Middle East & North Africa

08 August 2023; MEMO: Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant today warned Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah not to "make any mistake," threatening to return Lebanon "to the Stone Age in the event of an escalation or conflict," according to Hebrew media.

During a tour on the border with Lebanon, Gallant addressing Nasrallah saying: "I made mistakes in the past and paid a very heavy price. If an escalation or conflict develops here, we will take Lebanon back to the Stone Age."

09 August 2023; MEMO: The five most prominent Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have invested over $100 billion in Africa over the years, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) leading the way, according to a new publication.

RAMALLAH, Aug 8 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestinians condemned yesterday, the killings of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank.

At least four Palestinians were killed within the last 24 hours, including a Palestinian teenager, who succumbed to the wounds inflicted by an Israeli guard in the West Bank last week, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

RAMALLAH, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye on Monday called on the U.S. Congress to abolish "hostile" laws and regulations targeting the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and to recognize the Palestinian state.

Speaking to a delegation of 22 U.S. Congress members at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Ishtaye also called for amendments to laws and regulations that link the PLO to "terrorism."

ANKARA, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye has introduced a 20 percent additional charge on imports of some gold jewelry to reduce gold imports, according to a decision published in the Official Gazette on Tuesday.

The decision states that an additional 20 percent will be added to the price of all gold jewelry and metal products with precious metal plating, with the exception of those from the European Union and countries that have signed free trade agreements with Türkiye.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran on Monday began registering candidates for parliamentary elections in March, which will be the first since nationwide protests rocked the country last year.

Iran has held regular presidential and parliamentary elections since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. But a clerical body vets candidates — disqualifying any seen as disloyal to the Islamic Republic — and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say on all major policies.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israeli security forces on Tuesday demolished the West Bank home of a Palestinian man accused of carrying out a deadly shooting attack earlier this year, the military said, the latest incursion to fuel tensions in the occupied territory.

Israel’s decades-old tactic of leveling the family homes of alleged Palestinian assailants has drawn intense criticism from human rights groups, which call it collective punishment — prohibited under international law.

TEHRAN, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- At least one person was killed and 19 others injured on Monday after an explosion shook and dismantled a three-storey residential building in Iran's capital Tehran, the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported.

The explosion, which occurred on Monday morning in District 20 of Tehran due to gas leakage, also severely damaged several dilapidated buildings and cars, ISNA quoted Ali Nasiri, the president of Tehran Disaster Mitigation and Management Organization, as saying.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi state-run oil giant Aramco said Monday that it made $30 billion in profit in the second quarter, a nearly 40% decline from the same period the previous year that it attributed to lower oil prices.

Total sales stood at just over 400 billion riyals (about $106 billion), down from 562 billion riyals ($150 billion in the second quarter of 2022. In an earnings report filed with the Saudi stock exchange, Aramco said the decrease “mainly reflected the impact of lower crude oil prices and weakening refining and chemicals margins.”

07 August 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has signed an agreement with key Turkish defence firm Baykar Tech to help the kingdom localise the manufacturing of drones, in the latest deal signifying the improved relations between Riyadh and Ankara.