Middle East & North Africa

13 Mar 2021; MEMO: Veysel Eroglu, special envoy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Iraq, has announced that his country is ready to lead mediation talks related to the Ethiopian Ennahda Dam, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.

In a TV interview, Eroglu told Al-Jazeera Mubasher that Turkey: "Is ready to mediate the issue of the Ennahda Dam on condition of no interference by the Western countries because this would lead to a state of no agreement."

13 Mar 2021; MEMO: Tunisia launched a vaccination campaign today against the coronavirus pandemic, days after receiving the first batch of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, Anadolu Agency reports.

Tunisia received 30,000 doses of the Russian vaccine on Wednesday. The batch was part of a shipment of 500,000 doses the North African country is scheduled to get from Sputnik V.

Nurse Mehreziya al-Humami, 54, at El-Menzeh Hospital in the capital Tunis took the first shot.

14 Mar 2021; MEMO: Israel is highly likely to have been behind an attack in the Mediterranean this week that damaged an Iranian container ship, an Iranian investigator was quoted as saying on Saturday by Iran's media, reports Reuters.

Israeli officials did not comment on Friday when asked if Israel was involved in the incident on Wednesday.

13 Mar 2021; MEMO: A Jordanian newspaper confirmed on Thursday that the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) has dropped the arrest warrant against the freed Palestinian prisoner Ahlam Al-Tamimi.

13 Mar 2021; MEMO: Popular protests have renewed in several Lebanese cities complaining of the aggravated economic crisis amid the worst wave of price hikes to have ever hit the country, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.

TEHRAN, March 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — An Iranian container ship was damaged in an attack in the Mediterranean, the state-run shipping company said, adding it would take legal action to identify the perpetrators of what it called terrorism and naval piracy.

The ship, Shahr e Kord, was slightly damaged in Wednesday’s incident by an explosive object which caused a small fire, but no one on board was hurt, the spokesman, Ali Ghiasian, said, according to state media.

12 Mar 2021; MEMO: Qatar, Turkey and Russia yesterday agreed to coordinate the delivery of aid to the Syrian people.

13 Mar 2021; MEMO: Senior Fatah leader Nasser Al-Qudwa has called on Friday for Fatah leaders to stand against Mahmoud Abbas, who he described as "the main reason for Fatah's weakness", Arabi21.com reported.

Al-Qudwa's remarks came in response to Fatah's decision to dismiss him over his attempt to run for the parliamentary elections on a separate list to Fatah.

12 Mar 2021; MEMO: A high-ranking Saudi official has denied that Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was scheduled to meet Benjamin Netanyahu in the UAE yesterday. The denial followed a report by the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (Makan) on Wednesday about Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit to the UAE on Thursday.

12 Mar 2021; MEMO: The Egyptian government gazette published a decision by Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfiq on the visa fee for citizens of Arab countries visiting Egypt.

The decision excused nations that had previously signed exemption agreements with Egypt, but did not specify these countries.