Middle East & North Africa

BEIRUT, Feb 20 (NNN-NNA) – The Lebanese government, yesterday, condemned Israeli strikes on the Syrian capital, Damascus, which caused destruction and civilian casualties.

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry issued a statement, denouncing the “attack on the sovereignty of Syria” and “violation of the most basic rules of international law,” said the report.

ANTAKYA, Turkey Feb 20 (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck southern Turkey near the Syrian border late on Monday, setting off panic and further damaging buildings two weeks after the country's worst earthquake in modern history left tens of thousands dead.

Two Reuters reporters said the tremors were strong and lasting, damaging buildings and leaving dust in the night air in central Antakya city, where it was centred. It was also felt in Egypt and Lebanon, Reuters reporters said.

TEHRAN, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Behrouz Kamalvandi rejected media reports Sunday indicating the country has enriched uranium to levels beyond 60 percent purity, saying it is a "distortion of the facts."

Kamalvandi denied such reports in an interview with the official news agency IRNA, following a Bloomberg report which said that international atomic monitors in Iran last week had detected uranium enriched to 84 percent purity, a concentration just 6 percent below of that needed for a nuclear weapon.

ANKARA, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities have almost completed search and rescue work nearly two weeks after massive earthquakes that claimed more than 40,000 lives in the country, a Turkish disaster agency said Sunday.

Search and rescue are still underway in 40 buildings of two heavily-damaged southern provinces, Hatay and Kahramanmaras, head of Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) Yunus Sezer, said at a press conference.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has told the Biden administration it will rein in the approval of new West Bank settlement outposts, the prime minister’s office said Monday, a day after a potential diplomatic crisis was averted at the United Nations over Israeli-Palestinian tensions.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s government on Monday was pressing ahead with a contentious plan to overhaul the country’s legal system, despite an unprecedented uproar that has included mass protests, warnings from military and business leaders and calls for restraint by the United States.

Thousands of demonstrators were expected to gather outside the parliament, or Knesset, for a second straight week to rally against the plan as lawmakers prepared to hold an initial vote.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Russia offered weapons for sale on Monday at a biennial arms fair in the United Arab Emirates, ranging from Kalashnikov assault rifles to missile systems — despite facing sanctions from the West over its war on Ukraine.

The event, known as the International Defense Exhibition and Conference and held in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi, underscores how the Gulf Arab federation has sought to embrace Moscow while balancing its ties to the West.

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — President Kais Saied of Tunisia ordered Europe’s top trade union official to leave the North African country after she addressed protesters at a demonstration organized by an influential labor union.

Authorities accused Esther Lynch, the Irish general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, of making statements that “interfered with Tunisian internal affairs” during a Saturday protest against Saied in the port city of Sfax.

19 Feb 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia said Saturday that its good relations with Russia would benefit all, Anadolu reports.

Speaking at a panel of the Munich Security Conference 2023 on the geostrategic role of Middle Eastern countries, Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan reiterated that his country maintains a dialogue with Kyiv and Moscow and sees a willingness in the two warring parties.

But issues between Ukraine and Russia are complex, he said.

19 Feb 2023; MEMO: Afghanistan's interim government has decided to take control of the bases of the US-led foreign forces across the country "with an intention" to convert them into special economic zones, Anadolu reports.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the country's Economic Commission with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund, the deputy premier for economic affairs, in the chair in Kabul, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said in a series of tweets on Sunday.