Middle East & North Africa

RAMALLAH, Oct 10 (NNN-WAFA) – An escalation of tension in the West Bank would fuel an atmosphere of fear, hatred and anger, between Israelis and Palestinians, a senior UN official warned.

“It is necessary to reduce tensions immediately, to open the way for decisive initiatives, aimed at creating a viable political horizon between the two sides,” UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, said, in a press statement.

JERUSALEM, Oct 10 (NNN-PNA) – The Israeli top court, yesterday, overturned a ban preventing the Arab party of Balad from running in the country’s parliamentary elections, due on Nov 1.

The Supreme Court’s nine-judge panel, unanimously decided to cancel the decision by the Central Elections Committee, to disqualify Balad from running in the elections, according to a statement released by the court, that did not mention reasons for the decision.

SULIMANIYAH, Iraq (AP) — Growing up under a repressive system, Sharo, a 35-year-old university graduate, never thought she would hear words of open rebellion spoken out loud. Now she herself chants slogans like “Death to the Dictator!” with a fury she didn’t know she had, as she joins protests calling for toppling the country’s rulers.

9 October 2022; MEMO: Israel on Sunday started to test the pumping of gas from the disputed Karish gas field amid tension with Lebanon, according to local media, Anadolu reports.

Israeli Channel 12 reported that Israel's security establishment has given the US gas drilling company Energean the green light to start its tests.

Public broadcaster KAN said full pumping operations from the site may be ready within weeks after the completion of the tests.

10 October 2022; MEMO: The Qatar Emiri Air Force yesterday received the No 12 Squadron Typhoon which will help support air security at the FIFA World Cup next month, the Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.

The state-run agency added that the No 12 Squadron was established on 24 July 2018 with the aim of enhancing cooperation between the Emiri Air Force and the British Royal Air Force.

10 October 2022; MEMO: The Israeli Supreme Court yesterday overturned a ban on the National Democratic Assembly (Balad) from participating in the upcoming parliamentary elections slated for 1 November 2022.

In a statement, the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (Adalah) said that the Israeli Supreme Court overturned a decision by Israel's Central Elections Committee (CEC) to disqualify Arab parties from running in Israeli national elections, calling the move "historic".

9 October 2022; MEMO: Qatar's population has surged by 13.2% over the last year, official data showed, as the tiny Gulf Arab state recruits thousands of overseas workers ahead of hosting the soccer World Cup next month to cope with an unprecedented influx of fans, Reuters reports.

The wealthy gas producer's population stood at 2.94 million after some 370,000 additional people moved to Qatar over the last year, based on data collected in September and released by Qatar's statistics authority last week.

10 October 2022; MEMO: The Palestine Investment Fund is on the verge of reaching a technical agreement with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) to extract gas from the Gaza Marine gas field.

Anadolu news agency quoted official Palestinian sources saying yesterday that both parties will sign a technical agreement during the last quarter of 2022 that determines the distribution of the shares and the how to market the gas.

Kanpur: A police constable was suspended for stealing the mobile phone of a youth sleeping in front of his shop in the Maharajpur area here on Sunday, news reports said here.

The action was taken after a video of the constable went viral on social media.

Police sources said Nitin Singh, a resident of Chhatmara, owns a shop in the village. He was sleeping in front of his shop on Saturday night.

Constable along with a Home Guard, was on picket duty stole the mobile of rural shop owner.

9 October 2022; MEMO: The US military said late on Saturday that unidentified forces fired a rocket at a compound in Syria hosting US troops and partnered local forces, but failed to cause any injuries or damage, Reuters reports.

The military, in a short statement, said the 107 mm rocket failed to impact anything inside the Rumalyn Landing Zone US compound in northeast Syria.