Middle East & North Africa

19 May 2022; MEMO: The United States will reduce its aid to Tunisia after its government's "deviation from democracy," the chief of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Samantha Power, warned yesterday.

"Tunisia will receive less money in the 2023 budget," Power told Congress, noting that the move had come after what it described as the Tunisian government's repression of the civil society and violation of the supremacy of law and democratic standards.

20 May 2022; MEMO: The Israeli Doctors' Union announced on Thursday the start of a comprehensive strike across the healthcare system in protest at the increasing number of cases of violence against medical staff in hospitals and other medical institutions. The relevant authorities, it is alleged, have not addressed and dealt with the issue.

19 May 2022; MEMO: Military Police with the Israel Defence Forces will not open an investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, 51, in Jenin last week, despite her being shot in the head by an army sniper, Haaretz has reported. The Military Police Criminal Investigation Division believes that an investigation that treats Israeli soldiers as suspects will lead to opposition within Israeli society.

20 May 2022; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has acquired a five per cent stake in Japanese gaming giant Nintendo, worth $2.98 billion.

According to a filing with Japan's Ministry of Finance yesterday, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) bought 6.5 million shares in the makers of the iconic Mario and Donkey Kong games.

20 May 2022; MEMO: Israeli authorities called an early close on Thursday to a religious bonfire festival after dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews rampaged against crowd-control measures meant to prevent a repeat of a crush that killed 45 people last year, Reuters reports.

TV stations showed pilgrims knocking down safety barricades and scuffling with police at the Meron tomb of second-century sage, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, site of annual two-day celebrations that can draw as many as 200,000 people.

20 May 2022; MEMO: The Central Bank of Egypt announced Thursday it raised its key policy rates by 200 basis points, citing high commodity prices, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The bank said its overnight deposit rate and the overnight lending rate were increased to 11.25 per cent and 12.25 per cent, respectively.

The rate of the main operation and the discount rate were each raised to 11.75 per cent.

20 May 2022; MEMO: The US issued a general licence on Thursday to exempt northern Syrian territories, including those controlled by the PKK's regional branch, the YPG, from American sanctions, Anadolu has reported.

19 May 2022; MEMO: Iraq has made a fresh attempt to control revenue from the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan by asking oil and gas firms operating there to sign new contracts with state-owned marketer, SOMO, rather than the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Reuters reports.

Oil Minister, Ihsan Ismael, on 7 May said Iraq's Oil Ministry would start implementing a February federal court ruling that deemed the legal foundations of the Kurdistan region's oil and gas sector unconstitutional.

20 May 2022; MEMO: The Mayor of the small Turkish city of Bolu has erected banners in both Arabic and Turkish, issuing a "last call" and order for Syrian refugees to return to their country and leave Turkiye.

19 May 2022; MEMO: Jordan has issued a Royal Decree restricting the communications, place of residence and movement of Prince Hamzah, Roya News reported.

The official news site said the decree came following recommendation issued in December by the council formed in accordance with the Royal family Law.