Middle East & North Africa

KUWAIT CITY, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Kuwait Airport started on Sunday to receive vaccinated expatriates after months of entry ban.

Abdullah Al-Bakhsh, monitor of Projects and Planning in the Engineering Department of Kuwait's Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said in a statement that the first flights carrying expats arrived at midnight.

The Kuwait Airport has received eight flights carrying 739 people on board in nine hours since the entry ban was lifted, he added.

DAMASCUS, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday renamed Hussein Arnous as prime minister and ordered him to form a new government, according to the state news agency SANA.

The order came after Assad took the oath on July 17 for his fourth term in office after winning the presidential elections in May.

Assad originally named Arnous as prime minister in last August to replace Emad Khamis, who was sacked in June 2020 as the Middle East country grappled with an economic crisis and plunging currency.

ISTANBUL (AP) — More than 100 wildfires have been brought under control in Turkey, according to officials Sunday, as firefighters worked to battle blazes that continued in popular seaside destinations.

The Minister of Forestry and Agriculture, Bekir Pakdemirli, tweeted that five fires were continuing in the tourist destinations of Antalya and Mugla, while 107 fires were “under control.”

The fires in Antalya were continuing in two districts. In Mugla, they continued in the tourist destination of Marmaris, as well as other areas.

Tehran, IRNA – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Sunday that US senators’ call on Biden to prevent Iran President-elect Ebrahim Raisi from entering the United Nations is childish, naive and in line with anti-Iran lobbies.   

Speaking during a virtual press conference, Khatibzadeh said that the US has duties about hosting the United Nations and has to fulfil its duties regardless of differences with other countries.

“The anti-Iranian lobbies use any kind of allegations as they did before,” the spokesman said.  

01 Aug 2021; AA: Azerbaijan on Saturday provided 53 fire trucks to Turkey, where forest fires in the past few days have led to deaths as well as material damage.

The Emergency Situations Ministry sent the vehicles meant to fight large fires, as well as 220 personnel by land. Earlier, 100 Azerbaijani firefighters arrived in the Turkish province of Mugla.

While the trucks will reach the affected areas in two days, Baku will also send a helicopter on Sunday. Many other countries have also offered help.

31 July 2021; MEMO: Tunisia's moderate Islamist Ennahda party on Saturday called on President Kais Saied to engage in dialogue to avoid deepening the country's political crisis, Anadolu Agency reported.

"The possible and effective way-out of these problems will not be through monopolizing power, which can only increase the spread of corruption, nepotism, and injustice," Ennahda said in a statement.

01 Aug 2021; MEMO: Algerian authorities on Saturday withdrew the accreditation of the Saudi-funded Al-Arabiya TV channel for propagating "misinformation", Anadolu Agency reports.

"A decision was reached to withdraw the accreditation of Al-Arabiya news channel for not respecting the rules of professional ethics and practicing media misinformation and manipulation," the Algerian Ministry of Communications said in a brief statement.

01 Aug 2021; MEMO: Tunisian authorities have placed a former judge under house arrest, according to local media on Saturday, Anadolu Agency reported.

A security force enforced a decision by Interior Minister Reda Gharslawi to place Bechir Akremi under house arrest, the private radio station, Mosaique FM, reported.

01 Aug 2021; MEMO: 98 of 107 forest fires in Turkey are under control, the nation's Agriculture and Forestry Minister said late Saturday, reports Anadolu Agency.

Efforts to contain nine blazes are still ongoing, Bekir Pakdemirli said during a news conference at a fire management center in the Degirmenyani district of southwestern Mugla province.

Pakdemirli warned that caution will be needed to combat the massive fires on Sunday when humidity is expected to drop 10%.

01 Aug 2021; MEMO: The US Navy is assisting an Israeli-managed petroleum products tanker attacked off Oman with two crew members killed, the US military said on Saturday, adding the ship was most likely hit by a drone strike, reports Reuters.