Middle East & North Africa

BAGHDAD, Apr 15 (NNN-NINA) – An army officer and a soldier were killed, and 10 others wounded yesterday, during operations against the Daesh militants, in the northern Iraqi provinces of Kirkuk and Salahudin, a police source said.

In Kirkuk, a roadside bomb detonated near an army patrol, in the rugged area of Wadi al-Shay, some 250 km north of the capital Baghdad, killing an officer and injuring three soldiers, said Col. Mohammed al-Bazi, from the Salahudin provincial police.

RAMALLAH, Apr 15 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, yesterday, called on the international community to provide protection to the Palestinian people, amid a significant Israeli escalation of tension in the West Bank.

It was reported that, Abbas made the remarks during his meeting with Sven Koopmans, European Union’s special representative for the Middle East peace process.

According to the report, Abbas reviewed Isreal’s continuous attacks against the Palestinians, referring to the ongoing escalation of tension as “unbearable.”

United Nations, Apr 15 (AP) The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations accused Russia on Thursday of making the precarious food situation in Yemen and elsewhere even worse by invading Ukraine, calling it just another grim example of the ripple effect Russia's unprovoked, unjust, unconscionable war is having on the world's most vulnerable.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinians clashed with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on Friday as thousands gathered for prayers during the holy month of Ramadan. Medics said more than 150 Palestinians were wounded in the most serious violence at the site in nearly a year.

The holy site, which is sacred to Jews and Muslims, has often been the epicenter of Israeli-Palestinian unrest, and tensions were already heightened amid a recent wave of violence. Clashes at the site last year helped spark an 11-day war with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

15 April 2022; MEMO: More than 150 Palestinians were injured at dawn on Friday as the Israeli police stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that 152 Palestinians were injured during clashes with the Israeli police in the courtyards of the mosque.

The Palestinians were injured by rubber bullets, tear gas, and beaten by the Israeli police which also fired a barrage of stun grenades.

15 April 2022; MEMO: Syrian state media said late Thursday that Israeli warplanes carried out air strikes targeting the capital Damascus, Anadolu Agency reports.

Israeli air elements carried out the attack from the direction of the Golan Heights, the official Syrian news agency SANA reported.

The attack targeted some locations in the western Damascus countryside, it noted.

SANA added that Syria's air defense systems intercepted and downed some of the missiles and only material losses were suffered.

15 April 2022; MEMO: The US denied Iranian claims that a deal has been reached to unfreeze $7 billion in the Islamic Republic's overseas funds, Anadolu Agency reports.

An Iranian media report said the deal was part of an agreement to secure the release of Iranian-Americans detained in Iran.

15 April 2022; MEMO: Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday warned against heading for early elections, citing turbulent security situation and political instability, Anadolu Agency reports.

"As a nation, we are dealing with challenges that are not simple," Herzog told the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation in an interview. "We have to think carefully before jumping again into another instability in form of early elections, because we will pay the price for that."

14 April 2022; MEMO: Christians alongside Muslim Palestinians will die in defence of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and will never hand over its keys to the Israeli occupation, head of the World Popular Organisation for Jerusalem Justice and Peace, Father Manuel Musallam, said yesterday.

14 April 2022; MEMO: Turkish economic researchers may face up to three years in prison if they publish unofficial data on indicators without first seeking approval from the country's statistics agency, Bloomberg reports.

According to the report, the Turkish government had planned to submit the proposed legislation to parliament this week but has held off while officials do further work on it, two party officials said on condition of anonymity.