Middle East & North Africa

22 July 2021; MEMO: Turkish Cypriot authorities announced on Tuesday the partial reopening of the abandoned town of Varosha, Al Jazeera reports.

Varosha, an eerie collection of derelict high-rise hotels and residences, has been deserted since a 1974 war that split the island, a military zone nobody has been allowed to enter.

22 July 2021; MEMO: The United States and Iraq are expected to formalise the end of Washington's combat mission in Iraq by the end of the year and continue the transition toward training and advising Iraqi forces, US officials said on Thursday, reports Reuters.

There are currently 2,500 US troops in Iraq focusing on countering the remnants of Daesh. The move is not expected to have a major impact since the United States has already moved toward focusing on training Iraqi forces.

23 July 2021; MEMO: Four missiles fired by Israeli warplanes in Syria's Homs province early on Thursday were shot down by the Syrian army using Russian-made "Buk" air defence systems, RT has reported. According to the report, two Israeli F-16 jets fired the guided missiles from Lebanese airspace.

RAMALLAH, Jul 23 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, yesterday held a phone conversation with Israeli Minister of Public Security, Omer Barlev, to discuss peace and security issues in the region, it was reported here.

The report did not provide more details about the conversation.

Barlev later tweeted that, he hopes to open lines of communication with Palestinian counterparts, in the interest of peace and security for the two peoples.

DUBAI, July 23 (Reuters) - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that Iranians protesting over water shortages in the southwest cannot be blamed, and called on officials to deal with the water problem, Iran's state media reported.

"The people showed their displeasure ... but we cannot really blame the people and their issues must be taken care of," Khamenei was quoted by Iranian news agencies as saying, in reference to the week-long protests.

JERUSALEM, July 22 (Xinhua) -- The effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19 has dropped to 39 percent in Israel, the country's Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

The new figure refers to the period between June 20 and July 17, the ministry said, adding that the ongoing decline was observed along with the spread of the Delta COVID-19 variant in Israel.

The latest effectiveness rate is significantly lower than that of 64 percent measured between June 6 and July 3, and 94.3 percent measured between May 2 and June 5.

RAMALLAH, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Palestine on Thursday welcomed a decision by the United Nations Human Rights Council to form an independent international commission to investigate Israeli violations of Palestinian rights.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the council's decision "reflects the international community's persistence to implement international law and protect Palestinian human rights."

GAZA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- At least one Palestinian was killed and 10 others injured on Thursday in a huge explosion in the largest public market in the Gaza Strip.

The explosion caused massive destruction in the al-Zawya market, damaging several homes in the overcrowded neighborhood, the Hamas-run Ministry of Interior said in a statement.

Eyad al-Bozzom, spokesman of the ministry, told reporters that the civil defense managed to extinguish the fire caused by the explosion and evacuated the survivors.

DAMASCUS, Jul 22 (NNN-XINHUA) – The recent visit of Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, to Syria carries a message that the two sides will broaden bilateral cooperation, a political expert told Xinhua.

Muhammad al-Omari, a former government official, at Syria’s Ministry of National Reconciliation, and currently a political writer, said, Wang’s visit emphasises the longstanding relations between Syria and China and “tackles ways to elevating such relations to broader economic relations.”

TEL AVIV, July 22 (Reuters) - Israel announced plans on Thursday to allow only people who are deemed immune to COVID-19 or have recently tested negative to enter some public spaces such as restaurants, gyms and synagogues after a surge in coronavirus cases.

The government had removed most coronavirus restrictions after a rapid vaccination drive that pushed down infections and deaths.

The easing of restrictions included dropping a "Green Pass" programme that had allowed only people who had been vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 to enter some public spaces.