Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that some foreign sides seek to cause problems in the country's relations with its neighbors, calling on Iranian officials to prevent the implementation of such policies.

The leader made the remarks in a meeting held in Tehran with the Iranian Foreign Ministry's officials as well as the country's ambassadors, elaborating on Iran's foreign policy principles and priorities, according to the leader's website.

TEHRAN, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman on Saturday dismissed the U.S. and EU criticism against Iran's execution of three convicts who killed security officers in an armed attack as "meddlesome" and "ridiculous."

"Instead of intervening in the internal affairs of other countries ... Western politicians had better listen to the voices of their own citizens' protests and meeting their demands," Nasser Kanaani said in a statement published on the ministry's website.

CAIRO, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Four people were killed and 11 others wounded on Saturday when a three-storey residential building collapsed in the southern Egyptian province of Qena, local authorities told Xinhua.

Three adults and an infant died in the building in the al-Taramasa village, said Ihab Taha, Qena's security director.

Firefighters and ambulances rushed to the collapsed building to evacuate the injured, said the official, noting the prosecution ordered an immediate investigation into the incident.

19 May 2023; MEMO: An Israeli army officer serving as a captain was arrested on Wednesday on charges of raping a female officer, reported the Times of Israel.

The officer, whose name has not been made public, will remain in custody until Tuesday when an investigation will confirm if he is suspected of "serious sex offences."

19 May 2023; MEMO: Sudan's head of the Army and the Council, General Abdul Fattah Al-Burhan, has dismissed his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hemedti), who also serves as the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Anadolu News Agency reports.

The Sovereignty Council announced the dismissal in a statement on Friday, which comes amid an ongoing war between the two sides for more than a month.

19 May 2023; MEMO: Lebanon has received an Interpol notice issued for its Central Bank Governor, Riad Salameh, the country's caretaker Interior Minister, Bassam Mawlawi, told Reuters on Friday, saying he would implement it if the judiciary instructed him to do so, Reuters reports.

19 May 2023; MEMO: Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, attended a Summit of the Arab League in Saudi Arabia on Friday to canvas support for his people, while Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman expressed his readiness to mediate in the war between Moscow and Kyiv, Reuters reports.

19 May 2023; MEMO: The inclusion of the term "Islamophobia" in a UNESCO draft resolution on discrimination and racism is a positive step for all Muslim communities and humanity at large, Turkish First Lady said on Friday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Emine Erdogan, in a tweet, said the development, which was made possible at the initiative of Turkiye, is "promising" and will "undoubtedly accelerate the fight against crimes committed openly against our religion".

19 May 2023; MEMO: As Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad addressed Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia on Friday, a group of Syrian refugees was in Germany learning to use international law to prosecute war criminals – which they hoped to apply to him some day, Reuters reports.

19 May 2023; MEMO: The Iranian judiciary stated on Friday that three men were executed after being convicted of participating in the most recent protests.

It added that Saleh Mirhashemi, Majid Kazemi and Saeed Yaqoubi were executed in the city of Esfahan and involved in the killing of two members of the Basij paramilitary force as well as a security guard.