Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, June 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Iran has drones capable of flying 7,000 kilometres, the commander of its Revolutionary Guard force said.

“We have drones which can fly 7,000 kilometres, without a pilot, and land back at the same spot or anywhere else,” General Hossein Salami said in a speech broadcast by state television.

He gave no other details but the new drone would give it a range of 3,500 kilometres, compared to 2,000 kilometres for Iran’s “Gaza” combat drone unveiled earlier this year.

ABU DHABI, June 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — When Israel’s Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, steps onto United Arab Emirates soil on Tuesday it will be a landmark moment for his country and the Arab world.

Lapid will become the first Israeli minister to pay an official visit to the Gulf state since Israel, the UAE and Bahrain signed a historic deal to normalise ties nine months ago.

During the two-day trip, Lapid will meet his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and inaugurate the Israeli embassy and consulate office in Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively.

29 June 2021; MEMO: Iraq's Minister of Electricity, Majed Mahdi Hantoosh, submitted his resignation today following an escalation of protests over the repeated power outages in the country.

Spokesman for the Ministry of Electricity, Ahmed Moussa, told Anadolu Agency: "Hantoosh officially submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi."

29 June 2021; MEMO: Israeli occupation forces this morning raided the Silwan neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, amid plans to demolish Palestinian homes in the area.

According to local residents, Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets at the Palestinians who had gathered to stop the demolitions in the Al-Bustan neighbourhood. Mosques called on residents to gather to protect their homes, eyewitnesses said.

29 June 2021; MEMO: Israeli settlers have claimed victory after reaching a compromise with the government over the land they took illegally over six weeks ago. The government led by far-right ultra-nationalist Neftali Bennett, a major proponent of Israel's illegal settlement enterprise, was expected to raze the Eviatar outpost in the occupied West Bank to the ground, but a compromise deal has been struck that will see settlers leave it within days.

29 June 2021; MEMO: Egyptian activist Alaa Abdelfattah has accused Egypt's judiciary of subordination to the authorities and failing to issue independent rulings.

Alaa was arrested in September 2019 as part of a sweep of activists and political figures who were detained following Egyptian whistleblower Mohamed Ali's calls to protest.

ADDIS ABABA, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Sudan on Monday reiterated their commitment to advance the implementation of a mega infrastructure project in the East Africa region, also known as the LAPSSET Corridor Program.

Starting at Lamu, Kenya, the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor Program, is the region's largest and most ambitious infrastructure project, bringing the three countries together with key projects that include ports, highways, railways, oil pipeline and airports.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s energy ministry on Tuesday increased gasoline and fuel prices by 35%, a move that could lead to a sharp increase in prices of most commodities in the crisis-hit country.

The hike came days after caretaker prime minister, Hassan Diab, granted approval for financing fuel imports at a rate higher than the official exchange rate, effectively reducing critical fuel subsidies.

Lebanon is going through an unprecedented economic and financial collapse, coupled with a monthslong political deadlock over the formation of a new government.

28 June 2021; MEMO: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok at the weekend about the normalisation of relations between Sudan and Israel, State Department spokesperson Ned Price has revealed.

28 June 2021; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's former commander in charge of the coalition war in Yemen has been sentenced to death following a military trial, according to a report yesterday by the Washington DC-based Institute for Gulf Affairs. The report cited one of his relatives, who spoke on condition of anonymity.