Middle East & North Africa

21 May 2019; MEMO: Israeli occupation forces blocked access roads to four Palestinian villages in the West Bank over the course of March and April, human rights organisation B’Tselem reported yesterday.

According to the NGO, the army closed gates it had placed at the entrances to the villages for periods of between five and 20 days at a time.

The affected communities were ‘Azzun, east of Qalqiliya, Kifl Hares, northwest of Salfit, Deir Istiya, east of Salfit and Tuqu’, southeast of Bethlehem.

21 May 2019; DW: Houthi-run Masirah TV said on Tuesday that the Yemeni rebel group had launched a drone attack on Najran airport in Saudi Arabia which caused a fire to break out at the facility.

The airport is located in the city of Najran on the Saudi-Yemen border, an area that has repeatedly been targeted by Houthi rebels.

21 May 2019; DW: Libya's UN-backed government has blamed forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar for cutting off Tripoli's major water pipeline. A UN spokesperson said some Tripoli residents were already experiencing low water pressure.

Gunmen in Libya deliberately cut off the main water pipeline to Libya's besieged capital Tripoli, potentially affecting some 2 million people the United Nations said on Monday.

BAGHDAD, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces killed 11 Islamic State (IS) militants in an operation in Iraq's central province of Salahudin, the Iraqi military said on Tuesday.

A joint force from the Iraqi army, provincial police and paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units conducted an operation to clear a desert area in Salahudin province from IS militants, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

CAIRO, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit condemned on Tuesday the Houthis bids for attacking Islam's holiest city Mecca with two ballistic missiles, the AL said in statement.

"Such terrorists actions constitute dangerous threat not only for the security and stability of the kingdom, but also for the regional security in general," Aboul Gheit said.

He pointed out those attacks are violation for the sacredness of the holy places in the holy month of Ramadan.

BEIRUT, May 20 (Xinhua) -- A confrontation took place on Monday between protesters and police soldiers in the capital Beirut during a demonstration organized by retired military personnel and other public sector employees against proposed austerity measures, local media reported.

Local TV channels broadcasted footage of soldiers using water cannons to disperse demonstrators and prevent them from reaching the Grand Serail where the council of ministers is convening to discuss the 2019 state budget.

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/: A pontoon bridge across the Euphrates river has been restored by the Syrian army’s engineering units with the assistance of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the confllicting sides in Syria, the center’s chief Viktor Kupchishin said on Monday.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran quadrupled its uranium-enrichment production capacity amid tensions with the U.S. over Tehran’s atomic program, nuclear officials said Monday, just after President Donald Trump and Iran’s foreign minister traded threats and taunts on Twitter.

Iranian officials made a point to stress that the uranium would be enriched only to the 3.67% limit set under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, making it usable for a power plant but far below what’s needed for an atomic weapon.

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/: Media reports about the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian army in the Kabani settlement in northern Latakia are fake, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

20 May 2019; MEMO: Israel’s chief Rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, has stoked controversy by describing Afro-Americans as “monkeys” during one of his weekly religious lessons.

The remark, which will prompt further discussion about entrenched racism within the country, was reported by Israeli newspaper Ynet News.