Middle East & North Africa

16 Nov 2022; MEMO: The Egyptian Presidential Pardon Committee yesterday announced the release of 30 pretrial detainees.

The committee said in a statement that "procedures to release the 30 pretrial detainees have been completed" without giving further details about the released detainees or the charges levelled against them.

The release coincides with the United Nations COP27 Climate Summit currently taking place in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh.

16 Nov 2022; MEMO: Turkiye plans to strike targets in northern Syria after it completes a cross-border operation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq, a senior official told Reuters yesterday, in retaliation for a deadly weekend bomb in Istanbul.

A senior Turkish official said threats posed by Kurdish militants or Islamic State are unacceptable, adding that Ankara will clear threats along its southern border" one way or another".

17 Nov 2022; MEMO: The American administration of President Joe Biden has asked Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu not to appoint Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich as defence minister, Israeli media reported.

Netanyahu, the Times of Israel reported, told Smotrich that he would not be given the job in the next government, citing American concerns over the possible disruption to cooperation with Biden's administration. Instead, the post would be held by someone in Netanyahu's Likud Party.

17 Nov 2022; MEMO: Social media platform Twitter has suspended the Palestine Online account, one of the most influential Palestinian news outlets. The account which had over 80,000 followers was suspended for violating Twitter rules yesterday, although no explicit reason has been given.

The account routinely shared on the ground news from occupied Palestine and had built a reputation for exposing on-going Israeli crimes against Palestinians. 

16 Nov 2022; MEMO: Saudi Aramco is moving forward in talks to supply blue hydrogen to Asia over the next five years, according to the company's chief technology officer, Bloomberg reports.

According to the report, the main energy producer is the UAE which is also investing in blue hydrogen and looking at shipments to Asia.

16 Nov 2022; MEMO: At least five people were killed and more than a dozen injured after a group of armed men opened fire at a crowd in Iran's southwestern province of Khuzestan on Wednesday evening, state media said, reported Anadolu Agency.

The incident took place at a market in the city of Izeh after dusk when assailants riding two motorcycles opened indiscriminate fire at a crowd, which included residents and policemen, reports said.

TEHRAN, Nov 16 (NNN-IRNA) – The Iranian foreign ministry, yesterday, strongly condemned the latest EU and British sanctions, against Iranian individuals and organisations.

Nasser Kanaani, the ministry’s spokesman, said in a press release that, the sanctions are baseless and illegal, constituting interference in Iran’s internal affairs.

Iran will respond proportionately to such non-constructive and futile measures, he added.

A day earlier, the European Union and Britain imposed sanctions against Iran in a coordinated action.

ANKARA, Nov 16 (NNN-XINHUA) – Türkiye detained 50 suspects over the deadly bomb attack in central Istanbul earlier this week, Justice Minister, Bekir Bozdag, said yesterday.

The detainees include a Syrian woman, who was caught soon after the incident, for suspectedly planting the bomb that exploded on Istiklal avenue, Bozdag told parliament.

“Afterward, many people who assisted this terrorist and were considered in contact with this terrorist were also detained,” he said.

TEHRAN, Nov 16 (NNN-IRNA) – Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi, said here yesterday that, resistance is the only way to confront the “greed” of the West.

Raisi made the remarks, in a meeting with the visiting high-ranking economic delegation from Venezuela, according to the Iranian presidential website.

Expressing his satisfaction with the progress of Tehran-Caracas relations in varied areas, he said that, Iran’s economic, scientific and energy capacities can benefit bilateral and multilateral cooperation with other nations.

Qatar’s decision to launch itself into hosting the 2022 World Cup was a head-scratcher from the start. Why, some wondered, would a Middle Eastern kingdom with fewer than 3 million people and little soccer tradition want to host the sport’s biggest event?

Skeptics say the country wanted to use the prestige of the World Cup, which starts Sunday, to remake its image as an oil producer with few international connections and a shaky human-rights record.