Middle East & North Africa

01 Mar 2020; MEMO: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz hinted on Saturday that borders could be closed across the Balkans in response to a rush of migrants towards Greece from Turkey, echoing action taken during Europe’s 2015-16 migration crisis, Reuters reports.

01 Mar 2020; MEMO: Deaths in Iran from coronavirus have hit 43, the highest number outside China, and the total number of infected people has risen to 593, an Iranian health official said on Saturday, Reuters reports.

The country is at the epicentre of the outbreak in the region, with several countries in the Middle East reporting cases of the coronavirus stemming from Iran.

01 Mar 2020; MEMO: Greek police fired teargas to push back hundreds of migrants trying to cross over the border from Turkey on Saturday, as a crisis over Syria shifted onto the European Union’s doorstep, Reuters reports.

Greece, which has tense relations with Turkey at the best of times, accused Ankara of sending the migrants to the border post in an organised “onslaught” and said it would keep them out.

01 Mar 2020; MEMO: Iran’s death toll from the new coronavirus has reached 54, Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state TV, adding the number of those infected had reached 978, reports Reuters.

“There were 385 new cases of infected people in the last 24 hours, increasing the total number to 978. The death toll is 54,” Jahanpur said, calling on Iranians to avoid any unnecessary trips and stay at home.

01 Mar 2020; MEMO: Sudan has fired scores of diplomats for alleged links to the administration of toppled President Omar al-Bashir, a legal committee said on Saturday, reported Reuters.

The Empowerment Removal Committee was formed under a law introduced in November to dismantle the system built by Bashir, who was ousted in April last year after nearly three decades in power.

01 Mar 2020; MEMO: Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced that he is not concerned with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Jordan’s threats as his government has already begun the annexation of the West Bank, Arab48 reported on Friday.

01 Mar 2020; MEMO: Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Friday that Israel aims to push Iran out of Syria within the upcoming 12 months, Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post reported.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country’s borders with Europe were open Saturday, making good on a longstanding threat to let refugees into the continent as thousands of migrants gathered at the frontier with Greece.

Erdogan’s announcement that Turkey is allowing refugees and migrants to exit the country marked a dramatic departure from current policy and an apparent attempt to pressure Europe.

JERUSALEM (AP) — For the third time in under a year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks re-election, and once again the Israeli leader is on the ropes.

After two inconclusive elections last year, opinion polls forecast another stalemate — a troubling scenario for Netanyahu who will go on trial on corruption charges just two weeks after Monday’s vote.

DUBAI, Mar 1 (NNN-WAM) – Expo 2020 Dubai announced a world class music recording studio, that will become a permanent facility as part of its legacy plans in the future city of District 2020 – and the first project to make use of the studio will be Expo 2020’s all-female orchestra.