Middle East & North Africa

08 Mar 2021; MEMO: Israel has almost emerged from its COVID-19 closures, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on the campaign trail, said on Sunday as restaurants reopened under an exit plan fuelled by fast-paced vaccinations, reported Reuters.

But health officials cautioned that rising contagions could trigger another lockdown – a possible dampener on Netanyahu's hope of parlaying his pandemic policies to victory in a March 23 ballot.

08 Mar 2021; MEMO: Jordan's King Abdullah II yesterday approved a new cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh.

Anadolu Agency reported that that reshuffle was carried out by a royal decree, adding it had included "10 ministries".

According to the decree, Al-Khasawneh fired seven ministers and appointed five others.

08 Mar 2021; MEMO: Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami yesterday warned that Tehran would raze Haifa and Tel Aviv to the ground if Israel committed any aggression against the Islamic Republic.

SANAA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi-led coalition on Sunday launched a series of airstrikes on Houthi-controlled military sites in Yemen's capital Sanaa, local residents said.

The strikes hit the 1st Division Camp, Maintenance Camp and the 4th Brigade in downtown Sanaa, as well as the Attan site in the southern part of the capital.

The airstrikes come as the Iran-backed Houthi rebels intensified cross-border drone and missile attacks on Saudi cities.

RIYADH, Mar 7 (NNN-SPA) – Authorities in Saudi Arabia have shut down 10 mosques in five regions, after 10 cases of Covid-19 were confirmed among worshippers.

Such cases have led to 218 mosques being temporarily closed in the past 26 days, according to Arab News. Of these, 196 have reopened after precautionary measures were completed.

The Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawah and Guidance, said, three of the mosques were in Riyadh; two each in Qassim, the Northern Borders and Eastern Province; and one in the southern Dhahran governorate in Asir.

TEHRAN, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 is needed to maintain and revive the 2015 international nuclear agreement, the official news agency IRNA reported.

"Iran is committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and is the only party that has paid a price for it, but this situation can not continue in this way," Rouhani said during a meeting in the capital Tehran with visiting Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney.

RIYADH, March 7 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi-led coalition involved in a war in Yemen announced on Sunday it had intercepted ten bomb-laden drones in less than five hours, Al Arabiya news channel reported.

Five Houthi drones heading towards Saudi Arabia were intercepted after five others had been downed early on Sunday morning, the report said.

The Houthi militia's attacks targeted civilians and civilian sites in the kingdom, the coalition's spokesperson Colonel Turki al-Maliki said on Sunday.

ADDIS ABABA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia on Sunday received its first 2.2 million COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX, crucial in the east African country's fight to stop the spread of the pandemic.

The 2.2 million COVID-19 vaccines were received at a ceremony attended by senior Ethiopian government officials as well as representatives of foreign diplomatic missions and United Nations missions based in Ethiopia.

06 Mar 2021; MEMO: The United Nations (UN) confirmed on Friday that it has not yet received any evidence from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government that Sheikha Latifa is alive.

06 Mar 2021; MEMO: The population of Emirati citizens in Dubai is only 8 per cent of the total population, recent data issued by the Dubai Statistic Centre showed.

According to the data, the Emirati population was 271,50 by the end of 2020, compared with 263,450 in 2019.

There was an increase of 7,600 citizens with a growth rate of about 2.88 per cent.