Middle East & North Africa

RAMALLAH, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Revolutionary Council of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah Movement called on Saturday on the Palestinian factions to agree on "not to hold the elections without holding it in East Jerusalem."

"Holding the elections in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem constitutes a necessity to renew legitimacy, a national and constitutional entitlement, and a last way to solve the problem of the Palestinian internal division," the council said in an official statement at the conclusion of a three-day meeting held in Ramallah.

21 Dec 2019; MEMO: Russia has established a military observation point in Syria’s northeastern Al-Hasakah province, according to local sources, Anadolu Agency reports.

Some 70 to 80 Russian military police officers with armored vehicles settled in a farm at the northern entrance of Tal Tamr town.

The town which is occupied by the YPG is located on the strategic M4 highway, southeast of the Turkey-led Peace Spring operation’s area.

21 Dec 2019; MEMO: A Saudi court decided to initiate a new series of hearings against prominent sheikhs, Salman Al-Ouda and Awad Al-Qarni.

21 Dec 2019; MEMO: Israeli attorney general, Avichai Mendelblit, on Friday published a legal opinion claiming that that the “Palestinian actions with respect to the court are legally invalid,” Israeli media reports.

21 Dec 2019; MEMO: Iraq’s top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, called on Friday for holding early parliamentary elections, after the enactment of a fair election law and formation of an independent electoral commission.

TARTUS, December 21. /TASS/: Russian servicemen have provided assistance to 250 Syrians in the Al-Hamidiyah refugee camp in the Syrian province of Tartus. The Syrians fled from militants in the Idlib de-escalation zone through the humanitarian corridor in Abu al-Duhur set up by Russian and Syrian servicemen.

The Russian Center for reconciliation of the conflicting sides told reporters that Russian servicemen handed out 250 food sets with a total weight of around 1.5 tonnes. The Russian reconciliation center noted that such humanitarian operation has been held for the first time.

21 December 2019; AFP: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wrapped up his two-day visit to Japan on Saturday as Tehran, under US sanctions pressure, sought economic support from Tokyo.

Rouhani's trip to Japan, the first by an Iranian head of state in two decades, came after deadly protests over fuel price hikes in his country, where the economy has been hit by US sanctions over Tehran's nuclear programme.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rockets were fired overnight at Syria’s main Homs refinery and two gas units causing minor damage and disrupting production, oil officials said on Saturday, calling it a “terrorist attack”.

Fires were extinguished after several hours and maintenance engineers had begun repair work, the refinery head, Haitham Musawkar, was quoted as saying on state media.

The refinery, located west of Homs, is one of two main refineries covering most domestic demand for diesel, heating fuel, gasoline and other products, industry experts say.

WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States lifted fast-changing Sudan from a blacklist for religious freedom violations as it issued warnings to Nigeria, Cuba and Nicaragua.

Sudan was the only nation removed from the State Department’s annual list of “countries of particular concern,” which are subject to sanctions if they do not better protect religious liberty.

Civilian economist Abdalla Hamdok became Sudan’s prime minister in September, pledging national reconciliation after decades of military rule and conflict.

TUNIS, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese tech giant Huawei on Friday organized a ceremony in Tunisia's capital Tunis to honor students and instructors from the programs of Huawei ICT Academy and Seeds for the Future 2019 program.

The event was attended by Tunisian Minister of Education Hatem Ben Salem, Chinese Ambassador to Tunisia Wang Wenbin, and General Director of Huawei in Tunisia Zhang Qian as well as professors and students in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).