Middle East & North Africa

ANKARA (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Saturday, amid tensions between Kyiv and Moscow over a long-running conflict in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region.

Kyiv has raised the alarm over a buildup of Russian forces near the border between Ukraine and Russia, and over a rise in violence along the line of contact separating Ukrainian troops and Russia-backed separatists in Donbass.

(Reuters) - President Hassan Rouhani reiterated Iran’s commitment to nuclear non-proliferation on Saturday while overseeing the launch of advanced centrifuges at the underground Natanz nuclear plant to mark National Nuclear Technology Day.

Iran has breached many restrictions imposed by a 2015 deal on its atomic activities in response to former president Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the deal in 2018. The two nations have laid out tough stances at indirect talks in Vienna this week on how to bring both back into full compliance with the accord.

CAIRO, April 9 (NNN-TASS) — A city that has been lost in sands and was founded more than 3,400 years ago has been unearthed in Luxor, south Egypt, Zahi Hawass, head of the Egyptian archeological mission that is responsible for the discovery, said.

According to the famous Egyptologist who used to head the Ministry of Antiquities, the city was built approximately around the time of Amenhotep III of the Eighteenth Dynasty (around 1388-1351 B.C.) and was thriving for decades after until the reign of King Tutankhamun (around 1332-1323 B.C.).

BEIRUT, April 9 (NNN-Xinhua) — The Arab League (AL) Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki said that the AL will help with negotiations among Lebanese political parties to end the governmental deadlock, a statement by Lebanon’s Presidency reported.

“I have expressed the readiness of the Arab League to assist in negotiations among the main political parties to facilitate cabinet formation in Lebanon,” Zaki said following his meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun at Baabda Palace.

TEHRAN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian military commander said that Israel and the United States are suspected to be behind the recent attack on an Iranian ship in the Red Sea, Press TV reported on Friday.

Iran will "definitely" respond to the attack on the country's ship in the Red Sea, said Abolfazl Shekarchi, spokesman of the Iranian Armed Forces.

"We need to ascertain the source of the incident. If we uncover the source of the attack on the ship, we will definitely respond. We will never be silent," Shekarchi was quoted as saying.

ADEN, Yemen, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's government has announced reopening a main airport for domestic flights in the country's southeastern province of Hadramout after being suspended for nearly six years.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Yemen said in a brief press statement on Friday that it was pleased to fully resume air navigation at Al-Rayyan International Airport located in the country's oil-rich province of Hadramout.

08 Apr 2021; MEMO: Tunisia's Ministry of Religious Affairs announced on Thursday that citizens are allowed to perform prayers in mosques, including the Friday prayer, outside of curfew hours.

This came in a statement issued by the ministry one day after the authorities decided to tighten curfew measures in Tunisia due to a surge in coronavirus infection rates.

08 Apr 2021; MEMO: Assistant to the Secretary of Defence for Public Affairs John Kirby has announced that there are no agreements with Baghdad regarding a timetable for withdrawal of US combat forces from Iraq.

09 Apr 2021; MEMO: An Egyptian court yesterday sentenced Mahmoud Ezzat, the Muslim Brotherhood's acting general guide, to life in prison, local media reported.

State-owned Al-Ahram newspaper said the Second Terrorism Circuit court sentenced Ezzat to life in prison on charges of incitment to kill, possession of weapons and terrorising people.

09 Apr 2021; MEMO: The United Nations yesterday warned of the "imminent collapse of the health situation in Yemen," stressing that tut is "untolerable."

"20.1 million people in Yemen are in need of medical assistance," United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Twitter.

It added that 51 per cent of the country's health facilities were fully functioning, noting that "67 out of 333 districts do not have doctors."