Middle East & North Africa

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The death toll in a string of wildfires raging in southern Turkey rose to four, officials said Friday, as fire crews continued to battle blazes that burned down homes and forced people to evacuate settlements and beach resorts.

Firefighters were still tackling wildfires in 20 locations in six provinces in Turkey’s Mediterranean and southern Aegean region, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said. More than 50 others wildfires that broke out since Wednesday amid strong winds and scorching heat were extinguished.

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia’s president has named a new interior minister, in his first major appointment since he froze parliament and seized executive powers earlier this week amid protests and an economic crisis.

President Kais Saied named Ridha Gharsallaoui, a former national security adviser to the presidency, to the post on Thursday night. The Interior Ministry oversees domestic security, including policing.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An oil tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire reportedly came under attack off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea, authorities said Friday, as details about the incident remained few.

The attack Thursday night targeted Liberian-flagged oil tanker Mercer Street just northeast of the Omani island of Masirah. The location is over 300 kilometers (185 miles) southeast of Oman’s capital, Muscat.

BAGHDAD, July 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two rockets were fired early Thursday against Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone which houses the US embassy, without causing any casualties or damage, an Iraqi security source said.

The dawn attack came as Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi was flying home from Washington after White House talks in which President Joe Biden announced an end to US combat operations in Iraq.

One rocket landed in a parking lot inside the Green Zone and a second one hit a nearby empty area, said the sources.

29 July 2021; MEMO: The judge hearing the case against ousted Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir asked to be removed from the trial on Tuesday.

Judge Ahmed Ali Ahmed asked to be excused from pursuing the case and adjourned the hearing to 10 August until the issuance of a decision regarding his request.

29 July 2021; MEMO: The main universities in southern Saudi Arabia have dismissed 106 Yemeni academics after a decision was made to terminate their contracts without prior notice.

According to the Yemen News Portal citing media reports, a directive has demanded that the institutions in the provinces of Baha, Jizan, Najran and Asir be given only four months to terminate all contracts with Yemeni nationals working in those areas, which are close to the border with Yemen, where the kingdom has been waging a devastating war since 2015.

29 July 2021; MEMO: Mohammed Al-Allami, a 12-year-old boy, was shot dead by the Israeli occupation forces in the town of Beit Ummar near Hebron in the occupied West Bank. He became the 77th Palestinian child killed by Israeli forces in 2021.

Al-Allami was shot in the chest when a soldier opened fire at a car driven by his father at the entrance to Beit Ummar, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement yesterday.

29 July 2021; MEMO: A Turkish opposition leader has offered Austria €3 billion ($3.56 billion) to take all the Afghan refugees residing in Turkey, in reaction to the Austrian prime minister's suggestion last week that Turkey should keep all refugees within its borders.

The chairman of Turkey's IYI (Good) Party, Meral Aksener, condemned Sebastian Kurz's comments as inappropriate on Tuesday, stating: "This tactless Austrian prime minister said that all Afghans should stay in Turkey and he could pay us."

29 July 2021; MEMO: The continued application of the state of emergency in Egypt has had a devastating effect on human rights abuses, concludes the Committee for Justice (CFJ) in a recent report.

For decades Egyptians have suffered under emergency and martial law, "a whip in the hands of Egypt's rulers to strengthen their power and grip on society," according to the CFJ.

29 July 2021; MEMO: Egyptian security officials were present when the Tunisian prime minister was beaten before he resigned, Middle East Eye (MEE) has reported.

On Sunday, Tunisia's President Kais Saeid assumed emergency powers to sack the prime minister, suspend parliament and assume authority of the government.