Middle East & North Africa

DUBAI, July 25 (Reuters) - Iran will keep the U.N. nuclear watchdog's cameras turned off until a 2015 nuclear deal is restored, the head of the country's Atomic Energy Organization said on Monday, state media reported.

Nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami also said Iran would not agree to address alleged unexplained uranium traces as demanded by the IAEA, adding that the 2015 nuclear deal had cleared Iran of so-called PMD (possible military dimensions) allegations.

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisians are voting Monday for a controversial new constitution put forward by President Kais Saied that critics say will formalize his power grab and reverse hard-won democratic gains in the North African nation.

CAIRO (AP) — Temperatures in the Middle East have risen far faster than the world’s average in the past three decades. Precipitation has been decreasing, and experts predict droughts will come with greater frequency and severity.

The Middle East is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to the impact of climate change — and already the effects are being seen.

Baghdad, Jul 23 (AP-PTI) Iraq has filed a complaint to the UN Security Council, requesting an urgent session to discuss a deadly artillery attack this week that Baghdad blames on Turkey, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

Wednesday's attack on the district of Zakho in Iraq's northern, semi-autonomous Kurdish region killed nine Iraqi tourists, including a child, and wounded 20.

25 July 2022; MEMO: Israeli army killed two Palestinians in northern West Bank on Sunday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said, Anadolu reports.

In a statement, the humanitarian organization said "two Palestinians were killed by Israeli army's bullets during an operation at dawn on Sunday, in the old city of Nablus."

The two "martyrs" were identified as Aboud Sobh, 29, and Muhammad Al-Azizi, 22, it added.

24 July 2022; MEMO: Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra on Sunday arrived in the Syrian capital Damascus to meet top officials of the Syrian regime, Anadolu reports.

According to a statement by the Algerian Foreign Ministry, the visit is scheduled for two days as part of Algeria's preparations for the Arab League summit in November.

Early this month, Syrian regime's Foreign Minister Faysal Mikdad visited Algeria at an official invitation to participate in the 60th anniversary of Algeria's independence ceremonies.

24 July 2022; MEMO: Iran said on Saturday its security forces had arrested a network of agents working for Israel before they were able to carry out sabotage and "terrorist operations", state media reported, Reuters reports.

The announcement by Iran's Intelligence Ministry came amid heightening tensions with arch-enemy Israel over Tehran's nuclear programme.

24 July 2022; MEMO: Ukraine pressed ahead on Sunday with efforts to restart grain exports from its Black Sea ports under a deal aimed at easing global food shortages but warned deliveries would suffer if Russia's strike on Odesa was a sign of more to come, Reuters reports.

President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced Saturday's attack as "barbarism" that showed Moscow could not be trusted to implement a deal struck just one day earlier with Turkish and United Nations mediation.

25 July 2022; MEMO: A senior Bahraini official and member of the ruling Al-Khalifa family has been dismissed for refusing to shake hands with the Israeli ambassador to the country.

RAMALLAH, Jul 24 (NNN-WAFA) – A senior Palestinian official, yesterday announced that, the financial crisis of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), made the agency no longer able to meet the growing needs of the Palestinian refugees.

Ahmad Abu Holi, head of the Refugees’ Department in the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), said in a press statement that, UNRWA is suffering a financial deficit estimated at about 100 million U.S. dollars, in the budget of programmes related to health, education, and relief for Palestinian refugees.