Middle East & North Africa

ANKARA, April 27. /TASS/: Turkey hopes that a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky will take place in the next few days, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Wednesday following consultations on the West's military assistance to Kiev held at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

"We hope that despite some difficulties, the two leaders will be able to meet in the coming days thanks to the proposals of our president [Recep Tayyip Erdogan]," the Turkish defense ministry quoted him as saying.

DAMASCUS, Apr 27 (NNN-SANA) – Four soldiers were killed and three others were injured, and some material damages were caused, by an Israeli aerial act of aggression on some sites in the vicinity of Damascus.

“At about 12:41 a.m. on Wednesday (last night), the Israeli enemy launched an aerial act of aggression with bursts of missiles from the direction of Tiberias, targeting some sites in the vicinity of Damascus,” a military source said.

BAGHDAD, Apr 27 (NNN-NINA) – Talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran, held in Iraq, may pave the way for the normalisation of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Iraqi Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, said yesterday.

The 5th round of talks between Tehran and Riyadh was held in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, last Thursday, in “a peaceful atmosphere and showed positive understanding,” Ahmed al-Sahaf was quoted as saying.

The talks, which were also attended by Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, covered a variety of topics, including security issues.

BEIRUT, Apr 27 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese children’s health is in great danger, as their vaccination rate has dropped to 60 percent or less, amid the current economic crisis, Lebanon’s Health Minister, Firas Abiad, said yesterday.

“These indicators show that our children are in great danger and they may turn from productive people in the future, to a segment in dire need for help and medical care, which is dangerous for our community and the country as a whole,” Abiad was quoted as saying.

RAMALLAH, West Bank, April 27 (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, medics and a militant group said, in clashes that erupted after an arrest raid.

It was the second time in two days that Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian during a late-night incursion. 

ISTANBUL, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres discussed Guterres's visit to Russia over the phone on Wednesday.

Guterres briefed Erdogan about his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Turkey's Directorate of Communications said in a statement.

Before heading to Moscow and Kiev for talks on resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Guterres met with Erdogan in the Turkish capital Ankara on Monday.

CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese authorities released two outspoken former government officials from prison, lawyers said Wednesday, part of trust-building measures amid efforts to end the country’s political impasse.

Sudan was plunged into turmoil after an October military coup upended its short-lived transition to democracy after three decades of repressive rule by former strongman Omar al-Bashir. Al-Bashir and his Islamist-backed government were removed in a popular uprising in April 2019.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The world’s economy is forecast to grow around 3.6% this year, but Arab oil exporters are seeing a windfall from high energy prices that will buoy their economies and replenish their financial reserves this year and next, according to a report released Wednesday by the International Monetary Fund.

SABHA, Jordan (AP) — Efforts to restore damaged but once fertile land in Jordan’s desert is sprouting hope for one of the world’s most water-scarce nations, as a land assessment report Wednesday warned of the growing scale of global degradation.

Local organizations believe projects that reintroduce native plants and implement smart water harvesting systems will cushion the impacts of climate change and desertification, which are only set to worsen, according to the United Nations report.

SIDON, Lebanon (AP) — Running for parliament for the first time, independent Hania Zaatari walks down the meandering alleyways of the old souk in the port city of Sidon, telling impoverished workers and traders that fixing Lebanon’s devastating economic crisis is her top priority.

“The economic plan needs to consider marginalized people like you and give them a chance for revival,” she said to 70-year-old Ahmed Abu Dhahr, one of two carpenters remaining on a street that just two years ago boasted roughly 50.