Middle East & North Africa

22 Aug 2021; MEMO: Some 357 people, including 16 infants, evacuated from Afghanistan's capital Kabul arrived in Istanbul on Sunday, rpeorts Anadolu Agency.

They were first taken to Pakistan on a Turkish Air Force transport plane and then brought to Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight.

"There was complete chaos at the Kabul airport. We had a very difficult time getting out of there. I am just so glad to be in Turkey," Ersin Karaduman, owner of a construction firm in Afghanistan, told reporters in Istanbul.

22 Aug 2021; MEMO: A leader of Tunisia's Ennahda Movement has called for an investigation into President Kais Saied's accusations for certain parties of plotting assassinations, reports Anadolu Agency.

"The fragile political, social and psychological situation in our country can't bear even just speaking about violence and killing," said MP Samir Dilou, a member of the movement's Shura Council.

23 Aug 2021; MEMO: The Egyptian government yesterday said it would not allow unvaccinated civil servants from accessing their places of work starting October.

"The decision is taken as part of government measures to prevent a fourth wave of the coronavirus," the Minister of Health, Hala Zayed, told reporters.

Zayed added that all civil servants at the education and higher education ministries would be "vaccinated before the end of September, in preparation for the start of the new academic year."

23 Aug 2021; MEMO: New Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's nominee as foreign minister said on Sunday that the next government will strive to strengthen and support Iran's allies in the region.

"The resistance movements are Iran's allies that were formed freely to ensure sustainable security in the region and in their countries, and have great potential for establishing national security in regional countries," said Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during a parliamentary session to review proposed cabinet members.

BEIRUT, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese army on Sunday received 19 tons of medical equipment donated from Jordan, the National News Agency reported.

The army received the donation through Beirut's airport in the presence of the Jordanian Ambassador to Lebanon Waleed Hadid.

Faced with severe challenges caused by the financial crisis in the country, the Lebanese army is seeking international support.

TEHRAN, Aug 22 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, yesterday denied that, the country’s military adviser was killed in Yemen.

Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, dismissed the recent remarks by a member of Yemeni President, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government, as “false,” concerning the killing of an Iranian citizen in Yemen’s conflicts.

“There is no Iranian military adviser in Yemen to be killed, in the bombing of the aggressors in Yemen,” Khatibzadeh was quoted as saying.

BAGHDAD, Aug 22 (NNN-NINA) – Visiting Japanese Foreign Minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, yesterday discussed with Iraqi leaders, bilateral ties and regional situation.

Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, invited Japan, as an observer, to attend the Iraqi Neighbouring Countries Conference, scheduled to be held at the end of this month, in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, said a statement of the prime minister’s media office.

22 Aug 2021; MEMO: A state inquiry into a stampede in April at a Jewish pilgrimage site that killed 45 people, among them US and Canadian citizens, began hearing testimonies on Sunday to determine what led to Israel's worst civilian disaster, reports Reuters.

DUBAI, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi called on Japan to release Iranian funds frozen in the country because of U.S. sanctions, Iranian state TV reported after the president met on Sunday with the visiting Japanese foreign minister.

21 Aug 2021; MEMO: Relations between Morocco and Algeria have taken a dangerous turn after Algeria militarised its border with Morocco. Observers have not ruled out the possibility of closing the airspace shared with its western neighbour.

The Algerian High Council of State, headed by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, held an extraordinary meeting last Wednesday, and accused Rabat of threatening Algeria's stability and security in coordination with Israel.