Middle East & North Africa

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Russia’s foreign minister said Tuesday that Moscow is ready to help ease rising tensions over Turkey’s search for energy reserves in the eastern Mediterranean and rejected any actions that could lead to further escalation.

Sergey Lavrov said Moscow is ready to step in and help start talks if asked by all the countries involved in the tense standoff.

“Russia considers as unacceptable any steps that could further escalate tensions,” Lavrov said after talks with Cypriot counterpart Nicos Christodoulides.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Dr. Ahmed el-Rabii spent years treating Palestinians wounded by Israeli fire during wars and clashes in the Gaza Strip. Now that the coronavirus has reached the blockaded territory, the 37-year-old physician finds himself in the unfamiliar role of patient.

El-Rabii is the first Gaza doctor diagnosed with COVID-19 and is among dozens of health-care workers infected during the local outbreak, which was detected late last month. The spread among front-line workers has further strained an already overburdened health-care system.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Saudi court issued final verdicts on Monday in the case of slain Washington Post columnist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi after his son, who still resides in the kingdom, announced pardons that spared five of the convicted individuals from execution.

SANAA, Sept 7 (NNN-SABA) – Yemen’s Houthi militia said, they launched an attack on a Saudi border airport, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported Sunday.

The attack on Abha International Airport came, in response to “the Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes on Yemen,” the television said, citing a statement by the Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Sarea.

The Houthi television did not provide details on the weaponry used in the alleged attack, but in their previous attacks, ballistic missiles and bomb-laden drones were used.

07 Sep 2020; MEMO: Four boats filled with migrants from Lebanon and Syria have reached Cyprus within the past few days, adding to the refugee crisis in the eastern Mediterranean, the Cyprus Mail reported on Sunday. At least 123 migrants were on board the boats, said Cypriot police; half were allowed to disembark.

07 Sep 2020; MEMO: Morocco is reportedly hosting delegations representing the Libyan political rivals to discuss the country’s political deadlock and prepare for potential meetings in Geneva, Arabi21 reported yesterday.

Quoting an AFP report, Arabi21 said diplomatic sources revealed that a consultation meeting between representatives of the internationally-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) and the parliament in Tobruk met yesterday.

07 Sep 2020; MEMO: Iran announced that it had stopped a large number of cyber-attacks targeting its nuclear facilities, spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI), Behrouz Kamalvandi, announced yesterday.

In a press release reported by news agencies, Kamalvandi said that the explosion which hit Natanz nuclear facility a few months ago was a result of a terrorist attack.

07 Sep 2020; MEMO: A psychiatrist has died in Egypt’s Scorpion Prison after repeated requests for urgent medical care were ignored.

Amr Ali Abu Khalil had a heart attack and repeatedly called on authorities to allow medicine in or that he be admitted to the prison hospital for treatment.

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al Assad said on Monday he was keen to expand economic and business deals with Moscow, his closest ally, to help Syria weather crippling economic sanctions.

Assad, who gave the comments during a meeting in Damascus with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said he wanted to see Russian investments in key areas of the economy that had been agreed in the past succeed.

07 Sep 2020; MEMO: Iran now produces between 250 and 300 kilogrammes of enriched uranium per month; the same amount produced before the 2015 nuclear deal, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) said.

Behrouz Kamalvandi said in an interview with Iran’s ISNA news agency that despite the political pressures and American sanctions, Tehran has no restrictions on the production of nuclear materials, research and development, and construction of nuclear power plants to generate electricity,