Middle East & North Africa

24 Apr 2019; DW: Saudi Arabia on Tuesday executed 37 of its citizens who had been convicted of "terrorism," the Interior Ministry said.

The death penalty was given for charges including adopting extremist terrorist ideology, the formation of terrorist cells, attacking security offices using explosives and killing a number of security personnel.

24 Apr 2019; DW: National Election Authority head Lashin Ibrahim told a Cairo press conference on Tuesday that of the 44.33% of Egypt's voters who turned out to cast their ballots during the three-day referendum, 88.83% of them approved the amendments.

"These (changes) are effective from now as your constitution," Ibrahim said.

Almost 27 million votes were cast out of an eligible base of 61 million voters.

24 Apr 2019; DW: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to name a new settlement in the Golan Heights after US President Donald Trump out of gratitude for the White House's recognition of Israeli sovereignty. 

Netanyahu said he intends to advance "a resolution calling for a new community on the Golan Heights named after President Donald J. Trump."

Tehran, Apr 24 (AP) Iranian lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill that labels all US military forces as terrorist, a day after Washington ratcheted up pressure on Tehran by announcing that no country would any longer be exempt from US sanctions if it continues to buy Iranian oil.

The bill is a step further from the one last week, when lawmakers approved labelling just US troops in the Middle East as terrorist, in response to the US terrorism designation for Iran's Revolutionary Guard earlier this month.

JERUSALEM, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Israeli forces demolished early on Wednesday the residential home of a Palestinian suspected of killing an Israeli soldier and a civilian in the West Bank in March.

Bulldozers accompanying by Israeli army troops, Border Police officers, and the Civil Administration personnel carried out the demolition of the apartment of Omar Amin Abu Lila in the village of a-Zawiya, southeast of Qalqilya, an Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement.

JERUSALEM, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Israel on Tuesday warned Israelis vacationing in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to leave "immediately," citing threats of terror attacks.

The official warning was released by Israel's Counter-Terrorism Bureau hours after the Islamic State (IS) militant group claimed responsibility for the recent bombing attacks in Sri Lanka, which claimed the lives of at least 321 people and injured hundreds of others.

ANKARA; 23 Apr 2019; AA: Bodies of two Turkish citizens, who lost their lives in Sri Lanka bombings, have been brought to Turkey, a diplomatic source said on Tuesday.

Bodies of Serhan Selcuk Narici and Yigit Ali Cavus will be sent to their hometowns -- Istanbul and Adiyaman -- for funerals, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restriction on speaking to media.

22 Apr 2019; DW: On the second day of his first visit to neighboring Iran, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan agreed to the force following a series of attacks on the frontier. It appears to be the first step towards closer ties.

After talks with the Pakistani leader on Monday, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani announced the formation of the joint border force.

Istanbul, Apr 22 (AFP) Turkish police on Monday arrested nine people, including a member of the ruling AKP party, after a mob attack on opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu that sparked widespread criticism.

Kilicdaroglu, 70, of the Republican People's Party (CHP) was assaulted on Sunday in a crowd as he attended a funeral in Ankara for a soldier killed fighting Kurdish militants in the southeast.

ANKARA, April 22(Xinhua) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday criticized the U.S. decision to end sanction waivers for countries importing Iranian oil.

"The U.S. decision will not serve regional peace and stability, but will harm Iranian people," Cavusoglu warned on his Twitter.

"Turkey rejects unilateral sanctions and impositions on how to conduct relations with neighbors," he said.