Middle East & North Africa

14 Oct 2021; MEMO: Palestinian director, Ameen Nayfeh, says he felt proud after bringing to life through film his personal struggle in crossing an Israeli military checkpoint to visit his dying grandfather. But he did not expect his short film to have a wide audience, Reuter's reports.

That all changed for Nayfeh on Thursday, when Netflix launched a new Palestinian film collection, the first of its kind by a major streaming service, that includes his award-winning short "The Crossing".

14 Oct 2021; MEMO: Kuwait urged its citizens to leave Lebanon and postpone plans to travel to the country after deadly shootings erupted in the capital Beirut on Thursday, according to local media.

14 Oct 2021; MEMO: The assistant for operations affairs in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Abbas Neil Foroshan, said that the Saudis have no choice but to negotiate an end to the Yemeni war, noting that "the wisest way is to reach a peaceful agreement."

In an interview with the Iranian Tasnim Agency published on Tuesday, Foroshan said that the "Yemeni resistance" has developed militarily enough, with reference to the Houthis that Tehran supports in Yemen.

"The enemy cannot defeat the Yemeni resistance front," he added.

14 Oct 2021; MEMO: Lebanese President, Michel Aoun, vowed that those who were responsible for the violence that erupted on Thursday in Beirut will be held accountable, as reported by Reuter's.

In a televised speech after shootings that killed six people, Aoun said it was "unacceptable that weapons are, once more, the means of communication among Lebanese rivals".

"I have made contact with the relevant parties today to address what happened and, most importantly, to make sure that it never happens again."

14 Oct 2021; MEMO: A senior EU official met with Iran's newly appointed deputy foreign minister in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Thursday to chart a course for returning to the stalled nuclear deal talks, Anadolu Agency reports.

Enrique Mora, the EU's deputy foreign policy chief, held wide-ranging negotiations with Ali Bagheri Kani, who is tipped to be the new nuclear negotiator, replacing Abbas Aragchi, with the Vienna talks at the top of the agenda.

14 Oct 2021; MEMO: A candidate in the Iraqi parliamentary elections has won a seat in Baghdad's parliament, despite having passed away in August.

The independent candidate, Ansam Manuel Iskandar, was amongst the list of winners in the elections this week, obtaining 2,397 votes and winning one of the five seats allocated for the country's Christian community under the quota system.

8 Oct 2021; MEMO: Turkey has made a request to its NATO ally, the United States, to buy 40 Lockheed Martin-made F-16 fighter jets, reports Reuters.

According to the report, Turkey is looking to modernise its air force after the purchase of F-35 jets fell through.

The order needs to be approved by the US State Department as well as the US Congress which can block deals.

TEHRAN, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov emphasized the need to resolve differences through dialogue in a telephone conversation on Tuesday.

The ministers discussed the latest developments in the Iranian-Azerbaijani relationship, and stressed the need for mutual respect regarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries, according to a report on the Iranian Foreign Ministry's official website.

ONBOARD THE GEO BARENTS OFF LIBYA (AP) — Osman Touré was crying from the pain of repeated beatings and torture as he dialed his brother’s cellphone number.

“I’m in prison in Libya,” Touré said in that August 2017 call. “They will kill me if you don’t pay 2,500 dinars in 24 hours.”

Within days, Touré’s family transferred the roughly $550 demanded to secure his freedom from a government detention center in Libya. But Touré was not let go — instead, he was sold to a trafficker and kept enslaved for four more years.

13 Oct 2021; MEMO: Kuwait has decided to allow women to sign up for military service, joining other Gulf Arab states which have enabled female citizens to be part of their armed forces in recent years.

The decision was announced today by Kuwaiti Defence Minister, Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah, on the sidelines of the 'Be among them' campaign, which aims to attract Kuwaitis to volunteer for military service.