Middle East & North Africa

ISTANBUL (AP) — A Turkish court ruled Thursday to suspend the trial in absentia of 26 Saudis accused in the gruesome killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and for the case to be transferred to Saudi Arabia.

Kaghoggi, a United States resident who wrote critically about Saudi Crown Prince Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed on Oct. 2, 2018, at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. He had gone into the consulate for an appointment to collect documents required for him to marry his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz. He never emerged from the building.

Gurugram, Apr 7 (PTI) The police and the flying squad raided a fake call centre and arrested 17 employees, while another 149 staff members were let go after issuing a warning, officials said on Thursday.

The call centre' was launched four months ago and was being operated from a three-storeyed building in Udyog Vihar phase-4.

06 April 2022; MEMO: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are to offer support to Lebanon, whose government declared the state and its Central Bank was bankrupt earlier this week.

06 April 2022; MEMO: The World Bank, on Wednesday, signed a $400 million loan agreement with Tunisia to help the country mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Anadolu News Agency reports.

The agreement was signed by Tunisian Minister of Economy and Planning, Samir Saied, and the World Bank Country Manager for Tunisia, Alexandre Arrobbio.

06 April 2022; MEMO: Turkiye detected a third floating naval mine in its waters in the Black Sea and military diving teams were working on defusing it, the Defence Ministry said on Wednesday, amid the war in Ukraine and Reuters reports.

NATO member, Turkiye, borders the Black Sea, as do Russia and Ukraine, which Moscow invaded on 24 February.

06 April 2022; MEMO: Ukraine received almost 30 times as much defence industry equipment from Turkey in the first quarter as it did a year earlier, while it prepared for and fought against Russian invasion, official data showed, and Anadolu News Agency reports.

According to the report, Turkey exported $59.1 million of such products to Ukraine in the period, compared with $1.9 million in the first quarter of 2021, data published by the Turkish Exporters' Assembly showed.

06 April 2022; MEMO: Turkey is to appoint a new ambassador to Egypt, after leaving the position vacant for almost nine years, as the two countries approach closer reconciliation.

According to an anonymous senior Turkish official who spoke to the news organisation, Middle East Eye, the diplomat to be appointed as ambassador to Cairo will be Salih Mutlu Sen, Ankara's former representative to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

06 April 2022; MEMO: An Emirati Court has sentenced an Israeli woman to death on drug charges, her lawyer said on Wednesday, as Israel's Foreign Ministry vowed to work with its new Gulf partner to spare her, Reuters reports.

Fidaa Kiwan was arrested in Dubai last year for allegedly dealing 50 grams (0.11 pounds) of cocaine and 500 grams (1.1 pounds) of marijuana, her lawyer, Tami Ullmann, said.

06 April 2022; MEMO: Turkish exports to Saudi Arabia spiked by 25 percent in the first quarter of 2022, as the two countries continue to make efforts to reconcile and improve relations after years of tension.

According to data released by the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM) this week, Turkiye's exports increased from around $55 million in the first three months of last year to almost $70 million during the same period this year.

06 April 2022; MEMO: Iran has handed over documents related to outstanding issues to the UN nuclear watchdog, Iranian nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami, said on Wednesday, as Tehran demands closure of the Agency's investigation into uranium particles found at three undeclared sites, Reuters reports.