Middle East & North Africa

16 July 2023; MEMO: The Sudanese Army on Saturday accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of targeting a hospital and killing five people, reports Anadolu Agency.

"Continuing their violation of international humanitarian law and all norms of war, rebel militias targeted the emergency room of the military hospital in Omdurman with a drone today, killing five patients and injuring 22, mostly civilians," said the military in a statement.

16 July 2023; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was discharged from hospital on Sunday after being admitted the previous day for dehydration, with doctors saying he was in good health, reports Reuters.

Netanyahu, 73, was taken on Saturday to Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer, near his private residence in coastal Caesarea, and kept overnight under observation.

His motor convoy was seen departing Sheba as Israeli media quoted his office as saying he had been discharged.

16 July 2023; MEMO: Sudanese representatives have arrived in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah to resume talks with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Sudanese government sources told Reuters on Saturday, after three months of fighting between the army and RSF.

16 July 2023; MEMO: Turkey raised tax on petrol on Sunday to help to fund a 1.12 trillion lira ($42.2 billion) increase to its 2023 budget after February's earthquakes and the May presidential election sent spending soaring.

The additional fuel tax will help with a budget deficit that jumped to 263.6 billion lira in the first five months of the year, up from 124.6 billion lira a year earlier, but it could also stoke inflation that had declined to 38.21% in June from a 24-year high of 85.51% last October.

16 July 2023; MEMO: Three Israeli settlers were injured in a drive-by shooting on Sunday in the occupied West Bank, according to the military, reports Anadolu Agency.

In a statement, the army said the settlers' car came under fire from a vehicle close to the Tekoa Israeli military post, near Bethlehem city.

One Israeli was in serious condition, while the other two were lightly injured in the attack, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said.

17 July 2023; MEMO: Four groups of companies have made bids in Israel's latest tender for offshore hydrocarbon exploration, the Energy Ministry said on Sunday, reports Reuters.

The ministry said the groups include a total of nine companies, five of which were new to the Israeli market. It did not name which companies took part.

17 July 2023; MEMO: India and the UAE have signed an agreement to start using a rupee-dirham payment mechanism to settle cross-border trade, following Prime Minister Narenda Modi's visit to Abu Dhabi yesterday. An agreement was also signed to link their fast payment systems, namely the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India with the Instant Payment Platform (IPP) of the UAE.

17 July 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman said yesterday that since 2021, the kingdom has become the largest oil supplier to Japan, fulfilling 40 per cent of its total needs, Anadolu news agency reported.

Speaking to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) ahead of the arrival of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the kingdom yesterday, the minister said the kingdom will continue cooperating with Tokyo on clean hydrogen, ammonia and recycled carbon fuels.

ISTANBUL, July 16. /TASS/: The decision whether to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative will be made at the very last moment, as there’s no indication yet that its participants have reached a compromise, a diplomatic source in Turkey told TASS on Sunday.

"Obviously, the decision will be made at the very last moment," the source said.

Russia would agree to extend the grain deal only if it regards the move appropriate, according to the person.

SANAA, Jul 16 (NNN-SABA) – Houthi rebels shelled a residential area in Yemen’s south-western province of Taiz yesterday, killing a mother and her son, a local medical official said.

The shelling struck their house in the village of al-Hajamah, in the al-Abous district, damaging several other houses and farms in the area.

The medical official said, the attack was the latest in a series of Houthi shellings on Taiz, which has been under the rebels’ siege for more than seven years.