Middle East & North Africa

TUNIS, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia and Syria on Tuesday issued a joint statement underlining bilateral solidarity and cooperation in face of the growing regional and international challenges.

The statement, made on the occasion of Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad's visit to Tunisia, highlighted the necessity of preserving Syria's sovereignty, stability and territorial integrity, and pushing forward regional and international efforts for a political settlement of the Syrian crisis and the full restoration of its sovereignty.

BAGHDAD (AP) — There are places around Baghdad where I’ll sometimes say a silent prayer for the dead when I pass — on certain residential streets, at a particular restaurant, in a square where minibuses gather.

Today, people go about their daily business in these places, perhaps no longer thinking of the horror that took place years ago right where they are walking. For me, each site has become indelibly linked to the carnage I saw and the pain people suffered there.

CAIRO (AP) — For the last three days, Howeida al-Hassan and her family have been hunkered down in the first floor of her home in the Sudanese capital, sleeping on the floor as sounds of airstrikes and gunfire surround them.

18 Apr 2023; MEMO: Tunisia's Ennahda movement announced that its leader, Rached Ghannouchi, is being questioned at the National Guard barracks in El-Aouina, in the capital, without the participation of his defence team as they have not been allowed to attend.

18 Apr 2023; MEMO: The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) has purchased the United Bank of Egypt, one of the most famous banks in the country, the Egypt Times reported.

According to the site, the bank was sold for approximately $660 million, with contracts due to be officially signed after the end of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday which is due to take place this weekend.

18 Apr 2023; MEMO: Qatari anti-normalisation activists have condemned allowing Israeli female players to participate in the World Judo Championships that are scheduled to be held in the Qatari capital next month.

In a statement, the Qatar Youth Against Normalisation group called for the "immediate withdrawal and refusal to grant the representatives of Israel entry visas to the State of Qatar."

18 Apr 2023; MEMO: Iran and Saudi Arabia will reopen their embassies in each other's countries by 9 May, a senior Iranian diplomat said yesterday.

Alireza Enayati, director for Persian Gulf affairs at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, told state news agency IRNA that Tehran and Riyadh are set to reopen their embassies.

18 Apr 2023; MEMO: The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the armed clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces is an internal matter that should be left to the Sudanese people to resolve, away from international interference.

18 Apr 2023; MEMO: A US diplomatic convoy came under fire in Sudan amid clashes between the Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF), the US Secretary of State said Tuesday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"I can confirm that yesterday we had an American diplomatic convoy that was fired on," said Antony Blinken, who is currently in Japan for a meeting of G-7 foreign ministers.

18 Apr 2023; MEMO: Israeli occupation soldiers yesterday shot a Palestinian woman in the southern West Bank, claiming she had carried out a stabbing attack during which she injured an Israeli citizen.

The army posted on Twitter that the Palestinian woman had stabbed an illegal Israeli settler near the illegal Gush Etzion settlement in occupied Hebron, adding that the settler was taken to a hospital to receive medical treatment.