Middle East & North Africa

16 May 2022; MEMO: Voter turnout in the Lebanese parliamentary elections held yesterday was as little as 25.26 per cent four hours before polling stations were due to close, Anadolu news agency reported, citing the Lebanese Ministry of Interior and Municipalities.

Interior Minister Bassam Al-Mawlawi said that the final count will be issued after the judges finish counting the ballot papers.

JERUSALEM (AP) — As Israel and the Palestinians wrangle over the investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, several independent groups have launched their own probes. One open-source research team said its initial findings lent support to Palestinian witnesses who said she was killed by Israeli fire.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A high-powered American delegation led by Vice President Kamala Harris flew to the United Arab Emirates on Monday to pay respects to the federation’s late ruler and meet with the newly ascended president.

The trip is the highest-level visit by Biden administration officials to oil-rich Abu Dhabi, intended to be a potent show of support as the U.S. administration tries to repair troubled relations with its partner.

ADEN, May 15 (NNN-YPA) – The internationally-recognised Yemeni government, yesterday accused the Houthi rebels of attacking the oil-rich province of Marib, despite a two-month cease-fire, brokered by the United Nations.

“The Houthis launched a sniper operation, killing one member of the armed forces and injuring another, on the north-western front of Marib Province,” said the Yemeni defence ministry.

The statement accused the Houthis of committing a series of breaches, of the UN-brokered truce in various areas of the war-ravaged country.

RAMALLAH, May 15 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestine yesterday warned of the consequences of allowing Israeli settlers to visit the compound of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in the old city of Jerusalem, during the “Second Jewish Passover” today.

“These plans are an Israeli persistence to perpetuate visiting the Al-Aqsa as something imposed by force, to consolidate its temporal division to divide it spatially,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that, the Israeli regime is responsible for the consequences should a conflict occur.

ADEN, Yemen, May 15 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of Yemeni armed forces on Sunday survived a car bombing attack in the country's southern port city of Aden, a security official told Xinhua.

"The convoy of General Ali Saleh Hassan, chief of the Joint Military Operations Authority, was struck by a car bomb while passing through the main road in Aden's district of Al-Mualla," the local official said on condition of anonymity.

Based on initial information, the attack occurred around noon when a parked booby-trapped car exploded and targeted Saleh's convoy, he said.

TEHRAN, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Iran's chief nuclear negotiator stressed on Sunday that although the Islamic republic is serious in the Vienna talks, it is determined not to trust "the enemy," according to Iran's Foreign Ministry.

Ali Bagheri Kani, who is also Iran's deputy foreign minister for political affairs, made the remarks on the sidelines of the 26th International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition, dubbed Iran Oil Show, in Tehran.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Oil giant Saudi Aramco said Sunday its profits soared more than 80% in the first three months of the year, as the state-backed company cashes in on the volatility in global energy markets and soaring oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The bumper first-quarter earnings by the firm formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. show a record net income of $39.5 billion, up from $21.7 billion during the same period last year.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese voted for a new parliament Sunday against the backdrop of an economic meltdown that is transforming the country and low expectations that the election would significantly alter the political landscape.

A new crop of candidates from the 2019 protest movement are running against the country’s entrenched ruling class that is blamed for the collapse, hoping to unseat them. But they are divided and lack the money, experience and other advantages held by traditional political rulers with a decades-long grip on power.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An array of presidents and prime ministers continued to descend on the United Arab Emirates Sunday from around the world to pay their respects to the federation’s late ruler. They also came to praise his successor, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan — a vivid sign of Abu Dhabi’s influence in Western and Arab capitals.