Middle East & North Africa

13 June 2021; MEMO: Israeli forces on Sunday dismantled tents for Palestinian families in a nomadic Bedouin community near the village of Taibe, to the northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, reports Anadolu Agency.

The Israeli soldiers raiding the village in the morning and destroyed 6 houses and animal shelters.

The locals said the demolished tents demolished a shelter for two families with a total of 15 members.

13 June 2021; MEMO: Turkey's national defense minister has reiterated his country's support for Libya during a high-level visit to the country ahead of Monday's NATO summit, reports Anadolu Agency.

Hulusi Akar met with Libyan military officials on Saturday and visited Libya Task Group Command.

Addressing the personnel at the command, Akar emphasized the long-standing friendly ties between Turkey and Libya.

14 June 2021; MEMO: Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz last month approved a new bank of targets which Israel could attack in any future offensive on the besieged Gaza Strip, Israeli TV Channel 12 revealed yesterday.

ISTANBUL, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police on Monday detained 47 police officers over their alleged links to a network accused of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016, the state-run Anadolu agency reported.

Police launched simultaneous operations in 32 provinces to arrest the suspects upon the order of prosecutors in northwestern Balikesir province, the agency said.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s currency hit a new low on Sunday, as the country’s economic and political crisis worsened with no apparent solutions in the near future.

The currency has lost more than 90% of its value since October 2019, when anti-government protests erupted. Inflation and prices of basic goods have skyrocketed in the country, which imports more than 80% of its basic goods.

The U.S. dollar hit 15,300 Lebanese pounds on the black market, a level not seen since March. The official rate still stands at 1,515 pounds to the dollar.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranians this week are preparing to vote in — or perhaps to boycott — a presidential election that many fear will only underscore their powerlessness to shape the country’s fate.

JERUSALEM (AP) — For the first time in 12 years, Israelis on Monday woke up to a new government and a new prime minister after Naftali Bennett secured the backing of parliament and ousted longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

The two were slated to hold a handover meeting later in the day, but without the formal ceremony that traditionally accompanies a change in government.

TEHRAN, Jun 13 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran has begun importing electricity from its northern neighbour, Azerbaijan, to tackle its power shortage.

On Thursday, the electricity grid of Moghan, in the north-west of Iran, was synchronised with an electricity grid in Azerbaijan, to feed 73 megawatts of electricity to Iran’s power grid, Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, spokesman for Iran’s Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company, was quoted as saying.

Recently, increasing demand in the summer, among other factors, has caused discontinuities in power supply across Iran.

JERUSALEM, Jun 13 (NNN-WAFA) – A 28-year-old Palestinian woman was shot dead yesterday, by an Israeli security guard, at the Qalandiya checkpoint, in the West Bank, the Israeli police said.

The woman, a resident of the Palestinian refugee camp, Aqabat Jaber, near the city of Jericho, approached the cars, crossing at the checkpoint, manned by Israeli border police and civilian security guards, and ran towards them holding a knife in her hand, according to the police.

(Reuters) --- Turkey's military hit targets in the northern Syrian town of Tel Rifat in response to artillery attacks that killed 14 people and wounded several others in nearby Afrin, state-run Anadolu agency said on Sunday.

Ankara blamed Saturday's attacks, including on a hospital, on the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the U.S.-backed militia force spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG, has said it was not responsible.