Middle East & North Africa

08 Jan 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia is looking to bring Formula 1 racing teams to the region, with its sights set on McLaren and Aston Martin to relocate their headquarters to the kingdom.

Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al-Faisal, president of the Saudi Automobile and Motor Federation reportedly wants to compete with Britain by becoming a major motor racing hub and hosting some of the top F1 teams. Currently, Britain is home to seven of the 10 F1 teams.

BAGHDAD, Jan 8 (NNN-NINA) – The Iraqi Ministry of Planning said yesterday that, the poverty rate in the country was 25 percent in 2022, the Iraqi official news agency reported.

“The high poverty rate is due to several reasons, including the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, during the years 2020 and 2021, and the economic crisis that resulted from the drop in oil prices,” spokesman of the ministry, Abdul-Zahara al-Hindawi, said.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi authorities reopened Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone on Sunday in an attempt to ease traffic jams in the capital after it was closed and reopened several times in recent years.

Starting in the early hours of the day, Iraqi authorities removed checkpoints and opened major roads and tunnels that cut through the zone on the west bank of the Tigris River. Cars will be allowed to pass through the area while trucks will be banned, officials said.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Sunday revoked the Palestinian foreign minister’s travel permit, part of a series of punitive steps against the Palestinians that Israel’s new hard-line government announced days ago.

Riad Malki said in a statement that he was returning from the Brazilian president’s inauguration when he was informed that Israel rescinded his travel permit, which allows top Palestinian officials to travel easily in and out of the occupied West Bank, unlike ordinary Palestinians. It was not clear whether the permits of other officials had been revoked as well.

ROJ CAMP, Syria (AP) — A woman who ran away from home in Alabama at the age of 20, joined the Islamic State group and had a child with one of its fighters says she still hopes to return to the United States, serve prison time if necessary, and advocate against the extremists.

In a rare interview from the Roj detention camp in Syria where she is being held by U.S.-allied Kurdish forces, Hoda Muthana said she was brainwashed by online traffickers into joining the group in 2014 and regrets everything except her young son.

08 Jan 2023; MEMO: Thousands of demonstrators protested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government Saturday in Tel Aviv, reports Anadolu Agency.

Protesters gathered in Habima Square in central Tel Aviv to demonstrate against the government's plan to reduce the powers of the judiciary and policies of far-right and ultra-religious government partners.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Prominent U.S. lawyer Alan Dershowitz, long a staunch defender of Israel’s policies on the international stage, said Sunday he cannot defend sweeping judicial reforms planned by Israel’s new government.

The proposals call for an overhaul aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary, including by allowing lawmakers to pass laws that the Supreme Court has struck down. The reforms would give politicians more power over how judges are chosen and limit the independence of government legal advisers, among other steps.

07 Jan 2023; MEMO: Chief of Staff of the Israeli army Aviv Kochavi has warned of having two heads of the Israeli military in light of having a junior minister in the defence minister's office, Israeli media has reported.

07 Jan 2023; MEMO: In response to the success of United Nations (UN) initiatives, on Friday Israeli occupation authorities decided to seize NIS139 million ($39 million) from tax revenues collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Israeli media reported.

07 Jan 2023; MEMO: The statistics revealed by the Egyptian Medical Syndicate regarding the resignations of 4,621 doctors over the past year due to low wages and poor working conditions have sparked widespread controversy in Egypt.