Middle East & North Africa

ANKARA, July 21. /TASS/: Turkey’s approval of Sweden’s bid to join NATO will depend on Stockholm’s compliance with the agreements to fight terrorism, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in comments to reporters that were broadcast by TRT television on Friday.

CAIRO, Jul 20 (NNN-MENA) – Egypt has started power load reduction temporarily, because of the excessive pressure on the country’s grid during the ongoing heatwave, the Egyptian cabinet announced in a statement, yesterday.

In the statement, Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, said, the government started reducing electrical loads on Monday “because of the severe heatwave and the consequent large increase in the consumption of electrical energy.”

TUNIS, Jul 21 (NNN-TAP) – Saudi Arabia, yesterday, signed agreements with Tunisia, to provide 500 million U.S. dollars to help finance Tunisia’s state budget.

In the presence of Tunisian Prime Minister, Najla Bouden Romdhane, the agreements were signed by Tunisian Finance Minister, Sihem Namsia and her Saudi counterpart, Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan, at the government headquarters in Tunis.

The agreements included the provision of a soft loan of 400 million dollars and a grant worth 100 million dollars to support the Tunisian economy.

BAGHDAD, Jul 21 (NNN-NINA) – The Iraqi government yesterday asked the Swedish ambassador to leave Iraq and recall its charge d’affaires from Sweden, in protest against the burning of the Quran and the Iraqi flag in Sweden.

A statement by the government said, Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani issued the directives “in response to the repeated permission of the Swedish government, to burn the Quran, insult Islamic sanctities, and burn the Iraqi flag.”

BEIRUT, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's security chief said on Friday that the recent decision by the European Parliament to support Syrian refugees' stay in Lebanon is "unrealistic" and "non-binding," the National News Agency reported.

"We will not surrender to any decision issued against the interest of Lebanon, and I believe the country cannot bear such a decision," Lebanese Director General of Public Security Elias al-Baissari told a delegation from the Lebanese Press Syndicate.

ANKARA, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would talk with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin soon for the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the state-run TRT broadcaster reported Friday.

"The termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative will have a series of consequences, ranging from an increase in global food prices, famine in some regions, to potential new waves of migration," Erdogan told reporters on his flight back to Türkiye.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s central bank raised its key interest rate Thursday, another sign of commitment to a traditional path of battling inflation but still falling below expectations after critics blamed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s economic policies for inflaming a cost-of-living crisis.

The 2.5 percentage point hike — putting the rate at 17.5% — came a month after the bank unleashed a 8.5% increase, a reversal after more than a year of rate-cutting prompted by Erdogan.

CAIRO (AP) — A prominent Egyptian rights activist with ties to Italy was released from jail Thursday, days after he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, according to his family and a rights defender.

Patrick George Zaki, a postgraduate student in Italy, was pardoned by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi along with five other people on Wednesday, according to the country’s Official Gazette.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s prime minister ordered the expulsion of the Swedish ambassador from Iraq and the withdrawal of the Iraqi charge d’affaires from Sweden on Thursday as a man desecrated of a copy of the Quran in Stockholm.

The diplomatic blowup came hours after protesters angered by the planned burning of a copy of the Quran stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad, breaking into the compound and lighting a small fire.

20 July 2023; MEMO: The Israeli government could rethink its polarising drive to overhaul the judiciary if there is a major escalation in protests, a cabinet minister said on Wednesday, in a signal of pliability as Washington tries to close ranks with its ally, Reuters reports.