Middle East & North Africa

JERUSALEM (AP) — Five people were killed in a shooting Thursday in an Arab town in northern Israel, police said, the latest in a wave of criminal violence tearing through the country’s Palestinian communities.

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper said a gunman arrived at a car wash in the town of Yafa an-Naseriyye, near the city of Nazareth, and opened fire. Police said they believed the shooting was connected to a dispute between organized crime families.

07 June 2023; MEMO: An army base in the south of Israel was robbed yesterday with some 20,000 bullets taken from the site.

An army spokesperson said that ammunition was stolen from a military bunker at the base in the south of Israel and that more than 20,000 bullets were missing.

He added that the police and military police had opened a joint investigation to uncover the details.

07 June 2023; MEMO: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called for an independent international investigation into the killing of Palestinian toddler Muhammad Al-Tamimi. The 30-month-old child was shot in the head last Thursday by an Israeli soldier in the village of Nabi Saleh, west of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank and died of his wounds on Monday.

07 June 2023; MEMO: The UK government has announced major changes to visa requirements for the six countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Jordan. Nationals of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, UAE and Jordan will be offered an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) lasting two years for just £10 ($12), according to a report in Arabian Business.

07 June 2023; MEMO: Iran is to get access to $24 billion of its frozen assets, including more than $10bn in Iraq and $7bn in South Korea, ISNA reported yesterday. The agency said that the development came after the visit of the Sultan of Oman, Haitham Bin Tariq, to Iran, and the visit of US President Joe Biden's senior advisor for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, to Muscat.

07 June 2023; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Tuesday to re-submit a proposal to amend the constitution for parliament to consider, Anadolu has reported.

Erdogan made his comment during a press conference after convening his cabinet for the first time since winning the 28 May presidential election run-off. He stressed that the vision represented by the amendment is based on "stability and trust".

07 June 2023; MEMO: Israel's government will approve a law that requires new immigrants to settle in Israel for a year before being granted a passport, reported the Times of Israel.

The goal of the legislation is to reduce the number of those who qualify for citizenship under the country's Law of Return, but do not intend to settle in Israel long term.

08 June 2023; MEMO: Turkiye's lira plunged 7 per cent to a record low on Wednesday in its biggest sell-off since a historic 2021 crash, a move traders said is a "strong signal" that Ankara is moving away from state controls toward a freely traded currency, Reuters reports.

According to the report, the currency has come under increasing pressure since President Tayyip Erdogan was re-elected on 28 May.

07 June 2023; MEMO: QatarEnergy has signed a 15-year supply deal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) with Bangladesh's state-owned PetroBangla for 1.8 million tonnes a year starting in 2026, CEO Saad Al-Kaabi said on Thursday, Reuters reports.

According to the report, the latest contract with an Asian customer by the world's top LNG exporter comes when Western countries, including Germany, push to win a chunk of the Qatari gas, as competition ramped up following the Ukraine war.

07 June 2023; MEMO: US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, had an "open, candid" conversation with Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in the early hours of Wednesday about a wide range of bilateral issues, a US official said.

The top US diplomat arrived in Saudi Arabia late on Tuesday for a much anticipated visit amid frayed ties due to deepening disagreements on everything, from Iran policy to regional security issues, oil prices and human rights, Reuters reports.