Middle East & North Africa

Lebanon appealed to more friendly states on Saturday to help it import essential goods as it wrestles with an acute economic crisis and hard currency shortages, the office of caretaker Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said, Reuters reports.

08 Dec 2019; MEMO: Hariri wrote to the leaders of Germany, Britain and Spain on Saturday to request help in securing credit for imports, having made the same appeal on Friday to Saudi Arabia, France, Russia, Turkey, the United States, China, and Egypt.

08 Dec 2019; MEMO: Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh arrived in Turkey on Sunday, the Palestinian resistance group said.

The visit is the first leg in a foreign tour that will also take Haniyeh to Malaysia, Russia, Qatar, Lebanon, Mauritania, and Kuwait.

A Hamas source said Haniyeh and his accompanying delegation arrived in Istanbul at dawn.

08 Dec 2019; MEMO: In principle, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia this week should end with a return to normal relations between its six-member states. That’s why the invitation extended by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, seemed a welcome step in the right direction.

MUSCAT, Dec 8 (NNN-ONA) – The Omani authorities said on Saturday, that, the number of tourists visiting Oman in 2018, grew two percent, year on year, to 3.2 million.

The number of tourists from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, topped the list with 45.4 percent, followed by Asian visitors with 21.3 percent and European visitors with 19 percent, according to a bulletin issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani presented a draft state budget of about $39 billion to parliament on Sunday, saying it was designed to resist U.S. sanctions by limiting dependence on oil exports, which Washington has targeted.

U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of a multilateral nuclear deal with Iran last year and reimposed sanctions on Iran, focusing on its vital oil industry.

“This is a budget to resist sanctions ... with the least possible dependence on oil,” Rouhani told parliament, according to state television.

GAZA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Hamas, ruler of the Gaza Strip, on Saturday warned Israel about violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

The warning was issued by Abu Obeida, spokesman of Hamas' armed wing al-Qassam Brigades, in a short text message, where he held Israel fully responsible for the continuing violations at the mosque.

"What happens at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, whether attacks, provocations or dangerous practices against worshippers, will be a cause for an explosion in the face of the occupation," Obeida said.

"Our patience won't last too long," he added.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Princeton scholar held for three years in Iran on widely criticized espionage charges was freed Saturday as part of a prisoner exchange that saw America release a detained Iranian scientist, a rare diplomatic breakthrough between Tehran and Washington after months of tensions.

07 Dec 2019; MEMO: Iraq’s top Shia cleric, Ali Al-Sistani, called on Friday for the formation of a new government away from external intervention.

07 Dec 2019; MEMO: Saudi foreign minister, Adel Al-Jubeir, announced on Friday that all Yemenis including the Houthis, could have a role in the future of the country, news agencies reported.

New Delhi, Dec 6 (PTI) Six Indians were killed in Tuesday's LPG tanker blast in a ceramic factory in Sudan while eight were undergoing treatment in hospitals and 11 were either unidentified or missing, the External Affairs Ministry said on Friday.

On Wednesday, the Indian Embassy in Sudan, citing reports, suggested that 18 Indians were among the 23 people killed in the blast.