Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, May 23 (Xinhua) -- At least nine people were injured in an explosion that took place in Iran's central Isfahan province on Sunday, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

The incident took place in Shahinshahr at Nargostar Sepahan Chemical Industries early morning on Sunday, Abbas Abedi, spokesman for the Isfahan Emergency Center, was quoted as saying.

Ambulances of the Red Crescent Society have been dispatched to the area, he said, adding that the injured have been sent to a nearby hospital.

JERUSALEM, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli Ministry of Health on Sunday issued a severe travel warning for Russia, Argentina, and Seychelles, citing a high level of coronavirus morbidity.

The ministry said in a statement that without a significant reversal of infection rate, these destinations will be categorized as hazardous, meaning that travel of Israeli citizens and permanent residents to them will be prohibited.

For the same reason, Israel has already banned travel to seven other countries, which are Ukraine, Ethiopia, Brazil, India, South Africa, Mexico, and Turkey.

SANAA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi rebels shot down a drone of the Saudi-led coalition forces near the border with Saudi Arabia on Sunday morning, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.

"A surface-to-air missile downed the drone over the area of al-Marazik in al-Jawf Province," the television said, citing a statement by Houthi military spokesman Yehya Sarea.

The Saudi-led coalition has made no comment yet.

TRIPOLI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah on Saturday met with his Tunisian counterpart, Hichem Mechichi, in Libya's capital Tripoli, where they signed an agreement on mutual trade and movement of travelers.

The agreement also includes technical cooperation on land, sea and air transportation, as well as activating the work of joint commissions on land and sea transportation, Dbeibah told a press conference following the meeting.

CAIRO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Bahraini counterpart Abdullatif Al Zayani discussed on Saturday the latest developments in Palestine.

During a phone conversation, the two ministers emphasized the importance of continuing coordination between the two countries regarding developments in the Palestinian territories, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

ADEN, Yemen, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Military confrontations between forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and Yemen's government became imminent amid rising tensions over the control of key areas, a military official told Xinhua on Saturday.

Tensions escalated in the wake of recent government's accusations to the STC on refusing to implement a Saudi-brokered deal signed between the two rivals in 2019.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police on Sunday escorted around 50 Jewish visitors to a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem where police actions in recent weeks had ignited protests and violence that triggered war in Gaza, according to the Islamic authority overseeing the site.

The Waqf said police cleared young Palestinians out of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and barred entry to Muslims under the age of 45. Muslims who entered were required to leave their IDs with police at the entrance. It said three Muslims were arrested, including a guard.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hundreds of masked Hamas fighters brandishing assault rifles paraded in Gaza City and the group’s top leader made his first public appearance on Saturday, in a defiant show of strength after the militants’ 11-day war with Israel.

Saturday marked the first full day of a cease-fire, and Egyptian mediators held talks to firm up the truce which ended the fourth Israel-Hamas war in just over a decade.

ADDIS ABABA, May 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Ethiopia for the first time accused troops from neighbouring Eritrea of killing 110 civilians in a massacre in the war-hit Tigray region.

The attorney general’s office sharply contradicted law enforcement officials who claimed earlier this month that the “great majority” of those killed in the city of Axum were fighters, not civilians.

The killings in Axum in late November represent one of the deadliest incidents of the six-month-old war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

21 May 2021; MEMO: Israel's artillery yesterday targeted, for the third time, Gaza Industrial City, with direct shells fired at six factories.

A statement issued by Gaza Industrial City, one of the PADICO investments, said that the Israeli artillery stationed near the Karni crossing fired several shells directly at the factories, which led to the destruction of six factories. This brings the number of destroyed factories in the industrial city during Israel's ten-day assault on Gaza to 15 factories.