Middle East & North Africa

Israel: National security minister Ben-Gvir sues former defence minister

29 May 2023; MEMO: Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir filed a lawsuit on Sunday against former defence minister Moshe Ya'alon.

"I filed a lawsuit against the "failed former Member of Knesset Moshe Ya'alon for spreading lies against me," Ben-Gvir wrote in a post on his Twitter account.

"If Ya'alon thinks that the immunity granted to him by the Knesset is eternal, he is making a bitter mistake," Ben-Gvir added.

Teenagers from Islamic State families undergo rehabilitation in Syria, but future still uncertain

QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — For at least four years, thousands of children have been growing up in a camp in northeast Syria housing families of Islamic State group militants, raised in an atmosphere where the group’s radical ideology still circulates and where they have almost no chance for an education.

Fearing that a new generation of militants will emerge from al-Hol Camp, the Kurdish officials who govern eastern and northern Syria are experimenting with a rehabilitation program aimed at pulling children out of extremist thought.

Israel: Netanyahu shelves NGOs financing bill after international criticism

29 May 2023; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has frozen a controversial bill aimed at curbing the activities of non-profit civil and human rights organisations following significant criticism from the United States and prominent European countries.

Iran-Egypt Reconciliation Beneficial To Entire Region, Say Analysts

TEHRAN, May 29 (NNN-IRNA) – Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, arrived in Tehran yesterday, a week after his trip to Cairo, sparking widespread speculation over Muscat’s intention, to act as a mediator between Iran and Egypt, whose relations were severed since 1980.

Amid a strong Mideast rapprochement recently, analysts believe, the Iran-Egypt reconciliation will bring political and economic benefits, not only to the two countries, but also to the entire region.

In recent years, Iran has announced readiness to mend ties with Egypt by settling differences.

Israel Strikes Military Sites In Syria

DAMASCUS, May 29 (NNN-SANA) – Israeli war jets launched an overnight attack on military sites in the Syrian capital, Damascus, last night, causing damage only, the Syrian military said, in a statement.

The Israeli strike was made from over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which has triggered the Syrian air defences, said the statement.

It added that, some of the missiles had been intercepted.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said, Israel launched two waves of missile attacks on military sites in the vicinity of Damascus.

Nvidia to build Israeli supercomputer as AI demand soars

JERUSALEM, May 29 (Reuters) - Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) said on Monday it was building Israel's most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer to meet soaring customer demand for AI applications.

Nvidia, the world's most valuable listed chip company, said the cloud-based system would cost hundreds of millions of dollars and be partly operational by the end of 2023.

Gilad Shainer, a senior vice president at Nvidia, said Nvidia worked with 800 startups in Israel and tens of thousands of software engineers.

Turkey's Kilicdaroglu faces the heat after election loss to Erdogan

ANKARA, May 29 (Reuters) - After failing to seize the moment to defeat President Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey's elections, Kemal Kilicdaroglu faces questions about his leadership and the challenge of preserving a bitter opposition alliance ahead of local voting in March 2024.

According to some party members, analysts and voters, Kilicdaroglu, the opposition presidential candidate in Sunday's runoff vote, will need to immediately re-focus on maintaining control of Turkey's big cities in the municipal elections.

Iran, Oman call for expanding cooperation

TEHRAN, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Iran and Oman on Monday called for expanding their cooperation through a guideline strategic document between the two countries, according to the Iranian official news agency IRNA.

The strategic cooperation document would be aimed at improving the relations between the two "brotherly" countries and laying the foundation of a framework for maintaining such relations, according to a joint statement issued by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said at the end of the latter's two-day visit to Iran.

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