Middle East & North Africa

TUNIS, June 18 (Reuters) - Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Tunis on Saturday in opposition to a referendum on a new constitution called by President Kais Saied that would cement his hold on power.

The protest led by Abir Moussi, leader of the Free Constitutional Party, reflected growing opposition to Saied since he seized executive power last year, dissolving parliament and ruling by decree in a move opponents called a coup.

Thousands marched from Bab Souika Square in the capital towards Kasbah, waving Tunisian flags.

ISTANBUL, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated on Friday that Turkey would no longer hold the High-Level Strategic Council meetings with Greece.

"Unless I come across an honest politician, I will no longer be meeting them, and we have terminated our high-level strategic council meetings, and we will not hold the meeting with Greece," Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul.

BEIRUT, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday called on all political parties to expedite the selection of a new prime minister who can form a new cabinet capable of dealing with Lebanon's steep crisis.

Mikati made the remarks at a university graduation ceremony in northern Lebanon, according to a statement by Lebanon's Council of Ministers, or Lebanon's cabinet.

Lebanon does not have the luxury of time to address its problems, he said, adding any delay in addressing the country's crisis will cost the Lebanese more in the future.

ADDIS ABABA, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The Horn of Africa could face "unprecedented food unavailability problems" in 2023 due to ongoing drought and food supply shortages caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, David Beasley, the executive director of the UN World Food Program (WFP), has warned.

"The drought situation in the Somali region of Ethiopia is desperate and extraordinary," Beasley said during a briefing Thursday after his visit to the drought-stricken Gode district in Ethiopia's Somali region.

17 June 2022; MEMO: The United States yesterday imposed sanctions on Chinese and Emirati companies and on a network of Iranian firms that help export Iran's petrochemicals, a step that may raise pressure on Tehran to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Reuters reports.

17 June 2022; MEMO: In an historic move, the Catalonia Parliament yesterday passed a resolution recognising that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people, becoming the first European parliament to do so.

The resolution accused Israel of applying a system that is "contrary to international law and is equivalent to the crime of apartheid as defined in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Article 7.2 (h)."

17 June 2022; MEMO: The Israeli occupation army shot dead three Palestinians and wounded eight others this morning in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement.

Palestine TV reported that the Israeli army carried out an assassination operation in Jenin, which resulted in "the martyrdom of Baraa Lahluh, Laith Abu Srour and Youssef Salah."

Eyewitnesses said Israeli troops stormed Jenin city and opened fire at a car killing three passengers.

17 June 2022; MEMO: The Lutheran World Federation has issued a statement calling on the international community to find "a lasting solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict," one that brings "an end to the occupation."

18 June 2022; MEMO: The Palestinian resistance managed to seize control of the Israeli surveillance balloon early on Friday after it was shot down in the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.

Palestinian sources confirmed to Quds Press that the Israeli surveillance balloon seized by the Palestinian resistance was not the first it had seized. It has previously seized several balloons, as well as advanced drones.

17 June 2022; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, is considering the possibility of forming an alternate government with opposition leader and former premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, according to local media on Friday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Bennett met late Thursday with his political advisers, including Aron Shaviv, in the headquarters of the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv.