Middle East & North Africa

25 July 2023; MEMO: The US military said a Russian fighter jet hit a US drone with a flare and "severely" damaged its propeller over Syria, the latest in a series of closer interactions by Russian military aircraft in the region, Reuters reports.

Over the past several months, US officials say, Russian jets have increased the pace of dangerous encounters with US military aircraft over Syria, where forces from both countries operate.

25 July 2023; MEMO: The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has appealed for $23.8 million for its multi-sectoral emergency response, following the recent Israeli military attack on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank.

25 July 2023; MEMO: Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Tuesday, welcomed his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, with an official ceremony at the presidential complex in the capital, Ankara, Anadolu Agency reports.

The leaders will hold one-on-one talks, to be followed by a joint news conference. The Turkish leader will also host a dinner in honour of the guest.

26 July 2023; MEMO: Iran, on Tuesday, unveiled a new cruise missile named after a slain Iraqi military commander after the US announced the deployment of additional warships to the Persian Gulf, Anadolu Agency reports.

The indigenously-built "Abu Mahdi" missile was formally delivered to the Iranian Navy and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in the presence of Defence Minister, Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani, and senior military officials.

26 July 2023; MEMO: Qatar has manged to fend off competition from Saudi Arabia, UAE and China to secure a deal with Pakistan over the running of Islamabad Airport. The sale, via tender of a contract, to manage Islamabad Airport is nearing completion after consultations with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Ministry of Finance said Thursday.

26 July 2023; MEMO: Over 1,000 Israeli physicians plan to leave Israel and work abroad after the passing of the reasonableness law, the Israeli Medical Association said yesterday.

"The vast majority of physicians know they will not be able to fulfill their oath to patients under a regime that does not accept the role of reason," AP reported Hagai Levine, chairman of the Israeli Association of Public Health, saying.

26 July 2023; MEMO: Far-right Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir yesterday warned the Supreme Court against repealing the "reasonableness law," Hebrew media reported.

"If the Supreme Court repealed the law, it would be a coup attempt," he said, stressing that "the Supreme Court is not above everything." Adding that he hoped the Supreme Court "does not commit this mistake."

AMMAN, Jul 24 (NNN-PETRA) – Jordan and Syria, yesterday, held a meeting in Amman, to discuss cooperation, to prevent drug smuggling across the Syrian borders into Jordan.

The meeting, also the inaugural meeting of the Jordanian-Syrian Joint Committee for Combating Drug Smuggling, focused on the pressing threats posed by drug trafficking to the entire region.

Jordan and Syria agreed to form the joint committee, during the visit of Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi to Syria, on Jul 3.

DUBAI/GENEVA, July 25 (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Tuesday it had started the removal of more than 1 million barrels of oil from a decaying supertanker off Yemen's Red Sea coast in a complex operation it hopes will ward off a regional disaster.

U.N. officials have been warning for years that the Red Sea and Yemen's coastline was at risk as the Safer tanker could spill four times as much oil as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska.

A U.N. spokesperson said on Tuesday a spill could cost $20 billion to clean up.

BEIRUT, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Parts of the damaged Beirut Railway Station in the Mar Mikhael neighborhood of the Lebanese capital will soon be restored with foreign funding, according to a UNESCO-Italian deal reached Monday on recovery of the industrial heritage site.

Under the deal, the Italian government will finance 2 million euros (about 2.21 million U.S. dollars) through the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, a public agency, for the recovery work, according to a statement released by UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).