Middle East & North Africa

DUBAI (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways said on Saturday it would extend its suspension of scheduled passenger flights until at least May 16 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The airline, which had aimed to partially resume passenger flights from May 1, said in a statement all scheduled services would remain grounded until May 16 at the earliest. Earlier in the day, it had said the suspension would last until May 15.

TRIPOLI, Apr 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Spokesman of the UN-backed Libyan government’s forces, said that, its fighter jets launched four airstrikes on a military base of the rival eastern-based army, which media said, resulted in five deaths and 10 injuries.

“The air force earlier launched four airstrikes around Watya airbase, targeting military vehicles of the militias” of the eastern-based army, Mohamed Gonono, said in a statement, without revealing casualties.

CAIRO, Apr 25 (NNN-MENA) – The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Turkey increased to 104,912, while Iran’s cases reached 88,194 amid a continued slowdown.

Turkey, the new epicentre of the outbreak in the Middle East, on Friday confirmed 3,122 new COVID-19 cases. The death toll in the country surged to 2,600 after 109 more deaths were reported.

In addition, 21,737 patients have recovered so far, while 1,790 are being treated at intensive care units and 929 intubated.

BEIRUT, Apr 25 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanese Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, accused the central bank’s governor of adopting a “mysterious” approach in dealing with the U.S. dollar crisis in the country.

“The behaviour of the central bank’s governor is very mysterious and it is causing further deterioration in the country, by exacerbating the social disaster,” Diab said, in a televised speech, following a cabinet meeting.

TEHRAN, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Friday hailed the recent launch of a military satellite by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) into orbit.

"It was a right move in the right direction," Rouhani was quoted as saying by Press TV.

"The successful launch of the home-made Noor 1 (Light 1) satellite was a proof that Iran has pursued a sound policy to develop its space sector," Rouhani said in a telephone call with Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami.

ANKARA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca on Friday confirmed 3,122 new COVID-19 cases and 109 more deaths in Turkey.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Turkey increased to 104,912 while the death toll surged to 2,600, Koca tweeted.

Turkey conducted 38,351 tests for the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of tests carried out to 830,252, he added.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Prominent Saudi Arabian rights activist Abdullah al-Hamid, imprisoned since 2013, died on Thursday, activists and a source close to him told Reuters.

Hamid, 69, died in the King Saud Medical City in Riyadh, having suffered a stroke on Apr. 9 in prison, London-based Saudi rights group ALQST told Reuters. The news was also confirmed by a close friend of Hamid’s who asked to remain anonymous owing to the sensitivity of the matter.

24 April 2020; MEMO: Saudi Arabia is now a member of two key UN bodies following electronic elections held yesterday, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) has reported.

With the backing of UN member states, the Gulf Kingdom has acquired a seat on the Science and Technology Development Committee from next year until 2024, and another on the Commission for Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice between 2021 and 2023.

24 April 2020; MEMO: Turkey has condemned Israel’s plan to annex the occupied West Bank, calling it “an extremely dangerous mindset aimed at extorting occupied Palestinian lands.” The spokesman of the Foreign Ministry in Ankara, Hami Aksoy, made his comment in a written statement issued today.

24 April 2020; MEMO: Following the successful launch of Iran’s first military satellite on Wednesday, commander of the space unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Ali Jaafar Abadi said yesterday that the “Noor 2” satellite is ready and that the next step is to send it into orbit, with plans to launch larger satellites in the future, reported