Middle East & North Africa

JERUSALEM, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday that the five-hour meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Sochi was "very good and in-depth."

Speaking at his weekly cabinet meeting, Bennett said "the relations between Israel and Russia are very good, but it can be better. The potential for economic, scientific, cultural and technological cooperation is endless given the fact that there are approximately one million Russian-speakers in Israel."

TEHRAN, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday that the attempt of some regional states to normalize relations with Israel is "a great sin and mistake," according to the official news agency IRNA.

The governments, which recently established diplomatic relations with Israel, "must turn away from this anti-Islamic movement and make up for their great mistakes," said Khamenei.

He urged for the unity among Muslim states to "restore Palestinians' rights" in the face of Israeli occupation of their lands.

JERUSALEM, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli study has found that increased consumption of ultra-processed foods raises the chance of developing hypertension, or high blood pressure, the University of Haifa (UH) in northern Israel said on Sunday.

The study also found that ultra-processed foods increase the risk of excess lipids in the blood (hyperlipidemia), the UH noted.

Furthermore, these foods also raise the risk of inflammation among people suffering from fatty liver disease, especially among smokers, it added.

TRIPOLI, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Interior Ministry of Libya on Saturday held the first forum on securing the elections slated for December.

Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah said at the forum that the gathering of the security departments was "an important step towards uniting the state's institutions."

Interior Minister Khaled Mazen said that the forum aimed to integrate efforts and security plans for the elections, adding that all the needs of the security departments would be provided.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Pakistan won the toss and chose to field against archrival India in its opening Super 12 match on Sunday at the T20 World Cup.

India has so far won all five of its previous T20 World Cup matches against Pakistan.

Both teams went with three fast bowlers and two spinners with India leaving out Rahul Chahar and Ravichandran Ashwin.

Pakistan left out young batter Haider Ali and preferred the experience of Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez in the middle order.

23 Oct 2021; MEMO: Algeria has rejected attending roundtable talks on Western Sahara, considering the roundtable format "deeply unbalanced and counterproductive", Algeria's Western Sahara Envoy Amar Belani expressed on Friday.

23 Oct 2021; MEMO: A Moroccan party has harshly criticised the normalisation of ties between Morocco and Israel, stressing that this will never bring stability or economic benefits, Arabi21.com reported on Friday.

"The normalisation of ties is a crime and betrayal of the Palestinian cause and the defenceless occupied people, many of them were killed or forced out of their homes, or had their homes and holy sites destroyed," Spokesperson for the Justice and Charity party Fathallah Arsalan asserted.

23 Oct 2021; MEMO: The United Nations (UN) Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen announced on Friday that the sixth round of meetings of the Syrian Constitutional Committee in Geneva ended "without making any progress."

23 Oct 2021; MEMO: During the meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on Friday, the latter agreed to let Israel continue its strikes in Syria, Israeli media reported.

Housing Minister Ze'ev Elkin confirmed that the two officials agreed to continue implementing the deconfliction mechanism that works to prevent Israeli and Russian forces from clashing in Syria.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that he had ordered 10 foreign ambassadors who called for the release of a jailed philanthropist to be declared persona non grata.

The envoys, including the U.S., French and German representatives in Ankara, issued a statement earlier this week calling for a resolution to the case of Osman Kavala, a businessman and philanthropist held in prison since 2017 despite not having been convicted of a crime.