Middle East & North Africa

KUWAIT CITY, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait's new government took the constitutional oath on Tuesday before the National Assembly, or the parliament.

According to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and the ministers took the oath in line with Article 91 of the Constitution.

On March 2, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah issued a decree forming the new government under Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

29 Mar 2021; MEMO: Palestinians on Monday received 100,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine donated by China to help broaden an initial campaign to vaccinate medical staff, the elderly and the chronically ill, Reuters reported.

30 Mar 2021; MEMO: Lebanese President Michel Aoun has blamed Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri for the latter's failure to form a new government, Rai Al Youm online newspaper reported yesterday.

"[Hariri] was asleep and then woke up with new rules that ignore all previous rules we used to follow when we form governments," Aoun said in a press conference.

29 Mar 2021; MEMO: Lebanese group Hezbollah has provided military training to 220 pro-Assad regime Shabiha militants in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, according to local sources, Anadolu Agency reports.

A three-week training camp was organised by two Hezbollah commanders codenamed al-Hajj Mahdi and al-Hajj Salih, said the sources on the ground.

30 Mar 2021; MEMO: Hamas yesterday registered its electoral list for parliamentary election at the Central Elections Commission's office in Gaza.

Speaking to the media, the movement's spokesman Abdel-Latif Al-Qanou announced the list was named "Jerusalem is Our Goal".

30 Mar 2021; MEMO: Former Chief of Israeli Army's Military Intelligence, Amos Yadlin, yesterday voiced his concerns about possible intelligence sharing between China and Iran as a result of the latest strategic deal signed between the two countries, Israeli media reported.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey is reinstating weekend lockdowns in most of Turkey’s provinces and will also impose restrictions over the Muslim holy month of Ramadan following a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases.

30 Mar 2021; MEMO: Israel's National Security Council has warned its citizens that Iran may target them overseas and urged them to be more vigilant, citing threats by Iranian officials, the Times of Israel reported.

30 Mar 2021; MEMO: For the first time in history, Israel is faced with trying to bring together an extremist right-wing and anti-Arab party and an Islamic party to form a coalition government.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud won only 30 seats in the last election and he is able to form a 52-seat bloc in the Knesset against a 57-seat bloc led by the second largest party in the Knesset – Yesh Atid led by Yair Lapid.

30 Mar 2021; MEMO: The death toll from a collapsed building in Gesr Suez in Egypt has reached 25 amid ongoing rescue operations, with 75 injured.

A six-month-old baby was found alive amidst the rubble though the baby's mother, father, and sister were found dead whilst his elder brother was still missing.

The Cairo apartment building, made up of a basement, ground floor, and nine further floors, collapsed on Saturday morning around 3 am.