Middle East & North Africa

SHENYANG, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- BMW Group's joint venture in China, BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd. (BBA), will invest 10 billion yuan (about 1.4 billion U.S. dollars) into a new battery production project in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

The signing ceremony of the project was held Friday in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning. The signed agreement will see BBA expand battery production capacity at its Shenyang production base.

13 Nov 2022; MEMO: Iran on Sunday condemned remarks by the leaders of Germany and France in support of the ongoing anti-government protests over the death of an Iranian woman in police custody, reports Anadolu Agency.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani termed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's remarks on protests in Iran as "interventionist and provocative".

The spokesman warned that damage to relations between the two countries will have "long-term consequences".

13 Nov 2022; MEMO: The UAE has sought to influence US political decisions to serve its own interests according to a classified US intelligence report.

13 Nov 2022; MEMO: Oman has reported an alarming rise in the number of patients infected with HIV, with eight cases reported each week, local media reports.

According to Oman News, there were over 3,580 HIV cases recorded last year. Of those, 1,960 passed away.

13 Nov 2022; MEMO: Two Palestinians were detained in an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank city on Saturday, according to a local NGO, reports Anadolu Agency.

Montaser Sammour, head of the Palestinian Prisoner Society in Jenin city, said Israeli forces raided the town of Qabatia, south of Jenin, and took the two into custody.

The state news agency Wafa said dozens of Palestinians suffered gas inhalation in clashes with Israeli forces in the town during which Israeli soldiers used tear gas canisters.

13 Nov 2022; MEMO: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi discussed "current issues on bilateral agenda" over phone, a Kremlin statement said Saturday, reports Anadolu Agency.

12 Nov 2022; MEMO: Two British ships from the UK arrived at the Umm Al-Houl Naval Base in Qatar on Friday as part of bilateral cooperation with Doha to secure the 2022 World Cup.

According to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the Amiri Naval Forces received the ships, Bangor and Guardian.

12 Nov 2022; MEMO: Secretary-general of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah announced on Friday that the next Lebanese president should not be "submissive" to the US nor "betray" the resistance, Arab48.com reported.

"We want a president who is not submissive to the US and does not betray the resistance, but protects it. Protecting the resistance is not stabbing it in the back or selling it," Nasrallah stated.

12 Nov 2022; MEMO: A Moroccan official has confirmed that the Nigeria-Morocco natural gas pipeline (NMGP) serves 13 African countries, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.

The 6,000 kilometres of the pipeline will cross the African countries along the Atlantic coast and supply the landlocked states of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.

12 Nov 2022; MEMO: The Israeli General Security Service Shin Bet admitted that it spied on journalists through a database collected from mobile phone companies. It also used this database in investigations into criminal incidents, not only in security investigations. This came in the Public Prosecution's response to a petition submitted by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) to the High Court.