Middle East & North Africa

WFP cuts food aid to Sudan due to funding gap

KHARTOUM, Dec 1 (NNN-Xinhua) — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Wednesday announced the reduction of its food aid to Sudan due to lack of funding.

Reducing the WFP aid to the Sudanese affects life-saving treatment and increases the risk of malnutrition and potential mortality among 50 percent of the 1.7 million severely malnourished children, the WFP said in a press release.

The WFP indicated that it needs nearly 7 million U.S. dollars to continue its activities as usual until the end of this year.

2 killed in training plane crash in NW Türkiye

ISTANBUL, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- At least two people were killed when a single-engine training plane crashed in Türkiye's northwestern province of Bursa on Thursday, Ihlas News Agency reported.

The plane crashed near a combined natural gas cycle power plant in the Osmangazi district of the city that carries the same name of the province, after taking off from Yunuseli Airport in the province's Yenisehir city at 3:40 p.m. local time (1240 GMT), according to the Ihlas report.

Türkiye freezes assets of 17 people, 4 entities with suspected links to IS

ANKARA, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish Treasury and Finance Ministry decided on Thursday to freeze the assets of some individuals and entities with suspected links to the Islamic State (IS) group, according to the official Gazette of Republic of Türkiye.

The decision to freeze the assets of 17 people and four legal entities in Türkiye was "based on reasonable grounds that they have provided financing for terrorist organizations," said the gazette.

Saudi Arabia inks deal to build multi-mission combat ships

RIYADH, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to acquire and build multi-mission combat ships for the kingdom's navy, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported Thursday.

The MoU was signed between the Saudi defense ministry, the Saudi General Authority for Military Industries and Spain's state-owned shipbuilding company Navantia, according to the SPA report.

Turkiye sends new military reinforcements to Syria border

30 Nov 2022; MEMO: The Turkish army has sent military reinforcements to the border area with Syria, amid rising threats to launch a ground military operation against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria.

Pictures and videos, published by the Turkish Sabah newspaper, showed Turkish military vehicles and tanks on their way to "point zero" on the Syrian border.

Cristiano Ronaldo accepts $200m-a-year contract with Saudi Arabia football club

30 Nov 2022; MEMO: The football player, Cristiano Ronaldo, has agreed to join a top Saudi team in a contract worth over $200 million per year, according to a media report.

Following Portugal's match against Ghana last week during the ongoing World Cup games, in which Ronaldo made history by becoming the first player to score in five World Cups, CBS Sports reported that Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr Club was ready to present the famed player with a three-year deal. No confirmation was publicly made at the time.

Saudi Aramco discovers two natural gas fields in eastern region

01 Dec 2022; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's energy minister said Saudi Aramco had discovered two new natural gas fields, Awtad and AlDahna, in the country's eastern region, state news agency SPA reported on Wednesday.

Awtad was discovered southwest of the Ghawar field, and gas flowed from one well, Awtad-108001 well at a rate of 10 million standard cubic feet daily, plus 740 barrels of condensate, and another well, Awtad-100921 at 16.9 million standard cubic feet daily, and 165 barrels of condensate, SPA said.

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