Middle East & North Africa

21 June 2019; MEMO: The Egyptian authorities have blocked Turkey’s TRT Arabi and Anadolu Agency websites, the Ankara-based International Association for Media and Communication (IAMCR) announced yesterday.

“As part of the ongoing censorship on media in Egypt, TRT Arabi and Anadolu Agency were blocked by the Egyptian regime,” IAMCR said, condemning what it described as “a coup attempt against media freedom.”

Isfahan, June 21, IRNA – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday that The first phase of Iran's 60-day nuclear deal deadline began on May 8, and the 2nd phase of JCPOA moratorium will start on July 7.

Zarif made the remarks on Friday after meeting his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Isfahan.

"Iran's next move on the opportunity presented to the Heads of States in Dr. Rouhani's letter, in a letter addressed to EU Foreign Policy Federica Mogherini has been announced," the Iranian foreign minister said.

21 June 2019; AFP: Iran said Friday it had "indisputable" evidence a US drone it downed had violated its airspace, as reports emerged in the US that President Donald Trump had approved then scrapped retaliatory strikes against Iranian targets.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Major airlines from around the world on Friday began rerouting their flights to avoid areas around the Strait of Hormuz following Iran’s shooting down of a U.S. military surveillance drone there, as America warned commercial airliners could be mistakenly attacked.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. on Friday barred American-registered aircraft from flying over parts of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman amid heightened tensions after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard shot down a U.S. military drone.

20 June 2019; MEMO: The Egyptian authorities are preventing the former President Mohamed Morsi’s family from holding a consolation for his death at his home, Anadolu Agency reported yesterday.

“They have banned us from holding neither your funeral prayers nor your consolation,” Morsi’s son, Abdullah, said on Facebook.

“Even in our family’s house, we were not allowed to receive solace,” he stressed.

20 June 2019; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has bought $300 million worth of spy software from Israel as part of a large scale military deal.

20 June 2019; MEMO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed to try to ensure the Egyptian government is tried in international courts for the death of former president Mohamed Morsi, who suffered a fatal heart attack in a Cairo court earlier this week, Reuters reports.

20 June 2019; DW: A Turkish court on Thursday handed down verdicts to more than 220 suspects in one of the biggest trials relating to the 2016 failed coup attempt to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The court sentenced 17 top former military officials to 141 life terms, state news agency Anadolu reported.

ARSAL, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanese authorities are making their most aggressive campaign yet for Syrian refugees to return home and are taking action to ensure they can’t put down roots.

Mirroring the rise of anti-migrant sentiment in Europe and around the world, some in Lebanon say that after eight years of war in neighboring Syria they have had enough of the burden of the highest concentration of refugees per capital in the world — 1 million amid a Lebanese population of nearly 5 million — especially at a time when they are facing austerity measures and a weakened economy.