Middle East & North Africa

31 May 2023; MEMO: The United States has armed its forces stationed near oil fields in eastern Syria with HIMARS rocket launchers, Anadolu quoted local sources as saying yesterday.

The HIMARS missile system was sent to US forces in Deir Ez-Zor province over the past few days, the sources told Anadolu.

Deir Ez-Zor province, east of the Euphrates River, is currently controlled by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

31 May 2023; MEMO: The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been found to have the highest prevalence of diabetes in the world, according to a report yesterday by the Daily Mail, citing the latest research.

31 May 2023; MEMO: The United Arab Emirates withdrew from a US-led Middle East maritime security coalition two months ago, the Gulf state said early on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

31 May 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia has extended its 'Makkah Route Initiative' to Turkiye, making it easier for pilgrims from the country to plan and make their trips to the Islamic holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.

31 May 2023; MEMO: Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has vowed to settle the continued difficulties experienced by Turkish citizens in acquiring visas to the European Union and its member states, calling it "political blackmail".

31 May 2023; MEMO: The UN nuclear watchdog has re-installed only some monitoring equipment originally put in place under the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers that Iran then ordered removed last year, the watchdog said in two reports on Wednesday seen by Reuters.

SANAA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Heavy rains in Yemen resulted in the collapse of a house on Wednesday, causing the death of a child and injuring two others, reported the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

The tragedy occurred in the al-Jumaimah district in the northwestern governorate of Hajjah.

Heavy rains have been pounding many parts of Yemen since the start of the summer season in April, leading to widespread floods that significantly damaged infrastructure, including old houses, dams, and farms.

JERUSALEM, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Israel is not on track to reach its climate targets, said a report published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Wednesday.

The report, presented at a joint event held by the Israeli Environmental Protection Ministry and the OECD in Jerusalem, reviewed the country's environmental performance over the past decade.

BAGHDAD, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani inaugurated Wednesday the first phase of the natural gas liquefaction plant in the al-Rumaila oilfield in Iraq's southern province of Basra.

A statement by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil said the plant liquefies 200 million cubic feet of associated gas per day in its first phase, which already started, and would entered its second phase of liquefying 400 million cubic feet per day at the end of this year.

01 June 2023; MEMO: The population of Saudi Arabia has reached 32.2 million, 42 per cent of whom are foreign nationals, with 63 per cent of Saudis under age 30, the country's general authority for statistics said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

The median age of the total population is 29, according to a 2022 census, the first in 12 years, it added in a statement.