Middle East & North Africa

PORT SUDAN, May 8 (NNN-SUNA) – Representatives of the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have been in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah, for talks since Saturday, as fighting continues in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

“We welcome the presence of representatives of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF in the city of Jeddah, to engage in dialogue that we hope, will lead to the end of the conflict and the return of security and stability to the Republic of Sudan,” Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, said, on Twitter.

RAMALLAH, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Israeli authorities demolished a Palestinian school in the city of Bethlehem of the occupied West Bank on Sunday, sparking condemnation and outrage from Palestinians and the international community.

The Jib Al-Deeb School, which had been rebuilt by Palestinians in 2017 after its previous demolition by Israeli authorities six years ago, was torn down by the Israeli forces, accompanied by military vehicles, claiming that the school was constructed without proper permits.

ISTANBUL (AP) — More than a dozen people have been detained over violence against an opposition election rally in Turkey’s eastern city of Erzurum over the weekend, the country’s justice minister said Monday. Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP, was speaking atop a campaign bus Sunday afternoon when a large group of roughly 200 protesters began throwing rocks.

New Delhi, May 8 (PTI) Concerned over the loss of lives and properties, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre and the Manipur government to take necessary steps for raising security and relief and rehabilitation efforts for those hit by ethnic violence in the north-eastern state, after taking note of submissions that no untoward incidents have been reported there in the last two days.

08 May 2023; AA: Türkiye's Istanbul Airport has been ranked the busiest in Europe with an average of 1,446 daily flights, the European Air Navigation Safety Organization (EUROCONTROL) said in its latest Air Traffic Operations Report covering the April 26-May 2 period.

It was followed by Amsterdam with 1,314 daily flights, London Heathrow with 1,272 flights, Paris-Charles de Gaulle with 1,245 flights and Frankfurt with 1,194 flights.

Tehran, IRNA – President Ebrahim Raisi says that Iran has exported over $50 billion worth of goods in the Iranian calendar year 1401 (March 20, 2022, to March 20, 2023), which was a record in the past four decades.

President Raisi made the remarks at the opening ceremony of IRAN EXPO 2023 in Tehran on Sunday.

In his remarks, the president mentioned the activation of Iranian trade offices in other countries to introduce the Islamic Republic's economic and scientific potentials.

Tehran, IRNA – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has blasted interventionist stances adopted by European countries following Iran’s execution of a terrorist ringleader.

Kanaani noted that Europe’s “supportive measures” for terrorists are not only aimed at preventing the execution of justice, but it will actually encourage and promote the “sinister phenomenon of terrorism” all over the world.

Habib Farajollah Chaab, who was responsible for a 2018 bloody attack in Ahvaz, southwestern Iran, was executed in Tehran early on Saturday.

Tehran, IRNA- Iran expects trade deals and business contracts worth up to $2 billion will be inked during IRAN EXPO 2023, a major international trade event being held in Tehran, an Iranian official says.

Alireza Peyman Pak, deputy minister of Industry, Mine and Trade, said on Sunday that an estimated 1,250 businessmen and trade officials from more than 65 countries in Europe, Latin America, Eurasia, Southeast Asia, and Africa, as well as Iran’s neighbors, are currently in Tehran to attend the event.

07 May 2023; MEMO: Tens of thousands of Israelis joined protests across the country on Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bitterly disputed plans to tighten controls on the Supreme Court, reports Reuters.

The planned overhaul, which would give the government control over naming judges to the Supreme Court and let parliament override many rulings, was paused after opponents organised some of the biggest street protests ever seen in Israel, now in their 18th consecutive week.

07 May 2023; MEMO: Arab League foreign ministers adopted a decision to readmit Syria after more than a decade of suspension on Sunday, a spokesperson for the League said, consolidating a regional push to normalise ties with President Bashar al-Assad, reports Reuters.

The decision was taken at a closed meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo, said Gamal Roshdy, spokesman for the Arab League's secretary general.