Middle East & North Africa

Israel blockade costing Jericho in occupied West Bank $70m in losses

05 May 2023; MEMO: The Palestinian city of Jericho in the northern occupied West Bank has incurred huge economic losses estimated in the millions of dollars due to the suffocating Israeli blockade imposed on the city since February.

Local sources said Israeli occupation forces continue to erect military checkpoints at the main entrances to the city and the surrounding refugee camps and have closed the military checkpoint at the southern entrance, which has delayed citizens and impeded their movement.

Palestinian Lions' Den pledges continued resistance of Israel occupation

05 May 2023; MEMO: The Palestinian Lions' Den armed group in the city of Nablus has issued a statement mourning the martyrs who were killed by Israeli occupation forces yesterday morning in the city.

The group pledged to continue resisting the Israeli occupation and protect Palestinians, until the last inch of Palestine is free.

This came after a special Israeli army force stormed the old city of Nablus, cordoned a neighbourhood where Palestinian freedom fighters were hiding and assassinated them.

Turkiye set to keep strong Russia ties whoever wins election

05 May 2023; MEMO: Whoever wins Turkiye's elections this month, the NATO-member is expected to maintain cordial relations with Russia that have already endured several years of dramatic change in Ankara's foreign policy, Reuters reports.

What prompted that change was Turkiye's severe economic crisis, which forced President Tayyip Erdogan to mend strained relations with nations such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Israel, which he had previously vehemently criticised, analysts said.

Israel forces murder 2 Palestinians in occupied West Bank

06 May 2023; MEMO: Israeli occupation forces murdered two Palestinian youths in Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarm on Saturday morning.

This came in a raid carried out by the Israeli occupation forces and undercover border police, the Israeli occupation army announced in a statement.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health shared that the two youths were brought deceased to a hospital in Tulkarm, and a third was brought with injuries to the limbs and in stable condition.

Jordan, Iraq To Renew Crude Supply Deal Of 10,000 BPD

AMMAN, May 5 (NNN-PETRA) – Jordan and Iraq reached a deal yesterday, to renew the export of Iraqi crude to the kingdom under preferential terms, Jordan’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said, in a statement.

The deal was signed by Jordan’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Saleh Al Kharabsheh, and Iraqi Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani, in Baghdad.

Under the deal, Jordan will start importing 10,000 barrels of crude per day for a period of a year, starting from June, the Jordan News Agency reported, citing an Iraq Ministry of Oil statement.

Qatar Adopted Speech Recognition AI To Boost Prosecution Efficiency: Media

DOHA, May 5 (NNN-QNA) – Qatar started to use AI speech-to-text technology, in public prosecution, to boost efficiency, local media reported yesterday.

The system will be used in criminal investigations and editing legal documents, in addition to manual input. It will speedily extract useful information from speech and put them down in text, according to Gulf Times’ report.

It would enable the Qatar Public Prosecution to better play its role and ensure the timely delivery of justice, the report added.

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