Middle East & North Africa

AZAZ, 19 May 2019; AA: The Turkish Red Crescent, locally known as Kizilay, launched mobile clinics in northern Syria on Saturday.

The launching ceremony was held in Friendship Refugee Camp in Syria's Azaz district and attended by Red Crescent head Kerem Kinik and deputy governor of Turkey's bordering Kilis province, Hakan Yavuz Erdogan.

ANKARA; 19 May 2019; AA: Footage released on Saturday by Turkish security sources shows a Greek assault vessel harassing a Turkish corvette during military exercise Sea Wolf (Denizkurdu) 2019.

Turkey's TCG Burgazada corvette was harassed by Kristalidis in international waters of the Aegean Sea.

19 May 2019; AFP: Saudi Arabia has called for urgent meetings of the regional Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League to discuss escalating tensions in the region, the kingdom's official news agency said on Saturday.

The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said King Salman had invited Gulf leaders and Arab states to two emergency summits in Mecca on May 30 to discuss recent "aggressions and their consequences" in the region.

19 May 2019; DW: The Turkish president has described plans to help Russia build its next generation missile defense system. The move is likely to further strain Turkey's relations with the United States.

Russia and Turkey will jointly produce the next generation S-500 aerial missile defense system, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

Tehran, May 18 (AFP/PTI) Iran's foreign minister Saturday discounted the prospect of a new war in the region because Tehran opposed it and no party was under the "illusion" the Islamic republic could be confronted.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran have been on the rise as the United States has deployed a carrier group and B-52 bombers over what it termed Iranian "threats".

TEL AVIV, May 18. /TASS/: Russia’s Sergey Lazarev performed his technically sophisticated show without a hitch at the Eurovision Song Contest’s final on Saturday, TASS reported from the scene.

The singer sang his ‘Scream’ surrounded by eight digital screens as each projected an image of the singer creating an effect of doubles amid images of lighting and rain.

Russian celebrated pop singer Philip Kirkorov produced Lazarev’s Eurovision entry. Kirkorov co-authored the song with Dimitris Kontopoulos (Greece) and Sharon Vaughn (US).

NICOSIA, May 18 (Xinhua): A team of international experts are making a review of anti-money laundering practices in Cyprus applied mainly by law firms, banks, accounting and audit firms, financial services firms and offices involved in the investment-for-citizenship scheme, sources with knowledge of the review said on Saturday.

The team comes from the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism, commonly known as Moneyval.

TRIPOLI, May 18 (Xinhua): Libya's UN-backed government on Saturday condemned the terrorist attack carried out by Islamic State (IS) affiliates on a southern oil field, which killed two guards and kidnapped four others.

"The Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord condemns the attack that targeted the (government-owned) Zueitina Oil Company in Zalla town," the government said in a statement.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Netherlands won the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv Saturday, with Duncan Laurence’s doleful piano ballad “Arcade” crowned champion of Europe’s annual music extravaganza.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Commercial airliners flying over the Persian Gulf risk being targeted by “miscalculation or misidentification” from the Iranian military amid heightened tensions between the Islamic Republic and the U.S., American diplomats warned Saturday, even as both Washington and Tehran say they don’t seek war.