Middle East & North Africa

CAIRO, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Ten people were killed in a bus crash in southern Egypt on Wednesday, a spokesperson with the governor's office of Aswan Province told Xinhua.

Five Egyptians and five tourists, including four French and one Belgian, died after a tourist bus heading to Aswan Province was hit by a lorry, according to the spokesperson.

More than a dozen French and Belgian tourists had broken bones and bruises after the accident, and they were taken to a local hospital for treatment and are now in stable condition, the spokesperson said.

12 April 2022; MEMO: Annual Israeli arms sales increased to a new record in 2021, according to Defence Ministry data released today.

The Israeli ministry's International Defence Cooperation Directorate (SIBAT) observed a sharp increase in demand for Israeli-made weapons as defence exports rose from $8.3 billion in 2020 to $11.3 billion in 2021. Exports previously hit a record high of $9.2 billion in 2017.

12 April 2022; MEMO: The Indian film Beast, due to be released tomorrow, has been banned in Kuwait and Qatar after government disapproval of the film's reportedly stereotyped depiction of Muslims as terrorists and a few dialogues against Pakistan.

12 April 2022; MEMO: Iran's Supreme Leader said, on Tuesday, that his country's future should not be tied to the success or collapse of nuclear talks with world powers, Iranian state media reported, adding that the negotiations to revive a 2015 nuclear deal "are going well", Reuters reports.

13 April 2022; MEMO: Panic buying and selling of houses in Turkey's largest populated city, Istanbul, creates sharp increase in house prices in the second-hand market, Anadolu News Agency reports.

According to the report, Turkish Statistical Institute's report shows that the increase has been lingering at around 60 per cent.

13 April 2022; MEMO: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said that Israeli actions in Jerusalem, mainly at Al-Aqsa Mosque, will lead to "uncontrollable escalation," Wafa news agency has reported.

13 April 2022; MEMO: A court in Sudan yesterday postponed the trial of ousted President Omar Al-Bashir in a case connected to the 1989 military coup that brought him to power.

The trial has been postponed to 19 April.

In May 2019, the Sudanese prosecution opened an investigation into charges against Al-Bashir of undermining the country's constitutional order over the coup.

13 April 2022; MEMO: The killing of all American leaders would not be enough to avenge the US assassination of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' top commander Qassem Soleimani two years ago, a senior Iranian Guards commander said today, Reuters reported.

13 April 2022; MEMO: Israel's internal security agency, Shin Bet, raised suspicions on Tuesday that a gift from the Chinese Embassy to an Israeli minister was "bugged," local media have reported. According to Haaretz, the cup was sent to Israel's Science, Technology and Space Minister, Orit Farkash-Hacohen, and apparently set off an alarm during a routine security check.

A search was made of other government offices to see if similar cups had been sent to other officials. None were found.

13 April 2022; MEMO: The UN, African Union (AU) and Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) called on Tuesday for the Sudanese authorities to end the political crisis gripping the country, it has been reported.

According to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the three asked the Chairman of Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, to adopt measures which will create a suitable atmosphere for a serious dialogue to end the crisis.