Middle East & North Africa

MOULAY BRAHIM, Morocco (AP) — When a historic earthquake struck Morocco in September, Ahmed Aazab tightly hugged his wife and four children as their home’s brick walls tumbled around them.

The roof collapsed, shattering clay pots in the kitchen and trapping picture frames and homework assignments beneath rubble. When the ground finally stopped shaking, the construction worker shepherded his five loved ones to a park. Then he rescued his father, mother and aunt, who were trapped in his childhood home nearby.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel’s prime minister pushed back Saturday against calls from Western allies to do more to protect Palestinian civilians, as troops encircled Gaza’s largest hospital where doctors said five patients died, including a premature baby, after the last generator ran out of fuel.

10 November 2023; MEMO: US President Joe Biden’s chief military adviser said that a solution to the fighting in Gaza could help stop pushing civilians to join the ranks of the Palestinian resistance.

11 November 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, on Friday, called for an end to the war in Gaza, a stance later echoed in a declaration with African leaders attending a summit in Riyadh, Reuters reports.

"We condemn what the Gaza Strip is facing from military assault, targeting of civilians, the violations of international law by the Israeli Occupation authorities" Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said during the African-Saudi summit in the Kingdom’s capital.

ANKARA, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan waded into a brewing judicial crisis on Friday, calling for a new constitution to resolve an unprecedented clash between two of the country's top courts, as opponents marched in Ankara.

The comments stoked a debate over the rule of law that erupted on Wednesday when the appeals Court of Cassation made a criminal complaint against judges of the Constitutional Court, which ruled last month that jailed parliamentarian Can Atalay should be released.

NEW DELHI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - India and the United States announced progress on key defence deals and said they would expand their growing partnership in the face of geopolitical challenges as their top diplomats and senior ministers met on Friday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi as part of their annual "2+2 Dialogue", focused on the Indo-Pacific region.

RIYADH, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's crown prince on Friday called for an end to the war in Gaza, a stance later echoed in a declaration with African leaders attending a summit in Riyadh.

"We condemn what the Gaza Strip is facing from military assault, targeting of civilians, the violations of international law by the Israeli occupation authorities," Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said during the African-Saudi summit in the kingdom's capital.

"We stress on the need to stop this war and the forced displacement of Palestinians," he added.

TEHRAN, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani exchanged views on the political solutions to end the Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip.

In a phone call on Thursday, the two sides strongly condemned the Israeli attacks against people in Gaza and expressed deep concern over the unfavorable humanitarian situation in the coastal enclave, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on its website on Friday.

ISTANBUL, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- A ship carrying the largest health aid that Türkiye has ever sent to the Gaza Strip set off on Friday, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced.

A dry cargo ship carrying 51 containers of medical supplies and generators and 20 fully equipped ambulances left the port of Alsancak in the western province of Izmir, Koca said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

"The aid, organized under the coordination of our Presidency, is expected to arrive at Egypt's Al-Arish port on Saturday," Koca noted.

TUNIS, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- A joint archaeological excavation operation has been carried out in Tunisia's Ben Arous Forest archaeological site since the end of October, Yu Fei, head of the Chinese operation team, said on Thursday.

Yu, who is from China's national archaeological research center under the National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA), told Xinhua that the excavation site is located in the 12,000-square-meter forest area of Ben Arous province, which used to be a settlement site from the Carthage period to the ancient Roman period.