Middle East & North Africa

25 Dec 2022; MEMO: Kuwait said on Sunday that it has launched an investigation into suspicions of contracting with an Israeli company by a local bank, Anadolu reports.

In a statement, Finance Minister Abdulwahab Al-Rushaid said his ministry has formed a committee to investigate allegations that the Credit Bank has contracted with an Israeli company.

He said the bank had received a notice from the Audit Bureau that it was using a protection system for a company based in Tel Aviv.

Dec 25 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabian stocks climbed on Sunday in response to Friday's rise in oil prices, while most other bourses in the Gulf were in the red on global economic concerns.

Oil prices settled about $3 per barrel higher on Friday for a second straight week of gains after Moscow said it could cut crude output in response to the G7 imposing a price cap on Russian exports.

Russia may cut oil output by 5% to 7% in early 2023 as it responds to price caps, the RIA news agency cited Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak as saying on Friday.

ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- The 2019 crash of Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-8 Max airplane which killed 157 people was caused by a faulty safety feature, said Ethiopian authorities in its final report on Friday.

On March 10, 2019, the aircraft flying from Addis Ababa to Nairobi crashed a few minutes after takeoff, eventually killing all the passengers and crew on board.

A final report on the accident concluded nothing was wrong before takeoff, and the crash was due to a safety feature failure, said Dagmawit Moges, Ethiopian minister of transport and logistics.

24 Dec 2022; MEMO: Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund is considering reviewing its investments in Israel to ensure that its funds do not finance settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, Israeli media reported on Friday.

The Fund manages and invests revenue from the country's natural resources for the benefit of the government's developmental budget worth $1.3 trillion and is the largest of its kind in the world.

24 Dec 2022; MEMO: YPG/PKK terrorists raped and killed two women from the Al-Baggara tribe in eastern Syria's Deir ez-Zor province, according to local sources.

The victims were from the province's village of Sur.

The people of the region held the so-called Deir ez-Zor Military Council head and the terrorists with him responsible and staged a demonstration against the YPG/PKK terror group.

24 Dec 2022; MEMO: Iran's Supreme Court has accepted the appeals of two protesters sentenced to death due to flaws in investigating their cases, the country's judiciary said on Saturday.

"The Supreme Court accepted the appeals of Mohammad Qobadloo and Saman Saidi Yasin, accused of the recent riots," the judiciary's Mizan news agency reported.

"Due to research deficiencies, the Supreme Court has referred them to the same courts for re-examination."

24 Dec 2022; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right ally in the coalition government, Itamar Ben-Gvir, have agreed to sack and refuse hiring teachers who criticise the Israeli occupation, Arab48 reported on Friday.

The agreement between Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir referred to the teachers who criticise the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories or take part in anti-Israeli occupation protest, claiming "this is terrorism."

25 Dec 2022; MEMO: A top Ukrainian official and presidential aide has called for the "liquidation" of Iranian factories producing missiles and drones, along with other measures to be taken against them and their suppliers.

In a Twitter post today, Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak stated that Iran "blatantly humiliates the institution of international sanctions" and that it is "important to abandon nonworking sanctions" on the country and its government.

24 Dec 2022; MEMO: The new Israeli occupation government led by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu have earmarked more than $2.3 billion for settler roads in the occupied West Bank.

On Friday the Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom said, "this is an unprecedented budget" for settlement projects in the occupied West Bank.

by Rita Freire

Al-Aqsa Mosque stands at the heart of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and has done for over 1,300 years. Today it has world heritage landmark status. Despite this, Israeli excavations, raids and military incursions have threatened the very foundations and preservation of such a potent symbol of Jerusalem.