Middle East & North Africa

ISTANBUL, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Turkey's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it rejects Russia's annexation of four regions in Ukraine, adding the decision is a "grave violation" of international law.

Turkey, a NATO member, has conducted a diplomatic balancing act since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Ankara opposes Western sanctions on Russia and has close ties with both Moscow and Kyiv, its Black Sea neighbours. It has also criticised Russia's invasion and sent armed drones to Ukraine.

BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to Lebanon on Saturday delivered a maritime border demarcation proposal to President Michel Aoun, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Speaker Nabih Berri on Saturday, as negotiations with Israel progress.

Lebanon and Israel have been officially at war since Israel’s creation in 1948 and both countries claim some 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An attack by armed separatists on a police station in a southeastern city killed 19 people, including four members of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported Saturday.

The assailants in Friday’s attack hid among worshippers near a mosque in the city of Zahedan and attacked the nearby police station, according to the report.

30 Sep 2022; MEMO: Turkiye is preparing to take the Cyprus issue to the UN General Assembly in order to remove the obstacles to recognition of the breakaway state in the north, Reuters reports.

According to the report, the framework of the strategy for recognising the pseudo-state was drawn up at the regular meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) in July.

30 Sep 2022; MEMO: Central Bank of Tunisia data showed yesterday that the Tunisian dinar fell to a record low against the US dollar, causing concerns about a possible decline in foreign exchange reserves and rise in inflation, Reuters reports.

The annual inflation rate in Tunisia increased to 8.6 per cent in August, the highest level in nearly three decades.

The central bank said on Wednesday the dinar was trading at 3.309 dinars for the dollar, down by 17.5 per cent from its level a year ago.

1 October 2022; MEMO: In light of the reactivation of the Presidential Pardon Committee in April, Egyptian rights group Belady has called for releasing 145 women and 89 children imprisoned on political grounds, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Friday.

The rights group also urged the authorities to release female political prisoners and minors, considering the ongoing dialogue aiming to reach a solution to the country's deadlock.

1 October 2022; MEMO: Likud officials are weighing up casting former Israeli Prime Minister and Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu aside and forming a coalition government without him if Likud fails to win a majority in the upcoming elections.

1 October 2022; MEMO: Head of the Reform Bloc in the Jordanian Parliament, Saleh Al-Armouti, asserted on Friday that Arab normalisation with Israel has encouraged its aggression on Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Speaking to Felesteen newspaper, Al-Armouti also stated that the security cooperation between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Israeli occupation encouraged the Israeli occupation's aggression on Al-Aqsa Mosque.

1 October 2022; MEMO: Following Vladimir Putin's declaration of a partial call-up, Israel warned its dual citizens that they might be drafted to fight in Ukraine, Israeli media reported on Friday.

In a statement, Israel's Foreign Ministry announced: "Israeli citizens who hold Russian citizenship who enter, stay in, or will visit inside the borders of the Russian Federation, will be subject to Russian laws and regulations."

1 October 2022; MEMO: The Jordanian government announced, on Friday, the adjustment of oil derivatives prices, lowering the price of octane 90 and 95 gasoline by 60 fils ($0.08) and raising the price of diesel and kerosene by 35 fils ($0.05) for October.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the oil derivatives pricing committee decided to lower the price of octane 90 and 95 gasoline after applying the pricing equation to the price of gasoline according to global prices.