Middle East & North Africa

BENGHAZI, Libya, April 9 (Reuters) - Military commanders in eastern Libya said on Saturday they had suspended participation in a U.N.-backed joint military council, accusing the Tripoli-based government of failing to hand power to a new cabinet and calling for the road west to be closed.

Libya has had rival governments since last month when the eastern-based parliament appointed Fathi Bashagha to replace the Tripoli-based prime minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, creating a new standoff between administrations in the east and west.

09 April 2022; MEMO: The United Nations (UN) has called on the international community to act urgently and take tangible measures to promote human rights, human dignity and justice in Syria and resolve the missing persons file.

This came in a session held by the UN General Assembly on Friday to hear a statement from the High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on the human rights situation in Syria.

09 April 2022; MEMO: After Parliament failed several times this year to elect a new president, Iraq has entered a constitutional vacuum.

These events led to the end of the constitutional deadline set by the Federal Supreme Court on 6 April.

This required the court to resort to legal jurisprudence and issue a decision to continue the term of current President Barham Salih until a new president is elected.

09 April 2022; MEMO: An Iranian newspaper reported that Iranian funds frozen in South Korea would be released in exchange for three US citizens of Iranian origin.

On Friday, Entekhab newspaper reported: "Three dual-citizen spies will be released in exchange for Iran regaining its frozen funds in Korea, amounting to $7 billion."

09 April 2022; MEMO: The Egyptian Supreme State Security Criminal Court at the Tura Courts Complex, south of Cairo, issued a judgment on Thursday convicting defendants in the case known in the media as "returnees from Kuwait" with penalties ranging from life to rigorous imprisonment.

The judgment issued, headed by counsellor Moataz Khafagy, included 14 defendants from the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood group opposed to the ruling, which the Egyptian authorities classify as "terrorists", according to Egyptian media.

09 April 2022; MEMO: Six Palestinian factions have agreed to carry out municipal, student and syndicate elections, Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations reported on Friday.

According to the centre, senior official of the Popular Front Osama Haj Ahmed said that Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front, the General Command, the Palestinian Initiative and Al-Saiqa Organisation agreed to hold the elections within the coming six months.

09 April 2022; MEMO: The Iraqi government reiterated on Friday that it owes $20 billion in foreign debts and $48 billion in internal debts, Jordanian news agency Petra reported.

Mazhar Mohammed Saleh, advisor for financial affairs to the Iraqi prime minister, said that 67 per cent of the internal debts ($48 billion) is currently deposited in the Central Bank, pointing out a plan to repay the debts in three years.

Kolkata, Apr 8 (PTI) The TMC on Friday said any effort to impose Hindi by the BJP-led Centre on non-Hindi speaking states will be resisted.

The party's assertion came a day after Shah, presiding over the 37th meeting of the Parliamentary Official Language Committee here, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided that the medium of running the government is the official language, and this will definitely increase the importance of Hindi.

RAMALLAH, Apr 8 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammed Ishtaye, yesterday warned that, accelerating Israeli settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories would undermine the chances for peace and the two-state solution.

07 April 2022; MEMO: The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD) announced today that 78 people were injured during the demonstrations held yesterday in the capital Khartoum and the city of Wad Madani in the state of Al-Jazeera.