Middle East & North Africa

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish and U.S. military officials met in Turkey’s capital on Thursday to discuss plans for Turkish troops to continue securing Kabul’s airport after the withdrawal of the U.S. and other NATO troops from Afghanistan.

Turkey, NATO’s only majority-Muslim member, has offered to protect and run the Hamid Karzai International airport — the main gateway into Afghanistan — after the alliance pulls out of the country. The country, which has around 500 non-combat troops in Afghanistan, is however, seeking U.S. and other allies’ support for the mission.

KHARTOUM, June 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Sudan asked the United Nations Security Council to meet and discuss a dispute over a giant dam being built by Ethiopia on the Blue Nile, a government statement said.

Ethiopia is pinning its hopes of economic development and power generation on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), while the two downstream countries – Egypt and Sudan – are concerned about it and seeking a binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam.

ANKARA, Jun 23 (NNN-ANADOLU) – Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, yesterday announced the phase III trials, of its indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, named Turkovac.

The vaccine, which is made with inactivated coronaviruses, is expected to be available for use by the end of this year, Erdogan said, at an event for the inoculation of the first phase III volunteers with the vaccine.

Turkey yesterday confirmed 6,143 new COVID-19 cases, including 565 symptomatic patients, raising the total number of cases in the country to 5,381,736, according to the health ministry.

ADDIS ABABA June 23 (Reuters) - An air strike killed at least 43 people in the town of Togoga in Ethiopia's Tigray region on Tuesday, a medical official told Reuters, after residents said new fighting had flared in recent days north of the regional capital Mekelle.

Ethiopian military spokesman Colonel Getnet Adane did not confirm or deny the incident. He said air strikes were a common military tactic and that government forces do not target civilians.

ISTANBUL, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police on Wednesday detained 32 suspects for their suspected ties to the Islamic State, the state-run Anadolu agency reported.

Simultaneous operations were carried out at 39 addresses across the country to capture those allegedly linked to group members in conflict zones, said the report.

According to the agency, operations backed by special operation forces were mainly carried out in Istanbul, the western province of Aydin, and the central Anatolian province of Sivas.

23 June 2021; MEMO: Qatar is the safest country in the Middle East according to the 2021Global Peace Index's Societal Safety and Security measures.

The Gulf state came in at 15th globally, but tops the regional list, with the UAE and Kuwait coming in second and third.

According to the Global Peace Index, Iceland is the safest country globally for the 13th year in a row.

23 June 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian Media Forum launched 'Sahafa Square' (Journalism Square) in Gaza today in front of the destroyed Al-Jawhara Tower which housed media companies, in honour of journalists whose work has been affected by the Israeli aggression.

23 June 2021; MEMO: Israel signed a statement presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) yesterday urging China to allow independent observers access to its western Xinjiang region, where UN experts say nearly a million Uyghurs and other minorities have been unlawfully detained in camps.

The decision, the first of its kind by Israel, came after pressure from US President Joe Biden's administration, Walla news reported.

23 June 2021; MEMO: Israeli occupation police yesterday banned Member of the Higher Committee for Arabs of the Negev, Sheikh Osama Al-Uqbi, from praying at Al-Aqsa Mosque for one week, Arab48 reported.

During this time, Sheikh Al-Uqbi will be under investigation and the ban could be extended, the news site added.

23 June 2021; MEMO: The defence lawyers representing ousted Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir have asked to transfer him from Kober Central Prison to a private hospital for examination because it is suspected that he may have Covid-19, state television has reported. Bashir is in the prison to the north of Khartoum serving time on a number of charges.