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Pompeo Says US Designating Yemen's Huthis a Terrorist Group

The United States will designate Yemen's Huthi rebels as a terrorist group, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday, a late-term move that aid groups fear will worsen a humanitarian crisis.

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Israel Records Four S. African Covid-19 Variant Cases

Israel's health ministry said four people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus strain first detected in South Africa, with the new British variant already recorded.

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Algerian ex-PM Admits Selling Gold Bars on Black Market

Former Algerian premier Ahmed Ouyahia, on trial for corruption, has admitted to receiving gold bars from Gulf donors then selling them on the black market, the official APS news agency reported.

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Omanis Revive Memory of Village Swallowed by Desert

Encroaching sands have left little evidence that the Omani village of Wadi al-Murr ever existed, but former inhabitants and curious visitors are coming to rediscover the hamlet engulfed by the desert.

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Elated Qataris Stream into Saudi after Border Re-opened

Qataris celebrated crossing their border with Saudi Arabia Sunday, calling the kingdom "our second country", as Doha readied its strict coronavirus measures for Saudis to enter following a Gulf diplomatic thaw.

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Qatar-Saudi Border Reopens after Thaw

Qatar and Saudi Arabia reopened their land border Saturday, Qatari sources told AFP, as they restore ties following a landmark deal to end a three and a half year rift.

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At Least One Dead in Morocco after Heavy Rains

Torrential rain in Morocco this week after a period of drought has caused at least one death in its economic capital Casablanca, as bad weather remains forecast for the coming days.

Authorities said one person was killed and four injured after the roof of a structure in the old city of Casablanca caved in on Thursday evening.

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U.S. Puts Top Iraqi Official Fayyadh on Blacklist

The U.S. Treasury slapped sanctions on the leader of Iraq's paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces Friday, saying he was connected to "serious human rights abuse."

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Old Grievances, Reborn as IS Accusations, Tie Iraqis to Camps

Languishing in a tent in northern Iraq, Nour yearns to return home but can't because she is accused of supporting jihadists -- an allegation she insists has been designed to obscure a land dispute.

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Netanyahu Court Date Postponed amid Virus Lockdown

A planned court appearance next week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his much anticipated trial for corruption has been indefinitely delayed in the face of Israel's freshly tightened coronavirus lockdown, the judges announced on Friday.

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