Middle East & North Africa

JERUSALEM, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday that the country's goal is to vaccinate 50 percent of children aged 5-11 by the end of December.

The remark was made in a meeting between Bennett and general managers of the country's four health maintenance organizations, a spokesperson for Bennett said in a statement.

The managers informed Bennett of the preparation for vaccination rollout for the children.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel is set to sign a declaration of intent with neighboring Jordan on building a major solar power plant in the kingdom that will be used to generate electricity for Israel, as well as power a desalination plant there to send water onto Jordan, an Israeli official said Sunday.

JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian assailant killed one Israeli and injured four others before being fatally shot by Israeli police near the entrance to a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site Sunday, police said.

Police said the attack took place near an entrance to a contested flashpoint shrine known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. Violence surrounding the site, which is considered holy by both faiths, has triggered previous rounds of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians, most recently in May.

CAIRO (AP) — Sudan’s deposed prime minister signed a deal with the military on Sunday that will see him reinstated, almost a month after a military coup put him under house arrest. According to the deal, the military will also release government officials and politicians arrested since the Oct. 25 coup.

The country’s top general, Abdel Fattah Burhan, said in televised statements that Abdalla Hamdok will lead an independent technocratic Cabinet until elections can be held. It remains unclear how much power the government would hold. It would still remain under military oversight.

21 Nov 2021; MEMO: Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok will be restored to his office on Sunday weeks after he was ousted by the military, two sources from the dissolved government told Anadolu Agency.

The sources who asked for anonymity as they are not authorized to talk to the media confirmed that the deal was brokered by Sudanese mediation team including politicians, academics, clerics, and other figures.

21 Nov 2021; MEMO: A cyber attack against Iranian private airline Mahan Air has been foiled, Iranian state media reported on Sunday, adding that the airliner's flight schedule was not affected by the attack, Reuters reported.

The carrier, blacklisted by Washington in 2011 over support it provided to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said in a statement that it had faced similar attacks in the past, adding that its "internal system" had been targeted.

20 Nov 2021; MEMO: Leader of the Sadrist movement Muqtada Al-Sadr decided on Friday to dissolve his Promised Day Brigade in a "goodwill" gesture to dissolve the armed factions in Iraq.

Al-Sadr announced in a statement: "As a goodwill gesture, I announce the dissolution of the Promised Day Brigade and the closure of its headquarters."

21 Nov 2021; MEMO: Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement said on Saturday it had fired 14 drones at several Saudi Arabian cities, including at Saudi Aramco facilities in Jeddah, Reuters reported.

The Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis in Yemen had on Friday said it destroyed three drones launched towards southern Saudi Arabia and a fourth over Yemen. It said the group "failed to launch two ballistic missiles" and they fell inside Yemen.

TRIPOLI, Nov 20 (NNN-XINHUA) — A total of 302 illegal migrants have been rescued at sea and returned to Libya, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said.

  The UN agency tweeted, “302 persons were intercepted/rescued at sea last night (Thursday) in three operations and were disembarked in Tripoli and in Zawiya.”

  Among them were 50 women and 22 children, it said, adding the UNHCR and the International Red Cross have provided medical aid and relief items to all survivors.

Cairo, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The Saudi-led coalition has attached 13 targets during a military operation against the Houthis in Yemen, Saudi state news agency (SPA) quoted the coalition as saying on Saturday.

The operation hit weapons depots, air defence systems and drones' communication systems in Sanaa, Saada, and Marib provinces, the coalition said.