Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, Jan 21 (NNN-XINHUA) – The Ukrainian passenger plane that crashed shortly after takeoff in the Iranian capital on Jan 8, was hit by two short-range TOR-M1 missiles, Iranian state IRIB TV reported today.

“Two TOR-M1 missiles were launched from the northern side at this plane,” the TV said, citing the latest report by Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation.

“The way how the missiles caused the incident and the analysis of this measure is under study,” the report said.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has asked the U.S. and French authorities for equipment to download information from black boxes on a downed Ukrainian airliner, a request that will add to international frustration at Tehran’s failure to send the recorders abroad for analysis.

Canada, 57 of whose citizens were among the 176 people killed in the crash, has said France should handle the flight data and voice recorders as one of the few nations with the ability to analyze the information.

ANKARA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Turkey wants to be further involved in any process that would restore peace and stability in war-torn Libya following a summit of world leaders held on Sunday in Berlin where key actors agreed on limiting external interference.

Participants in the one-day summit signed a wide-ranging agreement to respect a UN arms embargo and stop providing military support to Libya's warring factions. But the gathering failed to persuade the rival sides to agree to a lasting cease-fire.

20 Jan 2019; MEMO: The Israeli army has expressed its concerns that one-third of eligible Israeli youths have not enlisted so far this year for reasons related to “mental health”, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Sunday.

20 Jan 2019; MEMO: A leading Arabic-language newspaper in Kuwait reported yesterday that 16 US servicemen were transferred to a US military hospital in Kuwait following Iran’s retaliatory missile attack against the Ain Al-Assad Air Base in Iraq earlier this month. Some of the casualties were suffering from severe burns and others had shrapnel wounds. The Iranian air strikes targeted two sites in response to the US assassination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on 3 January.

20 Jan 2019; MEMO: The head of the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya has called for the deployment of an international force in case renegade General Khalifa Haftar resumes hostilities. Fayez Al-Sarraj made his comment on the eve of a summit in Berlin yesterday aimed at re-launching the peace process, reports Arabi21.

20 Jan 2019; MEMO: Leaked audio from Egypt’s Tora Prison has captured detainees banging on the doors of their cells calling a prison guard to save a prisoner who is in a critical condition.

The audio was obtained by the Turkey-based human rights group We Record, and highlights the desperate plight of medical neglect inside Egypt’s prisons.

20 Jan 2019; MEMO: Israeli police on Thursday detained five Finnish citizens, including a member of parliament, for allegedly attempting to cross the fence separating Israel and the blockaded Gaza Strip, according to local media, Anadolu reports.

The police detained Anna Kontula, a member of the Finnish parliament, and four other humanitarian activists, allegedly for trying to cross the fence in protest over the humanitarian crisis in the enclave, said the daily Haaretz.

20 Jan 2019; MEMO: Israeli occupation authorities handed over a deportation order on Sunday to Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, banning him from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque for one week, Palestinian media reported.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday that it had not closed the “door to negotiations” in efforts to resolve a dispute over its nuclear agreement with world powers that has escalated steadily since the United States withdrew from the deal in 2018.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said any further move by Tehran to scale back its commitments to the deal would depend on actions by other parties, after European states triggered a mechanism that could lead to the reimposition of U.N. sanctions.