Middle East & North Africa

MECCA, Aug 11 (NNN-SPA) – Saudi Arabia resumed allowing travellers from abroad to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, the kingdom announced this week, a new easing of the restrictions imposed last year, to prevent the spread of Covid-19 at Islamic holy sites.

Aspiring pilgrims can now apply to perform the lesser pilgrimage, known as umrah, as long as they can provide proof that they have received a vaccine approved by the Saudi authorities. The new policy took effect on Monday.

BEIRUT, Aug 11 (NNN-NNA) – The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), warned that, more than half of migrant workers in Lebanon are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, to survive an economic crisis that has plunged most of the population into poverty, a statement released by the UN reported.

“They have lost their jobs. They are hungry, they cannot access medical care and feel unsafe,” IOM Lebanon’s Head of Office, Mathieu Luciano, said.

11 Aug 2021; MEMO: Attempting to thwart any possible resumption of talks between the US and newly appointed president of Iran over the Islamic Republic's nuclear deal, Israel claimed that Ebrahim Raisi suffers from "mental disturbance" and cannot be negotiated with, the Times of Israel reported today.

11 Aug 2021; MEMO: The real estate firm Sky Abu Dhabi Developments is in the final stages of negotiations to invest $15 billion in Egypt over the next two years.

The figure includes more than $4 billion by the end of this year, Reuters reports. One of the projects will be on the North Coast of Egypt and the other in New Cairo.

Sky Developments launched its first project in March in the New Administrative Capital, Egypt's multi-billion-dollar new capital city that has been under construction since 2015.

11 Aug 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian Authority (PA) has welcomed the visit of CIA Chief William Burns to the region, an official has said, noting it aimed to repair US relations with the PA, the Jerusalem Post reported yesterday.

"The visit shows that the Biden administration is serious about restoring Washington's relations with the Palestinians and strengthening the Palestinian leadership under President Mahmoud Abbas," the official, who was not named by the Israeli newspaper, said.

11 Aug 2021; MEMO: A series of simultaneous wildfires broke out yesterday morning across forests in the cities of Ain Draham and Tabarka in the governorate of Jendouba and some cities in the state of Bizerte in northern Tunisia.

11 Aug 2021; MEMO: The Israeli army yesterday received the third Sa'ar 6-class warship from Germany, Arab48 reported.

This handover came amidst escalating tensions in the Gulf that could see a confrontation with Iran.

The warship is anchored in Haifa military base, where it will be fitted with developed technologies, including sensors, weapons and communication systems, a statement issued by Israeli army said, noting that it will be operational in the coming months.

11 Aug 2021; MEMO: Palestinian Mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Mohammed Hussein yesterday called for rejecting the Judaisation projects at the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.

In a statement, the Mufti said that the Israeli occupation is planning to build passages, corridors and install an elevator in order to facilitate settler access to the mosque.

11 Aug 2021; MEMO: Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh stressed yesterday that employees who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19 will be put on unpaid leave until the pandemic subsides.

Shtayyeh said that this measure is being taken to protect the community against a new wave of coronavirus.

He said the government would impose tight measures and adopt strict plans to avoid a new lockdown, stressing that everyone should take the vaccine.

ISTANBUL, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Floods caused by unusually heavy rainfall struck Turkey's northern coast on Wednesday, tearing down a bridge and leaving villages without power, after some of the biggest wildfires in the country's history ravaged its southwest.

State broadcaster TRT Haber said one person died from a heart attack in the northern province of Bartin, and emergency workers were looking for another person who was missing.