Middle East & North Africa

BAGHDAD, Apr 26 (NNN-NINA) – Three mortar rounds landed yesterday, on a military base near the Iraqi capital Baghdad, causing property damage, a military source said.

Three mortar rounds hit Camp Taji, some 20 km north of Baghdad, which houses Iraqi army forces and military training centres, an army officer said.

Iraqi security forces intensified their security measures and launched a search campaign in the surrounding area, looking for the attackers, the source said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

AMMAN, Apr 26 (NNN-PETRA) – King Abdullah II of Jordan and U.S. President Joe Biden, yesterday reiterated the importance of maintaining coordination, to prevent the recurrence of violations in Jerusalem that may threaten regional peace, the Royal Hashemite Court said.

During a phone call, they reaffirmed the commitment of the two countries, to continuously work towards global and regional peace, according to a statement by the royal court.

BEIRUT, April 26 (Reuters) - Lebanon's cabinet ordered the military court on Tuesday to investigate the capsize of a migrant boat after colliding with a naval vessel giving chase, with at least six dead and dozens missing.

The boat carrying Lebanese and Syrian migrants sank off the coast near the impoverished northern city of Tripoli on Saturday night. The U.N. refugee agency said around 80 people were on board, including men, women and children.

Some 45 were rescued and six bodies recovered.

ISTANBUL, April 26 (Reuters) - Turkish opposition leaders vowed to overturn jail sentences against philanthropist Osman Kavala and seven others convicted at the end of a case that lawyers said showed courts had become the government's "vehicle for revenge."

Kavala was sentenced to life in prison without parole, while seven others got 18 years based on claims they organised and financed nationwide protests in 2013, charges from which they were acquitted two years ago. 

ANKARA, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday once again urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to hold a summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

During a phone talk, Erdogan told Putin that the "continuation of the positive momentum achieved in the Istanbul talks" to reach peace in Ukraine is in the interest of everyone, the Turkish presidential press service said in a statement.

ISTANBUL (AP) — For months, Istanbul restaurant Tarihi Balikca tried to absorb the surging cost of the sunflower oil its cooks use to fry fish, squid and mussels.

But in early April, with oil prices nearly four times higher than they were in 2019, the restaurant finally raised its prices. Now, even some longtime customers look at the menu and walk away.

25 April 2022; MEMO: The popularity of Tunisian President Kais Saied has declined since August to reach its lowest level since his election in 2019, a new poll has revealed.

Conducted by Insights TN, the poll revealed that popular support for Saied has fallen from 49.8 per cent in August, to 42.9 per cent in September, and 29.1 per cent in November.

Support for him fell further in February, at just 23.2 per cent.

26 April 2022; MEMO: A huge oil field has been discovered off the coast of Morocco by British company Europa Oil & Gas, Spain's Motorpasion website has reported. The reserves in the field are valued at billions of dollars.

"The discovery is a treasure," said the website. "Its value is put at about €110 billion, which is roughly equivalent to Morocco's GDP in 2020, when it amounted to $112 billion."

25 April 2022; MEMO: Saudi princes have sold more than $600 million worth of real estate, yachts and artwork in the US and Europe since the kingdom's de facto ruler, Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), tightened the purse strings of the ultrawealthy ruling family. That's according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, which found that the kingdom's senior princes are trying to raise cash and avoid scrutiny from MBS.

26 April 2022; MEMO: Israeli forces yesterday razed land belonging to Palestinian residents in Bethlehem's southern village of Al-Jab'a.

The director of the Bethlehem office of the Wall and Settlements Resistance Commission, Hassan Breijeh, told Safa that the Israeli occupation forces razed "about 10 dunums [2.5 acres] of Palestinian land and other areas in the Marah Tohme area."