawyers announced on Monday that legal measures had been taken against travel agencies that have contributed to deceiving Sudanese youth by offering them work contracts with the Emirati Black Shield Security Services then transferring them to Libya instead.

03 Mar 2020; MEMO: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led on Tuesday in a cliffhanger election in Israel but was still short of a governing majority in a third national ballot in less than a year, exit polls showed, Reuters reports.

On the basis of initial projections by Israel’s three main television channels, Netanyahu, head of the right-wing Likud party, claimed victory in Monday’s vote over his main challenger, former armed forces chief Benny Gantz of the centrist Blue and White.

Istanbul, Mar 3 (AFP/PTI) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Monday that "millions" of migrants would soon head for Europe, drawing accusations from EU leaders that he is trying to pressure them into backing his incursions into Syria.

Turkey gave the green light to refugees and migrants on Friday to leave for the European Union and thousands have since massed at the Greek border, triggering fears of an influx like that which poisoned European politics in 2015.