Middle East & North Africa

17 July 2023; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Japan on Monday signed 23 agreements and memoranda of understanding to enhance their bilateral trade and investment.

This came during Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida's visit to the Gulf nation on Monday.

Kishida met with UAE President, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, where both leaders underscored the strength of relations between the two countries, the UAE state news agency, WAM, reported.

17 July 2023; MEMO: US President Joe Biden has invited Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to Washington for an official visit, a statement from the Prime Minister's office said on Monday, Reuters reports.

The move marks a shift in US – Israeli relations as most Israeli prime ministers had already received an invitation to the White House this far into their terms.

17 July 2023; MEMO: The five-nation group on Lebanon, which comprises the US, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt, said on Monday they had discussed several measures against politicians and groups who were obstructing the election of a new president, Reuters reports.

DAMASCUS, Jul 17 (NNN-SANA) – Firefighters have been battling massive forest wildfires in central, western and north-western Syria since last Wednesday, said state-run and pro-government media outlets.

The fires broke out in the countryside of the central province of Hama, the western coastal provinces of Tartous and Latakia, and the north-western province of Idlib, burning large swathes of agricultural and forest land in the areas, with Hama and Latakia most affected.

SANAA, Jul 17 (NNN-SABA) – The UN replacement ship arrived in Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Hodeidah yesterday, in preparation to transfer crude oil from a tanker, abandoned off the coast of the country since 2015, UN officials at the scene told reporters.

In the upcoming two-week first phase of the emergency rescue operation, the replacement vessel, Nautica, will transfer all crude from the floating supertanker, Safer, before a catenary anchor leg mooring buoy will be secured to the seabed, to fix the replacement ship in the second phase, according to the UN officials.

ADDIS ABABA, July 17 (NNN-ALLAFRICA) — The Ethiopian government is looking to raise USD 12 billion in financing to implement its new three-year economic reform plan, according to Teklewold Atnafu, economic advisor to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The funds would come from institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, as well as from restructuring Ethiopia’s debts, Teklewold said.

ISTANBUL, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said that a multilateral deal allowed for shipments of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine's Black Sea ports could be saved.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by Türkiye and the United Nations to help alleviate the global food crisis after the Russia-Ukraine conflict, expired on Monday.

Moscow said the deal ended and it would not be renewed unless its conditions were met.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the United Arab Emirates on Monday as part of a swing through the Arab Gulf states focused on energy and commerce.

He met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the president of the UAE, which will be hosting the COP28 U.N. climate summit later this year.

Kishida visited Saudi Arabia over the weekend, where he met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The two launched a joint initiative aimed at promoting clean energy. He will visit gas-rich Qatar on Tuesday.

15 July 2023; MEMO: Former head of the Fatwa Committee at Al-Azhar Al-Shareef, Sheikh Abdul Hamid Al-Atrash, on Friday slammed Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir over claiming that burning the Torah in Sweden is a result of "extremist Islam".

16 July 2023; MEMO: Hundreds of Israeli reserve doctors have suspended their military services in the Israeli army in protest against the Israeli far-right government's plan to weaken the judiciary, Rai Al-Youm reported on Friday.

The doctors, including physicians and psychiatrists, penned a letter to the Military Medicine Club asking it to send an urgent message to the army leadership to update them on the doctors' action.