Middle East & North Africa

17 August 2022; MEMO: Egypt's external debt rose to $157.8 billion in March, from $145.5 billion last December, an increase of about $12.3 billion in three months, while total deposits with the Central Bank amounted to $14.9 billion.

Egypt's fiscal year runs from 1 July to 30 June.

A statement issued by the Central Bank said Egypt paid about $16.6 billion in premiums and $3.4 billion in interest during the first nine months of the last fiscal year.

17 August 2022; MEMO: Eleven Syrian fighters have been killed in Turkish air strikes on a Syria border post run by regime forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said yesterday.

This came following an overnight flare-up between Turkish forces and Kurdish fighters who control the area in the north of Syria.

17 August 2022; MEMO: A prominent leader in the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas confirmed that his movement does not veto any contact or relations with political entities other than with the Israeli occupation. This comes at a time when there has been news of "unannounced" contact between the current US administration headed by Joe Biden, and Hamas.

 Kanpur: A house was gutted in a cylinder explosion on Wednesday afternoon.

The sound was so loud that it was heard far and the villagers were horrified.

A villager was also hit in the accident. He has suffered burns.

The fire broke out at Majra Kapoor Farm of Katri Domanpur in Maharajpur in the afternoon due to the leakage of a gas cylinder in Nanku's kutcha house.

The whole of the house started burning with smoke. The fire got terrifying.

GAZA, Aug 16 (NNN-WAFA) – Israel claims that it has discovered a tunnel underneath the border between the regime and the Gaza Strip, which Hamas has dismissed as nothing more than an attempt by the Israelis to cover up their “crimes.”

“The occupation (regime) is marketing fake achievements and victories, to the Israeli society, to use it in its electoral bazaar,” said Hamas spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, in a statement, yesterday.

DAMASCUS/BEIRUT, Aug 16 (NNN-SANA/NNA) – Syrian and Lebanese officials, met in the Syrian capital, Damascus yesterday, to discuss ways to facilitate the monthly return of 15,000 Syrian refugees.

Syrian Minister of Local Administration and Environment, Hussein Makhlouf, held a meeting with visiting Lebanese Minister of the Displaced, Issam Charafeddine, during which they touched upon measures taken by Syria, to secure a safe and quick home return for the refugees, based on a timeline set by both countries.

DAMASCUS, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Eleven people were killed on Tuesday by a Turkish airstrike targeting a military position in northern Syria, reported the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Turkish strike hit the Syrian military base in the countryside of Ayn al-Arab city in the northern countryside of Aleppo province near the Syrian-Turkish border, said the UK-based watchdog group.

Eight people were also wounded in the strike, and the death toll could rise due to the number of critically wounded people, it said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran said Tuesday it submitted a “written response” to what has been described as a final roadmap to restore its tattered nuclear deal with world powers.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency offered no details on the substance of its response, but suggested that Tehran still wouldn’t take the European Union-mediated proposal, despite warnings there would be no more negotiations.

15 August 2022; MEMO: Israel has cancelled a Summit to mark the two-year anniversary of a peace treaty signed with Arab countries, local Israeli media reports.

According to the report, diplomats from several Arab countries declined to participate in a Summit in Israel to mark the second anniversary of the Abraham Accords.

15 August 2022; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's investment firm, Kingdom Holding Co, invested over $500 million into three major Russian energy companies as Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, the firm's filings have shown.

According to Kingdom Holding Co's recently-released regulatory filings, the firm invested heavily in the three major Russian energy companies Gazprom, Rosneft, and Lukoil between February and March.