Middle East & North Africa

DUBAI, Apr 1 (NNN-WAM) – The Expo 2020 Dubai, the first world expo held in the Middle East, closed yesterday, with tens of thousands of visitors attending its official closing ceremony.

The ceremony was held at the iconic dome-structured Al Wasl Plaza, the central stage of the Expo’s site, with the attendance of Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, deputy ruler of Dubai and deputy prime minister and minister of finance of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as, other UAE and Expo officials.

JERUSALEM, April 1 (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian on Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, in clashes that broke out in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.

The Israeli military said its soldiers were at immediate risk from a petrol bomb the man threw at them and had therefore opened fire. The military described the confrontation as "a riot" and Palestinian residents said clashes had broken out.

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Coaches and soccer officials are gathering in Qatar for Friday’s draw for the Middle East’s first World Cup.

There will be 37 nations involved in the draw ceremony but five teams will ultimately not reach the tournament, which begins on Nov. 21.

The full lineup will not be known until at least June, when the intercontinental playoffs and the final European qualifiers are completed.

31 March 2022; MEMO: The Tunisian Parliament voted unanimously to abolish all the exceptional measures announced by President Kais Saied on 25 July.

The bill relating to abolishing the exceptional measures won the votes of 116 deputies out of 217, without objection or the rejection by any Member of Parliament.

On Wednesday, a virtual plenary session was commenced in the Tunisian Parliament, in an unprecedented step since Saied has announced his exceptional measures on 25 July.

31 March 2022; MEMO: United Nations investigators have uncovered new evidence of human rights violations against detainees in Libya, with the existence of mass graves thought to contain the corpses of migrants at a trafficking hub, the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya (FFM) report says.

According to FFM's report published on Tuesday, there were many facts to clarify that international human rights and humanitarian law are being violated in several secret detention facilities in Libya.

31 March 2022; MEMO: The longest suspension bridge in the world (the '1915 Canakkale Bridge') in Turkey will save £348 million ($457 million) a year in fuel consumption and emissions, local Turkish media reports.

According to the report, the bridge, with a two-kilometre (2,023m, 6,637ft) span between its towers, will connect Europe and Asia.

The '1915 Canakkale Bridge' cost 2.5 billion Euros ($2.7billion/£2.1billion) to build.

The bridge's toll fee will be 200 Turkish liras ($13.60/£10.30).

31 March 2022; MEMO: Tunisian Parliament Speaker and Ennahda Party leader, Rached Ghannouchi, said Thursday, that the anti-terrorism unit has summoned more than 30 lawmakers who had participated in an online session in defiance of President Kais Saied.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera news channel, Ghannouchi described the summons as a "dangerous issue".

Earlier on Wednesday, the Tunisian Parliament held an online session; the first since Saied announced last year that he was suspending the chamber, Reuters reported.

31 March 2022; MEMO: A series of deadly shootings in Israel has sparked a new security threat to the Jewish State, after the Daesh militant group has claimed responsibility for two of them.

On Tuesday, Israel was rocked by a third attack in a series of unclaimed attacks in just eight days, which left 11 dead.

A relatively small number of Palestinians and Arab citizens in Israel joined the organisation before its defeat in Syria in 2019.

ISTANBUL, March 31 (Reuters) - A Turkish prosecutor called on Thursday for the trial in Istanbul of Saudi suspects over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi to be halted and transferred to Saudi authorities, a move which comes as Turkey seeks to mend ties with Riyadh.

Khashoggi's killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul four years ago triggered a global outcry and put pressure on Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

BEIRUT, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has opened a general security academy in Lebanon to implement effective border and migration management policies, a statement by the United Nations reported on Thursday.

The General Security Academy for Training and Education and Cybersecurity aims to ensure that the Lebanese General Security and its partners have professional and well-trained personnel to implement effective border and migration management policies that respond to the rapidly changing needs, said the statement.