Middle East & North Africa

SANAA, Jun 1 (NNN-SABA) – UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said, the blockade on Sanaa airport and Hodeidah seaport should be lifted.

“Obstacles should be lifted, to allow fuel and goods reaching the Yemenis,” Griffiths told reporters at Sanaa airport, after concluding a two-day visit to the Houthi rebel-held Yemeni capital.

“There is a need for a cease-fire, reopening roads for the movement of the Yemeni people and returning normal life to Yemen,” Griffiths said, adding that he will re-discuss this issue with the Yemeni government and Saudi officials.

CAIRO, Jun 1 (NNN-XINHUA) – Empty souvenir booths, dispirited tourist guides, idle camels, and only a handful of tourists.

It is hard to imagine this is what one of the world’s most famous tourist sights looks like.

The Great Pyramids of Giza, the iconic landmark of Egypt, have lost most of the visitors since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vendors complained that their business had plummeted and they are eager for an early end to the pandemic, so foreign tourists can return.

TEHRAN, Jun 1 (NNN-IRNA) – The spokesman of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that, the talks between Tehran and Riyadh, to settle issues, continue in a “constructive” climate.

Saeed Khatibzadeh refrained from commenting on the details of the talks, saying, “it is not common for the details of the negotiations to be reported in the media before an agreement is reached.”

However, “the talks are taking place in a constructive atmosphere, and we hope to reach a conclusion,” he said.

(Reuters) --- A last-gasp legal challenge by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to thwart a bid by a rival rightist to head a new government was rejected on Tuesday as his opponents raced to seal a pact that would unseat him.

Naftali Bennett, Netanyahu's former defence minister, announced on Sunday he would join a proposed alliance with centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid, serving as its premier first under a rotation deal. 

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s defense minister on Monday distanced himself from comments made by his military chief after Israel bombed a Gaza Strip high-rise housing an Associated Press office and other news outlets, saying the remarks were not meant to be taken literally.

In an article published on the website of Channel 12 news over the weekend, the military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, was quoted as saying that “the building was destroyed justly” and he did not have a “gram of regret.”

(Reuters) --- Egypt's intelligence chief met Hamas leaders in Gaza on Monday to try to bolster a ceasefire between the Palestinian militant group and Israel and to discuss reconstruction plans following the recent hostilities, Egyptian and Palestinian officials said.

The visit was the first by an Egyptian intelligence chief to the enclave since the early 2000s.

ADDIS ABABA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa reached 4,830,229 as of Monday noon, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.

The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union, said the death toll from the pandemic stands at 130,451 while 4,365,227 patients across the continent have recovered from the disease.

South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Egypt are the countries with the most cases in the continent, according to the Africa CDC.

JERUSALEM, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Israeli nationalist lawmaker Naftali Bennett announced on Sunday that he has accepted a coalition deal with centrist Yair Lapid to form "the government of change" to oust Benjamin Netanyahu, the country's longest-serving prime minister.

Bennett, leader of the small pro-settler Yamaina party, said in a statement that he and Lapid, leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party, will work to put together a coalition government following the March 23 elections.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish agents have captured a nephew of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen in an overseas operation and have brought him to Turkey where he faces prosecution, Turkey’s state-run news agency said Monday.

Selahaddin Gulen, who was wanted in Turkey on charges of membership in a terror organization, was seized in an operation by Turkey’s national spy agency MIT, the Anadolu Agency reported.

The report did not say where he was seized or when he was returned to Turkey. Gulen’s nephew however, was believed to be residing in Kenya.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — A senior Hamas official said Monday that Israel must halt its “aggression” in both Gaza and Jerusalem if it wants calm following an 11-day war earlier this month.

Khalil al-Haya spoke after meeting with Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, who visited Gaza after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a trip aimed at shoring up an informal cease-fire brokered by Cairo.