Middle East & North Africa

ISMAILIA, Egypt, April 10 (Xinhua) -- "Guo Moruo Cultural Week" kicked off on Wednesday at the Confucius Institute of Suez Canal University in Ismailia in northeastern Egypt.

The second "Guo Moruo" Chinese Modern Poetry Reading Competition, which is the highlight of the event, was held right after the opening ceremony.

The contesting students came from the Chinese Cultural Center in Cairo and the Confucius institutes and language colleges of nine universities nationwide, including the universities of Cairo, Ain Shams, Al-Azhar, Suez Canal and Fayoum.

CHEBAA, Lebanon (AP) — Akram Kanaan looked toward an Israeli military position on a snow-capped mountain that overlooks the village of Chebaa in southern Lebanon, pointing toward the scenic area captured by Israel more than five decades ago. No matter how long it takes, he says, it will eventually return to Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Tehran, April 10, IRNA – The foreign ministers of Turkey and Qatar criticized US President Donald Trump for putting the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) on list of terrorist organizations.

9 Apr 2019; AFP: Algerian lawmakers appointed a regime stalwart as interim president Tuesday, dismaying protesters seeking sweeping change after the resignation of Abdelaziz Bouteflika who ruled the country for two decades.

The selection of upper house speaker Abdelkader Bensalah as Algeria's first new president in 20 years followed constitutional rules but went against the demands of demonstrators pushing for him and other top politicians to stand down.

JERUSALEM, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main challenger, Benny Gantz, tied in the parliamentary elections on Wednesday morning after 97.4 percent of the votes were counted, official figures by Israeli Central Election Committee showed.

Both Netanyahu's Likud and Gantz's centrist party of Blue and White had 35 seats in the 120-seat parliament, or the Knesset, according to the figures.

San Francisco (AP) - Airbnb is rescinding its plan to bar listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The home-sharing company announced in November that it would remove about 200 listings in the West Bank, which is territory claimed by Palestinians. Airbnb said Tuesday it will now allow properties in Israeli settlements to be listed, but will donate all of its profits from properties in the West Bank to humanitarian aid organizations.

Tehran, Apr 9 (AFP/PTI) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that the United States was the real "leader of world terrorism" after Washington blacklisted Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a "foreign terrorist organisation".

"Who are you to label revolutionary institutions as terrorists?" Rouhani asked in a speech broadcast live by state television.

ANTALYA, 8 Apr 2019; AA: A merchant ship some 3,600 years old has been found off Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.

The 14-meter (46-foot) shipwreck loaded with copper ingots was discovered by an underwater research team from Akdeniz University in Antalya, southern Turkey.

Antalya Governor Munir Karaoglu hailed the discovery as a “breakthrough” in underwater archaeology.

Tehran, April 9, IRNA – Designating Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group is an explicit sign of an old grudge and discloses the stupidity of the US regime, Iran's Parliament Speaker said Tuesday.

9 Apr 2019; DW: Polls opened on Tuesday in Israel's parliamentary elections with more than 6 million people eligible to vote.

The election is billed as the toughest challenge yet for Prime Minister Benjaming Netanyahu, who has been rocked by corruption probes.

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