Middle East & North Africa

05 Nov 2021; MEMO: Sudan army chief, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, has approved the nominations of the new Sudanese Sovereignty Council, a military source said yesterday.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the media that the council would be made up of "five military officials and eight representatives of the Sudan regions, as well as a female figure."

He added the news was expected to be announced "within the coming hours."

05 Nov 2021; MEMO: Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, yesterday warned of the expansion of Israel's settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and the absence of a clear path to end the conflict.

This came during a meeting with the United Nations envoy to the peace process, Tor Wennesland, in Cairo.

ISTANBUL, Nov 4 (APP): Pakistan on Thursday called for strengthening multilateralism that promotes collective security, and indiscriminate accountability of those violating the UN Security Council’s resolutions and international laws.

“We need to strengthen multilateralism that promotes collective security of everyone rather than pushing a zero-sum approach,” Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said in her address at 7th Istanbul Security Summit here, Turkish Anadolu Agency reported.

GAZA, Nov 4 (NNN-WAFA) – More than half of the children in the Gaza Strip need psychological support, said the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Thomas White, director of UNRWA operations in Gaza, made the remarks, during a meeting with local journalists at his office in Gaza, noting that, “this was due to the repercussions of the last round of tension in the enclave in May.”

DUBAI, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Iran will not back down "in any way" in defending its interests, President Ebrahim Raisi said on Thursday, a day after all sides announced the resumption of nuclear talks between Tehran and major powers on Nov 29.

Washington said it hoped the talks would see Iran willing to negotiate in good faith on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal, while Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani said the talks would cover the removal of "unlawful and inhumane sanctions".

TRIPOLI, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- A group of 91 illegal immigrants, mostly children, on Wednesday were voluntarily repatriated from Libya to their home country Niger.

"Based on instructions from the Interior Minister regarding resumption of voluntary repatriation flights for illegal immigrants, a flight deported from Misurata International Airport to Niger's Niamey airport through the International Organization for Migration (IOM)," Hussain Attorki, head of migrants deportation department in Misurata International Airport, told Xinhua.

ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian House of People's Representatives (HoPR) on Thursday ratified a six-month sate of emergency rule amid expanding conflict in the northern part of the country.

On Tuesday, the Ethiopian Council of Ministers had announced the state of emergency rule pending endorsement by the HoPR, the lower house of the Ethiopian parliament.

The move came as the conflict that erupted a year ago in the Tigray region between the Ethiopian federal government and forces loyal to the rebel group expanded to neighboring Amhara and Afar regions.

04 Nov 2021; MEMO: Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary-General Ali Shamkhani said yesterday that negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers will fail unless US President Joe Biden provides guarantees that Washington will not withdraw from the deal "again".

"The US President, lacking authority, is not ready to give guarantees. If the current status quo continues, the result of negotiations is clear," Shamkhani said on Twitter.

04 Nov 2021; MEMO: Turkey has signed two separate deals with the UAE and Pakistan that have reactivated the International Road Transport (TIR) system that allows goods to cross international borders tax-free en route to their final destination in another country, Al-Khaleej Online reported on Wednesday.

04 Nov 2021; MEMO: The Russian Foreign Ministry said yesterday that Moscow does not intend to disclose the details of its military cooperation with Sudan, including the construction of a Russian naval military base on the country's Red Sea coast, "due to the sensitivity of the issue".

The remarks were made by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, in response to a question about the future of the agreement with Khartoum.