Middle East & North Africa

06 July 2022; MEMO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, in Algeria yesterday.

Algiers said its President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, had succeeded in bringing them together for the first time in years. The post included a video clip showing Abbas, Haniyeh and the Algerian president shaking hands, with other Palestinian officials present.

ISTANBUL, July 5 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob arrived here Tuesday for a four-day official visit to Turkiye (picture).

The special aircraft carrying Ismail Sabri and his delegation touched down at the Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (ISGIA) at 8.40 am local time (1.40 pm Malaysian time).

ISTANBUL, July 5 (Reuters) - Ukraine has asked Turkey to help investigate three Russian-flagged ships as part of Kyiv’s efforts to probe what it alleges is the theft of grain from Russian-occupied territory, according to official documents.

In a June 13 letter, which hasn’t previously been reported, the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office asked Turkey’s justice ministry to investigate and provide evidence on the three named ships it suspects have been involved in transporting grain allegedly stolen from recently occupied Ukrainian territories, such as Kherson.

04 July 2022; MEMO: Turkiye's annual inflation rate was at 78.62 per cent in June, the country's statistical authority said on Monday, Anadolu News Agency reports,

According to the report, the inflation rate reported by Türkiye's state statistics agency was the highest since January 1998.

Turkiye's Economy Minister, Nureddin Nebati, on Friday said that consumer prices will start dropping next December.

"We will see a drop in inflation starting in December," he was quoted as saying by Turkish media.

04 July 2022; MEMO: Turkiye has halted a Russian-flagged cargo ship off its Black Sea coast and is investigating a Ukrainian claim that it was carrying stolen grain, a senior Turkish official said on Monday, Reuters reports.

Ukraine's ambassador to Turkiye said, on Sunday, the "Zhibek Zholy" was detained by Turkish customs authorities. Ukraine had previously asked Ankara to detain it, according to an official and documents viewed by Reuters.

05 July 2022; MEMO: The US Presbyterian Church has voted to declare Israel to be an "apartheid state" and has set aside "Nakba Remembrance Day" within the church calendar. The decisions were taken at the church's 225th General Assembly.

04 July 2022; MEMO: Qatar's Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, held talks with US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on the latest developments of efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal, the state news agency, QNA, reported.

This came during a phone call made by the Qatar Minister with the Chief US diplomat on Sunday, Anadolu News Agency reports.

04 July 2022; MEMO: Israel has announced that its trade with Arab countries has reached record increases within one year alone, as a result of the numerous deals and economic agreements struck between them in their normalisation of relations.

04 July 2022; MEMO: Sudan's army chief, Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan said Monday that the ruling Sovereign Council will be dissolved after the formation of a new government, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Al-Burhan said in a televised speech that the army will withdraw from the ongoing political talks and allow political and revolutionary groups to sit together to agree on the formation of a civilian government.

05 July 2022; MEMO: Lebanon plans to return 15,000 Syrian refugees every month to Syria, Minister of the Displaced, Issam Sharafeddine said on Monday.

"It's unacceptable that Syrian refugees don't return to their country after the end of the war there," Sharafeddine told a press conference, following his meeting with President Michel Aoun in the capital, Beirut, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"The Syrian state extends its hand for cooperation on this file," he added.