Middle East & North Africa

5 October 2022; MEMO: Prominent Egyptian archaeologists have renewed a call for the return of the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum to Egypt, 200 years after the deciphering of the slab unlocked the secrets of hieroglyphic script and marked the birth of Egyptology.

The archaeologists' online campaign has gathered 2,500 signatures, so far, and aims to "tell Egyptians what has been taken from them", said Monica Hanna, acting Dean of the College of Archaeology in the Egyptian city of Aswan.

5 October 2022; MEMO: The Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad is continuing to seize farmland from families who have been displaced by the ongoing conflict, media sources have reported.

According to the Turkish Anadolu Agency and various other outlets, local sources in the north-western Syrian province of Idlib reported that Assad regime authorities are continuing to seize and expropriate land belonging to those who fled their homes during the ongoing 11-year conflict.

6 October 2022; MEMO: Israeli occupation forces opened fire against Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the besieged Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Wafa has reported.

At the time that the Israeli occupation navy opened fire, the fishermen were just three nautical miles off the coast. They were forced to return to Gaza's small fishing port.

6 October 2022; MEMO: The Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, said the government is keen to renew the ceasefire agreement with the Houthi group, and to openly solve all problems through dialogue, Anadolu news agency reported.

5 October 2022; MEMO: Turkiye's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, criticised the main opposition party CHP's proposal for the headscarf by reminding the past highlighting to change the Constitution to completely solve the problem.

Accusing CHP's leader, Kılıcdaroglu, of 'abuse', Erdogan stated that the headscarf was no longer a problem, and that no one had a problem in public or schools.

Erdogan said, "If CHP is sincere, let's amend the Constitution to completely solve the problem."

RIYADH, Oct 4 (NNN-SPA) – Saudi Arabian Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, announced yesterday, the launch of the Saudi Downtown Company, for urban development across the kingdom.

Affiliated with the Saudi Public Investment Fund, the company will build and develop downtown areas and mixed-use destinations in 12 cities, including Al-Madinah, Al-Baha, Najran, Jizan, Taif and Al-Jandal.

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 5 (NNN-KUNA) – Kuwait Environment Public Authority is preparing an environmental project, to address climate changes, and experts here have called for more cooperation with China, a pioneer country, in their view, in combating climate-related issues.

As the world is witnessing severe droughts, storms, heat waves and other disasters, triggered by an increasingly abnormal weather, the project aims to introduce new laws and regulations, to address climate issues and reduce the risks of aftermaths in the country.

DUBAI, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Iranian security forces deployed at universities in several cities on Wednesday, witnesses said, stepping up efforts to quell more than two weeks of protests ignited by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police.

The nationwide unrest sparked by her death has spiralled into the biggest challenge to Iran's clerical leaders in years, with protesters calling for the downfall of the Islamic Republic founded in 1979.

BEIRUT, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) will increase its financial assistance to Lebanon by 75 million euros (73.83 million U.S. dollars) in 2022 to support the country in light of its difficult social and economic situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Beirut port explosions.

DAMASCUS, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- A total of 14 people, mostly military personnel, have been killed in separate attacks in Syria's southern province of Daraa since the beginning of October, a war monitor reported on Wednesday.

Since Oct. 1, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has documented 20 security incidents that include attacks and assassinations, which have resulted in the killing of four civilians, eight soldiers, and two former rebel fighters who were reconciled with the authorities through peace deals.