Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, Dec 26 (NNN-SANA) – The Syrian media delegation, headed by Assistant Minister of Information, Ahmad Dhawa, held two working sessions at the Iranian Radio and TV Corporation, which dealt with boosting cooperation in the fields of media and technical content.

The Assistant Minister of Information stressed the importance of developing media relations and joint cooperation, to keep pace with the political relations between the two countries.

RAMALLAH, Dec 26 (NNN-WAFA) – A senior Palestinian official said yesterday that, the new Israeli government, formed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently, is replacing peace and the two-state solution with annexation and settlement.

Ahmad Majdalani, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee, told “Voice of Palestine” that, the peace process and the option of the two-state solution “are no longer on the agenda of the new Israeli government.”

ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- A delegation of Ethiopian federal government officials on Monday headed to Mekele, the rebel-held capital of the country's Tigray region.

The trip, which came after a permanent cessation of hostilities agreement signed on Nov. 2 between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which now controls the northernmost region, is the first by a federal government delegation since conflict erupted back in November 2020.

TEHRAN, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday that Iran and Saudi Arabia appear to have the political will to take a new step toward repairing bilateral relations, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Making the remarks at a weekly press conference, Nasser Kanaani said the two countries seem to currently agree on the adoption of a "constructive" approach toward the resumption of the talks on the normalization of bilateral relations, of which five rounds have so far been held.

26 Dec 2022; MEMO: Saleh Raafat, a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) called on Sunday for an international boycott of the new Israeli government to force it to accept international legitimacy.

Speaking to Palestine Voice, Saleh said that the agreements among the parties taking part in the new Israeli coalition government "are based on apartheid and discrimination."

26 Dec 2022; MEMO: Tunisia expects inflation to average 10.5% in 2023, up from 8.3% expected for 2022, as inflationary pressures continue to increase, economy minister Samir Saeed said on Monday.

The Tunisian government has no alternative to an agreement with the IMF, Saeed added, referring a $1.9 billion rescue package to help the country with its borrowing needs next year.

25 Dec 2022; MEMO: An Israeli ban on the entry of medical equipment into the Gaza Strip is putting the lives of hundreds of patients at risk, Palestinian authorities warned on Saturday, Anadolu reports.

Health Ministry official Ibrahim Abbas said Israeli authorities refuse to allow medical equipment, including diagnostic devices, into Gaza.

"Lack of medical service puts the lives of hundreds of patients at risk," he warned.

25 Dec 2022; MEMO: The Tunisian General Labor Union, the country's largest syndicate, has called for a halt to the current electoral process and to instead address issues the country is facing, Anadolu reports.

"If there is political maturity, we will stop this (electoral) path and talk about what will get the country out of the dilemmas in which it has fallen," the head of the syndicate, Noureddine Taboubi, told Radio Diwan FM.

25 Dec 2022; MEMO: Turkiye is in talks with Russia to use the airspace above northern Syria for a potential cross-border operation against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday, Reuters reports.

25 Dec 2022; MEMO: UN envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, has called on Libyan leaders to put an end for the transitional period and to set the situation for holding elections, Anadolu reports.

Bathily made the call in a speech on the 71st anniversary of Libya's Independence Day, marked annually on December 24.