Middle East & North Africa

15 July 2022; MEMO: Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani on Friday congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the occasion of his country's Democracy and National Unity Day.

"The Emir of Qatar sent a cable of congratulations to President of the Republic of Turkiye, Erdogan, on the occasion of the National Day of Democracy and National Unity," Qatar News Agency reported.

Deputy Emir Sheikh Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Thani also sent similar congratulations to the president of Turkiye on the same occasion.

15 July 2022; MEMO: Egypt has told the United Nations it will temporarily suspend the activities of its contingent in a Mali peacekeeping mission, citing increased attacks on its peacekeepers who escort convoys supplying UN bases, a UN spokesperson said on Friday, Reuters reports.

The attacks have caused the deaths of seven Egyptian soldiers since the beginning of the year.

16 July 2022; MEMO: Leader of the Iraqi political Sadrist Movement Muqtada Al-Sadr on Friday called for "dissolving all armed factions" in the country during the Friday sermon in Sadr City, as reported by Iraqi News Agency (INA).

16 July 2022; MEMO: Oil prices rose by 2.5 per cent on Friday after a US official told Reuters that the US does not expect Saudi Arabia to immediately increase oil production and after investors questioned the ability of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to significantly increase its crude oil production.

16 July 2022; MEMO: The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas on Friday slammed the Saudi decision to open its airspace to Israeli flights, Quds Press reported.

"We, Hamas, feel sad following the Saudi decision to open its airspace to the Israeli occupation flights," Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha disclosed in a statement.

15 July 2022; MEMO: United Nations (UN) human rights experts on Thursday urged Israel to immediately release Palestinian prisoner Ahmed Manasra, 20, who was detained at 14 years old and has been suffering serious mental health conditions.

16 July 2022; MEMO: Iran denied on Friday the US claims of sending hundreds of drones to Russia to use in its war in Ukraine, Anadolu Agency reported.

According to Anadolu Agency, this came in a phone call between Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.

15 July 2022; MEMO: Israeli settlers yesterday uprooted some 400 olive trees in the northern occupied West Bank.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official responsible for the settlement file in the northern West Bank, said that the settlers had uprooted "about 400 three-year-old olive trees in Nablus' western town of Deir Saharaf," adding that the trees belonging to a "Palestinian private property near the Shavei Shomron illegal settlement."

15 July 2022; MEMO: Egypt spends approximately 55 billion Egyptian pounds per year ($2.92 billion) on diesel subsidies, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced yesterday.

Egypt raised the price of diesel on Wednesday by 0.50 pounds to 7.25 pounds per litre following two previous increases in 2021.

15 July 2022; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's decision to open its air space to Israeli airlines has been lauded as a first step to normalisation with the Apartheid State. Riyadh announced yesterday that it would open its airspace to all carriers, paving the way for more overflights to and from Israel.