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GENEVA, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Western countries face a dilemma as the U.N. Human Rights Council opens on Monday: confront China over human rights violations in its Xinjiang region and risk failing or miss the biggest opportunity to bring accountability in years.

A report by the U.N. rights office on Aug. 31 found that China's "arbitrary and discriminatory detention" of Uyghurs and other Muslims there may constitute crimes against humanity. China vigorously denies any abuse. 

LONDON/BEIJING, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Xi Jinping will leave China for the first time in more than two years for a trip this week to Central Asia where he will meet Russia's Vladimir Putin, just a month before he is set to cement his place as the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao Zedong.

The trip, Xi's first abroad since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, shows just how confident he is about his grip on power in China and just how perilous the global situation has become.

TEHRAN, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The latest statement by Britain, France and Germany saying they had "serious doubts" about Iran's intentions to revive a 2015 nuclear deal is "unconstructive" and "in breach of goodwill," the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Saturday in a release posted on its official website.

10 Sep 2022; MEMO: Morocco is seeking to attract investors for an agricultural project worth $213 million in the disputed Western Sahara region, where its cultivated land is irrigated through a wind-powered desalting plant.

According to a tender issued by the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture on Friday, the project's goal is to convert 52 square kilometres of unused land near the city of Dakhla into farms for fruits, vegetables and fodder.

Cairo; 11 Sep 2022 (UMMN):  In a bid to promote Russian tourism in the country, Egypt is to allow tourists to pay through the Russian Mir system starting later this month, an Egyptian Central Bank official told Al-Monitor.

Russian Ruble will be on the list of currencies used by Egyptian banks and be used by tourism companies and hotels.

11 Sep 2022; MEMO: France, Britain and Germany on Saturday said they had "serious doubts" about Iran's intentions to revive a nuclear deal, comments that were rejected by Tehran and called "very untimely" by Moscow, Reuters reported.

Iran earlier this month sent its latest response to the European Union's proposed text to restore the 2015 agreement under which Tehran had restrained its nuclear programme in exchange for relief from US, EU and UN economic sanctions.

09 Sep 2022; MEMO: US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, said on Friday that his country would not agree with Iran on a deal that fails to meet basic demands, Anadolu News Agency reports.

Iran's "latest response takes us backward", Blinken told reporters at a joint news conference with NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, following their meeting.

Blinken referred to Iran's official reply to the draft compromise, proposed by EU Foreign Policy Chief, Josep Borrell, on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

09 Sep 2022; MEMO: The US mediator in a long-standing maritime border dispute between Israel and Lebanon said on Friday that the negotiations to resolve the conflict have made "very good progress", Reuters reports.

The two countries are locked in US-mediated negotiations to delineate a shared maritime border that would help determine which oil and gas resources belong to which country, and pave the way for more exploration.

09 Sep 2022; MEMO: Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan, will urge Moscow to send goods though an UN-backed Black Sea corridor when he meets Russian President, Vladimir Putin, next week, broadcaster Haberturk said on Friday, seeking to keep Russia engaged in the arrangement, Reuters reports.

09 Sep 2022; MEMO: The European Union's energy deals with Israel violate the block's own policies and obligations under international law, according to the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC).