Middle East & North Africa

12 Dec 2022; MEMO: Followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), also known as Mormons, are to have their own official place of worship in the Emirate of Dubai, a first of its kind in the Middle East.

12 Dec 2022; MEMO: The Palestinian Health Ministry said a girl child was killed by an Israeli sniper last night in Jenin City, north of the Occupied West Bank, The Palestinian Information Centre reports.

According to local sources, 16-year-old Jana Zakarnah was found dead on the roof of her home after an Israeli sniper targeted her and fatally injured her in the head.

12 Dec 2022; MEMO: Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, on Monday, called for an international investigation into the killing of a Palestinian girl by Israeli Forces in the Occupied West Bank, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Jana Zakarneh, 16, died on Sunday after being shot by Israeli Forces during a military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin.

Shtayyeh termed the girl's killing as "another crime to be added to the horrifying crimes committed by Occupation Forces against children."

13 Dec 2022; MEMO: Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has demanded that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, clear Kurdish militias from the Syrian border region, three years after Moscow guaranteed Ankara it would do so.

In a phone call yesterday, Erdogan told Putin that it is "important to clear the [Kurdish fighters] from the border to a depth of at least 30 kilometres" and also "stated this was a priority", according to the Turkish presidential office.

12 Dec 2022; MEMO: BP has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Egyptian government with the aim of establishing a large-scale renewable hydrogen production facility in the North African country, it said in a statement 8 December, Bloomberg reports.

"Egypt has world-class renewable energy resources, and we look forward to working with the government to explore how we can support its ambitious low-carbon strategy," BP Executive Vice President of Gas and Low Carbon Energy, Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath said in the statement.

12 Dec 2022; MEMO: France's Sports Minister, Amelie Oudea-Castera has praised Qatar's "impressive" organisation and management of the World Cup, after her country's national team advanced to the semi-finals on Saturday night, defeating its English counterpart 2-1.

"We do not forget the words of His Highness the Emir (Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani) when he said: "Hello everyone," Oudea-Castera said after her country's qualification for the semi-finals, as reported by the Qatar News Agency on Sunday.

RIYADH, Dec 12 (NNN-SPA) – The Saudi Arabian government and Chinese tech giant, Huawei, signed an ICT cooperation deal, aiming to fast-forward the kingdom’s digital transformation, the company announced yesterday.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was recently reached with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, said a Huawei statement.

RAMALLAH, Dec 12 (NNN-WAFA) – A 16-year-old Palestinian girl was killed, after Israeli soldiers stormed the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said.

In a statement, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that, the girl, Jana Zakarneh, 16, from the city of Jenin, was killed, after seven gunshots were fired on her by Israeli soldiers.

TEHRAN, Dec 12 (NNN-TASNIM) – Iran announced the finalisation of negotiations between the Islamic republic and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), on bilateral free trade of more than 7,500 commodity items.

Mirhadi Seyyedi, head of Iran’s negotiating group with the EAEU, said, during thirty rounds of talks with the EAEU over the past two years, the dimensions of the free trade agreement were discussed and agreement was reached, which has the largest coverage in terms of goods.

DUBAI, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The Islamic Republic on Monday hanged a man in public who state media said had been convicted of killing two members of the security forces, the second execution in less than a week of people involved in protests against Iran's ruling theocracy.

Nationwide unrest erupted three months ago after the death while in detention of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police enforcing the Islamic Republic's mandatory dress code laws.