Middle East & North Africa

ANKARA, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkey is sending troops to Libya to support the UN-backed Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday.

"We are sending our troops to Libya to ensure the survival and stability of the legitimate government in this country," Erdogan said at the Annual Evaluation Meeting for 2019 at Bestepe National Congress and Culture Center in Ankara.

TEHRAN, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday criticized the Europeans "failure" to live up to their commitments under the Iranian 2015 landmark nuclear deal, also known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"Britain, France and Germany, three parties to the Iranian deal, claim that Europe has kept its obligations under JCPOA, however, in reality, they have not imported Iran's oil and have not facilitated Iran's international banking actions," Zarif tweeted.

16 Jan 2019; MEMO: Exploitative employers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are increasingly using tourist visas to hire Indians in a scam that leaves migrants open to labour abuse, police and activists said, Thomson Reuters Foundation reports.

Indian migrants on visit visas – quicker and cheaper to obtain than work permits – are wary of reporting exploitation on the job for fear of revealing their illegal status, they say.

16 Jan 2019; MEMO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump discussed developments in Libya in a phone call on Wednesday, the White House and Turkey’s presidency said, days ahead of a summit in Berlin that will address the Libyan conflict, Reuters reports.

16 Jan 2019; MEMO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi yesterday inaugurated Bernice military base, the largest in the region of the red sea, official media has reported.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by several Arab and foreign officials and ministers, including the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Armed Forces, Mohammed bin Zayed Sultan Al-Nahyan.

16 Jan 2019; MEMO: Renegade Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar is seeking a military solution to the lingering conflict in the country, Turkey’s foreign minister said Wednesday, Anadolu reports.

“This is true that Haftar does not want peace. He seeks a military solution, not a political process,” Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a panel in the capital Ankara.

Despite that Turkey is not pessimistic about the Libya issue, he added.

16 Jan 2019; MEMO: An Iraqi military base hosting American troops in the north of the country’s capital city of Baghdad was attacked by a missile.

According to a statement by the Iraqi army, the Al-Taji base was targeted by eight Russian-manufactured Katyusha missiles, but it was said to have only hit its surrounding areas.

GAZA, Palestine, Jan 16 (NNN-WAFA) – Israeli warplanes carried out last night, airstrikes against military positions in the Gaza Strip, in response to alleged firing of rockets from the Hamas-ruled enclave.

Israeli warplanes hovered over the Gaza Strip, and then several explosions were heard, in northern Gaza city, after Israeli air-to-ground missiles hit a military post that belongs to the Hamas militants.

15 January 2020; AFP: President Hassan Rouhani appealed Wednesday for "unity" and flagged the need for radical changes to the way Iran is run, after a wave of angry protests over the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner.

The Kiev-bound Boeing 737 was shot down last week in a catastrophic error shortly after takeoff from Tehran, killing all 176 passengers and crew on board.

15 Jan 2019; MEMO: Two thousand Syrian opposition fighters have travelled through Turkey to Libya to fight alongside the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) against the advancing forces of warlord Khalifa Haftar, as reported by the UK-based newspaper the Guardian revealed today.