Middle East & North Africa

29 Aug 2021; MEMO: The head of northern Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), Nechirvan Barzani, held talks on Sunday with French President Emmanuel Macron on bilateral relations and the upcoming Iraqi elections, reports

"I'm delighted to welcome my friend, French President Emmanuel Macron in Erbil," Barzani wrote on Twitter, adding that he "looks forward to discussing bilateral ties, Iraqi elections and other pressing issues with President Macron."

Barzani hailed the French support to the Kurdish region and Iraq.

30 Aug 2021; MEMO: Algerian authorities on Sunday arrested the former presidential candidate and head of the Heart of Tunisia party Nabil Karoui on corruption and money laundering charges.

CAIRO, August 29. /TASS/: A powerful explosion rocked Kabul on Sunday, the Al Arabiya TV Channel reported, citing eye-witnesses.

According to the reports, most likely, the blast occurred near the building of Kabul airport. A powerful explosion that ripped through the Afghan capital on Sunday was triggered by a rocket strike on a residential building, the Ashwaka local news agency reported, citing eye-witnesses.

BAGHDAD, Aug 29 (NNN-NINA) – Iraq yesterday held the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership, with the participation of nine countries and several regional and international organisations, to boost security and economic cooperation in the Middle East.

During the opening session, Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, said in his speech that, the convening of the conference embodies Iraq’s vision of establishing “the best relations,” voicing his hope that economic partnerships will be achieved through the gathering.

TEHRAN, Aug 29 (NNN-IRNA) – The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, denounced yesterday, the mention by U.S. President Joe Biden, of “other options” to be used against Iran, “if diplomacy fails,” as “illegal threats.”

“The first meeting between (Israeli Prime Minister) Naftali Bennett and Biden, and the emphasis on using ‘Other Options’ against Iran, while being an illegal threat to another country, establishes the Islamic Republic of Iran’s right, to reciprocal response to ‘Available Options,'” Shamkhani tweeted in English, Hebrew, and Arabic.

CAIRO, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Baghdad on Saturday, the Egyptian presidency said, the first meeting since the two countries agreed in January to end a long-running dispute.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain had agreed to end the dispute that saw them boycott Qatar since 2017 over charges it supports terrorism, a reference to Islamist groups, which Doha denies.

GAZA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Night clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers resumed on Saturday near the borders between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel for the first time in two years, eyewitnesses said.

They said that members of the so-called "the night disturbance units" arrived at the border area with Israel, burned tires, detonated handmade bombs, whistled and clashed with the soldiers stationed at the borders.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s president on Sunday appointed a new director of the country’s nuclear department, state TV reported, replacing the nation’s most prominent nuclear scientist with a minister who has no reported experience in nuclear energy but ties to the defense ministry.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A missile and drone attack on a key military base in Yemen’s south on Sunday killed at least 30 troops, a Yemeni military spokesman said. It was one of the deadliest attacks in the country’s civil war in recent years.

Mohammed al-Naqib, spokesman for Yemen’s southern forces, told The Associated Press the attack on Al-Anad Air Base in the province of Lahj wounded at least 65. He said the casualty toll could rise since rescue teams were still clearing the site.

29 Aug 2021; AA: Turkish personnel and all Turkish citizens who wish to leave the country have been evacuated from Afghanistan’s capital Kabul in a span of less than 48 hours, Turkey’s national defense minister announced on Saturday.

At a welcoming ceremony in the capital Ankara for troops arriving from Afghanistan, Hulusi Akar said the evacuation was done through an air bridge between Kabul and Pakistan’s capital Islamabad with eight airplanes and two helicopters.